Barony

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT paired with the Intel Arc B390 produces a very specific performance envelope in Barony, characterized by a steep trade-off between visual fidelity and frame rate. Across all tested resolutions, the Low preset consistently provides the highest average FPS, while the Ultra preset delivers the lowest. For players seeking a balanced experience, the Medium preset offers a compelling middle ground, with average frame rates that remain playable at 1080p and 1440p, though it begins to struggle at 4K.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data shows a clear hierarchy across the four available presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 159 FPS, which is the highest recorded value for this combination in any configuration. This makes Low the only preset capable of fully utilizing a high-refresh-rate 1080p display. The High preset drops to an average of 102 FPS, which is still smooth for most gameplay, while Medium sits between them at 118 FPS. The Ultra preset, at 73 FPS, is the only 1080p setting that dips below the 100 FPS threshold, but it remains perfectly playable for a roguelike title where precise timing matters less than in competitive shooters.

At 2560x1440, the pattern shifts. The Low preset maintains a strong average of 100 FPS, making it the only 1440p setting to hit triple-digit performance. The Medium preset delivers 75 FPS, which is adequate for a game like Barony, and High drops to 64 FPS. Ultra falls to 46 FPS, which starts to feel less fluid but is still above the threshold for turn-based or slower-paced gameplay. The data suggests that for 1440p, the Medium preset provides the best balance, as it retains a comfortable frame rate while offering improved visual details over Low.

At 3840x2160, the situation becomes more constrained. The Low preset is the only configuration that achieves a playable average of 53 FPS. Medium drops to 39 FPS, High to 34 FPS, and Ultra to 24 FPS. The latter three are all below the 60 FPS standard and approach or enter the range of stuttery gameplay. Based on the measured rows, the recommendation is clear: for 1080p, use High or Medium for a good balance, but for 4K, the Low preset is the only viable option for smooth play. Medium at 4K is technically playable at 39 FPS, but the jump to Low provides a 36% increase in average frame rate, making it the superior choice for responsiveness.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT and Intel Arc B390 ranks 2601 out of 2935 tested combos in Barony. This places it in the bottom 11th percentile of all tested systems, indicating that it is a low-performance pairing for this title. The ranking reflects the significant bottleneck imposed by the Intel Arc B390, which is an integrated graphics solution rather than a discrete GPU. The data shows that while the CPU is capable of delivering high frame rates in other contexts, the GPU limits the overall output in this game.

The combo's rank of 2601 is heavily influenced by the GPU's performance percentile. The Intel Arc B390 scores in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, meaning it outperforms only about 9% of the graphics cards in the database. This is a very low position, and it drags down the entire system's ranking. The CPU, by contrast, is in the 74th percentile of all CPUs, showing that the processor is not the primary source of the system's low overall rank. The disparity between the CPU's high percentile and the GPU's low percentile confirms that the graphics solution is the limiting factor in Barony.

When compared to other combos, this pairing is not designed for high-end gaming. The ranking of 2601 out of 2935 suggests that a significant majority of other tested hardware configurations will deliver higher frame rates in Barony. This is not a surprise given the GPU's integrated nature, but it is a crucial data point for anyone considering this build for this specific game. The system will run the game, but users should expect performance that is far below what a dedicated graphics card would provide.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is the dominant factor in this system's Barony performance. Its specifications reveal why it struggles: it is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz. The memory is listed as "System Shared," meaning it uses a portion of the system's main RAM rather than having its own dedicated video memory. The bandwidth is described as "System Dependent," which means performance can vary based on the speed and configuration of the system's DDR4 memory.

With 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 render output units, the B390 has a theoretical pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s. Its FP32 performance is rated at 7.680 TFLOPS. These are modest figures for a modern graphics solution, and the benchmark data confirms this. In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, the B390 scores 1482 points, which places it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in that benchmark are the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, GeForce 800M, and GeForce GT 625 OEM, with delta percentages of 1.3%, 1.5%, and 2.5% respectively. This means the B390 is only slightly faster than these very old, low-end discrete GPUs, and it is far behind any modern gaming graphics card.

The GPU's memory architecture is a major limitation. With no dedicated VRAM, the B390 relies on the system's shared memory, which introduces latency and bandwidth constraints that a dedicated GPU would not have. This is reflected in the measured FPS, where the system struggles to maintain high frame rates even at lower resolutions. The GPU is the clear bottleneck in this pairing, as the CPU is far more capable than the graphics solution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive look at how this system performs across different settings and resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Low preset yields an average of 159 FPS. Moving to Medium, the average drops to 118 FPS, with a minimum of 101 FPS and a maximum of 136 FPS. High preset delivers 102 FPS, and Ultra drops to 73 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 86 FPS, representing a 54% reduction in performance when enabling the highest visual settings.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 100 FPS. Medium averages 75 FPS, with a minimum of 64 FPS and a maximum of 86 FPS. High averages 64 FPS, and Ultra averages 46 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra at this resolution is 54 FPS, a 54% reduction, which mirrors the percentage drop seen at 1080p. This consistency suggests that the GPU's workload scales predictably with settings, and the bottleneck is consistent across these two resolutions.

At 3840x2160, the performance falls off a cliff. Low preset averages 53 FPS, Medium averages 39 FPS with a minimum of 33 FPS and a maximum of 45 FPS, High averages 34 FPS, and Ultra averages 24 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 29 FPS, a 55% reduction. Notably, the Medium preset at 4K has a minimum FPS of 33, which is below the average of the High preset at the same resolution. This indicates that even small changes in settings can have outsized effects on frame consistency at this resolution.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a steep performance decline as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K. At the Low preset, the average FPS drops from 159 at 1080p to 100 at 1440p and then to 53 at 4K. This represents a 37% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a 47% drop from 1440p to 4K. The cumulative drop from 1080p to 4K is 67%, meaning the system loses two-thirds of its frame rate when moving to the highest resolution. This steep decline is a classic sign of a GPU-bound system, where the integrated graphics processor is overwhelmed by the increasing pixel count.

For the Medium preset, the averages are 118 FPS at 1080p, 75 FPS at 1440p, and 39 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 36% from 1080p to 1440p and 48% from 1440p to 4K. The High preset follows a similar pattern: 102 FPS at 1080p, 64 FPS at 1440p, and 34 FPS at 4K, with drops of 37% and 47% respectively. The Ultra preset shows 73 FPS at 1080p, 46 FPS at 1440p, and 24 FPS at 4K, representing drops of 37% and 48%.

The consistency of these percentage drops across all presets is notable. Regardless of whether the system is running Low or Ultra settings, the relative performance hit from increasing resolution is nearly identical. This strongly indicates that the limiting component is the GPU, as its rendering capabilities are being saturated at every resolution. The CPU is not the bottleneck here; if it were, the frame rates at 1080p would be much more similar to those at 4K, as the CPU workload would not scale as dramatically with pixel count.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. It has a 16 MB L3 cache and supports DDR4 memory with a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU performs well, scoring 17,272 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 2,438 in single-core. Its average benchmark score is 20,733, placing it in the 74th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals are the Intel Core i5-12490F, Intel Xeon 6325P, and Intel Core Ultra 5 125U, with delta percentages of -0.3%, -0.4%, and -0.4% respectively. This means the 5600GT is essentially on par with those processors.

Despite the CPU's solid performance, its role in Barony is secondary to the GPU. The data shows that the CPU is capable of driving much higher frame rates than the system achieves. For example, the CPU's 3DMark 16-thread score is 5523, and its Passmark multithread score is 20,325, indicating strong multi-threaded capability. However, the measured FPS in Barony is constrained by the Intel Arc B390, which cannot keep up with the CPU's output. The CPU is not the bottleneck; the GPU is.

The CPU's high percentile ranking (74th) versus the GPU's low percentile ranking (9th) creates a significant imbalance. In Barony, this means the system is heavily GPU-limited at all tested settings and resolutions. The CPU has enough headroom to handle the game's logic, AI, and physics, but the GPU cannot render frames fast enough to utilize that headroom. For users considering this CPU, it is a capable processor, but pairing it with an integrated GPU like the Arc B390 will result in performance that is far below the CPU's potential.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset to use at 1920x1080 for the highest frame rate?

A: The Low preset provides the highest average frame rate at 1080p, achieving 159 FPS. This is the only preset at this resolution that exceeds 120 FPS, making it the best choice for maximum smoothness.

Q: How does the system perform at 4K with the Medium preset?

A: At 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the system averages 39 FPS, with a minimum of 33 FPS and a maximum of 45 FPS. This is playable but not smooth, and the Low preset at 53 FPS is a better option for 4K.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the primary bottleneck in Barony?

A: The GPU is the primary bottleneck. The Intel Arc B390 ranks in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, while the CPU ranks in the 74th percentile. The measured FPS scales heavily with resolution, indicating the GPU is the limiting component.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested systems in Barony?

A: The combo ranks 2601 out of 2935 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 11% of all systems. This indicates it is a low-performance pairing for this game.

Q: How much faster is the Low preset compared to Ultra at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 100 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 46 FPS. The Low preset is 54 FPS faster, representing a 117% performance increase over Ultra.

Q: Does the system maintain consistent frame rates at 4K?

A: The data shows inconsistencies at 4K. For example, the Medium preset has a minimum FPS of 33, which is lower than the High preset's average of 34 FPS. This indicates frame pacing can be uneven at higher resolutions.