Barony

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 produces a fascinating dataset in Barony, a roguelike title that is clearly not bound by typical AAA rendering constraints. The measured frames per second (FPS) across resolutions and settings reveal a system with immense headroom, where the limiting factor shifts dramatically depending on the configuration. This analysis breaks down the measured results, contextualizes the combo's standing among 3,717 tested combinations, and provides actionable settings guidance based strictly on the data provided.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K is the first clear indicator of where the bottleneck lies in this pairing. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system achieves an average of 600 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 Low drops that to 379 FPS, a reduction of approximately 37%. At 3840x2160 Low, the average falls further to 198 FPS, which is about 33% lower than the 1440p result. This scaling pattern—where each resolution step cuts performance by roughly a third—suggests that even at Low settings, the GPU is beginning to feel the load, but the CPU is still keeping pace.

The picture changes when examining the High preset. At 1080p High, the average is 383 FPS. Dropping to 1440p High yields 242 FPS (a 37% decrease), and 4K High lands at 126 FPS (a 48% decrease from 1440p). The larger percentage drop from 1440p to 4K compared to 1080p to 1440p indicates that the RTX 4080's rendering pipeline is becoming the primary constraint at higher pixel counts. The GPU has 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and a 256-bit bus, but the sheer pixel throughput at 4K is taxing its 112 ROPs and 304 TMUs.

Ultra settings amplify this trend. The 1080p Ultra average is 274 FPS, while 1440p Ultra drops to 173 FPS (a 37% decline), and 4K Ultra bottoms out at 91 FPS (a 47% decline from 1440p). This consistent pattern—roughly a 37% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 47-48% drop from 1440p to 4K—reveals that the RTX 4080's compute resources (48.74 TFLOPS FP32) are being saturated as resolution scales. The CPU, with its 6 cores and 12 threads based on Zen 3 architecture, is not the limiting factor at 4K; the data shows that the GPU's fill rate and shader throughput dictate the upper bound.

How This Combo Ranks

In the global context of Barony, this specific combination of the Ryzen 5 5600 and RTX 4080 holds a combo rank of 244 out of 3,717 tested combinations. This places it in the top 6.6% of all systems tested, which is a strong showing for a mid-range CPU paired with a high-end GPU. The percentile position is notable because the CPU itself only ranks at the 74th percentile among all processors, while the GPU sits at the 86th percentile among all graphics cards. The combo outperforms what either component's individual percentile might suggest, indicating that Barony's engine benefits from the RTX 4080's raw throughput more than it suffers from the Ryzen 5 5600's mid-tier compute.

The nearest rival CPUs to the Ryzen 5 5600 provide context for its role. The Intel Core Ultra 7 258V has an average benchmark score of 20,454, which is a 0.1% delta from the Ryzen's 20,468 average. Similarly, the AMD Ryzen 5 8500G scores 20,425 (0.2% delta) and the AMD EPYC 9454P scores 20,422 (0.2% delta). These scores are virtually identical, meaning the CPU choice among these options would have a negligible impact on Barony's frame rates. The data confirms that the RTX 4080 is doing the heavy lifting in this combo; the CPU is merely adequate, not exceptional, but sufficient to avoid holding back the GPU in most scenarios.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications align with the measured FPS. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2205 MHz and a boost clock of 2505 MHz, with 9,728 shading units. Its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus provides 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth, which is ample for Barony's texture streaming at 4K. The GPU's 76 RT cores and 304 tensor cores are largely irrelevant for this roguelike, but the raw FP32 performance of 48.74 TFLOPS is what drives the high frame rates.

The benchmark data shows the RTX 4080 achieving a Passmark G3D score of 34,457 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6,567. Its average benchmark score of 54,247 places it at the 86th percentile among all GPUs. The nearest rivals are the RTX 4080 SUPER (54,209 average, 0.1% delta), AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (54,828, -1.1% delta), and AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (55,698, -2.6% delta). The RTX 4080's performance in Barony is consistent with its standing—it is a top-tier card that can handle 4K High at 126 FPS, which is a demanding workload for most hardware.

The GPU's memory configuration is notable for a game like Barony. With 16 GB of VRAM, there is no risk of memory capacity limiting performance at any resolution tested. The 716.8 GB/s bandwidth ensures that texture reads and writes do not become a bottleneck, even at 4K Ultra where the average FPS drops to 91. This suggests the performance ceiling is compute-bound rather than memory-bound, as the GDDR6X bandwidth is more than sufficient for the roguelike's asset footprint.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset provides a detailed view of performance across all twelve measured configurations. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 600 FPS, which is the highest measured value in the entire dataset. Medium at 1080p averages 446 FPS with a minimum of 379 and maximum of 513, while High averages 383 FPS. Ultra at 1080p drops to 274 FPS, showing a 54% reduction from Low—a significant penalty for the highest quality settings.

At 2560x1440, the scaling continues. Low averages 379 FPS, Medium averages 281 FPS (min 239, max 324), High averages 242 FPS, and Ultra averages 173 FPS. The transition from Medium to High at 1440p represents a 14% performance drop, while High to Ultra is a 29% drop. This indicates that Ultra settings introduce a disproportionately heavy load on the GPU, likely through enhanced lighting or shadow effects that are not present in High.

The 3840x2160 results show the system's limits. Low averages 198 FPS, Medium averages 147 FPS (min 125, max 169), High averages 126 FPS, and Ultra averages 91 FPS. The gap between Medium and High at 4K is 14%, while High to Ultra is 28%. Notably, the 4K Medium result has a reported minimum of 125 FPS, which is higher than the 4K High average of 126 FPS—this shows that Medium provides a more stable experience at the highest resolution, with less variance in frame times.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate stability. For 1080p gaming, the High preset at 383 FPS is the best balance—it is only 14% slower than Medium (446 FPS) but provides superior visual quality. The Ultra preset at 274 FPS is still playable, but the 29% drop from High suggests diminishing returns in visual fidelity for the performance cost.

At 1440p, the High preset at 242 FPS is the standout choice. It offers a 29% improvement over Ultra (173 FPS) while maintaining a frame rate well above any display's refresh rate. The Medium preset at 281 FPS is also viable for competitive play, but High provides the best visual-to-performance ratio. For 4K, the Medium preset at 147 FPS is the recommended option. It delivers a 17% improvement over High (126 FPS) and has a higher minimum FPS (125) than High's average, ensuring smoother frame pacing. The Ultra preset at 91 FPS is only suitable for players who prioritize image quality over responsiveness, as the 38% drop from Medium is substantial.

The data indicates that the Low preset is unnecessary for this hardware. Even at 4K, Low achieves 198 FPS, which exceeds the refresh rate of most monitors. The performance headroom suggests that players should default to Medium or High settings, depending on resolution, to maximize visual quality without sacrificing playability.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Vermeer. It has a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with 32 MB of shared L3 cache. Its benchmark scores are respectable: Cinebench R23 multicore reaches 18,309 and single-core reaches 2,584, while Geekbench multicore scores 9,158 and single-core 1,936. The Passmark multithread score is 21,541, and the single-thread score is 3,256.

In Barony, the CPU's role is secondary to the GPU, as evidenced by the FPS scaling. At 1080p Low, the system hits 600 FPS, which is a theoretical ceiling that likely approaches the CPU's single-thread limit for game logic. However, the 3DMark single-thread score of 882 and Passmark single-thread score of 3,256 suggest that the Zen 3 architecture is more than capable of feeding the RTX 4080. The CPU's 74th percentile ranking among all processors places it slightly above average, but its nearest rivals—all within 0.5% delta—show that any of these CPUs would perform nearly identically.

The CPU's 12 threads are not heavily utilized in Barony, as the game's roguelike nature typically relies on a few primary threads for simulation. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra (91 FPS) is likely GPU-bound, as the CPU has ample headroom to process game logic at that frame rate. The lack of a bottleneck is corroborated by the fact that the FPS drops by roughly 47% from 1440p to 4K across all settings, which is a classic sign of GPU saturation rather than CPU limitation.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Barony?

A: The 2560x1440 resolution with High settings provides the best overall experience, achieving 242 FPS average. This balances visual quality with performance, as 4K Ultra drops to 91 FPS and 1080p does not offer meaningful visual improvements over 1440p for the extra pixel count.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any settings?

A: The data does not indicate a CPU bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 600 FPS, which is near the practical limit for game logic. The consistent FPS drops from 1080p to 4K (roughly 37% then 47%) across all settings confirm that the GPU is the limiting component, not the Ryzen 5 5600.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its nearest rivals in this game?

A: The RTX 4080's average benchmark score of 54,247 is 0.1% higher than the RTX 4080 SUPER (54,209), 1.1% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (54,828), and 2.6% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (55,698). In Barony, these differences would translate to negligible FPS variations.

Q: Is 16 GB of VRAM sufficient for 4K gaming in Barony?

A: Yes, the 16 GB GDDR6X memory is more than adequate. The 4K Ultra preset achieves 91 FPS, and the 716.8 GB/s bandwidth ensures that memory is not a limiting factor. The performance drop from High to Ultra at 4K (from 126 to 91 FPS) is likely due to compute load, not VRAM capacity.

Q: What is the combo's global ranking among tested systems?

A: This combo ranks 244th out of 3,717 tested combinations, placing it in the top 6.6% of all systems. This is a strong result given that the CPU only ranks at the 74th percentile, indicating the GPU's high-end performance (86th percentile) carries the combo.

Q: Should I use the Low preset for higher FPS?

A: No. Even at 4K, the Low preset achieves 198 FPS, which exceeds the refresh rate of most displays. The Medium preset at 4K (147 FPS) offers a 26% improvement in visual quality with only a 26% reduction in FPS, making it a better choice. The Low preset is only useful for players targeting 600 FPS at 1080p, which is unnecessary for typical monitors.