Barony

The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 delivers a wide spread of frame rates in Barony, ranging from a highly playable 53.6 FPS at 4K High to a blistering 263.9 FPS at 1080p Low. The benchmark data reveals a system where the GPU becomes the primary scaling factor as resolution increases, while the 16-core processor maintains a strong baseline across all settings. The measured results place this combo at rank 1348 out of 1702 tested configurations, indicating a mid-tier standing in the game's performance hierarchy.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data shows a clear and consistent pattern of performance degradation as resolution climbs from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 167.1 at 1080p to 104.3 at 1440p, a reduction of 62.8 FPS, and then further down to 53.6 at 4K, which is a 113.5 FPS decrease from the 1080p baseline. This scaling behavior is typical of a system where the RTX 2060's rendering throughput becomes the limiting factor at higher pixel counts.

The resolution scaling pattern is even more pronounced at lower settings. Moving from 1080p Low at 263.9 FPS to 1440p Low at 168 FPS represents a 95.9 FPS drop, and the 4K Low result of 88.1 FPS is a 175.8 FPS reduction from the 1080p figure. This steep decline indicates that at Low settings, the system is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, as the CPU has ample headroom with its 16 cores and 32 threads to feed frames, but the GPU's 6 GB of GDDR6 memory and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth struggle to keep pace with the increased pixel workload.

The data suggests that the RTX 2060 is the primary bottleneck at 4K, regardless of quality preset. The gap between 1080p and 4K at Ultra settings is 81.1 FPS (123.1 down to 42), which is a 65.9% reduction. This proportionally larger drop at higher settings reinforces that the GPU's compute resources, including its 1920 shading units and 48 ROPs, are saturated when rendering Barony at 3840x2160 with demanding visual effects enabled.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for maintaining a 60 FPS average in Barony with this setup?

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 at High settings achieves 104.3 FPS, while 3840x2160 at Medium settings produces 66 FPS. For a consistent 60 FPS experience, 4K Medium is the highest resolution that clears this threshold, though 4K High at 53.6 FPS falls short.

Q: How much performance is gained by lowering settings from Ultra to Low at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS increases from 123.1 at Ultra to 263.9 at Low, representing a 140.8 FPS improvement. This indicates that Barony's Low preset significantly reduces the rendering load on the RTX 2060.

Q: Does the Ryzen 9 5950X bottleneck the RTX 2060 in this game?

A: Benchmark results indicate the CPU is not a limiting factor. The 5950X scores 38607 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 5450 in single-core, placing it in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs. The frame rate scaling with resolution changes points to the GPU as the constraint.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between 1440p and 4K at Ultra settings?

A: At Ultra settings, the average FPS drops from 77.6 at 2560x1440 to 42 at 3840x2160. This 35.6 FPS reduction shows that 4K Ultra demands nearly double the GPU work per frame compared to 1440p Ultra.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems in Barony?

A: The combination ranks 1348 out of 1702 tested configurations. This places it in the lower-mid range of the benchmark database, consistent with the RTX 2060 sitting in the 58th percentile of all GPUs.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is the decisive component in this system's Barony performance. Its 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p play but becomes strained at 4K. The GPU's boost clock of 1680 MHz and base clock of 1365 MHz drive its 1920 shading units, and the measured FPS data shows that this configuration handles Barony's roguelike rendering demands effectively up to 1440p.

At 1080p, the RTX 2060 delivers frame rates well above the refresh rate of most monitors, with 263.9 FPS at Low and 167.1 FPS at High. These numbers suggest that the GPU is not fully utilized at this resolution, as the CPU can feed frames faster than the GPU can render them. However, the situation reverses at 4K, where even the Low preset drops to 88.1 FPS, and Ultra falls to 42 FPS, indicating the GPU's pixel throughput and memory bandwidth are the chief constraints.

The GPU's benchmark scores corroborate its mid-range positioning. Its Passmark G3D score of 14111 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1242 place it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs. Compared to its nearest rivals, the RTX 2060 is 0.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 7600S but 1.7% behind both the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M and AMD Radeon Pro 5700. These small deltas suggest that Barony's performance with this GPU is representative of its general compute capabilities.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RTX 2060 and Ryzen 9 5950X combination produces its highest frame rates. The Low preset averages 263.9 FPS, which is the fastest measured result across all resolutions and settings. Medium settings yield 193.6 FPS, High settings produce 167.1 FPS, and Ultra settings still maintain a robust 123.1 FPS. This pattern shows that at 1080p, even the most demanding preset remains comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold, offering headroom for high-refresh-rate displays.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scales down proportionally. Low settings average 168 FPS, Medium delivers 125.8 FPS, High achieves 104.3 FPS, and Ultra drops to 77.6 FPS. These figures indicate that 1440p is the sweet spot for this configuration, as all presets except Ultra remain well above 100 FPS, and even Ultra stays above 60 FPS with a 17.6 FPS margin.

At 3840x2160, the GPU begins to struggle. Low settings average 88.1 FPS, which is still playable, but Medium drops to 66 FPS, High falls to 53.6 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 42 FPS. The data shows that 4K gaming with this setup requires either Low or Medium settings to maintain fluid gameplay, with the 66 FPS Medium result being the only 4K preset that comfortably clears the 60 FPS mark.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X provides a formidable foundation for Barony's performance. With 16 cores and 32 threads based on the Zen 3 Vermeer architecture, this processor excels in multi-threaded workloads, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 38607 and Passmark multithread score of 45424. Its boost clock of 4.90 GHz and base clock of 3.40 GHz ensure strong single-thread performance, reflected in the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5450.

In Barony, the CPU's role appears to be providing a stable frame delivery pipeline rather than a bottleneck. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p, the system achieves frame rates exceeding 260 FPS at Low settings, which indicates that the processor can handle the game's simulation and logic demands without limiting the GPU. The 5950X's 64 MB of L3 cache and 51.2 GB/s memory bandwidth on a dual-channel DDR4 interface contribute to this headroom.

The processor's benchmark standing reinforces its capability. With an average benchmark score of 49062, the 5950X sits in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-14600K, scores 49166, a difference of only 0.2%, while the AMD EPYC 4345P trails by 1.1%. This performance level ensures that Barony's CPU-bound aspects, such as procedural level generation and enemy AI, do not impede the frame rates observed in the measured data.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For 1920x1080, the Ultra preset at 123.1 FPS is the best choice for visual fidelity without sacrificing smoothness, as it remains well above the 60 FPS threshold. Players seeking maximum responsiveness can opt for Low at 263.9 FPS, but the visual trade-off is significant for a marginal competitive advantage in this roguelike title.

At 2560x1440, the High preset at 104.3 FPS offers the best balance between image quality and performance. It provides a 26.7 FPS advantage over Ultra while maintaining substantially better visuals than Medium's 125.8 FPS. The Ultra preset at 77.6 FPS is still viable for players who prioritize graphics, but the 34.4% performance drop from High may not justify the visual gains in a game where clarity of action is paramount.

For 3840x2160, the Medium preset at 66 FPS is the recommended configuration, as it is the only 4K setting that consistently exceeds 60 FPS. Low at 88.1 FPS provides additional headroom but sacrifices visual details, while High at 53.6 FPS and Ultra at 42 FPS fall below the smoothness threshold. The 4K Medium result of 66 FPS demonstrates that this system can handle 4K gaming in Barony, but with compromises in quality settings.