Barony

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER delivers a performance profile in Barony that is heavily dictated by resolution and settings. The measured data shows a system capable of high refresh rate play at 1080p, but one that must be carefully configured to maintain smooth framerates at 4K. This analysis breaks down the measured performance to guide settings choices.

Resolution Scaling

The relationship between resolution and average FPS reveals a clear trend: this combo is far more GPU-bound at higher resolutions, while at 1080p, the CPU begins to assert its influence. The most telling comparison is the drop from 1080p to 4K on the Low preset. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 287 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 181 FPS, a 37% reduction. At 4K Low, the average falls to 95 FPS, which is a 67% reduction from the 1080p figure. This steep decline indicates that the GPU is the primary scaling bottleneck as pixel count increases.

The Ultra preset shows the same pattern but with lower absolute numbers. From 131 FPS at 1080p, the average drops to 83 FPS at 1440p (a 37% decrease) and then to 43 FPS at 4K (a 67% decrease from 1080p). The consistency of this percentage drop across settings suggests that resolution scaling is not significantly affected by the quality preset; the RTX 2060 SUPER's workload simply scales predictably with pixel count.

The Medium preset, which has the most complete data, offers insight into frame time consistency. At 1080p Medium, the average is 213 FPS with a minimum of 181 FPS and a maximum of 245 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 135 FPS, with a minimum of 114 FPS and a maximum of 155 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average is 70 FPS, with a minimum of 60 FPS and a maximum of 81 FPS. The minimum FPS values at 4K Medium (60 FPS) are exactly at the border of what many consider the minimum for smooth play, indicating that the GPU is being pushed hard.

The fact that the FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p is roughly similar in percentage to the drop from 1440p to 4K suggests that the RTX 2060 SUPER's memory bandwidth and compute throughput are being taxed in a linear fashion. The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for this game, as the scaling pattern shows no sudden cliff that would indicate a VRAM capacity issue. The limiting component at 4K is clearly the GPU's raw processing power, not its memory allocation.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture with a TU106 chip. Its performance in Barony is defined by its 2176 shading units, 136 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. The card's boost clock is rated at 1650 MHz, and the data suggests that this clock speed, combined with the 7.181 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, is what drives the high framerates at lower resolutions.

The GPU's memory configuration consists of 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The measured FPS data does not show any evidence of a memory capacity bottleneck. Even at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS falls to 43, the game is still running, and there are no missing textures or stutters implied by the data. The performance drop is more consistent with compute limitations than with memory swapping.

The RTX 2060 SUPER's benchmark scores place it in the 62nd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 18093. Its nearest rivals in the synthetic benchmarks are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile, which scores 18159 (a -0.4% delta), and the AMD Radeon Pro 5700, which scores 18189 (a -0.5% delta). This indicates that the desktop RTX 2060 SUPER is performing at a level comparable to these mobile and professional parts, which is relevant when considering its 4K performance.

In Barony, the GPU's role is most apparent in the resolution scaling. The card's texture rate of 224.4 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 105.6 GPixel/s are the theoretical limits that the game must be hitting at 4K Ultra. The fact that the average FPS at 4K Ultra is 43, which is below the 60 FPS threshold, suggests that the game is heavily utilizing the GPU's fill rate and shader units. The card's DirectX 12 Ultimate support and 12_2 feature level ensure it is compatible with the game's modern rendering paths, but the Turing architecture's older design is showing its limits at 4K.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the ideal settings for this pairing depend entirely on the target resolution. At 1080p, the High preset delivers an average of 183 FPS, which is excellent for high refresh rate monitors. The Ultra preset still delivers a very playable 131 FPS average. For most players at 1080p, the Ultra preset is the best choice, as it offers the highest visual quality while maintaining framerates well above 100 FPS.

The Medium preset at 1080p offers an average of 213 FPS, but the jump from Medium to Ultra only costs 82 FPS (from 213 to 131) while likely providing a significant visual improvement. The data shows that the system has enough headroom at 1080p to absorb the performance hit of Ultra settings without dropping below the 60 FPS minimum threshold that is common for smooth gameplay.

At 1440p, the High preset is the sweet spot. It delivers an average of 116 FPS, which is smooth and responsive. The Ultra preset drops to 83 FPS, which is still playable, but the 28% performance hit from High to Ultra may not be worth the visual gains for all users. The Medium preset at 135 FPS is also a viable option, but High is the best balance of performance and visual fidelity.

At 4K, the choices are more constrained. The Ultra preset averages 43 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target for many players and will likely feel sluggish. The Medium preset averages 70 FPS with a minimum of 60 FPS, making it the highest preset that consistently maintains a playable framerate. The High preset at 60 FPS average is also acceptable, but the Medium preset's higher average and confirmed minimum of 60 FPS make it the safer choice. The Low preset at 95 FPS is the best option for players who prioritize frame rate above all else at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the system's performance across all tested settings. At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low preset averages 287 FPS, Medium averages 213 FPS with a minimum of 181 FPS and a maximum of 245 FPS, High averages 183 FPS, and Ultra averages 131 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 156 FPS, showing that the settings have a massive impact on the GPU workload at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down proportionally. Low averages 181 FPS, Medium averages 135 FPS (minimum 114 FPS, maximum 155 FPS), High averages 116 FPS, and Ultra averages 83 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 98 FPS, indicating that the GPU is becoming the bottleneck at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the system is clearly GPU-limited. Low averages 95 FPS, Medium averages 70 FPS (minimum 60 FPS, maximum 81 FPS), High averages 60 FPS, and Ultra averages 43 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 52 FPS, which is the smallest absolute spread of any resolution, but the relative drop is consistent.

The Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data across all three resolutions. The minimum FPS values are 181 FPS at 1080p, 114 FPS at 1440p, and 60 FPS at 4K. These minimums show that the system maintains a playable framerate even under load, but the 4K minimum of 60 FPS is exactly at the threshold where some users might notice drops during intense scenes.

The High preset shows a clear trend: it is the best choice for maintaining high framerates without the extreme performance hit of Ultra. At 1080p, High is 40% faster than Ultra (183 vs 131 FPS). At 1440p, High is 40% faster than Ultra (116 vs 83 FPS). At 4K, High is 40% faster than Ultra (60 vs 43 FPS). This consistency makes High the most predictable preset for this combination.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Barony at 4K with smooth framerates?

A: Yes, but only with the correct settings. The Medium preset at 4K averages 70 FPS with a minimum of 60 FPS, making it the highest preset that consistently maintains a playable framerate. The High preset averages 60 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 43 FPS, which is likely too low for smooth gameplay.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 1440p monitor?

A: The High preset is the best balance, delivering an average of 116 FPS. It is significantly faster than Ultra (83 FPS) while likely offering most of the visual benefits. The Medium preset at 135 FPS is also viable, but High offers a better visual experience for only a 19 FPS cost.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the system appears to be more balanced, but the GPU still plays a significant role. The average FPS of 183 on High and 287 on Low shows that the GPU is capable of very high framerates, but the CPU's performance in synthetic benchmarks (like the 2239 single-thread score) suggests it may be a secondary bottleneck at these high frame rates.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals in this game?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER's synthetic benchmark average is 18093, which is nearly identical to the RTX 3060 Mobile (18159) and Radeon Pro 5700 (18189). This suggests that in a GPU-bound scenario like 4K Ultra, the performance would be very similar to these parts, though the desktop card's higher power envelope may allow for more sustained clocks.

Q: Should I use the Ultra preset at 1080p?

A: Yes, the Ultra preset at 1080p averages 131 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold and offers the best visual quality. The drop from Medium (213 FPS) to Ultra (131 FPS) is significant, but the resulting framerate is still smooth for most displays.

Q: Why does the Medium preset have min/max FPS data but the others do not?

A: The data set includes min and max FPS only for the Medium preset across all resolutions. This data shows the frame time stability: at 4K Medium, the minimum of 60 FPS and maximum of 81 FPS indicate a relatively tight frame time distribution, which is good for consistent gameplay.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 2000 series, based on the Zen+ architecture. Its base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 3.90 GHz are modest by modern standards, but the processor's performance in Barony is sufficient to feed the RTX 2060 SUPER at most settings. The CPU's synthetic benchmark scores are telling: a single-thread score of 2239 and a multi-thread score of 13160 in Passmark.

When comparing the CPU to its nearest rivals in the synthetic benchmarks, the data shows it is closely matched with newer parts. The Intel Core Ultra 5 228V has an average score of 21440, which is only 0.2% higher than the Ryzen 5 2600's 21484. The Intel Core i9-11900H is 0.5% higher, and the Intel Xeon D-1746TER is 0.7% lower. This indicates that the Ryzen 5 2600 is still competitive in raw computational throughput, despite its older architecture.

In the context of Barony, the CPU's role is most apparent at lower resolutions. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 287 FPS. This high frame rate is likely approaching the CPU's limit for game logic and draw call submission. The fact that the FPS does not scale linearly with resolution at the Low preset (from 287 at 1080p to 181 at 1440p) suggests that the CPU is not the sole bottleneck, but it does play a role in the upper limits of frame rate.

The CPU's 16 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 46.9 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for this game. The measured data does not show any severe frame drops that would indicate a CPU bottleneck, as the minimum FPS values on the Medium preset are consistently above 60 FPS at 4K and above 114 FPS at 1440p. The combination of the Ryzen 5 2600's six cores and the RTX 2060 SUPER's compute power is well-matched for Barony, with the GPU becoming the dominant factor only when resolution and settings are pushed to their limits.