Barony

This combo places 34th out of 1,702 tested CPU/GPU pairs for Barony, putting it in the top 2% of all configurations. That ranking reflects a pairing where the RTX 4090’s raw throughput meets a CPU that can feed it without becoming a bottleneck in a game that is primarily single-thread-bound. The data shows a system that is overkill for 1080p but becomes increasingly rational as resolution climbs, where the GPU’s workload scales more favorably.

How This Combo Ranks

The 34th-place finish out of 1,702 combos is not a surprise given the components involved, but it is importantly the ranking is not higher. The RTX 4090 sits at the 91st percentile among all GPUs, and the Ryzen 7 5800XT sits at the 86th percentile among all CPUs. In a roguelike like Barony, where the action is often fast but the graphical demands are modest, the CPU’s single-thread performance becomes the limiting factor well before the GPU’s capabilities are exhausted.

The 5800XT’s benchmark data supports this. Its 3DMark single-thread score is 959, while its 16-thread score is 7,683. The gap between these numbers is large, but the game’s performance ceiling at lower resolutions shows that the CPU is doing most of the heavy lifting. The CPU’s nearest rivals in the synthetic benchmarks are the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755GE (0.1% ahead), the AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS (0.3% behind), and the AMD Ryzen 7 7840H (0.3% behind). These are all mobile or low-power parts, which means the 5800XT is punching above its weight class in desktop sockets, but its architectural limits are still visible in a game that does not scale well beyond a few threads.

Compared to the GPU’s rivals, the RTX 4090’s average benchmark score of 66,473 is only slightly ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla T4 (0.4% behind) and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 (0.9% behind). This is a strange set of rivals because those are not gaming cards, but the data shows that the 4090’s strength is not in raw compute but in how it handles gaming workloads. The 34th rank out of 1,702 is a strong result, but it is not a top-10 finish because the CPU cannot push the GPU hard enough at lower resolutions.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo better suited for 1080p or 4K gaming?

A: The data shows a clear trend: at 1080p, the CPU limits performance, while at 4K, the GPU becomes the primary constraint. The average FPS drops from 660.6 at 1080p Low to 221.3 at 4K Low, which indicates that the GPU is being utilized more fully at higher resolutions.

Q: How does the Ryzen 7 5800XT’s single-thread performance affect Barony?

A: The 5800XT scores 959 in the 3DMark single-thread test. This is the key metric for Barony, which does not scale well across many cores. The benchmark results show that even with the RTX 4090, the combo cannot exceed 660.6 FPS at 1080p Low, suggesting the CPU is the bottleneck.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1440p gaming?

A: At 2560x1440, the High preset delivers 267.9 FPS, while Ultra drops to 190.9 FPS. The Medium preset yields 312.8 FPS. For most players, High is the sweet spot because it offers a significant visual improvement over Medium without the performance hit of Ultra.

Q: Does the RTX 4090’s 24 GB of VRAM matter for Barony?

A: No. Barony is a roguelike from 2015, and the measured data shows that even at 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 99.3. The VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor in this game; the GPU’s compute power is more than sufficient.

Q: How does this combo compare to the CPU’s nearest rivals in gaming?

A: The CPU’s nearest rivals are all within 0.3% of its average benchmark score. This means that swapping the 5800XT for a Ryzen 7 6800HS or a Ryzen 7 7840H would yield nearly identical performance in Barony, assuming the same GPU is used.

Q: Is the 5800XT a good match for the RTX 4090?

A: The data suggests it is a functional match but not a perfect one. At 1080p, the CPU holds the combo back, but at 4K, the GPU takes over and the combo performs well. The 34th rank out of 1,702 combos reflects this balanced but not optimal pairing.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy of settings for each resolution. At 1080p, the Ultra preset delivers 306.6 FPS, which is still far beyond what any monitor can display, but the jump from High to Ultra costs 118.9 FPS. The Medium preset at 491.4 FPS is more than enough for competitive play, but the visual quality suffers in a game where seeing enemy projectiles clearly matters.

At 1440p, the High preset at 267.9 FPS is the best recommendation. It is 45 FPS faster than Ultra (190.9 FPS) and only 44.9 FPS slower than Medium (312.8 FPS). The visual difference between High and Medium is noticeable in Barony, especially with lighting effects and shadows, so High offers the best balance of image quality and frame rate.

At 4K, the High preset at 141.1 FPS is the only sensible choice for a high-refresh-rate display. The Ultra preset drops to 99.3 FPS, which is still playable but not smooth enough for a game where reaction time matters. The Low preset at 221.3 FPS is fast but looks terrible. The Medium preset at 164.4 FPS is a viable alternative if you want better visuals than Low without sacrificing too much speed.

For most users, the recommendation is to run High settings at 1440p or 4K. The RTX 4090 is powerful enough to handle High at 4K with room to spare, and the 5800XT can keep up at that resolution. At 1080p, High is the maximum you should use because the CPU cannot push the GPU hard enough to justify the visual cost of Ultra.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo produces 660.6 FPS on Low, 491.4 FPS on Medium, 425.5 FPS on High, and 306.6 FPS on Ultra. The drop from Low to Ultra is 354 FPS, which is a 53.6% reduction. This is the largest relative drop across all resolutions, confirming that the CPU is the limiting factor at 1080p. The CPU’s single-thread score of 959 becomes the ceiling, and the GPU is never fully utilized.

At 2560x1440, the numbers are 422.7 FPS on Low, 312.8 FPS on Medium, 267.9 FPS on High, and 190.9 FPS on Ultra. The drop from Low to Ultra is 231.8 FPS, which is a 54.8% reduction. The GPU is now doing more work, but the CPU is still a significant factor. The High preset at 267.9 FPS is the most practical choice because it keeps the frame rate above 240 Hz, which is the refresh rate of many high-end monitors.

At 3840x2160, the numbers are 221.3 FPS on Low, 164.4 FPS on Medium, 141.1 FPS on High, and 99.3 FPS on Ultra. The drop from Low to Ultra is 122 FPS, which is a 55.1% reduction. The GPU is now the primary constraint, as the RTX 4090’s raw power is being taxed. The High preset at 141.1 FPS is excellent for 4K, and the Ultra preset at 99.3 FPS is still usable if you prefer maximum visual fidelity.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a consistent pattern: as resolution increases, the average FPS drops by roughly half at each step. From 1080p Low to 1440p Low, the FPS goes from 660.6 to 422.7, a 36% reduction. From 1440p Low to 4K Low, the FPS goes from 422.7 to 221.3, a 47.6% reduction. The same trend holds for High settings: 425.5 to 267.9 (37% drop) and then to 141.1 (47.3% drop).

This scaling behavior indicates that the CPU is the limiting factor at 1080p, the GPU becomes more involved at 1440p, and the GPU is fully saturated at 4K. The RTX 4090’s memory bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s and its 24 GB of GDDR6X memory are more than sufficient for Barony, so the scaling is purely a function of compute load. The 5800XT’s 8 cores and 16 threads are not the issue; its single-thread performance is what holds the combo back at lower resolutions.

The most telling data point is the 4K Ultra result of 99.3 FPS. This is the only setting where the combo drops below 100 FPS, and it is still a playable frame rate. The fact that the combo can maintain over 200 FPS at 4K Low shows that the RTX 4090 is not the bottleneck at lower settings. The CPU is the limiting factor at 1080p, but the GPU takes over at 4K, which is the opposite of what you would expect from a less balanced pairing.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 7 5800XT is a Zen 3 part built on a 7 nm process, with 8 cores and 16 threads. Its base clock is 3.80 GHz and its boost clock is 4.80 GHz. The cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 512 KB of L2 per core, and 32 MB of shared L3. These specifications are typical for a high-end desktop CPU from the 5000 series, but the benchmark results show that its single-thread performance is the key metric for Barony.

The 3DMark single-thread score of 959 is the number that matters most. This game is a roguelike, which means it relies heavily on a single thread for game logic, pathfinding, and entity updates. The 5800XT’s multi-thread scores are respectable—7,683 in 3DMark’s 16-thread test and 7,680 at max threads—but they are irrelevant for Barony. The fact that the combo cannot exceed 660.6 FPS at 1080p Low, even with an RTX 4090, is direct evidence that the CPU’s single-thread performance is the ceiling.

The 5800XT’s nearest rivals in the synthetic benchmarks are all within 0.3% of its average score, which means that no CPU in that performance class will significantly change the results in Barony. The CPU’s 105 W TDP and AM4 socket make it a sensible upgrade for existing systems, but for a new build paired with an RTX 4090, it is the weaker link in the chain. The data does not suggest that the combo is broken; it suggests that the CPU is doing its job but cannot unlock the GPU’s full potential at lower resolutions. At 4K, the CPU is sufficient, and the combo delivers excellent results.