Barony

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Barony with the AMD Ryzen 5 2600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 shows a clear and consistent pattern: performance scales heavily with resolution, but the scaling factor is not uniform across settings. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 417 FPS on average. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same Low preset drops that to 284 FPS, a reduction of roughly 32%. Stepping up to 3840x2160 at Low yields 148 FPS, which is about 48% lower than the 1440p result and 64% lower than the 1080p figure. This steep drop-off indicates that at lower resolutions, the system is not purely GPU-bound; the CPU and memory subsystem play a significant role in limiting frame rates.

The medium preset tells a similar story but with slightly less extreme scaling. At 1080p Medium, the average FPS is 334. At 1440p Medium, it falls to 211 FPS, a 37% decrease. At 4K Medium, the average is 110 FPS, which is 67% below the 1080p number. The High preset shows 287 FPS at 1080p, 181 FPS at 1440p, and 95 FPS at 4K. The Ultra setting is the most demanding: 206 FPS at 1080p, 130 FPS at 1440p, and 68 FPS at 4K. Across all presets, the gap between 1080p and 1440p is consistently larger than the gap between 1440p and 4K in absolute terms, but the percentage drop from 1440p to 4K is substantial.

What does this say about the limiting component? At 1080p, the RTX 3080 is capable of pushing well over 400 FPS on Low, which suggests that the GPU has ample headroom. The fact that 1080p Low (417 FPS) is more than double the 4K Low (148 FPS) indicates that at the higher resolution, the GPU is working much harder, while at 1080p, the CPU and its 6 cores and 12 threads at a base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 3.90 GHz are more likely to be the bottleneck. The Ryzen 5 2600, with a PassMark single-thread score of 2239 and a Cinebench R15 single-core score of 157.3, is not a weak processor, but it is not designed to sustain frame rates in the 400+ range in every scenario.

The data also shows that the gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 80 FPS (148 to 68), while at 1080p the gap is 211 FPS (417 to 206). This compression of the settings range at higher resolutions is a classic sign of GPU limitation. When the GPU is the primary constraint, reducing settings has less impact on FPS because the bottleneck is the raw pixel throughput. Conversely, at 1080p, where the GPU is less stressed, the CPU's ability to feed frames becomes more important, and lowering settings from Ultra to Low yields a much larger relative gain. The benchmark results indicate that this combo is balanced for 1440p gaming, where the GPU is sufficiently loaded to produce high frame rates without being completely maxed out, and the CPU can keep up with the demands of the game.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured rows, the optimal settings for this combo depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, even the Ultra preset delivers 206 FPS on average, which is far beyond what most displays can refresh. The data shows that Medium at 1080p produces 334 FPS, and Low produces 417 FPS. Since the Ultra preset is already above 200 FPS, there is no practical reason to lower settings for competitive play unless the user is chasing an extremely high refresh rate monitor. The High preset at 1080p, at 287 FPS, offers a middle ground that likely provides better image quality with minimal perceptible difference in smoothness.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset drops to 130 FPS, which is still very playable on a 144Hz monitor. The High preset at 181 FPS is arguably the sweet spot for a 1440p display with a 144Hz refresh rate, as it provides a comfortable margin above the refresh ceiling. The Medium preset at 211 FPS would be beneficial for a 240Hz monitor, but the image quality trade-off may not be worth it for a roguelike where visual clarity of items and enemies is important. The Low preset at 284 FPS is excessive for most displays and would only be useful for extreme esports-style play, which is not typical for Barony's slower-paced, turn-based-with-real-time combat gameplay.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes. Ultra averages 68 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target for some users but still playable. High averages 95 FPS, which is excellent for 4K and provides a smooth experience on a 60Hz or 120Hz display. Medium averages 110 FPS, which is ideal for a 120Hz 4K TV or monitor. Low at 148 FPS is likely unnecessary, as the visual fidelity loss would be significant, and the frame rate gain over High is only 53 FPS. Based on the data, the High preset at 4K offers the best balance between visual quality and performance, while at 1440p, High is the recommended choice for most users. At 1080p, Ultra is the recommended preset, as the performance is already well above typical refresh rates, and there is no downside to maxing out the settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 2600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 ranks 1106 out of 3717 tested combos in Barony. This places it in the top 30% of all systems tested, which is a strong showing given the age of the CPU. The Ryzen 5 2600 was released in April 2018 with a launch MSRP of $199, while the RTX 3080 launched in August 2020. The pairing of a mid-range 2018 processor with a high-end 2020 GPU is unusual, but the benchmark results indicate that it works well for this game.

The combo's rank is likely held back by the CPU. The Ryzen 5 2600 has an average benchmark score of 21484, which places it in the 75th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 5 228V, which scores 21440 (a 0.2% difference), the Intel Core i9-11900H at 21367 (0.5% higher), and the Intel Xeon D-1746TER at 21635 (0.7% lower). These are all modern or high-end mobile/enterprise parts, and the Ryzen 5 2600 is competitive with them in general benchmarks. However, in a game like Barony, which may rely on single-thread performance, the CPU's PassMark single-thread score of 2239 and Geekbench single-core score of 1154 are moderate.

The GPU, on the other hand, is a powerhouse. The RTX 3080 has an average benchmark score of 23172, placing it in the 68th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA P106-100 (23249, 0.3% higher), the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16 (23250, 0.3% higher), and the AMD Radeon RX 6600M (23273, 0.4% higher). These are all much less powerful cards on paper, which suggests that the RTX 3080's benchmark scores are being dragged down by factors unrelated to raw gaming performance, or that these specific benchmarks favor different architectures. Regardless, the measured FPS in Barony shows that the RTX 3080 is capable of producing very high frame rates, and the combo's rank of 1106 out of 3717 reflects a system that is well above average for this game.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings is 206 FPS.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 2600 compare to its nearest rival in terms of average benchmark score?

A: The Ryzen 5 2600 has an average benchmark score of 21484, which is 0.2% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 5 228V (21440) and 1.2% higher than the AMD EPYC 9454 (21223). It is 0.5% lower than the Intel Core i9-11900H (21367) and 0.7% lower than the Intel Xeon D-1746TER (21635).

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded at 1440p Medium settings?

A: The minimum FPS recorded at 2560x1440 with Medium settings is 179 FPS, with a maximum of 242 FPS and an average of 211 FPS.

Q: What is the GPU's launch MSRP?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 has a launch MSRP of 699 USD.

Q: Does the combo perform better at 4K High or 1440p Ultra?

A: At 4K High, the average FPS is 95, while at 1440p Ultra, the average FPS is 130. The 1440p Ultra setting provides a significantly higher frame rate, but the 4K High setting offers a much higher resolution with a still-playable frame rate.

Q: How many cores and threads does the CPU have, and what is its boost clock?

A: The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 has 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 3.90 GHz.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is the dominant component in this pairing for Barony, and the data shows that it is the primary driver of high frame rates. The GPU is built on the Ampere architecture with a GA102 chip, fabricated on an 8 nm process at Samsung. It contains 28,300 million transistors on a 628 mm² die, which gives it a transistor density of 45.1M per mm². The card features 8704 shading units, 272 texture mapping units, and 96 render output units. It also includes 68 ray tracing cores and 272 tensor cores, which are not typically leveraged in a roguelike like Barony but contribute to the card's overall capabilities.

Memory is a key factor here. The RTX 3080 has 10 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 320-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 760.3 GB/s. The memory clock is 1188 MHz, which translates to 19 Gbps effective. For Barony, which is not a particularly memory-hungry game, 10 GB is more than sufficient, and the high bandwidth ensures that texture streaming and asset loading are never bottlenecks. The GPU's base clock is 1440 MHz, with a boost clock of 1710 MHz. These clocks are relatively modest compared to the card's raw compute power, but they are sufficient to drive the measured FPS numbers.

The GPU's FP32 performance is 29.77 TFLOPS, which is a theoretical maximum that is unlikely to be achieved in real-world gaming. The pixel rate is 164.2 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 465.1 GTexel/s. These figures are far above what Barony requires, even at 4K. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra (68 FPS) is the lowest of any configuration tested, but this is still a playable frame rate for a roguelike. The GPU's PassMark G3D score is 25086, and its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 4407, both of which indicate a high-performance part. The GPU's percentile rank of 68 versus all GPUs is somewhat low for a card of this class, but this is likely due to the benchmark suite including a wide range of cards, and the RTX 3080's end-of-life status means it is being compared to newer, more efficient parts.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 serves as the supporting component in this combo, and its role is to feed the RTX 3080 with enough data to keep it busy. The CPU is part of AMD's 2000 series, based on the Zen+ architecture (Pinnacle Ridge), and is manufactured on a 12 nm process at GlobalFoundries. It has 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 3.90 GHz. The CPU's TDP is 65 watts, which is modest for a desktop processor, and it fits into an AMD Socket AM4. The memory support is DDR4 with a dual-channel bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 46.9 GB/s. This bandwidth is on the lower side for modern standards, but it is sufficient for Barony, which does not require massive memory throughput.

The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 96 KB of L1 cache per core, 512 KB of L2 cache per core, and 16 MB of shared L3 cache. The L3 cache is shared across all 6 cores, which helps with multi-threaded workloads. The CPU's benchmark scores are respectable: Cinebench R15 multicore is 1248, single-core is 157.3, Geekbench multicore is 5648, and single-core is 1154. The PassMark multithread score is 13160, and the single-thread score is 2239. These scores indicate that the CPU is capable of handling modern games, but its single-thread performance is not exceptional.

In Barony, the CPU's role is to handle game logic, AI, and physics, which are typically single-threaded or lightly threaded tasks. The fact that the combo achieves 417 FPS at 1080p Low suggests that the CPU is not a major bottleneck at lower resolutions. However, the gap between 1080p Low (417 FPS) and 4K Low (148 FPS) is 269 FPS, which is a 64% drop. This is a larger drop than what would be expected if the GPU were the only limiting factor, indicating that the CPU's memory bandwidth and single-thread performance are contributing to the scaling. The CPU's PassMark data compression score is 187062, and its encryption score is 12429, which are strong numbers, but these are not directly relevant to gaming performance. Overall, the Ryzen 5 2600 is a capable partner for the RTX 3080 in Barony, providing enough performance to sustain high frame rates without holding the GPU back significantly.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. With Low settings, the average FPS is 417. Medium settings yield an average of 334 FPS, with a minimum of 284 FPS and a maximum of 384 FPS. High settings produce an average of 287 FPS. Ultra settings result in an average of 206 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 211 FPS, which shows that the GPU is not the primary constraint at this resolution, as lowering settings has a large impact on performance.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates are still high but begin to show more GPU influence. Low settings average 284 FPS. Medium settings average 211 FPS, with a minimum of 179 FPS and a maximum of 242 FPS. High settings average 181 FPS. Ultra settings average 130 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 154 FPS, which is narrower than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is becoming more of a limiting factor.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly the dominant constraint. Low settings average 148 FPS. Medium settings average 110 FPS, with a minimum of 94 FPS and a maximum of 127 FPS. High settings average 95 FPS. Ultra settings average 68 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 80 FPS, which is the smallest of all resolutions, confirming that the GPU is fully utilized at 4K. The minimum FPS recorded across all tests is 94 FPS at 4K Medium, and the maximum is 384 FPS at 1080p Medium. These numbers provide a complete picture of the combo's performance envelope, showing that it is capable of excellent frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, and solid, playable performance at 4K on all but the highest settings.