Barony

# CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread desktop processor built on Intel's Alder Lake architecture using a 10 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, with a 58 W TDP. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 12 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory via a dual-channel memory bus, and connects through PCIe Gen 5 with 16 lanes. The processor sits at the 68th percentile among all CPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 13,494.

Benchmark results show a significant scaling pattern across thread counts. The 3DMark 2-thread score is 1,659, while the 4-thread score jumps to 2,859. The 8-thread score reaches 4,026, and the max-thread score is 4,023 — nearly identical to the 8-thread result, indicating that the processor's 8 threads are fully utilized and additional scheduling overhead doesn't hurt. Single-thread performance in 3DMark is 893. Cinebench R23 scores are 11,860 multi-core and 1,674 single-core, while Geekbench shows 7,252 multi-core and 1,932 single-core. PassMark multi-thread score is 14,015, with single-thread at 3,444.

In the context of Barony, a roguelike title, the CPU's 4 cores and 8 threads are more than sufficient for typical game logic, AI pathfinding, and procedural generation tasks. The game is not designed around heavy multi-threading, so the i3-12100F's single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core of 1,674) is what matters most for consistent frame pacing. The measured FPS data at 1080p Low shows 245 FPS average, which indicates the CPU is not a bottleneck at lower settings. The boost clock of 4.30 GHz provides adequate headroom for bursty workloads common in roguelike gameplay, where item interactions and enemy AI calculations occur in short, frequent spikes.

Comparing to its nearest rivals, the i3-12100F's average score of 13,494 is essentially tied with the Intel Core 3 N355 at 13,492 (0% delta), and slightly ahead of the Intel Core i5-9500 at 13,452 (0.3% delta). The Intel Core 5 120UL scores 13,594, which is 0.7% higher, and the Intel Core i7-1250U scores 13,351, which is 1.1% lower. These margins are negligible in real-world gaming, but the i3-12100F's desktop-oriented design with higher sustained clocks gives it an edge in frame time consistency.

# GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Arc B570 is built on the Xe2-HPG architecture (Battlemage generation) using a 5 nm process from TSMC. The GPU die, codenamed BMG-G21, contains 19,600 million transistors across a 272 mm² die area, with a transistor density of 72.1M per mm². It features 2,304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, 80 raster operation units, and 18 ray tracing cores. The GPU operates at a fixed 2500 MHz base and boost clock, with memory clocked at 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective). The 10 GB of GDDR6 memory runs across a 160-bit bus, delivering 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Pixel rate is 200.0 GPixel/s, texture rate is 360.0 GTexel/s, and FP32 performance is 11.52 TFLOPS. The card draws 150 W TDP and requires a 450 W suggested PSU with a single 8-pin connector. It uses a PCIe 4.0 x8 interface.

The GPU's benchmark results place it at the 65th percentile among all GPUs, with an average score of 20,556. Its nearest rivals show tight competition: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile scores 20,534 (0.1% lower), the Intel Arc A750 scores 20,582 (0.1% higher), the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M scores 20,480 (0.4% lower), and the AMD Radeon R9 M390X scores 20,662 (0.5% higher). This puts the Arc B570 in a performance band where small architectural differences translate to single-digit percentage changes.

In Barony, the GPU's role is primarily about resolution scaling and texture throughput rather than complex shading. The 10 GB VRAM is ample for the game's asset sizes, even at 4K Ultra settings. The 380.0 GB/s memory bandwidth becomes more relevant at higher resolutions where texture streaming and framebuffer operations demand more data throughput. The fixed 2500 MHz clock ensures consistent compute throughput, which benefits the game's simple but numerous draw calls. The measured 4K Ultra average FPS of 37 indicates the GPU is the limiting factor at the highest settings, while at 1080p Low the 245 FPS average shows the GPU can deliver far more than the game's typical requirements.

# Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling as resolution increases. At 1080p High, the average FPS is 156. Moving to 1440p High drops this to 99 FPS, a 36.5% reduction. At 4K High, the average falls to 52 FPS, which is 66.7% below the 1080p High figure. This steep decline indicates that the Arc B570's compute and memory bandwidth are being increasingly taxed as pixel count grows.

Looking at Low settings, the scaling is more dramatic. At 1080p Low, the average is 245 FPS. At 1440p Low, this drops to 154 FPS (37.1% lower), and at 4K Low, it reaches 81 FPS (66.9% lower than 1080p). The consistent percentage drops across settings suggest a uniform GPU bottleneck rather than a CPU limitation, because the CPU's workload doesn't change with resolution while the GPU's does.

Medium settings show a similar trend: 182 FPS at 1080p, 115 FPS at 1440p (36.8% lower), and 60 FPS at 4K (67.0% lower). The 4K Medium measurement includes min/max values of 51 and 69 FPS, respectively, showing some frame time variance but no severe stuttering. Ultra settings produce 112 FPS at 1080p, 71 FPS at 1440p (36.6% lower), and 37 FPS at 4K (67.0% lower).

The near-identical percentage drops (approximately 37% from 1080p to 1440p, and 67% from 1080p to 4K) across all four settings presets confirm that the GPU is the limiting component. The CPU's 4 cores and 8 threads are not being saturated because the frame rate scales inversely with pixel count in a predictable manner. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see diminishing returns at lower resolutions where the GPU has spare capacity, but instead the FPS continues to climb at 1080p, indicating the CPU can keep feeding the GPU fast enough.

# FAQ

Q: How does the Intel Core i3-12100F compare to its closest rival in terms of overall CPU benchmark score?

A: The i3-12100F has an average benchmark score of 13,494, which is essentially identical to the Intel Core 3 N355 at 13,492 (0% delta). It is 0.3% ahead of the Intel Core i5-9500, 0.7% behind the Intel Core 5 120UL, and 1.1% ahead of the Intel Core i7-1250U.

Q: What is the maximum average FPS achieved by this combo, and at what settings?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 245, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The second-highest is 182 FPS at the same resolution with Medium settings, followed by 156 FPS at 1080p High.

Q: At 4K resolution, which settings preset delivers the highest average FPS?

A: At 3840x2160, the Low settings preset delivers the highest average FPS at 81. Medium settings achieve 60 FPS, High settings achieve 52 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 37 FPS.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU act as the primary bottleneck in this game?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck. The percentage FPS drops from 1080p to 1440p (approximately 37%) and from 1080p to 4K (approximately 67%) are nearly identical across all settings presets, which is characteristic of a GPU-limited scenario. The CPU's performance headroom is sufficient to drive frame rates well above 200 FPS at lower resolutions.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations in Barony?

A: This specific combo (Intel Core i3-12100F + Intel Arc B570) ranks 2,344 out of 2,935 tested combos in the game. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the distribution, meaning most other combinations achieve higher average FPS.

Q: What are the measured FPS ranges for the Medium settings preset at different resolutions?

A: At 1920x1080 Medium, the measured range is 155 to 209 FPS with an average of 182. At 2560x1440 Medium, the range is 98 to 132 FPS with an average of 115. At 3840x2160 Medium, the range is 51 to 69 FPS with an average of 60. Other settings presets do not have min/max data recorded.

# Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 245 FPS average
• Medium: 182 FPS average, with min/max of 155 and 209 FPS
• High: 156 FPS average
• Ultra: 112 FPS average

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 154 FPS average
• Medium: 115 FPS average, with min/max of 98 and 132 FPS
• High: 99 FPS average
• Ultra: 71 FPS average

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 81 FPS average
• Medium: 60 FPS average, with min/max of 51 and 69 FPS
• High: 52 FPS average
• Ultra: 37 FPS average

The data shows that the combo maintains playable frame rates (above 60 FPS average) at all resolutions up to 1440p Ultra, which achieves 71 FPS. At 4K, only the Low settings preset (81 FPS) and Medium settings preset (60 FPS) remain at or above the 60 FPS threshold. The 4K High setting dips to 52 FPS, and Ultra drops further to 37 FPS.

The progression from Low to Ultra at each resolution shows consistent scaling. At 1080p, the drop from Low to Ultra is from 245 to 112 FPS, a 54.3% reduction. At 1440p, the drop is from 154 to 71 FPS, a 53.9% reduction. At 4K, the drop is from 81 to 37 FPS, a 54.3% reduction. This uniformity reinforces that the settings presets impose proportionate GPU workloads regardless of resolution.

# Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings preset depends on the target display resolution and the desired frame rate floor.

For 1080p displays, all four presets deliver average FPS above 112, meaning even Ultra settings provide a smooth experience. The Medium preset at 182 FPS average with a minimum of 155 FPS offers a strong balance between visual quality and headroom for demanding scenes. The High preset at 156 FPS is also viable, but Medium's 182 FPS average provides more buffer for frame time spikes without a significant visual penalty in a roguelike where textures are often stylized. Ultra at 112 FPS is acceptable but offers diminishing returns for the 38.4% FPS loss compared to High.

For 1440p displays, the Medium preset at 115 FPS average (min 98 FPS) is the recommended choice. It maintains a frame rate above 100 FPS on average while keeping minimums above 90 FPS. The High preset at 99 FPS average is also playable, but the Medium preset's higher minimum of 98 FPS (versus no recorded minimum for High) provides better consistency. Ultra at 71 FPS is borderline for fast-paced gameplay, and Low at 154 FPS sacrifices visual quality unnecessarily.

For 4K displays, the Low preset at 81 FPS average is the only setting that provides comfortable headroom above 60 FPS. The Medium preset at 60 FPS average (min 51 FPS) is playable but may drop below 60 FPS during intense scenes, as evidenced by the 51 FPS minimum. The High preset at 52 FPS average is not recommended for smooth gameplay, and Ultra at 37 FPS is unsuitable for anything but static screenshots.

In summary, the best experience per the measured rows is: 1080p Medium (182 FPS average), 1440p Medium (115 FPS average), and 4K Low (81 FPS average). These presets maximize frame rate consistency while retaining acceptable visual quality for a roguelike game where readability of game state is more important than graphical fidelity.

# How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i3-12100F + Intel Arc B570 combination ranks 2,344 out of 2,935 tested combos in Barony, placing it in the 20th percentile of all tested combinations (lower is better for rank). This means roughly 80% of tested combos achieve higher average FPS in this game.

The rank position is somewhat surprising given that the individual components sit at the 68th percentile (CPU) and 65th percentile (GPU) among their respective categories. The discrepancy suggests that Barony's performance characteristics do not favor this particular pairing. The CPU's strong single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core of 1,674) and the GPU's mid-range compute capabilities (11.52 TFLOPS FP32) are both adequate, but the game may not effectively utilize the Arc B570's architectural strengths.

Comparing to the GPU's nearest rivals, the Arc B570's average benchmark score of 20,556 is within 0.5% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (20,534), Intel Arc A750 (20,582), NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (20,480), and AMD Radeon R9 M390X (20,662). Yet in Barony, the combo's rank of 2,344 out of 2,935 suggests the game's rendering pipeline may favor other GPU architectures, possibly due to driver optimization levels or specific shader workloads.

The CPU's nearest rivals show similar tight clustering (all within 1.1% of the i3-12100F's average score), indicating that the CPU choice is not the primary factor dragging down the combo's rank. Instead, the GPU's performance in Barony specifically appears to be the limiting factor. The measured FPS data supports this: at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 245 FPS, which is high in absolute terms, but the rank indicates that many other combos exceed this figure.

Given that the combo ranks in the bottom 20% of tested configurations, users seeking higher frame rates in Barony would likely benefit from a GPU with stronger raw throughput or better game-specific optimization. The CPU's 4 cores and 8 threads are not the constraint, as evidenced by the consistent resolution scaling patterns. The Arc B570's 10 GB VRAM and 380.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for the game's requirements, but the GPU's overall compute performance (11.52 TFLOPS) appears to be the ceiling for this combo's frame rates.