Barony

The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination delivers exceptional performance in Barony, with measured frame rates that scale predictably across resolutions and settings. The data positions this pairing in the top tier of tested configurations, ranking 54th out of 1702 combos. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS, settings behavior, and the CPU’s role in the results.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals a system that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, but the CPU still has headroom to spare. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 426.9 FPS at 1920x1080 to 266.6 FPS at 2560x1440, then to 137.6 FPS at 3840x2160. That is a 40% reduction going from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 48% drop moving to 4K. The scaling is consistent with a GPU that is being fed by a very capable processor.

At Low settings, the pattern intensifies. The 1920x1080 result is 646.7 FPS, which drops to 421 FPS at 2560x1440 and 219 FPS at 4K. The 1080p-to-1440p reduction is 35%, and the 1440p-to-4K reduction is 48%. These are large absolute numbers, but the relative drops are similar to High settings, indicating the RTX 4090 is the primary limiter even at lower graphical loads. The CPU is not the bottleneck here; otherwise, the 1080p Low result would be closer to the 1440p Low result.

Ultra settings show the steepest scaling curve. At 1080p, the average is 305.1 FPS, falling to 191.8 FPS at 1440p and 97.5 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is the lowest measured in the entire dataset, which is expected given the combination of maximum graphical load and high resolution. The data suggests that the 5950X’s 16 cores and 32 threads are more than sufficient to keep up with the RTX 4090; the frame rate drops are almost entirely attributable to the GPU’s rendering workload.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows show that Medium settings offer the best balance of visual quality and frame rate for this combo. At 4K, Medium delivers 163.1 FPS, which is 18.5% higher than High’s 137.6 FPS and 67% higher than Ultra’s 97.5 FPS. The jump from Medium to High costs 25.5 FPS at 4K, while the jump from High to Ultra costs another 40.1 FPS. The performance loss from Medium to Ultra is 65.6 FPS, which is a substantial hit for what is often a marginal visual improvement in a roguelike title.

At 1440p, Medium yields 314.6 FPS, which is comfortably above the refresh rate of most high-end monitors. High settings at 1440p still produce 266.6 FPS, so there is headroom to push quality up if desired. At 1080p, even Ultra settings hit 305.1 FPS, so the choice of preset is less critical at that resolution. The data indicates that Medium is the sweet spot for 4K gaming, while High is perfectly viable at 1440p and below. Ultra is only recommended for those who prioritize image quality over frame rate headroom.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 54 out of 1702 tested configurations places this pairing in the top 3.2% of all combinations. This is a strong result, but it is not the absolute top, which suggests that other CPU-GPU pairings can edge out this specific setup in Barony. The ranking reflects the overall measured FPS across the tested resolutions and settings, and the 5950X + RTX 4090 combination clearly has no trouble achieving triple-digit frame rates in almost every scenario.

The CPU itself ranks in the 93rd percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 49062. Its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks are the Intel Core i5-14600K (scoring 49166, a delta of -0.2%), the Intel Core i5-14600KF (49367, delta -0.6%), the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (48698, delta 0.7%), and the AMD EPYC 4345P (49595, delta -1.1%). These deltas are all within 1.1%, meaning the 5950X is statistically tied with these processors in overall compute performance. The GPU, meanwhile, is in the 91st percentile against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 66473. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA Tesla T4 (66733, delta -0.4%), NVIDIA Tesla P40 (66127, delta 0.5%), AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 (67097, delta -0.9%), and NVIDIA Quadro P6000 (67320, delta -1.3%). The GPU deltas are similarly tight, all within 1.3%.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured dataset is as follows. At 1920x1080, Low settings produce 646.7 FPS, Medium produces 492.6 FPS, High produces 426.9 FPS, and Ultra produces 305.1 FPS. At 2560x1440, Low produces 421 FPS, Medium produces 314.6 FPS, High produces 266.6 FPS, and Ultra produces 191.8 FPS. At 3840x2160, Low produces 219 FPS, Medium produces 163.1 FPS, High produces 137.6 FPS, and Ultra produces 97.5 FPS.

The 1080p Low result of 646.7 FPS is the highest measured frame rate in the entire dataset. This indicates a massive amount of CPU headroom; even at this extreme frame rate, the 5950X is not the limiting factor. The 4K Ultra result of 97.5 FPS is the only measured row below 100 FPS, which is still a very playable frame rate for a roguelike. The gap between 1080p Low and 4K Ultra is 549.2 FPS, illustrating the dramatic impact of both resolution and settings on this hardware.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU-GPU combo in Barony?

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 provides an excellent balance, with High settings yielding 266.6 FPS and Ultra yielding 191.8 FPS. This resolution keeps frame rates well above 144 Hz even at maximum settings.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X a bottleneck for the RTX 4090 in this game?

A: No. The 1080p Low result of 646.7 FPS indicates the CPU can push frame rates far beyond what most monitors can display. The FPS drops from 1080p to 4K are consistent with GPU-bound scaling.

Q: How does the 5950X compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The 5950X scores 49062 on average, which is within 1.1% of the Intel Core i5-14600K (49166), Intel Core i5-14600KF (49367), Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (48698), and AMD EPYC 4345P (49595). Performance is effectively identical.

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

A: At 3840x2160, Low settings produce 219 FPS, while Ultra settings produce 97.5 FPS. That is a difference of 121.5 FPS, or a 55% reduction in frame rate when moving to maximum quality.

Q: Should I use Medium or High settings at 4K?

A: Medium produces 163.1 FPS, which is 25.5 FPS higher than High’s 137.6 FPS. The 18.5% performance gain from dropping from High to Medium is significant, making Medium the better choice for higher refresh rate displays.

Q: Does the combo rank in the top 50 of all tested configurations?

A: No. The combo rank is 54 out of 1702, which places it just outside the top 50 but still in the top 3.2% of all tested combinations.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X is a 16-core, 32-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, manufactured on a 7 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, with a 64 MB L3 cache. In Barony, these specifications translate into a platform that can feed the RTX 4090 without breaking a sweat. The 1080p Low result of 646.7 FPS is direct evidence of this; a weaker CPU would cap out at a lower frame rate, but the 5950X keeps pushing.

The CPU’s synthetic benchmark scores corroborate its gaming performance. It achieves 38607 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 5450 in single-core, which are strong numbers. The 3DMark thread scaling is also telling: the 2-thread score is 1856, the 8-thread score is 6598, and the max-thread score is 11597. This scaling indicates that the processor maintains efficiency as more cores are utilized, which is relevant for games that use multiple threads for physics, AI, and scene management.

Despite being a 105 W TDP part with a launch MSRP of $799, the 5950X’s performance in this game is not constrained by its power envelope. The measured frame rates show that the processor’s single-thread performance (Geekbench single-core score of 2211) is sufficient for Barony’s primary game logic, while the multi-thread capability (Geekbench multi-core score of 12084) provides headroom for background tasks and streaming. The data confirms that this CPU is not the limiting component in this pairing; the RTX 4090’s rendering workload is the deciding factor in frame rate scaling across resolutions and settings.