Barony

The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile produces an extraordinary range of frame rates in Barony, scaling from a 493 FPS average at 1080p Low to a still-very-playable 74 FPS at 4K Ultra. This combination ranks 813th out of 3,717 tested combos, placing it in the top 22% of all configurations, and the data reveals a system that is heavily bound by the CPU at lower resolutions while the GPU becomes the primary constraint only at the most demanding settings. The measured results offer a clear picture of how these flagship mobile components interact with a roguelike title that is not typically associated with high-end hardware demands.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and tells a clear story about where the bottleneck lies. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 493 at 1920x1080 to 311 at 2560x1440, then to 163 at 3840x2160. That is a 67% reduction from 1080p to 4K, which is a massive penalty that indicates the GPU is being increasingly taxed as pixel count grows. The pattern is consistent across all settings, but the absolute drops are most severe at the lower presets.

At Medium settings, the progression is 366 FPS at 1080p, 231 FPS at 1440p, and 121 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 37%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 48%. This suggests that the scaling is not linear; the transition to 4K imposes a disproportionately larger load on the graphics processor. The 4K Medium result also includes a minimum FPS of 103 and a maximum of 139, showing a 36 FPS variance that hints at some scene-dependent complexity that the GPU must handle.

High settings show a similar trend: 315 FPS at 1080p, 199 FPS at 1440p, and 104 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1440p to 4K here is 48%, nearly identical to the Medium preset’s proportional decline. This consistency across Medium and High suggests that the RTX 5090 Mobile’s rendering pipeline is being saturated in a predictable way as resolution increases, regardless of the specific quality preset. The Ultra preset, however, shows the steepest relative decline, going from 226 FPS at 1080p to 142 FPS at 1440p and then to 74 FPS at 4K, a 67% drop from 1080p to 4K.

The data implies that at 1080p, the CPU is the limiting component, as the GPU is capable of pushing far beyond 300 FPS but is not being fully utilized. The Ryzen 9 8945HX, with its 16 cores and 32 threads, has a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42,713 and a single-core score of 6,030, which are strong but not unlimited. Barony, being a roguelike, likely has significant game logic and simulation threads that can bottleneck at extremely high frame rates. At 4K, the GPU takes over as the primary constraint, with the 896.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 24 GB of GDDR7 memory being pushed to their limits.

GPU Role

The RTX 5090 Mobile is a formidable graphics processor, but its role in Barony is nuanced by the game’s relatively simple visuals. The GPU’s base clock is 990 MHz with a boost clock of 1515 MHz, and it features 10,496 shading units alongside 328 texture mapping units and 112 raster operation pipelines. The 24 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 896.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for a game like Barony that does not feature high-resolution texture packs or complex geometry.

At 1080p, the GPU’s capabilities are largely untapped. The Low preset achieves 493 FPS, but the Ultra preset still manages 226 FPS. This indicates that even at the highest quality settings, the GPU is not the limiting factor at this resolution. The 1080p Ultra result of 226 FPS is only 46% of the Low preset’s frame rate, which shows that the additional visual effects and shading are being handled without introducing a CPU-bound stall. The GPU’s FP32 performance of 31.80 TFLOPS is clearly enough to handle Barony’s pixel shading requirements at 1080p, but the frame rate ceiling is set by the CPU.

At 1440p, the GPU begins to show its influence. The Low preset drops to 311 FPS, while Ultra falls to 142 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 169 FPS, wider than the 267 FPS gap at 1080p. This suggests that the GPU’s fill rate and shader throughput are becoming more relevant as pixel count increases, but the CPU is still able to feed the GPU at these rates. The 1440p Medium result includes a minimum FPS of 197, which is a 34 FPS drop from the average of 231, indicating that certain scenes with more on-screen elements can cause the GPU to wait on the CPU.

At 4K, the GPU is the definitive bottleneck. The Low preset drops to 163 FPS, and Ultra falls to 74 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 89 FPS, which is a smaller absolute gap than at lower resolutions but a larger proportional one. The 4K Medium minimum FPS of 103 shows that the GPU can still dip below 100 FPS in complex scenes, even at a moderate preset. The VRAM capacity of 24 GB is never a concern in this title, as Barony’s texture requirements are modest, but the memory bandwidth of 896.0 GB/s is likely more relevant at 4K where the GPU must fetch and process more pixel data per frame.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 813 out of 3,717 tested configurations places it in the 78th percentile of all combinations, which is a strong result but not the absolute top. This rank reflects the entire system’s performance in Barony, and it is important to note that the CPU and GPU each have their own merit against rivals. The Ryzen 9 8945HX has an average benchmark score of 76,212, which is 0.1% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX and 0.6% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D, while being 0.4% behind the AMD EPYC Embedded 8224P and the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9945WX.

The RTX 5090 Mobile, with an average benchmark score of 45,152, is 0.8% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti but 0.5% behind the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT, 1% behind the Intel Arc A730M, and 1.8% behind the NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation. These rival comparisons are based on synthetic benchmarks, and the actual in-game performance may differ. The fact that this combo ranks 813th suggests that there are many other combinations that outperform it in Barony, likely due to the game’s sensitivity to CPU single-thread performance and the fact that the 8945HX, while powerful, is not the absolute fastest mobile CPU available.

The rank also indicates that the measured FPS results are not record-breaking, despite the high-end components. Given that the 1080p Low preset achieves 493 FPS, there are likely systems with higher-clocked CPUs that can push even further. The 8945HX’s boost clock of 5.40 GHz is high, but its base clock of 2.50 GHz suggests that sustained all-core loads may not reach the boost frequency, which could limit performance in a game that uses multiple threads for simulation. The combo’s rank is a reminder that raw component strength does not always translate to top-tier game performance, especially in a title that may favor lower-latency, higher-frequency CPUs.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance for choosing a settings preset based on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1080p, the High preset at 315 FPS is more than sufficient for any display, and the Ultra preset at 226 FPS remains well above the 144 Hz refresh rate of most gaming monitors. The Low preset at 493 FPS offers no practical benefit unless the user has a 360 Hz or higher display, but the visual quality loss is unlikely to be worth the extra frame rate.

At 1440p, the High preset at 199 FPS is the best balance, as it provides a smooth experience on high-refresh-rate monitors. The Medium preset at 231 FPS is also viable, but the jump to High only costs 32 FPS while likely improving visual fidelity. The Ultra preset at 142 FPS is still above 120 FPS, making it suitable for users with 144 Hz displays who prioritize image quality. The Low preset at 311 FPS is overkill and would only be recommended for competitive play where every frame matters.

At 4K, the Medium preset at 121 FPS is the recommended choice, as it maintains a frame rate above 100 FPS while offering a reasonable visual experience. The High preset at 104 FPS is also playable, but the 17 FPS difference between Medium and High may not justify the potential visual improvements. The Ultra preset at 74 FPS is borderline for a smooth experience, as it falls below the 90 FPS threshold that many players consider the minimum for fluid motion. The Low preset at 163 FPS is surprisingly fast at 4K, but the low-quality textures and effects would detract from the game’s visual presentation.

The data suggests that the Medium preset is the sweet spot across all resolutions, as it offers the best balance of frame rate and visual quality. At 4K Medium, the minimum FPS of 103 ensures that the experience remains smooth even in demanding scenes, while the average of 121 FPS provides headroom for dips. For users with G-Sync or FreeSync displays, the High preset at 4K is also viable, as the 104 FPS average is within the variable refresh rate range of most monitors.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 493 FPS, with no minimum or maximum values recorded. The Medium preset averages 366 FPS, with a minimum of 312 and a maximum of 421, showing a 109 FPS range that indicates significant scene-to-scene variation. The High preset averages 315 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 226 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a 54% reduction in frame rate, from 493 to 226 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 311 FPS, while the Medium preset averages 231 FPS with a minimum of 197 and a maximum of 266. The High preset averages 199 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 142 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra at 1440p is 54%, matching the 1080p proportional decline. The Medium preset’s 69 FPS range between minimum and maximum is tighter than at 1080p, suggesting that the GPU is smoothing out some of the frame time variance.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 163 FPS, the Medium preset averages 121 FPS with a minimum of 103 and a maximum of 139, the High preset averages 104 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 74 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra at 4K is 55%, consistent with the other resolutions. The 4K Medium preset’s 36 FPS range is the smallest of any resolution, indicating that the GPU is more consistently loaded at this pixel count.

The data shows that the Medium preset is the only one with recorded minimum and maximum values across all three resolutions, providing a more complete picture of performance stability. At 1080p Medium, the minimum of 312 FPS is 85% of the average, while at 1440p Medium, the minimum of 197 FPS is 85% of the average. At 4K Medium, the minimum of 103 FPS is also 85% of the average, showing a consistent ratio that suggests the game’s frame pacing is stable relative to the average.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achieved by this combo in Barony?

A: The highest average FPS is 493, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K Ultra compared to 1080p Ultra?

A: At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 74, while at 1080p Ultra, it is 226. This represents a 67% reduction in frame rate when moving from 1080p to 4K at the Ultra preset.

Q: Is the GPU or CPU the limiting factor at 1440p resolution?

A: At 1440p, the data indicates a transition zone. The Low preset achieves 311 FPS, which is likely CPU-bound, while the Ultra preset at 142 FPS shows the GPU becoming more influential. The Medium preset’s minimum FPS of 197 suggests that both components are working near their limits.

Q: What is the combo’s rank among all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 813th out of 3,717 tested combinations, placing it in the top 22% of all systems tested in Barony.

Q: Does the RTX 5090 Mobile’s 24 GB VRAM affect performance in Barony?

A: The measured data does not show any VRAM-related performance issues, as Barony’s texture requirements are modest. The 24 GB capacity is far more than the game needs, and the 896.0 GB/s memory bandwidth is sufficient for all tested settings.

Q: Which settings preset offers the best balance at 4K?

A: The Medium preset at 4K provides an average of 121 FPS with a minimum of 103 FPS, making it the best choice for maintaining smooth gameplay while retaining acceptable visual quality. The High preset at 104 FPS is also viable, but the Medium preset offers more headroom.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX plays a critical role in Barony’s performance, particularly at lower resolutions where the GPU is not the bottleneck. This processor features 16 cores and 32 threads, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. The architecture is Zen 4, built on a 5 nm process from TSMC, with a total of 13,140 million transistors across a dual-chiplet design with a die size of 2x 71 mm². The cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 64 MB of L3 cache.

The CPU’s benchmark results show strong multi-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42,713 and a single-core score of 6,030. The PassMark multi-thread score is 51,405, and the single-thread score is 3,907. These figures place the CPU in the 95th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 76,212. The nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX, has an average score of 76,155, which is 0.1% lower, indicating that the 8945HX is competitive but not dominant.

In Barony, the CPU’s role is most evident at 1080p, where the frame rate is capped by the processor’s ability to handle the game’s simulation logic. The 1080p Low preset at 493 FPS is likely approaching the CPU’s maximum throughput for this game, as the GPU is capable of rendering far more frames. The 5.40 GHz boost clock is beneficial for single-threaded tasks, but the 2.50 GHz base clock suggests that sustained all-core loads may not maintain the highest frequency. Barony, being a roguelike, may have significant per-entity logic that benefits from the 16 cores, but the single-thread performance is also crucial.

The 83.2 GB/s memory bandwidth from the dual-channel DDR5 support is another factor, as the CPU must feed data to the GPU and handle game state updates. The 64 MB of L3 cache helps reduce memory latency, which is important for a game with many small objects and frequent state changes. The CPU’s percentile rank of 95 indicates that it is a top-tier processor, but the 0.4% deltaPct behind the AMD EPYC Embedded 8224P and the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9945WX shows that there are faster options available.

At 4K, the CPU’s influence diminishes, as the GPU becomes the primary constraint. However, the 4K Low preset at 163 FPS still requires a capable CPU to avoid bottlenecking the GPU. The 8945HX’s 32 threads ensure that no single core becomes a bottleneck in scene loading or AI updates, even at high frame rates. The data suggests that the CPU is well-matched to the GPU for this game, but the combo’s rank of 813 out of 3,717 indicates that other combinations with faster single-thread performance may achieve higher frame rates at 1080p, while the GPU’s rasterization limits are reached at 4K.