Barony

# Barony with AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060

Barony, the roguelike released on 2015-06-22, presents an unusual pairing in this benchmark: a top-tier AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor paired with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 that is already end-of-life. The data shows a system where the CPU is dramatically overqualified for the task, yet the GPU still manages to deliver playable frame rates across most settings. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D sits in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, while the RTX 2060 ranks in the 58th percentile of all GPUs — a mismatch that becomes evident in the measured FPS results, particularly at higher resolutions where the GPU becomes the clear limiting factor.

FAQ

Q: What is the best-performing settings preset at 1080p?

A: Low settings deliver the highest average FPS at 263.2, followed by Medium at 196.9, High at 168.3, and Ultra at 121.8. Even at Ultra, the system maintains above 120 FPS average, indicating the CPU is not a bottleneck at this resolution.

Q: How does the system scale from 1080p to 4K?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 168.3 at 1080p to 104.9 at 1440p, then to 56.4 at 4K. This represents a 66.5% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K, with the largest single step occurring between 1440p and 4K.

Q: Is the RTX 2060 holding back the Ryzen 7 9800X3D?

A: Yes, particularly at higher resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 263.2 FPS, but at 4K Ultra it drops to 41.5 FPS. The GPU's 6 GB VRAM and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth appear insufficient for 4K Ultra, while the CPU's 96 MB L3 cache and 8 cores are never fully stressed.

Q: What is the most balanced settings preset across all resolutions?

A: Medium settings provide the most consistent experience, with 196.9 FPS at 1080p, 120.4 FPS at 1440p, and 62.3 FPS at 4K. This preset maintains above 60 FPS at 4K while offering a significant improvement over High settings' 4K performance.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 2060's average benchmark score of 16074 is 0.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 7600S (15996), 1.8% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (15786), and 1.7% behind both the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M and AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (both at 16351).

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking in Barony?

A: This CPU-GPU combination ranks 1386 out of 1702 tested combos in the game, placing it in the lower-mid range despite the strong CPU, which reflects the GPU's limiting role in this title.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy of performance across four presets. For players seeking the highest frame rates, Low settings at 1080p deliver 263.2 FPS, which is more than sufficient for any display. However, the most practical recommendation for general play is Medium settings, which offers a substantial 196.9 FPS at 1080p and remains playable at 1440p with 120.4 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium costs 66.3 FPS at 1080p but provides improved visual quality that is likely worthwhile for a roguelike where readability matters.

High settings represent a reasonable middle ground for 1440p gaming, achieving 104.9 FPS, but at 4K the same preset drops to 56.4 FPS — just below the 60 FPS threshold that many players consider minimum for smooth gameplay. Ultra settings should be avoided at 4K entirely, as the 41.5 FPS average will feel sluggish in a game that requires quick reactions. The data suggests that Ultra is only viable at 1080p, where 121.8 FPS remains playable, but the performance cost over High (46.5 FPS difference) is steep for marginal visual gains.

For 1440p users, High settings at 104.9 FPS offer the best balance of quality and speed, while 4K users should stick to Medium at 62.3 FPS to stay above 60 FPS. The 4K Low preset at 83.8 FPS is also a viable option for those prioritizing smoothness over fidelity.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression across resolutions reveals a system that transitions from CPU-bound at 1080p to heavily GPU-bound at 4K. At 1080p Low, the system produces 263.2 FPS, which suggests the CPU is capable of far more than the GPU can deliver at higher resolutions. Moving to 1440p Low drops performance to 165.8 FPS — a 37% reduction that indicates the GPU is beginning to strain. At 4K Low, the system still manages 83.8 FPS, but the scaling pattern shows diminishing returns as resolution increases.

The High settings curve is particularly telling: 168.3 FPS at 1080p falls to 104.9 FPS at 1440p (37.7% drop), then to 56.4 FPS at 4K (another 46.2% drop). This steeper decline between 1440p and 4K compared to 1080p to 1440p indicates that the RTX 2060's 6 GB VRAM and 192-bit memory bus are being saturated at 4K. The GPU's 336.0 GB/s bandwidth and 48 ROPs are insufficient for the pixel throughput required at 3840x2160, particularly with higher quality settings.

Ultra settings show the most severe scaling: 121.8 FPS at 1080p, 75.4 FPS at 1440p, and 41.5 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is less than half of the 1080p Ultra figure, confirming that the GPU is the primary constraint. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D, with its 5.20 GHz boost clock and 96 MB L3 cache, is never the bottleneck in these measurements — even at 1080p Low, the system hits 263.2 FPS without apparent CPU limitation.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its strongest results across all presets. Low settings achieve 263.2 FPS average, Medium reaches 196.9 FPS, High produces 168.3 FPS, and Ultra still maintains 121.8 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 141.4 FPS, showing that settings have a dramatic impact at this resolution. Even the weakest preset, Ultra, exceeds 120 FPS, making 1080p entirely playable regardless of quality preferences.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance remains strong but the gap narrows. Low settings produce 165.8 FPS, Medium delivers 120.4 FPS, High achieves 104.9 FPS, and Ultra drops to 75.4 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra shrinks to 90.4 FPS, and every preset except Ultra maintains above 100 FPS. The 1440p results suggest this resolution is the sweet spot for this combo, offering high frame rates with improved image quality over 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's limitations become apparent. Low settings still deliver 83.8 FPS, but Medium drops to 62.3 FPS, High falls to 56.4 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 41.5 FPS. Only the Low preset exceeds 60 FPS, and the gap between Low and Ultra is now just 42.3 FPS. The 4K results confirm that the RTX 2060 cannot sustain high-quality gameplay at this resolution, with even Medium barely clearing the 60 FPS threshold.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060, built on the TU106 chip using TSMC's 12 nm process, carries 6 GB of GDDR6 memory across a 192-bit bus, delivering 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock of 1365 MHz boosts to 1680 MHz, and it features 1920 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. The GPU's 30 RT cores and 240 tensor cores provide ray tracing and AI capabilities, but these are largely irrelevant for Barony's roguelike rendering.

The RTX 2060's memory configuration is the primary constraint at higher resolutions. The 6 GB VRAM capacity, combined with the 192-bit bus, limits texture streaming and pixel throughput at 4K. This is reflected in the measured FPS: the 4K Ultra result of 41.5 FPS is 65.9% lower than the 1080p Ultra result of 121.8 FPS. The GPU's FP32 performance of 6.451 TFLOPS and pixel rate of 80.64 GPixel/s are adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming but fall short at 4K with high-quality settings.

The GPU's benchmark scores further contextualize its performance. Its PassMark G3D score of 14111 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1242 place it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs. The nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 7600S (0.5% faster), AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (1.8% slower), and AMD Radeon Pro 5600M and Pro 5700 (both 1.7% faster). These margins are small, indicating that the RTX 2060 sits in a tightly contested mid-range tier.

The GPU's 160 W TDP and dual-slot design suggest it was designed for mainstream desktop builds, and its 450 W suggested PSU requirement is modest. However, its end-of-life production status and 2019 release date mean it is now an older part, and the measured performance in Barony reflects its age: while it handles 1080p and 1440p admirably, 4K gaming requires significant settings compromises. The pairing with the Ryzen 7 9800X3D creates an imbalanced system where the CPU's 90th percentile performance is wasted at resolutions above 1080p, as the GPU becomes the definitive performance ceiling.