Barony

# Barony — AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D + Intel Arc B390

The AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D paired with the Intel Arc B390 produces a peculiar performance profile in Barony, a roguelike that clearly favors CPU throughput over GPU muscle. At 1080p Low settings, this combo delivers 159 FPS, but that figure collapses to just 24 FPS at 4K Ultra — a 6.6x swing that reveals a system dramatically constrained by the graphics side of the equation. The data shows a combo ranking 2601st out of 2935 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 11% of all tested systems, which is surprising given the 7800X3D's strong synthetic benchmark scores.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings presets. At Low settings, performance falls from 159 FPS at 1920x1080 to 100 FPS at 2560x1440 (a 37% reduction), then further to 53 FPS at 3840x2160 (another 47% drop). The scaling pattern at Medium settings follows a similar trajectory: 118 FPS at 1080p, 75 FPS at 1440p, and 39 FPS at 4K. High settings show 102 FPS at 1080p, 64 FPS at 1440p, and 34 FPS at 4K, while Ultra settings deliver 73 FPS, 46 FPS, and 24 FPS respectively.

The resolution scaling behavior strongly suggests the Intel Arc B390 is the limiting component. The transition from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 35-40% of performance at every settings level, and the move to 4K costs another 45-50%. This is a pattern typical of a GPU that runs out of fillrate or memory bandwidth as pixel count increases. The Arc B390's specifications point to why: it has 24 ROPs, a 60.00 GPixel/s pixel rate, and system-shared memory with bandwidth listed as "System Dependent." At 4K, those 24 ROPs are simply overwhelmed, particularly at Ultra where the game likely pushes additional effects that multiply the per-pixel cost.

Interestingly, the drop from 1440p to 4K is proportionally larger than the drop from 1080p to 1440p at every settings level. For Low settings, the 1440p-to-4K drop is 47% versus 37% for the first step; for Medium, it's 48% versus 36%; for High, 47% versus 37%; and for Ultra, 48% versus 37%. This accelerating degradation with resolution is a classic sign of a GPU hitting a hard bandwidth or pixel-throughput ceiling rather than a CPU bottleneck, which would typically show diminishing FPS losses as resolution increases.

The CPU, by contrast, shows no signs of strain. The Ryzen 7 7800X3D's 3DMark single-thread score of 959 and multi-thread score of 7,967 suggest ample headroom for a roguelike's typically modest thread demands. Barony's genre is "Roguelike," which generally implies procedural generation and simulation logic that can be single-thread heavy, but the 7800X3D's 96 MB shared L3 cache and 5.00 GHz boost clock should handle such workloads with ease. The data indicates that even at 1080p Low, where the game should be most CPU-bound, the 7800X3D still allows 159 FPS, suggesting it is not the constraint.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 7 7800X3D brings 8 cores and 16 threads based on Zen 4 architecture (Raphael codename) on a 5 nm TSMC process. Its base clock is 4.20 GHz with a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, and it carries 96 MB of shared L3 cache — a design optimized for gaming workloads that benefit from large, low-latency caches. The CPU's benchmark results are strong: Cinebench R23 multi-core scores 16,817, single-core 1,713; Geekbench multi-core 15,610, single-core 2,426; and PassMark multi-thread 34,293 with single-thread 3,759.

In Barony, the CPU's role appears to be secondary but not irrelevant. The game's roguelike nature likely involves procedural dungeon generation, AI pathfinding, and simulation of game state — all tasks that can benefit from strong single-thread performance and large caches. The 7800X3D's 3DMark single-thread score of 959 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1,713 indicate it ranks in the 83rd percentile versus all CPUs, which should be more than sufficient for this genre.

Comparing to its nearest rivals, the 7800X3D's average benchmark score of 33,079 is essentially identical to the AMD Ryzen 7 8700G (33,089, delta 0%), Intel Core i7-13650HX (33,089, delta 0%), and AMD Ryzen 7 7745HX (33,091, delta 0%). It trails the AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 6950H (33,201) by only 0.4%. This suggests that whatever CPU-bound behavior exists in Barony, the 7800X3D is on par with several other high-end options and should not be the primary differentiator in this combo's ranking.

The question the data raises is whether the CPU's 3D V-Cache (96 MB L3) provides any measurable benefit in Barony specifically. The game's release date of June 2015 predates this CPU by nearly eight years, and it may not have been designed to exploit such large caches. However, roguelikes often feature complex state tracking and RNG-heavy logic that could still benefit from cache locality. Without comparative CPU testing in this exact game, the data can only show that the 7800X3D is not the bottleneck — the FPS patterns across resolutions point squarely at the GPU.

How This Combo Ranks

This combo ranks 2601st out of 2935 tested combinations in Barony, placing it in the bottom 11.4% of all systems. This is a surprisingly low position given the strong CPU, but it makes sense when considering the GPU's percentile ranking. The Intel Arc B390 sits in the 9th percentile versus all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 1,482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. Its nearest rivals are all NVIDIA parts from the entry-level segment: GeForce GT 520MX (1,463, delta 1.3%), GeForce 800M (1,460, delta 1.5%), GeForce GT 625 OEM (1,446, delta 2.5%), and GeForce GT 710 (1,443, delta 2.7%). The Arc B390 leads these by only 1.3-2.7%, which is within noise territory.

The ranking disparity between CPU and GPU is stark. The 7800X3D is in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs, while the Arc B390 is in the 9th percentile of all GPUs. When combined in a game like Barony that scales heavily with resolution and settings, the GPU becomes the dominant factor, dragging the overall combo down to near the bottom of the rankings. This is a textbook case of a high-end CPU paired with an entry-level GPU creating a severe imbalance.

The data implies that if the goal is better Barony performance, upgrading the GPU would yield far larger gains than any CPU change. The 7800X3D's nearest rivals all have nearly identical average scores, so swapping the CPU for a Ryzen 7 8700G or Core i7-13650HX would change nothing. But moving from the Arc B390 to even a mid-range GPU would likely transform this combo's rank. The bottom 11% ranking is entirely attributable to the GPU's limitations.

FAQ

Q: Why does this combo rank so low (2601st of 2935) when the CPU is high-end?

A: The CPU is strong (83rd percentile), but the GPU is very weak (9th percentile). Since Barony's FPS drops dramatically with resolution, the GPU is the limiting factor, and the combo's rank reflects that bottleneck.

Q: What FPS can I expect at 1080p Medium settings?

A: The measured average is 118 FPS, with a minimum of 101 FPS and maximum of 136 FPS. This is the most balanced setting for smooth play.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more important for Barony?

A: The data indicates the GPU dominates performance. At 1080p Low, FPS is 159; at 4K Ultra, it's 24. The CPU's strong scores don't prevent this collapse, showing the GPU is the primary constraint.

Q: How does the Arc B390 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: It scores 1,482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad, leading the GeForce GT 520MX by 1.3%, GeForce 800M by 1.5%, GeForce GT 625 OEM by 2.5%, and GeForce GT 710 by 2.7%. These are all entry-level parts.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo?

A: 1920x1080 is the only resolution where all settings presets exceed 60 FPS (Low: 159, Medium: 118, High: 102, Ultra: 73). At 2560x1440, only Low (100 FPS) and Medium (75 FPS) clear 60 FPS.

Q: Does the Ryzen 7 7800X3D's 96 MB L3 cache help in Barony?

A: The data cannot confirm this directly. The CPU is not the bottleneck at any resolution, so cache benefits, if any, are masked by the GPU's performance ceiling.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is based on the Panther Lake chip with Xe3-LPG architecture, manufactured on Intel's 3 nm process. It has 1,536 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 24 ROPs, with 12 ray tracing cores. Its clock speeds are 300 MHz base and 2,500 MHz boost, producing a pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 7.680 TFLOPS. The GPU uses system-shared memory with no dedicated VRAM, and its bandwidth is "System Dependent" — a major limitation for a game like Barony that has to move frame data through shared memory.

The GPU's single benchmark score is 1,482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, placing it in the 9th percentile. This is an extremely low score, and the nearest rivals (all NVIDIA entry-level parts from several generations ago) confirm its position. The 24 ROPs are particularly problematic for high-resolution rendering — at 4K, the GPU must fill over 8.3 million pixels per frame, and at 60.00 GPixel/s, that creates a theoretical ceiling around 72 FPS before any game logic or overdraw is considered. The measured 24 FPS at 4K Ultra suggests the game's effects and shared-memory overhead cut that theoretical peak by 67%.

The GPU's role in Barony is clearly the dominant performance limiter. Evidence comes from the scaling pattern: as resolution increases, FPS drops almost linearly with pixel count, and the gap between Low and Ultra settings widens from 54% at 1080p (159 vs 73 FPS) to 55% at 1440p (100 vs 46 FPS) and 55% at 4K (53 vs 24 FPS). This consistent ~55% penalty for Ultra over Low at every resolution indicates the GPU is saturated even at Low settings, and the additional work from higher presets pushes it further into inefficiency.

The shared memory architecture is likely a secondary factor. With "System Shared" memory and "System Dependent" bandwidth, the Arc B390 must contend with the CPU for memory access. In a roguelike that generates content procedurally, this contention could add latency that manifests as lower minimum FPS. The measured minimums (101 FPS at 1080p Medium, 64 FPS at 1440p Medium, 33 FPS at 4K Medium) are notably lower than the averages, suggesting frame-time spikes that could be memory-related.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, all four presets (Low: 159 FPS, Medium: 118 FPS, High: 102 FPS, Ultra: 73 FPS) exceed 60 FPS, so the choice comes down to visual quality versus headroom. Ultra at 73 FPS is playable, but Medium at 118 FPS offers nearly 62% more performance while still providing a middle-ground visual experience. For most players, Medium is the recommended preset at 1080p because it delivers a high frame rate (118 FPS average, 101 FPS minimum) that comfortably exceeds display refresh rates of 60-100 Hz.

At 2560x1440, the situation changes. Low (100 FPS) and Medium (75 FPS) both clear 60 FPS, while High (64 FPS) barely does and Ultra (46 FPS) does not. The recommendation is Medium, which provides 75 FPS average with a 64 FPS minimum — enough for smooth gameplay on 60 Hz monitors and passable on 144 Hz panels. Low is a viable alternative for competitive play at 100 FPS, but the visual downgrade may not be worth it in a roguelike where readability matters. Ultra should be avoided at 1440p due to sub-60 FPS performance.

At 3840x2160, no settings preset reaches 60 FPS. The best option is Low at 53 FPS, followed by Medium at 39 FPS, High at 34 FPS, and Ultra at 24 FPS. For 4K gaming, Low is the only playable preset, and even then it's marginal. Players with 4K displays should strongly consider running the game at 1080p or 1440p instead, or accepting that this combo cannot deliver smooth 4K performance in Barony. The 4K Low result of 53 FPS is 45% below the 1080p Low result, underscoring the GPU's inability to handle high pixel counts.

Overall, the best experience per the measured rows is 1080p Medium, offering 118 FPS average with good visuals, or 1080p High at 102 FPS if visual fidelity is prioritized over frame rate headroom.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured FPS values are: Low averages 159 FPS, Medium averages 118 FPS (with a minimum of 101 and maximum of 136), High averages 102 FPS, and Ultra averages 73 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 86 FPS, showing significant headroom at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, performance drops: Low averages 100 FPS, Medium averages 75 FPS (minimum 64, maximum 86), High averages 64 FPS, and Ultra averages 46 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra spread narrows to 54 FPS, indicating the GPU is becoming the limiting factor.

At 3840x2160, the results are: Low averages 53 FPS, Medium averages 39 FPS (minimum 33, maximum 45), High averages 34 FPS, and Ultra averages 24 FPS. The spread is just 29 FPS, confirming that the GPU is heavily constrained at this resolution regardless of settings.

The medium preset is the only one with min and max FPS data at every resolution, showing consistent frame pacing: 101-136 at 1080p, 64-86 at 1440p, and 33-45 at 4K. The minimum-to-average ratio at Medium settings degrades from 86% at 1080p to 85% at 1440p and 85% at 4K, suggesting the GPU maintains relatively stable frame times even as resolution increases. However, the absolute minimums at 4K (33 FPS) and 1440p (64 FPS) highlight that this combo struggles to maintain smooth gameplay at higher resolutions.

The data reveals a clear hierarchy: this system is capable of excellent performance at 1080p across all settings, acceptable performance at 1440p only on Low or Medium, and poor performance at 4K regardless of settings. The Intel Arc B390's 9th percentile GPU ranking is the decisive factor, with the Ryzen 7 7800X3D's considerable CPU power going largely unused in Barony's GPU-bound rendering pipeline.