Barony

Barony, a roguelike from 2015, exhibits unusual performance scaling when paired with the AMD Ryzen 5 4600G and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090. The measured data reveals a configuration where the CPU, not the GPU, becomes the primary constraint at lower resolutions, while the GPU's immense power remains largely underutilized. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS across resolutions and settings, examining the roles of both components and contextualizing the combo's rank among 3,717 tested configurations.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K demonstrates a steep performance curve, but the pattern is atypical for a modern GPU-bound title. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 494 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low reduces this to 423 FPS, a drop of 71 FPS (approximately 14.4%). At 4K Low, the average falls further to 224 FPS, representing a 54.6% decrease from the 1080p figure. This scaling suggests that while resolution increases the GPU workload, the CPU's single-thread performance is already a limiting factor at 1080p, preventing the RTX 5090 from reaching its full potential.

The gap between Low and Ultra settings widens dramatically as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference between Low (494 FPS) and Ultra (311 FPS) is 183 FPS. At 1440p, this gap grows to 227 FPS (423 vs 196). At 4K, the spread reaches 122 FPS (224 vs 102). The percentage drop from Low to Ultra is 37.0% at 1080p, 53.7% at 1440p, and 54.5% at 4K. This pattern indicates that the RTX 5090's raw compute power is being throttled by the Ryzen 5 4600G's Zen 2 architecture, particularly at lower resolutions where the CPU must feed frames faster.

Notably, the 4K High preset (143 FPS) outperforms the 1440p Ultra preset (196 FPS) by a smaller margin than expected, suggesting that the CPU bottleneck becomes more pronounced with higher settings at lower resolutions. The data shows that resolution scaling is non-linear: the jump from 1440p to 4K at Medium settings (319 to 167 FPS, a 47.6% drop) is more severe than the jump from 1080p to 1440p at the same settings (443 to 319 FPS, a 28.0% drop). This indicates that the GPU begins to take on more of the workload only at 4K, where the RTX 5090's 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth become relevant.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo in Barony?

A: The highest measured average is 494 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is followed by 443 FPS at Medium and 420 FPS at High for the same resolution.

Q: How does the Ultra preset perform at 4K compared to 1080p?

A: At 3840x2160 Ultra, the average FPS is 102. At 1920x1080 Ultra, the average is 311 FPS. This represents a 67.2% reduction in performance when moving from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded in the data?

A: The lowest minimum FPS recorded is 142 FPS at 3840x2160 with Medium settings. The highest minimum is 376 FPS at 1920x1080 with Medium settings.

Q: Does the combo maintain playable frame rates at 4K across all settings?

A: Yes. The lowest average at 4K is 102 FPS (Ultra), while Medium and High produce 167 FPS and 143 FPS respectively. Low yields 224 FPS at 4K.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 212 out of 3,717 tested combos in Barony, placing it in the top 5.7% of all configurations.

Q: What is the frame time consistency like at 1440p Medium?

A: At 2560x1440 Medium, the average is 319 FPS with a minimum of 271 FPS and a maximum of 366 FPS. The spread of 95 FPS between min and max suggests moderate frame time variance.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is a Blackwell 2.0 architecture GPU with 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock is 2017 MHz with a boost clock of 2407 MHz. The GPU has 21,760 shading units, 680 TMUs, and 176 ROPs, with 170 RT cores and 680 tensor cores. The measured data shows that the RTX 5090's capabilities are not fully utilized in Barony at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 494 FPS, but this is likely CPU-limited given the Ryzen 5 4600G's single-thread score of 726 in 3DMark and 1,919 in Cinebench R23.

At 4K Ultra, the average drops to 102 FPS, which is still high for a roguelike but represents only a fraction of the GPU's theoretical FP32 throughput of 104.8 TFLOPS. The GPU's pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s are not the limiting factors here. The memory bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s is more than sufficient for Barony's requirements, as evidenced by the relatively modest performance drop from 1440p to 4K compared to the drop from 1080p to 1440p. The data suggests that the RTX 5090 is operating well below its ceiling, with the CPU bottleneck preventing higher frame rates at 1080p and 1440p.

The GPU's 92nd percentile ranking among all GPUs (with an average benchmark score of 79,842) confirms its top-tier status, but in this specific game, the measured FPS at 4K High (143 FPS) is lower than what the GPU alone could deliver without CPU constraints. The VRAM capacity of 32 GB is irrelevant for Barony, as the game's requirements are modest, but the GPU's high clocks and massive shader count ensure that when the CPU can supply frames, the RTX 5090 renders them efficiently.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 4600G + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combo ranks 212 out of 3,717 tested configurations in Barony. This places it in the top 5.7% of all combos, which is surprisingly low given the RTX 5090's status as the highest-performing GPU in the database. The ranking reflects the CPU bottleneck: the Ryzen 5 4600G, with its 6 cores and 12 threads based on Zen 2 architecture, has a percentile rank of 71 among all CPUs and an average benchmark score of 17,507.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355GE (avg score 17,482, delta 0.1%), AMD Ryzen 3 8300GE (17,614, -0.6%), Intel Core 7 150U (17,395, 0.6%), and Intel Core i3-14100T (17,648, -0.8%). These deltas are minimal, indicating that the 4600G is in a tightly clustered performance tier. However, none of these CPUs would be considered a match for the RTX 5090 in a balanced system. The combo rank of 212 suggests that many other pairings with less powerful GPUs but stronger CPUs achieve better Barony performance, particularly at 1080p where the CPU is the limiting factor.

The fact that this combo only reaches 311 FPS at 1080p Ultra, while the GPU alone could theoretically push much higher, illustrates the significant performance loss due to CPU limitation. The rank would likely improve at 4K, where the GPU becomes more relevant, but the overall ranking considers all resolutions and settings, pulling the score down.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 4600G is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 2 architecture (Renoir codename) manufactured on TSMC's 7 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz, with a TDP of 65 W. The CPU features 8 MB of shared L3 cache, 512 KB of L2 per core, and 64 KB of L1 per core. Its memory bandwidth is 51.2 GB/s over a dual-channel DDR4 interface. The integrated Radeon Vega 7 graphics are present but irrelevant when paired with the RTX 5090.

In Barony, the CPU's performance is the dominant factor at 1080p and 1440p. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (494 FPS) and 1080p High (420 FPS) suggests that the CPU's single-thread performance, evidenced by a 3DMark single-thread score of 726 and Geekbench single-core score of 1,460, limits the frame rate. The gap between Low and High at 1080p (74 FPS) is smaller than the gap between 1080p and 1440p at Low (71 FPS), indicating that the CPU is saturated regardless of settings.

The CPU's multi-threaded performance, while decent (Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 13,593), does not help in Barony, which likely relies on a few threads. The 3DMark 2-thread score of 1,430 and 4-thread score of 2,732 show that scaling beyond 2 threads is limited, which is typical for a roguelike. The CPU's boost clock of 4.20 GHz is average for a desktop processor, and its 65 W TDP suggests it is not designed for sustained high-frequency operation, potentially causing thermal throttling in extended sessions. The data indicates that the Ryzen 5 4600G is the bottleneck, preventing the RTX 5090 from achieving its full potential in this game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers an average of 494 FPS on Low, 443 FPS on Medium, 420 FPS on High, and 311 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset has a minimum of 376 FPS and a maximum of 509 FPS, showing a 133 FPS range. The High preset at 1080p (420 FPS) is only 8.6% lower than Medium (443 FPS), while Ultra (311 FPS) is 37.0% lower than Low (494 FPS). This pattern suggests that the Ultra preset introduces effects that heavily tax the GPU, but the CPU still holds the overall frame rate down.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 423 FPS (Low), 319 FPS (Medium), 273 FPS (High), and 196 FPS (Ultra). The Medium preset shows a minimum of 271 FPS and a maximum of 366 FPS, a 95 FPS range. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 14.4% for Low, 28.0% for Medium, 35.0% for High, and 37.0% for Ultra. This shows that higher settings amplify the resolution penalty, moving the workload toward the GPU.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 224 FPS (Low), 167 FPS (Medium), 143 FPS (High), and 102 FPS (Ultra). The Medium preset has a minimum of 142 FPS and a maximum of 191 FPS. The drop from 1440p to 4K is 47.0% for Low, 47.6% for Medium, 47.6% for High, and 48.0% for Ultra. This consistency suggests that at 4K, the GPU is now the limiting factor, and the scaling is more uniform across settings. The 4K Ultra average of 102 FPS is the lowest measured value, but still playable.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For 1080p displays, the High preset (420 FPS average) offers a strong balance between visual quality and performance, as the jump to Ultra (311 FPS) costs 109 FPS (26.0%) with likely diminishing visual returns. The Medium preset (443 FPS) is only 5.2% faster than High, making High the recommended choice for 1080p.

At 1440p, the High preset (273 FPS) is recommended over Medium (319 FPS) for users prioritizing visual fidelity, as the 46 FPS difference (14.4%) may be noticeable but not critical for a roguelike. However, for competitive play or high-refresh-rate displays, Medium (319 FPS) provides a smoother experience. The Ultra preset (196 FPS) is not recommended at 1440p, as the 39.3% drop from High is significant, and the visual improvements are unlikely to be substantial in a game like Barony.

At 4K, the High preset (143 FPS) is the best balance, as it delivers smooth gameplay above 140 FPS with good visual quality. The Medium preset (167 FPS) offers a 16.8% boost over High, making it suitable for users with 144Hz displays. The Ultra preset (102 FPS) is playable but represents a 28.7% drop from High, which might be acceptable for those prioritizing maximum visual fidelity. The Low preset (224 FPS) is unnecessary at 4K, as the high frame rate does not compensate for the reduced visual quality. The data indicates that for most users, the High preset at each resolution provides the best experience, with Medium as a fallback for higher refresh rates.