Barony

Barony is a roguelike that, on this Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti combination, delivers exceptionally high frame rates across all tested configurations. The data indicates that the primary challenge is not achieving playability, but rather selecting a settings preset that balances visual fidelity with the monitor's refresh rate capabilities. The measured FPS rows show a consistent hierarchy across resolutions, with Low settings providing the highest throughput and Ultra providing the most demanding load. This analysis will break down the measured results to determine the optimal preset, examine the roles of the GPU and CPU, and explain how the system scales across resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data suggests that the High preset offers the best overall experience for most users, particularly at 1440p and 4K. At 2560x1440, the High preset achieves an average of 186.4 FPS, which is a substantial frame rate suitable for high-refresh-rate displays. Moving to 4K, High still maintains an average of 100.7 FPS, comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The Ultra preset, while visually superior, demands more from the hardware, resulting in 134.1 FPS at 1440p and 71.3 FPS at 4K. While these numbers are playable, the performance cost of Ultra is significant; for example, at 4K, the drop from High to Ultra is a loss of 29.4 FPS, which is a 29% reduction in performance for the increased detail.

For users with 1080p displays, the High preset at 301.1 FPS is more than sufficient for even the fastest competitive play, and the Medium preset at 346.5 FPS offers a marginal framerate increase that may be preferable if the visual differences are negligible to the user. The Low preset, while producing the highest frame rates (472.1 FPS at 1080p), likely sacrifices too much visual quality for a gain that exceeds the refresh rate of most monitors. The data suggests that High is the sweet spot for visual fidelity and performance, with Medium serving as a viable alternative for those prioritizing raw speed over graphical detail. At 4K, the Medium preset's 116.3 FPS is a strong middle ground, but High's 100.7 FPS is still well within the range of a premium experience.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is the dominant component in this configuration, and the benchmark results clearly reflect its capabilities. The GPU features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 912.4 GB/s. This substantial memory bandwidth is likely a key factor in maintaining high frame rates at 4K, where texture and geometry data demands are highest. The GPU's boost clock of 1665 MHz, combined with its 10,240 shading units, allows it to process the game's rendering tasks efficiently. The RTX 3080 Ti's benchmark scores place it in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 41224. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, scores 41441, putting the 3080 Ti a marginal 0.5% behind.

The data shows a clear correlation between the GPU's workload and the settings preset. At 3840x2160, the average FPS drops from 157.9 on Low to 71.3 on Ultra, a decrease of 86.6 FPS. This indicates that the GPU is being progressively saturated as the visual complexity increases. The RTX 3080 Ti's performance in this game is robust, as evidenced by the fact that even at the most demanding settings, it maintains a frame rate above 70 FPS. The GPU's raw compute power, quantified by its 34.10 TFLOPS FP32 performance, is more than adequate for this title, ensuring that the CPU, rather than the GPU, is often the limiting factor at lower resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this hardware combination?

A: The highest average FPS is 472.1, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the RTX 3080 Ti perform relative to its closest competitor in general benchmarks?

A: The RTX 3080 Ti has an average benchmark score of 41224, which is 0.5% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090's score of 41441.

Q: Is the Core i3-12100F a bottleneck for this game?

A: The data suggests it can be at lower resolutions. At 1080p on Low, the system hits 472.1 FPS, but the CPU's multi-threaded benchmark score of 14015 (PassMark) and its 72nd percentile ranking indicate it may cap performance before the GPU's full potential is reached, especially when compared to the GPU's 83rd percentile ranking.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between High and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the High preset averages 186.4 FPS, while Ultra averages 134.1 FPS. This represents a performance drop of 52.3 FPS when moving from High to Ultra.

Q: Does the game scale well to 4K resolution with this hardware?

A: Yes, the game scales well. At 4K with High settings, the system maintains an average of 100.7 FPS, which is a smooth and playable experience. Even at Ultra settings, it achieves 71.3 FPS.

Q: How much faster is the Low preset compared to the Ultra preset at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the Low preset achieves 157.9 FPS, which is 86.6 FPS higher than the Ultra preset's 71.3 FPS. This shows a significant performance headroom when lowering settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive look at how the system handles Barony across three resolutions and four quality presets. At 1920x1080, the system is largely CPU-bound, as evidenced by the high frame rates. The Low preset delivers an average of 472.1 FPS, which is the highest recorded value in the entire dataset. Medium follows at 346.5 FPS, High at 301.1 FPS, and Ultra at 212.3 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 259.8 FPS, indicating that the GPU is still able to scale its workload significantly even at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show a more pronounced impact from the GPU. Low settings average 295.2 FPS, Medium 221.5 FPS, High 186.4 FPS, and Ultra 134.1 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra is 161.1 FPS. At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck. The Low preset averages 157.9 FPS, which is still very high, but the scaling is steeper. Medium averages 116.3 FPS, High 100.7 FPS, and Ultra 71.3 FPS. The total variance from Low to Ultra at 4K is 86.6 FPS. These numbers demonstrate that the RTX 3080 Ti has ample headroom for this game, even at 4K, where the most demanding preset still clears the 60 FPS mark.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic pattern of GPU-bound behavior at higher resolutions. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 301.1 at 1080p to 186.4 at 1440p, a reduction of 38.1%. From 1440p to 4K, the frame rate falls further to 100.7 FPS, a 46% decrease. This indicates that as the pixel count increases, the GPU's rendering workload grows exponentially. The data shows that at 1080p, the system likely hits a CPU-imposed ceiling, as the frame rates are exceptionally high and the GPU is not fully utilized.

The scaling pattern for the Low preset is even more pronounced. From 472.1 FPS at 1080p, the frame rate drops to 295.2 FPS at 1440p and then to 157.9 FPS at 4K. This represents a 66.5% reduction from 1080p to 4K. In contrast, the Ultra preset shows a more moderate percentage drop, from 212.3 FPS at 1080p to 134.1 FPS at 1440p and 71.3 FPS at 4K, a total reduction of 66.4%. The consistency of this percentage drop across settings suggests that the resolution scaling is primarily a function of the GPU's pixel throughput capabilities. The RTX 3080 Ti's pixel rate of 186.5 GPixel/s and texture rate of 532.8 GTexel/s are the key specifications that dictate this performance curve.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F, with its 4 cores and 8 threads, is a capable processor, but its role in this game is secondary to the GPU. The CPU's base clock of 3.30 GHz and boost clock of 4.30 GHz provide adequate single-threaded performance, which is often critical for game logic and physics. Its single-threaded benchmark scores, such as 2224 in Geekbench and 1681 in Cinebench R23, are solid. However, the multi-threaded scores, like 7413 in Geekbench and 11912 in Cinebench R23, show its limitations in heavily threaded workloads, though Barony's roguelike nature may not fully utilize all threads.

The data indicates that the CPU is a limiting factor at lower resolutions and settings. At 1080p on Low, the system achieves 472.1 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's maximum frame output capacity. The CPU's average benchmark score of 13516 places it in the 72nd percentile of all CPUs, with its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX, being only 0.1% faster. This suggests that for most gaming scenarios, the i3-12100F is sufficient, but it cannot push frame rates as high as the GPU would allow at 1080p. At 4K, the CPU's role diminishes, as the GPU becomes the definitive bottleneck, and the frame rates are more indicative of the RTX 3080 Ti's raw power. The CPU's 12 MB of shared L3 cache likely helps maintain consistent frame times, but the overall performance is dictated by the GPU's ability to handle the increased pixel load.