Barony

Barony is a CPU-bound roguelike in most situations, but pairing the AMD Ryzen 5 8400F with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 produces exceptionally high frame rates across all tested resolutions and settings. The measured data shows that this combination delivers playable performance even at 4K Ultra, with the 1080p Low result hitting the 600 FPS average cap. The combo ranks 244th out of 3717 tested combinations in this game, placing it in the top 7% of all tested systems, which is a strong result given that the CPU sits at the 77th percentile among all CPUs and the GPU at the 86th percentile among all GPUs. This page breaks down the measured FPS results, settings recommendations, resolution scaling behavior, and the role the CPU plays in shaping these outcomes.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern across all three resolutions: the Low preset delivers the highest average frame rates, followed by Medium, then High, with Ultra producing the lowest averages. At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 600 FPS, Medium averages 446 FPS, High averages 383 FPS, and Ultra averages 274 FPS. At 2560x1440, the progression is 379 FPS on Low, 281 FPS on Medium, 242 FPS on High, and 173 FPS on Ultra. At 3840x2160, Low averages 198 FPS, Medium averages 147 FPS, High averages 126 FPS, and Ultra averages 91 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is substantial at every resolution, but the relative drop from Low to Medium is smaller than the drop from High to Ultra, suggesting that Medium offers a good balance between visual quality and frame rate headroom.

For competitive play or high-refresh-rate displays, the Medium preset is the recommended starting point. At 1080p Medium, the average FPS of 446 with a minimum of 379 and maximum of 513 provides a wide safety margin above typical 144 Hz or 240 Hz monitor refresh rates. At 1440p Medium, the average of 281 FPS with a minimum of 239 and maximum of 324 still comfortably exceeds 240 Hz displays, while the 1080p High preset at 383 FPS average is also viable for 360 Hz panels. The 4K Medium preset at 147 FPS average with a minimum of 125 and maximum of 169 is the best choice for 4K displays with 120 Hz or 144 Hz refresh rates, as it stays above the refresh threshold in the measured data.

The Ultra preset is only recommended for users who prioritize maximum visual fidelity over frame rate. At 4K Ultra, the average of 91 FPS is below the 100 FPS mark and lacks measured minimum or maximum values, which suggests the frame pacing could be less consistent than the Medium preset that has documented range data. At 1440p Ultra, the 173 FPS average is still high enough for most displays, but the 1080p Ultra average of 274 FPS is the only Ultra result that offers both high visual quality and very high refresh rates. For most users, Medium is the sweet spot because it retains a significant portion of the Low preset's performance while presumably offering better visual effects, and it is the only preset at each resolution that includes both minimum and maximum FPS measurements, indicating more stable frame delivery.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 8400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 achieves a combo rank of 244 out of 3717 tested combinations in Barony. This places the system in the top 6.6% of all tested combos, which is a strong showing for a mid-range CPU paired with a high-end GPU. The CPU alone ranks at the 77th percentile among all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 25005, while the GPU ranks at the 86th percentile among all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 54247. The fact that the combo rank (top 6.6%) is better than either component's individual percentile suggests that this pairing works particularly well in Barony, likely because the game's roguelike engine benefits from the CPU's strong single-thread performance and the GPU's raw throughput.

Looking at the CPU's nearest rivals, the Ryzen 5 8400F is virtually tied with the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F, which has an average score of 24964 and a delta of 0.2% relative to the 8400F's 25005. The Intel Core i7-11850H is 0.3% behind at 24935, and the Intel Core i7-13620H is 0.4% behind at 24911. The only rival that scores higher is the AMD EPYC 9474F at 25103, which is 0.4% ahead, but that is a server-class chip unlikely to be used in a gaming build. This tight clustering means the 8400F delivers performance essentially equivalent to these alternatives in synthetic benchmarks, and the measured game FPS reflects that the CPU is not a bottleneck in most scenarios.

On the GPU side, the RTX 4080 is nearly identical to the RTX 4080 SUPER, which has an average score of 54209 and a delta of 0.1% relative to the 4080's 54247. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X is 1.1% behind at 54828, which is actually a higher score despite the negative delta, indicating the delta values are calculated from the rival's perspective. The AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB is 2.6% behind at 55698, and the AMD Radeon 8060S is 2.7% behind at 55757. These comparisons show that the RTX 4080 sits in a narrow performance band where small differences in synthetic scores do not translate into meaningful FPS differences in Barony, as the game's frame rates are already extremely high.

Given the combo rank of 244 out of 3717, the data indicates that this system outperforms the vast majority of tested configurations. The 1080p Low result of 600 FPS average is likely a cap or a ceiling imposed by the game engine or test methodology, as it is exactly 600 and no minimum or maximum values are recorded. This suggests the actual performance ceiling may be higher, and the combination is capable of maxing out the measurement tool at low resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset to use for 4K gaming with this combo?

A: The Medium preset at 3840x2160 provides an average FPS of 147 with a minimum of 125 and maximum of 169. This is the only 4K preset with documented minimum and maximum values, indicating more stable frame delivery. The Ultra preset averages 91 FPS, which is below the 100 FPS mark, while High averages 126 FPS and Low averages 198 FPS. For a balance of visual quality and frame rate stability, Medium is the recommended choice.

Q: How does the 1080p Low result of 600 FPS compare to other presets at the same resolution?

A: The 1080p Low preset averages 600 FPS, which is the highest recorded value across all resolutions and settings. The Medium preset averages 446 FPS with a minimum of 379 and maximum of 513, High averages 383 FPS, and Ultra averages 274 FPS. The 600 FPS figure is likely a measurement cap, as no minimum or maximum values accompany it.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in Barony at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the frame rates scale from 379 FPS on Low to 173 FPS on Ultra. The CPU's single-thread score of 951 in 3dmark and 2943 in Cinebench R23 single-core suggest strong per-core performance. Since the FPS drops by more than half from Low to Ultra, the GPU becomes the primary limiter at higher settings, but the CPU still provides enough headroom to exceed 170 FPS even at Ultra.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 8400F compare to its closest rival, the Ryzen 5 7500F?

A: The Ryzen 5 8400F has an average benchmark score of 25005, while the Ryzen 5 7500F scores 24964, a delta of 0.2%. This means the 8400F is effectively identical in performance to the 7500F. Both CPUs have 6 cores and 12 threads, but the 8400F uses Zen 4 architecture on a 4 nm process.

Q: What are the minimum FPS values for the Medium preset at each resolution?

A: At 1920x1080 Medium, the minimum FPS is 379. At 2560x1440 Medium, the minimum is 239. At 3840x2160 Medium, the minimum is 125. These are the only presets with recorded minimum FPS values, making Medium the most reliable preset for frame time consistency.

Q: Does the RTX 4080 outperform the RTX 4080 SUPER in this game?

A: The RTX 4080 has an average benchmark score of 54247, while the RTX 4080 SUPER scores 54209, a delta of 0.1% in favor of the 4080. This difference is negligible and would not produce a measurable FPS difference in Barony. Both GPUs are effectively tied in synthetic benchmarks.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured data shows the following average FPS values: Low at 600 FPS, Medium at 446 FPS with a minimum of 379 and maximum of 513, High at 383 FPS, and Ultra at 274 FPS. The 600 FPS Low result is the highest in the entire dataset and is likely a cap, given that no minimum or maximum values are recorded for that row. The Medium preset is the only one at 1080p with a full range of FPS values, showing a spread of 134 FPS between the minimum and maximum. The High and Ultra presets lack range data, so their consistency cannot be assessed from the measured rows.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS values are: Low at 379 FPS, Medium at 281 FPS with a minimum of 239 and maximum of 324, High at 242 FPS, and Ultra at 173 FPS. The Medium preset again provides the only range data, with an 85 FPS spread between minimum and maximum. The drop from Low to Medium is 98 FPS, from Medium to High is 39 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 69 FPS. This shows that the largest performance hit occurs when moving from Low to Medium, while the step from Medium to High is the smallest, suggesting that Medium includes most of the performance-critical settings.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS values are: Low at 198 FPS, Medium at 147 FPS with a minimum of 125 and maximum of 169, High at 126 FPS, and Ultra at 91 FPS. The Medium preset has a 44 FPS spread between minimum and maximum. The Ultra preset at 91 FPS is the only result below 100 FPS in the entire dataset, and it is the only Ultra result that drops below the 4K 120 Hz threshold. The High preset at 126 FPS is just above 120 Hz, while Low at 198 FPS and Medium at 147 FPS provide comfortable margins.

The data shows a consistent pattern: Low is always the fastest, Ultra is always the slowest, and Medium provides the only measured frame time ranges. Across all resolutions, the Medium preset's minimum FPS values (379 at 1080p, 239 at 1440p, 125 at 4K) are all above the refresh rates of common displays (240 Hz, 144 Hz, and 120 Hz respectively), making it the safest choice for smooth gameplay.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals how the workload shifts between CPU and GPU. At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 446 at 1080p to 281 at 1440p, a reduction of 37%, and then to 147 at 4K, a further reduction of 48% from 1440p. The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 67% of the 1080p value. At High settings, the averages go from 383 at 1080p to 242 at 1440p (37% drop) to 126 at 4K (48% drop from 1440p), a total reduction of 67%. At Ultra settings, the averages go from 274 at 1080p to 173 at 1440p (37% drop) to 91 at 4K (47% drop from 1440p), a total reduction of 67%. At Low settings, the averages go from 600 at 1080p to 379 at 1440p (37% drop) to 198 at 4K (48% drop from 1440p), a total reduction of 67%.

The consistent 37% drop from 1080p to 1440p and 48% drop from 1440p to 4K across all settings indicates that the scaling is resolution-driven rather than settings-driven. This pattern suggests that the GPU is the primary limiter as resolution increases, because the CPU's workload remains constant regardless of resolution, while the GPU's pixel-processing load grows quadratically with pixel count. The fact that the percentage drops are nearly identical (67% total across all settings) means the GPU is scaling predictably with pixel count, and the CPU is not introducing additional bottlenecks at higher resolutions.

However, the absolute FPS values at 1080p are so high (274 FPS on Ultra, 383 FPS on High, 600 FPS on Low) that the CPU still has headroom to feed the GPU. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the 1080p results would be much closer together across settings, because the CPU's frame generation rate would cap the FPS regardless of GPU load. Instead, the large spread between Low (600 FPS) and Ultra (274 FPS) at 1080p shows that the GPU workload per frame is significant even at low resolution, and the CPU can keep up with the GPU's demands.

The 4K results confirm this interpretation. At 4K Low, the average of 198 FPS is higher than the 1440p Ultra average of 173 FPS, which shows that lowering settings at a higher resolution can yield higher FPS than raising settings at a lower resolution. This indicates that the GPU's pixel throughput is the limiting factor at 4K, and the CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient to maintain high frame rates even at the lowest settings.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on Zen 4 architecture with a 4 nm process node from TSMC. It has a base clock of 4.20 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, with 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 1 MB of L2 cache per core, and 16 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU's 3dmark single-thread score is 951, and its Cinebench R23 single-core score is 2943, while the multi-core R23 score is 20851. These figures place the CPU at the 77th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 25005.

In Barony, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU at higher resolutions, but still important at 1080p. The 1080p Low result of 600 FPS suggests the CPU can generate frames faster than the measurement tool records, while the 1080p Ultra result of 274 FPS shows that the GPU's per-frame work is the binding constraint even at low resolution. The CPU's boost clock of 4.70 GHz provides strong single-thread performance, which is critical for a roguelike game that may rely on game logic and entity updates that are not heavily multithreaded.

The 3dmark multi-thread scores show scaling from 1874 at 2 threads to 5275 at 8 threads and 6165 at max threads, with the 16-thread score at 6091. This indicates that the CPU gains some performance from additional threads but saturates around 8 threads, which is typical for a 6-core, 12-thread processor. In Barony, where the game may not use more than a few threads, this saturation is unlikely to cause issues, and the CPU's single-thread performance is more relevant.

The CPU's memory support includes DDR5 with dual-channel memory and a bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s. This memory bandwidth is sufficient for the game's data requirements, and the CPU's PCIe Gen 4 support with 20 lanes ensures the RTX 4080 can communicate at full bandwidth. The CPU's nearest rival, the Ryzen 5 7500F, has nearly identical average scores (24964 vs 25005), confirming that the 8400F delivers expected Zen 4 performance for its class.

The measured FPS data shows that the CPU does not bottleneck the RTX 4080 at any tested setting. Even at 1080p Low, where the FPS hits 600, the CPU is still able to feed the GPU. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads, combined with its high boost clock, provide enough processing power for Barony's game logic, while the GPU handles the rendering workload. The combo rank of 244 out of 3717 confirms that this pairing is well-balanced for this game, with neither component dramatically dragging down the other.