Barony

Barony is a roguelike that, on the surface, does not appear to be a demanding title, but the measured frame rates for the Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination reveal a complex scaling pattern. The data indicates that this pairing is capable of delivering extremely high performance, even at 4K, but the relationship between resolution, settings, and frame rate provides a clear picture of where the bottlenecks lie. The benchmark results show a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, yet the CPU’s 4-core/8-thread configuration still asserts its influence at lower resolutions and higher settings.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data shows a pronounced and expected decline as resolution increases, but the magnitude of the drop varies significantly depending on the quality preset. At the Low preset, the transition from 1080p to 1440p sees average FPS fall from 522 to 329, a substantial 36.9% reduction. Moving from 1440p to 4K at Low settings further reduces the average to 172 FPS, another 47.7% drop. This steep decline at Low settings indicates that the system is heavily reliant on the GPU’s fill rate and pixel throughput, as the CPU is not a limiting factor at these low graphical loads.

The scaling curve flattens considerably when the preset is raised to Ultra. At 1080p Ultra, the average FPS is 239, which drops to 151 at 1440p (a 36.8% decrease) and then to 79 at 4K (a 47.7% decrease). Interestingly, the percentage drops between resolutions are remarkably consistent across all presets, hovering around 36-37% for the 1080p-to-1440p step and 47-48% for the 1440p-to-4K step. This consistency suggests a uniform scaling factor tied directly to pixel count, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario.

However, the absolute FPS numbers tell a more nuanced story. At 1080p High, the average of 333 FPS is far beyond the refresh rate of typical monitors, indicating that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU adequately at this resolution. The fact that 1080p Low hits 522 FPS demonstrates that the Core i3-12100F’s single-thread performance, as evidenced by its 3dmark single-thread score of 893, is sufficient to drive exceptionally high frame rates. The limiting component at 4K is clearly the GPU, as the RTX 4070 SUPER’s 504.2 GB/s memory bandwidth and 198.0 GPixel/s pixel rate are taxed by the 8.3 million pixels of 4K, resulting in the 110 FPS average at High and 79 FPS at Ultra.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide a clear hierarchy for optimizing the gameplay experience. The Ultra preset, while visually demanding, delivers playable frame rates at every resolution tested, with a minimum of 79 FPS at 4K. This is above the threshold for smooth gameplay in most titles, but for a roguelike where reaction time can be critical, users might prefer higher headroom. The Medium preset offers a compelling balance, with average FPS of 388 at 1080p, 245 at 1440p, and 128 at 4K, along with the only recorded minimum FPS values in the entire dataset (330, 208, and 109 respectively). This consistency in minimum frame rates suggests that Medium is the most stable preset for maintaining a fluid experience.

For users with high-refresh-rate displays (144Hz or higher), the Low preset is the only option that guarantees maximum performance, but it does so at the cost of visual fidelity. The data shows that at 1440p Low, the system achieves 329 FPS, which is sufficient for even the fastest competitive monitors. However, the High preset at 1440p still manages 210 FPS, which is an excellent result for most gaming scenarios. The optimal recommendation based on the measured data is the High preset at 1440p for most users, as it provides a 210 FPS average while presumably maintaining better visual quality than Low or Medium. At 4K, the High preset’s 110 FPS average is the best balance between quality and speed, as the jump to Ultra costs 28% of the performance (from 110 to 79 FPS) for arguably marginal visual gains.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is the dominant component in this pairing for Barony. With 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, the card’s 504.2 GB/s bandwidth is a critical factor in the 4K results. The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 79, which, while still playable, indicates that the GPU is reaching its limits in terms of shader and memory throughput. The card’s 35.48 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 56 RT cores are largely irrelevant for a roguelike, but its 224 TMUs and 80 ROPs directly influence texture fill and pixel output, which are the primary workloads at high resolutions.

The GPU’s clock behavior, with a base of 1980 MHz and a boost of 2475 MHz, contributes to its strong performance. The benchmark scores for the RTX 4070 SUPER show a Passmark G3D score of 29995, which places it in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs. This high percentile is reflected in the FPS numbers, where even at 4K High, the card produces 110 FPS. The 12 GB VRAM is not a limiting factor in Barony, as the game’s art style likely uses modest texture sizes, but the memory bandwidth becomes increasingly important as resolution scales. The fact that the card outperforms its nearest rival, the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB, by 0.1% in average benchmark score but delivers vastly different real-world gaming performance highlights the importance of architecture over raw memory capacity.

FAQ

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

A: The highest recorded average FPS is 522, achieved at 1080p with the Low preset. At the High preset, the average is 333 FPS, and at Ultra it drops to 239 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 4K resolution?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck at 4K. The average FPS at 4K High is 110, which is significantly lower than the 210 FPS at 1440p High, showing a scaling pattern consistent with GPU limitation rather than CPU constraint.

Q: Does the Medium preset provide stable frame times?

A: Yes, the Medium preset is the only one with recorded minimum FPS values. At 1080p, the minimum is 330 FPS with a maximum of 446; at 1440p, the range is 208-282 FPS; and at 4K, it is 109-147 FPS.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations in Barony?

A: The Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination ranks 650th out of 3717 tested combos, placing it in the top 17.5% of all configurations for this game.

Q: What is the performance drop from High to Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 1440p, the High preset averages 210 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 151 FPS. This represents a 28.1% reduction in average FPS when moving from High to Ultra.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming smoothly?

A: Yes, the data shows that at 4K with the High preset, the average FPS is 110, which is above the 60 FPS standard for smooth gameplay. Even at Ultra, the average of 79 FPS is playable, though it may be less consistent.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER achieves a rank of 650 out of 3717 tested combinations in Barony. This places the pairing in the 82.5th percentile of all configurations, meaning it outperforms the vast majority of systems tested for this game. The ranking is impressive considering the CPU’s relatively modest specifications; the Core i3-12100F holds a 68th percentile ranking among all CPUs, while the GPU sits in the 83rd percentile. The combination of a mid-range CPU with a high-end GPU proves effective in Barony, as the game’s roguelike genre does not appear to demand extreme multi-threaded CPU performance.

The rank of 650 is likely buoyed by the GPU’s strong performance, as the RTX 4070 SUPER’s average benchmark score of 43223 is very close to its nearest rivals. The GPU’s percentile rank of 83 suggests it is a top-tier performer, and when paired with a CPU that can deliver single-thread scores like 1674 in Cinebench R23, the system avoids severe CPU bottlenecks at lower resolutions. However, the rank also indicates that there are 649 combinations that perform better, which likely include more powerful CPUs that can push even higher frame rates at 1080p where the i3-12100F may start to limit the GPU’s potential.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F plays a supporting but crucial role in this configuration. With 4 cores and 8 threads, it is a modest processor by modern standards, but its architecture, Alder Lake-S, provides strong single-thread performance. The CPU’s base clock of 3.30 GHz and boost clock of 4.30 GHz, combined with a 12 MB L3 cache, allow it to handle the game’s logic and draw calls efficiently. The benchmark data shows a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1674 and a multi-core score of 11860, indicating that while multi-threaded performance is limited by the 4-core design, single-thread capability is solid.

In Barony, the CPU’s role is most evident at lower resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 522 FPS, which reflects the CPU’s ability to process game state and issue rendering commands quickly. The 3dmark 4-thread score of 2859 and 8-thread score of 4026 show that the CPU can scale reasonably with threads, but the jump from 4 to 8 threads yields only a 40.8% improvement, suggesting diminishing returns. The CPU’s 68th percentile ranking among all CPUs means it is better than average, but it is not a top-tier processor. The nearest rival, the Intel Core 5 120UL, has a 0.7% higher average score, while the Intel Core i5-9500 is 0.3% lower, placing the i3-12100F in a competitive mid-range bracket.

The data suggests that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at 4K, as the FPS scaling between 1440p and 4K is consistent across presets, indicating GPU limitation. However, at 1080p, the CPU’s influence becomes apparent when comparing Low and Ultra presets. The 522 FPS at Low versus 333 FPS at High shows that the CPU can push high frame rates, but the GPU’s workload increases with settings, creating a more balanced system. The 58W TDP of the CPU also indicates it is power-efficient, allowing for sustained boost clocks without thermal throttling, which is beneficial for maintaining consistent frame rates over extended gaming sessions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS dataset for this combination is as follows. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 522 FPS. The Medium preset averages 388 FPS with a minimum of 330 and a maximum of 446 FPS. The High preset averages 333 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 239 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 329 FPS, Medium averages 245 FPS (min 208, max 282), High averages 210 FPS, and Ultra averages 151 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 172 FPS, Medium averages 128 FPS (min 109, max 147), High averages 110 FPS, and Ultra averages 79 FPS. The data shows a clear trend: at every resolution, the Medium preset is the only one with recorded minimum FPS values, indicating more stable frame pacing. The High preset at 4K (110 FPS) is 28.1% faster than Ultra (79 FPS), while at 1080p, the gap between High (333 FPS) and Ultra (239 FPS) is 28.2%, showing consistent performance scaling with settings. The Low preset offers the highest FPS but suffers from the largest percentage drops when resolution increases, losing 36.9% going from 1080p to 1440p and another 47.7% going to 4K. Overall, the measurements paint a picture of a system capable of exceeding 100 FPS at 4K with high settings, and exceeding 500 FPS at 1080p with low settings, making it an extremely versatile configuration for Barony.