Barony

# Barony with Intel Core i3-12100F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060

Barony, a roguelike that first shipped in 2015, presents an interesting case for hardware analysis because its performance envelope is wide enough that both CPU and GPU limits become visible depending on resolution and quality settings. This combination pairs Intel's 4-core/8-thread Core i3-12100F with NVIDIA's RTX 4060, and the measured frame rates reveal a system that scales predictably across the three tested resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and consistent pattern: as resolution climbs from 1080p to 4K, frame rates drop substantially across every settings tier, but the magnitude of that drop varies significantly depending on the preset. At Low settings, the system delivers 340.9 FPS at 1920x1080, which falls to 213.6 FPS at 2560x1440, and further to 111.3 FPS at 3840x2160. That represents a 67% reduction from 1080p to 4K, indicating that even at Low settings, the GPU becomes progressively more strained as pixel count increases.

The Medium preset shows a similar trajectory: 250.9 FPS at 1080p, 159.7 FPS at 1440p, and 85.5 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is roughly 36%, while the 1440p-to-4K step costs another 46% of performance. High settings follow the same shape, with 216.8 FPS at 1080p, 138.3 FPS at 1440p, and 70.5 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, starting at 153.5 FPS at 1080p, declining to 99 FPS at 1440p, and bottoming out at 52 FPS at 4K.

What does this scaling say about the limiting component? At 1080p, the frame rates are so high — even at Ultra, 153.5 FPS — that the CPU's 4 cores and 8 threads are likely near their ceiling, especially given the i3-12100F's Cinebench R23 multicore score of 11912 and single-core score of 1681. The fact that Low settings at 1080p hit 340.9 FPS suggests the CPU can push well beyond typical display refresh rates, but the GPU is not the bottleneck at this resolution either, since even the weakest preset still yields triple-digit frame rates.

As resolution increases, the GPU becomes the dominant constraint. At 4K Ultra, the 52 FPS average is less than half of the 1080p Ultra result, a drop that cannot be attributed to the CPU, which is essentially idle at such low frame rates relative to its capability. The RTX 4060, with its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus and 272.0 GB/s bandwidth, shows its limits when rendering Barony at 4K with demanding settings. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2302 puts this GPU in the 66th percentile among all tested graphics cards, and the measured frame rates confirm that 4K Ultra is a stretch target rather than a comfortable operating point.

The data also reveals that the gap between Low and Ultra narrows as resolution rises. At 1080p, Low is 187.4 FPS faster than Ultra (340.9 vs 153.5); at 4K, that gap shrinks to 59.3 FPS (111.3 vs 52). This compression indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K regardless of settings, whereas at 1080p, the CPU's capabilities cap the Low preset's headroom.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate this combo achieves in Barony?

A: The maximum measured average is 340.9 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. Even at 4K Low, the system still delivers 111.3 FPS, which is comfortably above standard 60 Hz refresh rates.

Q: Can this system handle 4K Ultra settings in Barony?

A: At 3840x2160 Ultra, the average FPS is 52. That is playable for many users but below the 60 FPS threshold often considered smooth. The 4K High preset fares better at 70.5 FPS, while 4K Medium reaches 85.5 FPS.

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

A: The Core i3-12100F has an average benchmark score of 13516, which places it 0.1% behind the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX (13534) and 0.4% ahead of the Intel Core i7-1250U (13462). It also leads the Intel Core i3-10105 by 0.6% and the Intel Core i7-7700K by 1.8%. Its percentile rank among all CPUs is 72.

Q: What GPU performance percentile does the RTX 4060 achieve?

A: The RTX 4060 sits in the 66th percentile among all GPUs based on its average benchmark score of 23181. Its nearest rival is the AMD Radeon RX 6600M, which scores 23321, a delta of -0.6%; the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti scores 23338 (-0.7%), the Intel Arc B580 scores 23021 (+0.7%), and the AMD Radeon 760M scores 22999 (+0.8%).

Q: Is the RTX 4060 VRAM sufficient for Barony at 4K?

A: The GPU has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory with 272.0 GB/s bandwidth. The benchmark results show playable frame rates at 4K High (70.5 FPS) and 4K Medium (85.5 FPS), suggesting VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor in this game, though Ultra settings drop to 52 FPS.

Q: What is this combo's overall ranking among tested configurations?

A: This CPU+GPU pairing ranks 989th out of 1702 tested combos in Barony, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database. This rank reflects the combination's measured performance rather than component specs alone.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using TSMC's 5 nm process, with the AD107 chip containing 18,900 million transistors on a 159 mm² die. Its base clock is 1830 MHz with a boost clock of 2460 MHz, and it features 3072 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units. The memory subsystem consists of 8 GB of GDDR6 running at 2125 MHz (17 Gbps effective) across a 128-bit interface, yielding 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

In Barony, the GPU's role becomes more pronounced as resolution increases. At 1080p, the frame rates across all settings (153.5–340.9 FPS) suggest the GPU is not the primary constraint; the CPU's 4 cores and 8 threads are likely the limiting factor, especially given the i3-12100F's modest 3.30 GHz base clock and 4.30 GHz boost. The RTX 4060's FP32 performance of 15.11 TFLOPS is more than adequate for the geometric and shading demands of a roguelike at lower resolutions.

At 1440p, the GPU starts to show its weight. The High preset drops from 216.8 FPS at 1080p to 138.3 FPS, a 36% reduction that aligns with the 77% increase in pixel count (from 2.07 million to 3.69 million). The Ultra preset falls from 153.5 to 99 FPS, a 35% drop. These reductions are roughly proportional to pixel count, indicating a GPU-bound scenario where the 128-bit memory bus and 272.0 GB/s bandwidth are adequate but not generous.

At 4K, the GPU is clearly the limiting component. The pixel count jumps to 8.29 million, and the frame rates reflect that pressure: High goes from 138.3 to 70.5 FPS (49% drop), and Ultra from 99 to 52 FPS (47% drop). The RTX 4060's 48 ROPs and 118.1 GPixel/s pixel rate are being pushed hard at this resolution. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2302 and PassMark G3D score of 19545 provide context: this is a mid-range GPU that excels at 1080p and handles 1440p well, but 4K Ultra is beyond its comfortable envelope.

The GPU's end-of-life production status and launch MSRP of 299 USD do not affect its measured performance, but the data shows that Barony's relatively modest visual demands allow this card to deliver high frame rates at all but the most extreme settings. The 115 W TDP and suggested 300 W PSU indicate an efficient design that does not require excessive power delivery.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of the Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 ranks 989th out of 1702 tested combos in Barony, placing it in the 58th percentile of all configurations in the database. That is a middling result for a system with a CPU that ranks in the 72nd percentile and a GPU in the 66th percentile individually.

The discrepancy between component percentiles and the combo's overall rank suggests that Barony is not particularly demanding on either component, allowing many higher-spec systems to achieve similar or better frame rates. The i3-12100F's average benchmark score of 13516 places it in the same neighborhood as the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX (13534, -0.1% delta) and Intel Core i7-1250U (13462, +0.4%), but those comparisons are based on synthetic benchmarks, not game performance.

In Barony specifically, the 4-core/8-thread configuration of the i3-12100F is sufficient to drive the RTX 4060 to high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, but it does not boost the combo above the median. The 989th rank out of 1702 means that roughly 58% of tested systems perform better in this game, which is consistent with a mid-range pairing that delivers excellent 1080p performance but does not compete with high-end configurations at 4K.

The RTX 4060's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks — the AMD Radeon RX 6600M (23321, -0.6%), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti (23338, -0.7%), Intel Arc B580 (23021, +0.7%), and AMD Radeon 760M (22999, +0.8%) — all fall within a narrow band of the 4060's average score of 23181. This clustering suggests that Barony's performance with any of these GPUs would be similar, and the CPU choice likely differentiates results more than the GPU in this title.

The combo's rank of 989 also reflects the fact that Barony is a 2015-era roguelike with relatively low graphical demands. Systems with faster CPUs or higher-end GPUs may achieve marginally higher frame rates, but the practical difference between 153.5 FPS at 1080p Ultra and, say, 180 FPS on a stronger system is unlikely to matter for gameplay. The measured data shows this combo is firmly in the "more than sufficient" category for this game.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For 1920x1080, every preset delivers above 153 FPS, so the choice comes down to visual quality versus headroom. The Ultra preset at 153.5 FPS is the best experience for users with high-refresh displays, as it provides the highest visual fidelity while still exceeding 144 Hz. The High preset at 216.8 FPS offers nearly identical visual quality to Ultra in many scenes but with a 41% frame rate advantage, making it the recommended choice for 1440p-class high-refresh monitors or for users who prefer maximum smoothness.

At 2560x1440, the High preset at 138.3 FPS is the sweet spot. It maintains frame rates above 120 FPS, which is ideal for 120 Hz or 144 Hz displays, while the Ultra preset at 99 FPS dips below 100 FPS. The Medium preset at 159.7 FPS is also viable if users want even more headroom, but the visual downgrade from High to Medium is typically more noticeable than from Ultra to High. For 1440p, High is recommended for the best balance of image quality and performance.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes. The Ultra preset at 52 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold and may exhibit noticeable stutter on 60 Hz displays. The High preset at 70.5 FPS is the recommended choice for 4K, as it maintains a comfortable margin above 60 FPS while preserving most visual quality. The Medium preset at 85.5 FPS is also acceptable if users prefer additional headroom, but the step from High to Medium is generally less visually impactful than the step from Ultra to High. The Low preset at 111.3 FPS is only recommended for users with 120 Hz 4K displays who prioritize frame rate over all else.

For users with 60 Hz displays at any resolution, the High preset at 4K (70.5 FPS) or the Ultra preset at 1440p (99 FPS) provides the best experience. For competitive play where frame rate is paramount, the Low preset at 1080p (340.9 FPS) or 1440p (213.6 FPS) eliminates any potential for GPU-related frame pacing issues. Overall, the data shows that High settings offer the most consistent performance across all three resolutions, with 4K High (70.5 FPS), 1440p High (138.3 FPS), and 1080p High (216.8 FPS) all delivering strong results that justify the visual investment.