Barony

Barony, a roguelike with a 2015 release, presents an interesting case study for high-end hardware. The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 5700X and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D produces exceptionally high frame rates across all tested settings and resolutions. This analysis breaks down the measured performance data to understand how this specific pairing behaves, where its strengths lie, and how it compares to other tested configurations in the database.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for this combo shows that even the most demanding preset, Ultra, produces frame rates well above the threshold for smooth gameplay at every resolution. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 331 FPS, which is more than sufficient for any high-refresh-rate monitor. However, the data reveals a clear hierarchy in performance scaling. Moving from Ultra to High at 1080p yields a substantial increase, with the average FPS jumping to 462. This represents a significant gain of roughly 40% for a single-step reduction in settings.

The Medium preset at 1920x1080 offers an average of 538 FPS, with a measured minimum of 458 FPS and a maximum of 619 FPS. This consistency, indicated by the narrow spread between minimum and maximum, suggests a stable experience. The Low preset pushes performance even further to an average of 631 FPS. While these numbers are impressive, the question is whether the visual fidelity trade-off is worth the increased frame rate, especially when the base performance is already so high.

For the best experience per the measured rows, the High preset appears to be the optimal choice. At 2560x1440, High delivers an average of 292 FPS, while at 3840x2160 it still manages a robust 152 FPS. The jump from High to Ultra is significant in cost. At 4K, the average FPS drops from 152 to 109, a reduction of about 28%. At 1440p, it falls from 292 to 209, and at 1080p from 462 to 331. In contrast, the drop from High to Medium is less severe, with the 4K average going from 152 to 178, which is actually an increase, or more accurately, the Ultra preset is more demanding than High. The data indicates that High offers the most balanced performance, providing frame rates that are unlikely to be a bottleneck in any scenario while maintaining a higher level of visual quality than Medium or Low. The Ultra preset, while playable, incurs a large performance penalty for what may be marginal visual gains in a game with a stylized roguelike aesthetic.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of 2,935 tested combos for Barony, this specific pairing of the AMD Ryzen 7 5700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D holds the 42nd position. This places it in the top 1.4% of all tested configurations, indicating that it is among the most powerful setups evaluated for this game. This high ranking is expected given the components involved, but the data confirms that the combination is not just powerful on paper; it translates into top-tier performance in practice.

The ranking implies that there are 41 other combos that achieve higher performance in Barony. While the specific scores of those combos are not listed in this data pack, the relative position is clear. The combo's rank is a function of both the CPU and GPU, and in a game that is likely not heavily multithreaded, the extremely high single-thread performance of the RTX 5090 D and the capable Ryzen 7 5700X work together to achieve this position. The fact that it is not ranked first overall suggests that other, likely more recent or higher-end CPUs, can push the frame rates even higher, possibly by better feeding the GPU at lower resolutions. However, a rank of 42 out of 2935 is a definitive statement of this combo's elite status.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is the dominant force in this pairing. Its specifications are formidable: it features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing a massive 1.79 TB/s of memory bandwidth. The GPU's base clock is 2017 MHz, with a boost clock of 2407 MHz. This high bandwidth and large memory buffer are critical for high-resolution textures and complex scenes, though Barony's visual style may not fully utilize the 32 GB capacity.

The benchmark data shows that the GPU is a clear performance driver. For instance, at 4K with High settings, the combo achieves 152 FPS. When the resolution is dropped to 1440p, the frame rate nearly doubles to 292 FPS. This scaling pattern indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. The GPU's compute capabilities, with 21,760 shading units and 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, are immense. In the context of Barony, this power results in frame rates that are often limited by CPU performance rather than the GPU, particularly at 1080p. The RTX 5090 D's performance percentile of 92 places it well above the average GPU, and its average benchmark score of 77,712 is significantly higher than its nearest rival in the database, the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT, which scores 76,904, a delta of 1.1%. This underscores the 5090 D's position as a top-tier part.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved by this combo in Barony?

A: The highest average frame rate is 631 FPS, which was measured at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested combinations for Barony?

A: The combo is ranked 42nd out of 2,935 tested combinations for the game, placing it in the top 1.4% of all configurations.

Q: What is the performance difference between the High and Ultra settings at 4K resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, the High preset averages 152 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 109 FPS. This is a drop of 43 FPS, or approximately 28%, when moving from High to Ultra.

Q: At which resolution and settings does the combo achieve its most stable frame rate?

A: The most stable performance is seen at 1920x1080 with Medium settings, where the average FPS is 538, with a minimum of 458 FPS and a maximum of 619 FPS. This narrow range suggests consistent frame pacing.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: The data suggests the CPU becomes a more significant factor at 1080p. The frame rate increase from 1440p (292 FPS on High) to 1080p (462 FPS on High) is substantial, but the GPU's theoretical capacity is so vast that the Ryzen 7 5700X is likely holding back the absolute maximum frame rate at this lower resolution.

Q: What is the average FPS for this combo at 2560x1440 on the Low preset?

A: The average FPS at 2560x1440 with the Low preset is 457.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling across resolutions is a key indicator of where the bottleneck lies. The data for the High preset shows a clear pattern. At 1080p, the average FPS is 462. Moving to 1440p, it drops to 292 FPS, a reduction of 37%. At 4K, the average FPS falls to 152, which is a 48% drop from the 1440p figure and a 67% drop from the 1080p figure. This scaling is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario, where the rendering workload increases exponentially with pixel count.

The RTX 5090 D is powerful enough to maintain incredibly high frame rates at 1080p, but the demand of 4K resolution begins to tax it. The fact that the frame rate does not scale perfectly with pixel count (4K has 4x the pixels of 1080p, but the frame rate is not 1/4) suggests that the CPU is also contributing to performance, especially at lower resolutions. At 1080p, the 631 FPS on Low settings suggests a potential CPU limitation, as the GPU is likely capable of rendering even more frames. The transition from 1440p to 4K shows a more significant relative drop, which reinforces the idea that the GPU is the primary limiting component at higher resolutions. The performance deltas clearly indicate that users with high-refresh-rate 1080p or 1440p monitors will be able to push this combo to its limits, while 4K users will still experience excellent, but lower, frame rates.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700X is a Zen 3 architecture processor with 8 cores and 16 threads. It has a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. Its performance in synthetic benchmarks is solid, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 13,184 and a single-core score of 1,499. The CPU's percentile rank of 79 indicates it performs better than the majority of CPUs in the database. In the context of Barony, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic.

The data suggests that the CPU is sufficient to keep the RTX 5090 D well-utilized, but it may become a limiting factor at the lowest resolutions. For instance, at 1080p with Low settings, the combo hits 631 FPS. This is an astronomical number, but it is plausible that a more powerful CPU could push this even higher, as the GPU's load is relatively low at this setting. The CPU's 32 MB of shared L3 cache helps with game logic, and its 8 cores are more than adequate for Barony, which is a roguelike and likely not heavily multithreaded. The 5700X's performance is close to its nearest rivals. It is exactly matched with the Intel Core i5-12600K, both scoring 27,578 in their average benchmark. It is 0.2% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 7 5800 and 0.3% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H, while being 0.2% behind the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X. This puts it in a highly competitive performance band, and combined with the top-tier GPU, it results in a very capable gaming system for Barony.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table details the exact measured average FPS for each resolution and settings preset. Minimum and maximum FPS values are included where available in the data.

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS |

| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |

| 3840x2160 (4K) | | | | |

| | Ultra | 109 | - | - |

| | High | 152 | - | - |

| | Medium | 178 | 151 | 204 |

| | Low | 239 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 (2K) | | | | |

| | Ultra | 209 | - | - |

| | High | 292 | - | - |

| | Medium | 340 | 289 | 391 |

| | Low | 457 | - | - |

| 1920x1080 (1080p) | | | | |

| | Ultra | 331 | - | - |

| | High | 462 | - | - |

| | Medium | 538 | 458 | 619 |

| | Low | 631 | - | - |

The data shows a consistent performance hierarchy. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, followed by High, Medium, and then Low. The gaps between presets are significant. For example, at 1440p, the difference between Ultra (209 FPS) and High (292 FPS) is 83 FPS, while the difference between High and Medium (340 FPS) is 48 FPS. The Medium preset at all resolutions shows a stable minimum FPS, suggesting good frame pacing. At 1080p, even the Ultra preset achieves an average of 331 FPS, which is a playable and smooth experience. The overall picture is one of overwhelming performance, where the weakest link in the chain is unlikely to cause any noticeable issues for the player.