Barony

The Intel Core i3-12100F and AMD Radeon RX 570 pairing delivers a playable but resolution-sensitive experience in Barony. The data shows a clear hierarchy where the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck as resolution increases, while the CPU’s four cores provide sufficient headroom for the roguelike’s logic. The measured FPS ranges from a smooth 139 frames per second at 1080p Low to a stuttering 20.5 frames per second at 4K Ultra, indicating that users must carefully select settings based on their display target.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 85.6 at 1920x1080 to 58.6 at 2560x1440, then to 27.8 at 3840x2160. This represents a 31.5% loss from 1080p to 1440p and a further 52.6% loss from 1440p to 4K. The scaling pattern is nearly identical at Medium settings, where the numbers go from 100.8 to 65.5 to 37.2. The Low preset shows the same trend but with higher absolute values: 139 at 1080p, 89.7 at 1440p, and 48.2 at 4K.

The Ultra preset is the most demanding, with 62.5, 41.7, and 20.5 frames per second across the three resolutions. The percentage drop between 1440p and 4K is roughly 50% in every preset, which strongly suggests that the Radeon RX 570’s 4 GB of GDDR5 memory and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth are saturated at the higher pixel counts. The 256-bit memory bus cannot feed enough data to the 2048 shading units when pixel output quadruples. The compute capability of 5.095 TFLOPS becomes the limiting factor at 4K, where even Low settings cannot hold 60 frames per second.

At 1080p, the scaling is more forgiving. The difference between Low and Ultra is 76.5 frames per second (139 vs 62.5), showing that the GPU has enough resources to handle the lower pixel count. The 4K results indicate that this combination is not suited for native 4K gaming, as even the lowest preset fails to reach the 48.2 frames per second mark that would be considered acceptable for a slower-paced roguelike. The 1440p results are more balanced, with Medium and High both exceeding 58 frames per second, making that resolution the practical ceiling for this hardware.

CPU Role

The Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor based on Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel’s 10 nm process. Its base clock of 3.30 GHz and boost clock of 4.30 GHz provide strong single-thread performance, as evidenced by the 3dmark single-thread score of 893 and the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1681. In Barony, a roguelike that typically relies on procedural generation and simulation logic, single-thread speed often matters more than raw core count. The 12 MB of shared L3 cache helps keep frequently accessed game data close to the cores.

The CPU’s benchmark profile shows it sits in the 72nd percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 13516. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX at 13534 (0.1% faster) and the Intel Core i7-1250U at 13462 (0.4% slower). The data indicates that the i3-12100F holds its own against much more expensive processors in synthetic tests, which translates to adequate headroom for Barony’s game logic. The 3dmark results show a plateau at higher thread counts: 4051 for 16 threads, 4026 for 8 threads, and 4023 for max threads, meaning the processor does not scale beyond 8 threads. This is typical for a 4-core part, but it is sufficient for a game that does not require massive parallel processing.

The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 11912 and the Passmark multithread score of 14015 suggest that the CPU can handle background tasks while gaming, but the game itself is unlikely to be CPU-bound at any resolution tested here. The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K is almost entirely driven by GPU load, as the CPU’s performance remains constant regardless of resolution. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the frame rates would stay flat across resolutions, but they drop dramatically, confirming that the i3-12100F is not the bottleneck in this configuration.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 570 is a Polaris 20 chip built on GlobalFoundries’ 14 nm process, featuring 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 32 render output units. Its base clock of 1168 MHz and boost clock of 1244 MHz deliver 5.095 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. The 4 GB of GDDR5 memory operates at 1750 MHz (7 Gbps effective) across a 256-bit bus, yielding 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth. These specifications place the GPU in the 74th percentile against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 30158.

The GPU’s nearest rivals are surprising: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 scores 30109 (0.2% slower), the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT scores 30097 (0.2% slower), and the NVIDIA Tesla M60 scores 29969 (0.6% slower). This data indicates that in synthetic benchmarks, the RX 570 performs comparably to much newer cards, which reflects its architecture’s efficiency at its target resolution. However, the 4 GB VRAM capacity is a limiting factor at higher resolutions and settings, as Barony’s texture and geometry demands increase with pixel count.

The measured FPS data shows the GPU’s performance ceiling. At 1080p Low, the card achieves 139 frames per second, which is near its practical maximum for this game. The Ultra preset at 1080p (62.5 frames per second) is playable but shows the card’s limits when all effects are enabled. The 4K results (20.5 to 48.2 frames per second) are below acceptable thresholds, indicating that the RX 570 cannot maintain fluid gameplay at that resolution regardless of settings. The 1440p results are the sweet spot, with High at 58.6 and Medium at 65.5 frames per second providing a good balance between visual quality and performance.

The GPU’s pixel rate of 39.81 GPixel/s and texture rate of 159.2 GTexel/s are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but the 4K load requires more than double the pixel throughput, which the card cannot deliver. The TDP of 150 W and the suggested PSU of 450 W indicate that this is a power-conscious card, but the performance ceiling is what it is. The end-of-life production status suggests that users should not expect driver optimizations to unlock significant additional performance.

FAQ

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

A: The 2560x1440 results are the most balanced, with High settings delivering 58.6 frames per second and Medium delivering 65.5 frames per second. Both are above the 60 FPS threshold that most players consider smooth.

*Q: Can this setup handle 4K gaming in Barony?*

A: No, not comfortably. The highest 4K result is 48.2 frames per second at Low settings, and Ultra drops to 20.5 frames per second. The GPU’s 4 GB VRAM and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for sustained 4K performance.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Core i3-12100F scores 13516 on average, which is 0.1% slower than the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX and 0.4% faster than the Intel Core i7-1250U. It is 0.6% faster than the Core i3-10105 and 1.8% faster than the Core i7-7700K.

Q: Is the GPU better or worse than the RTX 5060?

A: The RX 570 has an average benchmark score of 30158, which is 0.2% higher than the RTX 5060’s 30109. This means the two cards are nearly identical in synthetic tests, despite the RX 570 being an older generation.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Low settings produce 139 frames per second while Ultra produces 62.5 frames per second. This is a difference of 76.5 frames per second, or roughly 55% fewer frames when enabling all visual effects.

Q: Should I prioritize CPU or GPU upgrades for better performance?

A: The data shows the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions. At 4K, the FPS drops by half from 1440p, while the CPU’s performance is unchanged. Upgrading the GPU would provide more tangible benefits for Barony.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear picture of which preset offers the best experience for different resolution targets. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset at 100.8 frames per second is the best choice for most users, as it provides a significant improvement over High (85.6) while staying well above the 60 FPS threshold. The Low preset at 139 frames per second is unnecessarily fast for a roguelike, and the visual trade-off is not worth the extra frames. The Ultra preset at 62.5 frames per second is playable but leaves little headroom for complex scenes with many enemies or particle effects.

At 2560x1440, the High preset at 58.6 frames per second offers the best visual quality while remaining close to the 60 FPS target. The Medium preset at 65.5 frames per second is a safer choice if the user prefers a consistent frame rate over slight visual improvements. The Ultra preset at 41.7 frames per second is below the preferred threshold and should be avoided. The Low preset at 89.7 frames per second is fast but looks noticeably worse, so it is only recommended for competitive play where frame rate is paramount.

At 3840x2160, no preset achieves 60 frames per second. The Low preset at 48.2 is the only playable option, but it is still below the standard threshold. If 4K is the target, users should consider lowering the resolution to 1440p and using High settings instead. The Ultra preset at 20.5 frames per second is effectively unplayable. In summary, the recommended settings are Medium at 1080p, High at 1440p, and Low (with the understanding that it will be sub-60) at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured results for Barony with the Intel Core i3-12100F and AMD Radeon RX 570 is as follows.

At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 20.5 frames per second. The High preset improves to 27.8 frames per second. The Medium preset reaches 37.2 frames per second. The Low preset achieves 48.2 frames per second, which is the highest 4K result.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset produces 41.7 frames per second. The High preset increases to 58.6 frames per second. The Medium preset yields 65.5 frames per second. The Low preset reaches 89.7 frames per second, which is comfortably above 60 FPS.

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers 62.5 frames per second. The High preset produces 85.6 frames per second. The Medium preset hits 100.8 frames per second. The Low preset achieves 139 frames per second, the highest result across all resolutions and settings.

The data shows a consistent pattern: each step down in settings yields roughly a 15-20% frame rate increase, and each step down in resolution yields a roughly 50% frame rate increase. The largest jump is from 1440p to 1080p, where the GPU’s pixel load is reduced by more than half, allowing the RX 570 to stretch its legs. The smallest jump is from 4K to 1440p at Low settings, where the frame rate nearly doubles from 48.2 to 89.7, indicating that the 4K resolution is the hardest wall for this hardware to climb.