Barony

Barony, a roguelike with a 2015 release date, shows unusual scaling behavior in this benchmark set when paired with the Intel Core i3-12100F and AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT. The data reveals a configuration that is heavily front-end bound, where the CPU dictates performance more than the GPU, leading to surprising results at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frames per second (FPS) data for this combination reveals a clear trend: performance scales massively with resolution, but not in the way typical of a GPU-bound system. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the average FPS is 434.9. When moving to 2560x1440 at the same Low preset, the average drops to 273. At 4K (3840x2160) with Low settings, the average further falls to 146.6. This represents a 66% reduction in average FPS from 1080p to 4K, indicating that the rendering load is shifting significantly onto the graphics card as pixel count increases.

However, the pattern changes with higher graphical presets. At 1080p with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 197.2, which is less than half of the Low setting result. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows as resolution increases. At 2560x1440, Ultra produces 123.9 FPS compared to Low's 273 FPS, and at 3840x2160, Ultra achieves 64.7 FPS versus Low's 146.6 FPS. This convergence suggests that at 1080p, the system is bottlenecked by something other than the GPU, likely the CPU, preventing it from reaching the higher frame rates that the graphics card could theoretically produce.

The data suggests that at 1080p, the Intel Core i3-12100F is the limiting component. The RX 6800 XT, which sits in the 87th percentile of all GPUs, is capable of far more than 434.9 FPS at Low settings, but the processor's four cores cannot feed it fast enough. At 4K, the tables turn. The GPU becomes the primary constraint, with the average FPS dropping to 146.6 on Low, which is a more typical GPU-bound scenario. The scaling from 1440p to 4K on High settings shows a drop from 173.9 FPS to 94.7 FPS, a 45% reduction, which aligns more closely with what one would expect from a high-end graphics card handling increased pixel throughput.

This analysis indicates that for players using this specific hardware pairing, the optimal resolution for balancing visual fidelity and frame rate is 2560x1440. At this resolution, the system still achieves high frame rates on most presets, but the GPU is being utilized more effectively, reducing the CPU bottleneck that plagues 1080p performance.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is a powerful piece of silicon, built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture and fabricated on a 7 nm process by TSMC. It features 4608 shading units, 288 texture mapping units, and 128 render output units. The card operates with a base clock of 1825 MHz, a game clock of 2015 MHz, and a boost clock of 2250 MHz. This configuration allows it to deliver a pixel rate of 288.0 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 648.0 GTexel/s, with a peak FP32 performance of 20.74 TFLOPS.

Memory is a significant asset for this GPU. It comes equipped with 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 512.0 GB/s. This large memory pool is more than sufficient for Barony, a game that does not require massive texture buffers, but it ensures that the card is never starved for data. The GPU's benchmark scores reflect its capabilities. It scores 24980 in Passmark's G3D test and 152200 in Geekbench's Vulkan test, placing it in the 87th percentile of all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 49982 puts it in close competition with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER, which scores 48704, a 2.6% difference.

In this specific game, the GPU's role is more pronounced at higher resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 64.7, which is a demanding scenario that tests the card's raw compute and memory bandwidth. The data shows that the GPU can handle the load, but it is not capable of maintaining the high frame rates seen at lower resolutions. The card's performance in DirectX 12, evidenced by a Passmark score of 100, is relevant as it is the primary API for modern gaming. The transition from 1080p High (279.1 FPS) to 4K High (94.7 FPS) shows a 66% performance hit, which is a direct result of the increased pixel count and the GPU's inability to maintain the same level of output.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a quad-core processor from the Alder Lake-S architecture, featuring 8 threads. It operates at a base clock of 3.30 GHz and can boost up to 4.30 GHz. This CPU is designed for the Intel Socket 1700 and supports either DDR4 or DDR5 memory. In terms of cache, it has 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core, and a shared 12 MB L3 cache. This is a budget-conscious processor with a multi-threaded performance that places it in the 72nd percentile of all CPUs.

The CPU's benchmark results are telling. In Cinebench R23, it scores 11912 in multi-core and 1681 in single-core. Its Geekbench scores are 7413 for multi-core and 2224 for single-core. These scores show a processor with decent single-thread capability, which is crucial for older game engines like the one powering Barony, but a limited multi-threaded throughput due to its four physical cores. The Passmark multi-thread score of 14015 and the 3DMark 16-thread score of 4051 highlight this constraint.

In Barony, the CPU's role is dominant at lower resolutions. The 1080p Low setting result of 434.9 FPS is likely near the maximum frame rate the CPU can generate for this game's simulation and draw call processing. The average benchmark score for this CPU is 13516, which is remarkably close to the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX, which scores 13534, a difference of just -0.1%. This is an extraordinary comparison, showing that in aggregate, the i3-12100F can match a high-end workstation processor in certain workloads, though the Threadripper would excel in multi-threaded tasks. The data suggests that at 1080p, the CPU is the bottleneck, as the GPU is not being fully utilized. The performance difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 1080p (434.9 vs 197.2 FPS) is a direct result of the CPU struggling to keep up with the increased draw calls and physics calculations at higher settings, even if the GPU could handle the rendering.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average FPS achievable at 1080p with this hardware?

A: The highest measured average FPS at 1920x1080 is 434.9, which occurs with the Low settings preset.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra performance compare to the 1080p Low performance?

A: The average FPS at 4K Ultra is 64.7, which is only 14.9% of the 1080p Low average FPS of 434.9. This massive drop illustrates the combined load of increased resolution and graphical fidelity.

Q: Is this CPU or GPU better for this game?

A: The data indicates a CPU bottleneck at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the GPU is not the limiting factor, as the frame rate is capped by the processor's capability. At 4K, the GPU becomes the primary constraint, with frame rates dropping significantly across all presets.

Q: What is the best resolution for this pairing to avoid a CPU bottleneck?

A: At 2560x1440, the system still achieves a high average FPS of 273 on Low settings and 173.9 on High settings. This resolution appears to balance the load between the CPU and GPU more effectively than 1080p.

Q: How does the Intel Core i3-12100F compare to the Intel Core i7-7700K in average benchmark score?

A: The i3-12100F has an average benchmark score of 13516, while the i7-7700K scores 13280. This puts the i3-12100F 1.8% ahead of the older i7 processor.

Q: Does the GPU's 16 GB of memory provide an advantage in Barony?

A: Barony is not a graphically intensive game in terms of texture memory. The 16 GB of GDDR6 memory is more than sufficient, but it is not a primary factor in the performance differences observed between settings, as the bottleneck is elsewhere.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal experience for this hardware configuration depends heavily on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 197.2 FPS, which is exceptionally high and more than sufficient for any display. However, the data shows a significant drop from Low (434.9 FPS) to Ultra (197.2 FPS), indicating that the CPU is limiting performance. Players with high refresh rate monitors (240Hz or above) might prefer the High preset at 279.1 FPS, which still offers a substantial visual upgrade over Low without sacrificing the high frame rate needed for competitive play.

For 2560x1440, the High preset is the sweet spot. It achieves 173.9 FPS, which is still well above the 144Hz refresh rate common on many monitors, and it provides a better visual experience than Medium (203.3 FPS) without the performance cost of Ultra (123.9 FPS). The Ultra preset at this resolution is still playable, but the 29% drop from High to Ultra may not be worth the marginal visual gains in a game like Barony, where clarity and readability are key.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes. The High preset yields 94.7 FPS, which is playable on a 60Hz or 120Hz display. The Ultra preset drops to 64.7 FPS, which is near the lower boundary of acceptable performance for a smooth experience. For 4K, the High preset is the recommended choice, as it provides a 46% performance increase over Ultra (94.7 vs 64.7 FPS) while likely offering a similar visual profile in a game with this art style. The Medium preset at 108.4 FPS is also a viable option for 4K, offering a smoother experience than High if the player prioritizes frame rate over visual fidelity. Given the data, the High preset across all resolutions provides the best balance of performance and visual quality for the Intel Core i3-12100F and AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT combination.