Barony

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

The measured frame rates for Barony with the Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 reveal a classic scaling pattern, but with an unusual twist. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo produces 451.8 FPS average. Moving to 2560x1440 drops that to 285.2 FPS, a reduction of roughly 37%. The step to 3840x2160 yields 150.2 FPS, which is another 47% decline from the 1440p figure. This steep falloff at 4K indicates the GPU becomes the primary constraint at higher resolutions, while at 1080p the CPU's single-thread performance likely caps the frame rate.

The i3-12100F's benchmark data supports this interpretation. Its 3dmark_single_thread score of 893 and passmark_single_thread score of 3444 represent strong per-core performance for a 4-core/8-thread part. However, the 3dmark_16_threads score of 4051 barely exceeds the 3dmark_8_threads score of 4026, suggesting the processor's multi-threaded scaling plateaus quickly. In Barony, a roguelike genre game, the workload often favors single-thread responsiveness over massive parallelism, which explains why the combo can exceed 450 FPS at 1080p Low—the CPU is feeding frames as fast as its single-thread capability allows.

The scaling between Medium and High settings at each resolution reinforces the GPU-bound narrative at higher resolutions. At 4K, the gap between Low (150.2 FPS) and High (94 FPS) is 56.2 FPS, while at 1080p the same settings gap is 165.1 FPS (451.8 to 286.7). The relative penalty for raising settings grows with resolution, which is consistent with the RTX 3080's pixel throughput becoming the limiting factor. The GPU's pixel rate of 164.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 465.1 GTexel/s are substantial, but 4K Ultra demands 68 FPS—a figure that suggests the combination of high resolution and maxed settings pushes the card to its limits.

Notably, the Ultra preset at 1080p (206 FPS) is only 12 FPS higher than High at 1440p (183.6 FPS). This crossover point shows that resolution scaling has a more dramatic impact on this combo than settings scaling within a fixed resolution. The data indicates that users seeking high refresh rates should favor lower resolutions with higher settings, rather than the reverse.

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

The RTX 3080 brings 10 GB of GDDR6X memory with a 320-bit bus and 760.3 GB/s bandwidth. For Barony, a roguelike that does not demand excessive texture memory, this capacity is more than adequate across all measured settings. The memory clock runs at 1188 MHz with 19 Gbps effective, which supports the bandwidth figure. The GPU's boost clock of 1710 MHz and base clock of 1440 MHz are the operative frequencies, and the benchmark results show the card scaling predictably with resolution.

The GPU's compute capabilities—29.77 TFLOPS FP32, 8704 shading units, and 272 TMUs—are clearly not fully utilized at 1080p, where the CPU bottleneck dominates. Evidence for this comes from the 1080p Low result of 451.8 FPS versus the 1440p Low result of 285.2 FPS. If the GPU were the sole limiter, the 1440p figure would be closer to 50% of the 1080p figure (since 1440p has roughly 1.78x the pixels of 1080p). Instead, it's about 63%, indicating headroom remains on the GPU side at lower resolutions.

At 4K, the GPU's role becomes decisive. The measured 4K Ultra average of 68 FPS aligns with the card's standing in the broader benchmark landscape. The RTX 3080's avgBenchmarkScore of 35787 places it at the 80th percentile among all GPUs, with nearest rivals including the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE (deltaPct -0.9) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile (deltaPct 1). These close margins suggest the card is well-matched to other high-end parts, though its end-of-life production status means newer competitors may eventually eclipse it.

The 10 GB VRAM capacity is worth noting for 4K play, but Barony's modest texture requirements mean the measured 68 FPS at Ultra is not a memory-capacity issue. Rather, it reflects the raw shading and rasterization workload. The GPU's 96 ROPs and 164.2 GPixel/s pixel rate are the relevant metrics for resolution scaling, and the data shows the card losing about 55% of its 1080p Ultra performance (206 FPS) when moving to 4K Ultra (68 FPS).

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

The measured data provides clear guidance for optimizing the experience. At 3840x2160, the High preset delivers 94 FPS average, which is a solid playable frame rate for most displays. The Medium preset at 107.5 FPS offers a meaningful improvement without a dramatic visual step down from High. The Low preset at 150.2 FPS is the only 4K option that approaches high-refresh territory, but it sacrifices visual fidelity. The Ultra preset at 68 FPS is playable but sits below the 94 FPS High result, making High the recommended 4K choice for balancing quality and smoothness.

At 2560x1440, the High preset achieves 183.6 FPS, which comfortably exceeds 144 Hz refresh rates. The Medium preset at 211.3 FPS is even better for 240 Hz panels, while Low at 285.2 FPS is the ceiling. The Ultra preset at 129.8 FPS is still above 120 Hz, but the jump from High to Ultra costs 53.8 FPS (183.6 to 129.8), a penalty that may not justify the visual gains. For competitive play, Medium or Low makes sense; for visual quality with high refresh, High is the sweet spot.

At 1920x1080, all presets produce frame rates above 200 FPS, with Low hitting 451.8 FPS and Medium at 334.8 FPS. The High preset at 286.7 FPS is the most balanced, offering a 39.2% improvement over Ultra (206 FPS) while maintaining a high quality level. For esports or fast-paced roguelike gameplay, Medium at 334.8 FPS provides the best combination of smoothness and visual fidelity. The data suggests that 1080p users should avoid Ultra unless they prioritize maximum quality over the 80 FPS delta between High and Ultra.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The full measured dataset is as follows. At 1920x1080: Low averages 451.8 FPS, Medium averages 334.8 FPS, High averages 286.7 FPS, and Ultra averages 206 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 245.8 FPS, with each settings tier costing roughly 50-80 FPS. At 2560x1440: Low averages 285.2 FPS, Medium averages 211.3 FPS, High averages 183.6 FPS, and Ultra averages 129.8 FPS. The spread here is 155.4 FPS, showing a narrower range as the GPU begins to constrain performance.

At 3840x2160: Low averages 150.2 FPS, Medium averages 107.5 FPS, High averages 94 FPS, and Ultra averages 68 FPS. The spread is 82.2 FPS, the smallest of the three resolutions. This compression indicates that at 4K, settings changes have diminishing returns because the GPU is already near its throughput ceiling. The relative cost of Ultra versus High is particularly steep: at 4K, Ultra is 26 FPS slower than High (94 to 68), while at 1080p the same comparison shows a 80.7 FPS difference (286.7 to 206).

The data also reveals how the CPU's performance ceiling manifests. The i3-12100F's passmark_multithread score of 14015 and cinebench_r23_multicore score of 11912 suggest strong multi-threaded capability for its class, but the 1080p Low result of 451.8 FPS is likely near the CPU's frame delivery limit. The 3dmark_2_threads score of 1659 versus the 3dmark_4_threads score of 2859 shows that scaling from 2 to 4 threads yields a 72% improvement, but from 4 to 8 threads it's only 41% (4026 vs 2859), and from 8 to 16 threads it's negligible (4026 to 4051). Barony's engine appears to leverage few threads effectively, which is why the combo can exceed 450 FPS at low settings but not scale further.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo if I want to maintain 144 FPS?

A: At 2560x1440, the High preset delivers 183.6 FPS and Medium delivers 211.3 FPS, both above 144 FPS. At 3840x2160, only the Low preset at 150.2 FPS exceeds 144 FPS, while High at 94 FPS does not.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K at the same settings?

A: At Low settings, the drop is from 451.8 FPS to 150.2 FPS, a 301.6 FPS reduction. At Ultra settings, the drop is from 206 FPS to 68 FPS, a 138 FPS reduction. The percentage loss is larger at lower settings.

Q: Is the RTX 3080's 10 GB VRAM sufficient for Barony at 4K?

A: The measured results show 4K Ultra at 68 FPS, indicating the GPU is not VRAM-limited in this game. The 10 GB capacity and 760.3 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for Barony's roguelike graphics demands.

Q: Which settings preset provides the largest frame rate boost at 1440p?

A: Moving from Ultra (129.8 FPS) to High (183.6 FPS) yields a 53.8 FPS gain. Moving from High to Medium (211.3 FPS) adds another 27.7 FPS, and Medium to Low (285.2 FPS) adds 73.9 FPS. The Low preset offers the largest single-step improvement.

Q: How does this CPU compare to its nearest rivals in overall benchmark scores?

A: The i3-12100F has an avgBenchmarkScore of 13516, which is 0.1% behind the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX (13534) and 0.4% ahead of the Intel Core i7-1250U (13462). It sits 1.8% above the Intel Core i7-7700K (13280).

Q: Does the combo's rank in Barony reflect CPU or GPU limitations?

A: The combo ranks 533 out of 1702 tested combinations. The GPU's 80th percentile standing versus the CPU's 72nd percentile suggests the processor is the more likely constraint, particularly at 1080p where frame rates exceed 286 FPS on High settings.