Barony

The Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 delivers a remarkably consistent experience in Barony, a roguelike title that scales from highly playable at 4K to extremely fast at 1080p. The measured frame rates across all resolutions and settings paint a clear picture: this combination is never CPU-bound in a way that harms playability, and the RTX 5050’s capabilities are the primary driver of performance differences as resolution increases. Data shows the combo ranks 1775th out of 2935 tested combinations, placing it in the upper-middle tier of tested hardware pairings for this specific game, while the RTX 5050 itself sits at the 66th percentile among all GPUs and the i3-12100F at the 68th percentile among all CPUs. The following analysis breaks down the measured FPS data, scaling behavior, and practical settings recommendations based solely on the provided figures.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial and reveals that the GPU is the limiting component at higher resolutions, while the CPU has ample headroom even at lower settings. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 193 at 1920x1080 to 122 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 71 FPS (approximately 37% lower). Moving from 1440p to 4K at High settings brings the average down further to 64 FPS, which is 58 FPS below the 1440p result and 129 FPS below the 1080p result. This steep decline—from 193 to 64 FPS across the three resolutions—indicates that the RTX 5050’s rendering workload scales predictably with pixel count, and the CPU is not the bottleneck even at the lowest tested resolution.

At Low settings, the scaling is even more dramatic because the GPU is less burdened, yet the CPU still manages to feed frames efficiently. The 1080p Low average is 302 FPS, which drops to 191 FPS at 1440p (a 111 FPS decrease) and then to 100 FPS at 4K (another 91 FPS decrease). The fact that 1080p Low exceeds 300 FPS suggests the i3-12100F’s four cores and eight threads, with a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, are sufficient to drive very high frame rates in this roguelike. However, the 4K Low result of 100 FPS still represents a 67% reduction from the 1080p Low figure, confirming that pixel throughput, not CPU logic, dominates the scaling curve.

Medium settings show a similar pattern: 225 FPS at 1080p, 142 FPS at 1440p, and 74 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are roughly 37% from 1080p to 1440p and 48% from 1440p to 4K. Ultra settings, which are the most demanding, yield 138 FPS at 1080p, 87 FPS at 1440p, and 46 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result of 46 FPS is the lowest measured value in the entire dataset, and it highlights that the RTX 5050’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 320.0 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for 1440p Ultra but become a constraint at 4K with maximum settings.

The resolution scaling data indicates that the limiting component shifts from the CPU at 1080p Low (where 302 FPS is achieved) to the GPU at 4K Ultra (where 46 FPS is the ceiling). At 1080p, even Ultra settings exceed 138 FPS, which is far beyond what most displays can show, meaning the i3-12100F is not holding back the RTX 5050. At 4K, the GPU’s 13.17 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 82.30 GPixel/s pixel rate are the determining factors, as evidenced by the consistent frame rate drops across all settings when moving to 3840x2160. The data shows no anomalous spikes or min FPS values below 63 FPS (the lowest min recorded, at 4K Medium), so frame pacing remains stable even when average FPS falls to 46 at 4K Ultra.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Barony?

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. At High settings, the average FPS is 122, and at Medium it is 142, both of which are smooth for most displays. 4K is playable but only at Low (100 FPS) or Medium (74 FPS) settings, while Ultra at 4K drops to 46 FPS.

Q: Is the Intel Core i3-12100F a bottleneck for the RTX 5050 in this game?

A: Benchmark results indicate the CPU is not a limiting factor at any tested resolution or setting. The highest measured average FPS is 302 at 1080p Low, which is far above typical display refresh rates, and the CPU’s single-thread score of 1674 in Cinebench R23 supports its ability to handle roguelike logic without issue.

Q: How does the RTX 5050 perform at 4K in Barony?

A: At 4K, the RTX 5050 delivers 100 FPS on Low settings, 74 FPS on Medium, 64 FPS on High, and 46 FPS on Ultra. The 4K Medium result includes a min FPS of 63 and a max of 85, showing that the GPU can maintain playable frame rates at mid-range settings but struggles with Ultra.

Q: Should I use Ultra settings at 1080p with this combo?

A: Yes. The measured average FPS at 1080p Ultra is 138, which is well above 60 FPS and even exceeds 120 FPS. This indicates the RTX 5050 has enough headroom to run the game at maximum settings at 1080p without compromising smoothness.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems for Barony?

A: The combo ranks 1775th out of 2935 tested combinations, placing it in the 60th percentile of tested systems. This rank reflects that while the combo is capable, many other pairings deliver higher frame rates, likely due to more powerful GPUs or CPUs with higher multithreaded scores.

Q: What is the lowest FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The lowest average FPS is 46 at 4K Ultra settings. The lowest min FPS recorded in any measured row is 63 FPS, which appears only in the 4K Medium result, indicating that even the most demanding scenario maintains a minimum above 60 FPS except for the 4K Ultra row, which has no min value listed.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 plays the decisive role in determining frame rates across the measured resolutions, particularly as pixel count increases. The GPU’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 320.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p at all settings but becomes strained at 4K Ultra. The memory clock of 2500 MHz (20 Gbps effective) and the boost clock of 2572 MHz (base 2317 MHz) allow the card to sustain high throughput, as evidenced by the 302 FPS average at 1080p Low. The RTX 5050’s 2560 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs deliver a texture rate of 205.8 GTexel/s and a pixel rate of 82.30 GPixel/s, which directly correlate with the observed scaling: at 4K, the pixel rate becomes the limiting factor, causing the average FPS to drop from 193 (1080p High) to 64 (4K High).

The GPU’s benchmark scores reflect its mid-range positioning. The PassMark G3D score of 17326 and the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2502 place it at the 66th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 21035. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (avgScore 20713, deltaPct 1.6) and the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile (avgScore 21379, deltaPct -1.6), showing that the RTX 5050 sits in a tight competitive band. However, in Barony, the GPU’s role is more about raw fill rate than advanced features, since the game is a roguelike with less demanding geometry than modern AAA titles. The 4K Ultra result of 46 FPS suggests that the 8 GB VRAM capacity is not the bottleneck (since the game likely fits within that budget at 4K), but rather the compute and pixel throughput limits the card.

The RTX 5050’s FP32 performance of 13.17 TFLOPS and its 20 RT cores and 80 tensor cores are underutilized in a game like Barony, which does not rely heavily on ray tracing or AI-based upscaling based on the measured data. The DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4 compatibility ensure the GPU can handle the game’s API requirements, but the performance deltas between settings (e.g., 100 FPS at 4K Low vs. 64 FPS at 4K High) are driven by traditional rendering parameters like shadow quality and texture filtering, not by RT or DLSS features. The card’s 130 W TDP and PCIe 5.0 x8 interface are adequate for this workload, and the data shows no evidence of thermal throttling or bandwidth limitations at 1080p or 1440p, where the GPU delivers 138–302 FPS depending on settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 ranks 1775th out of 2935 tested combos in Barony, which places it in the lower half of the top 60% of all tested systems. This rank is notable because the individual components both sit at similar percentiles (CPU at 68th, GPU at 66th), yet the combo’s rank of 1775/2935 (approximately 60.5th percentile) suggests that many other pairings with lower single-component scores outperform it in this specific game. The reason for this discrepancy likely lies in the fact that Barony benefits more from high single-thread CPU performance and high GPU fill rate, and the i3-12100F’s 4-core/8-thread configuration, despite its strong single-thread score of 1674 in Cinebench R23, may not match the multithreaded capabilities of rivals like the Intel Core i5-9500 (avgScore 13452, deltaPct 0.3) or the Intel Core 3 N355 (avgScore 13492, deltaPct 0).

The GPU’s nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (avgScore 20713, deltaPct 1.6), which is 1.6% faster in average benchmark score, and the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL (avgScore 21153, deltaPct -0.6), which is 0.6% slower. These small deltas indicate that the RTX 5050 is not dramatically faster than its peers, so the combo’s rank is influenced by the CPU as well. The i3-12100F’s nearest rivals are all close in average score: the Intel Core 3 N355 (deltaPct 0), Intel Core i5-9500 (deltaPct 0.3), and Intel Core 5 120UL (deltaPct -0.7). This cluster of CPUs within a 1.1% performance band means that swapping the i3-12100F for any of these would yield nearly identical CPU-bound results, but the GPU still governs the high-resolution performance.

In the context of all tested combos, the 1775th rank means that 1160 combinations (2935 minus 1775) deliver better frame rates in Barony. This is not a poor result—it means the combo outperforms approximately 60% of tested systems—but it also indicates that for a game as lightweight as Barony, many higher-end GPUs or CPUs with more cores will push higher FPS. The measured data shows that this combo never dips below 46 FPS even at 4K Ultra, which is a playable threshold, but the rank suggests that users seeking maximum refresh rates (e.g., 240 Hz at 1080p) might find the 302 FPS ceiling at Low settings insufficient, though that is an extreme use case. The combo’s rank is consistent with its 1080p High average of 193 FPS, which is competitive but not class-leading, and the 4K Ultra average of 46 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS ideal for many users.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RTX 5050 and i3-12100F deliver the highest frame rates in the dataset. The Low preset achieves an average of 302 FPS, which is the single fastest measured result across all resolutions and settings. Medium settings reduce this to 225 FPS, with a min of 191 and a max of 258, showing that even the minimum stays above 190 FPS. High settings drop the average to 193 FPS, and Ultra further reduces it to 138 FPS. The 1080p results demonstrate that the CPU is not a bottleneck at this resolution, as even the most demanding Ultra preset exceeds 120 FPS, and the Low preset approaches the GPU’s raw throughput limits.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but shows the expected GPU load increase. Low settings average 191 FPS, which is nearly identical to the 1080p High result (193 FPS), indicating that the GPU can handle the extra pixels with minimal settings. Medium settings at 1440p average 142 FPS, with a min of 120 and a max of 163, which is a 37% reduction from the 1080p Medium average of 225 FPS. High settings at 1440p average 122 FPS, and Ultra drops to 87 FPS. The 1440p data shows a clear step-down from 1080p, but all settings except Ultra (87 FPS) remain above 100 FPS, making 1440p a viable resolution for high-refresh displays.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the clear limiting factor. Low settings average 100 FPS, which is still playable, but Medium drops to 74 FPS with a min of 63 and a max of 85. High settings average 64 FPS, and Ultra falls to 46 FPS. The 4K results show that the RTX 5050 can handle 4K only at Low or Medium settings for a consistently smooth experience (above 60 FPS), while High and Ultra require accepting frame rates below 60 FPS. The 4K Medium min of 63 FPS is the only sub-60 min value in the dataset, and even that stays above 60, so the combo never stutters below the 60 FPS threshold in any measured row except the 4K Ultra average of 46 FPS.

The full set of measured FPS values is as follows: 1080p Low (302), 1080p Medium (225, min 191, max 258), 1080p High (193), 1080p Ultra (138); 1440p Low (191), 1440p Medium (142, min 120, max 163), 1440p High (122), 1440p Ultra (87); 4K Low (100), 4K Medium (74, min 63, max 85), 4K High (64), 4K Ultra (46). The data shows a consistent pattern: each step from Low to Medium to High to Ultra reduces FPS by roughly 20–30%, and each resolution increase from 1080p to 1440p to 4K reduces FPS by about 40–50% at the same settings. The only exception is the 1080p Low result, which is disproportionately high (302 FPS) compared to the 1440p Low (191 FPS), suggesting that the GPU’s fill rate at 1080p is not saturated, allowing the CPU to push frames faster.

Settings Recommendations

For users with a 1080p display, the data strongly supports using Ultra settings, as the average FPS of 138 is well above 60 and even exceeds 120, providing a smooth experience with maximum visual quality. If a higher refresh rate (e.g., 144 Hz or 240 Hz) is the priority, High settings at 193 FPS or Medium at 225 FPS are better choices, with Medium offering the best balance of visual fidelity and speed at 225 FPS (min 191). Low settings at 302 FPS are only necessary for competitive play where every frame counts, but the visual trade-off is significant. For 1440p displays, High settings (122 FPS) are recommended for most users, as they maintain a high frame rate while preserving quality; Ultra (87 FPS) is also viable for those who prioritize visuals over frame rate, while Medium (142 FPS) provides a comfortable margin for 144 Hz monitors. Low at 1440p (191 FPS) is excessive and yields diminishing returns.

At 4K, the recommendations change dramatically due to the GPU’s limitations. Medium settings (74 FPS, min 63) are the optimal choice for a 60 Hz display, as they deliver the highest quality while staying above the 60 FPS threshold. Low settings (100 FPS) are also acceptable if higher frame rates are desired, but the visual difference between Low and Medium in a roguelike like Barony may not justify the 26 FPS gain. High (64 FPS) is borderline, hovering just above 60 FPS, and Ultra (46 FPS) is not recommended for 4K because the frame rate drops below the standard 60 FPS target. For users with a 120 Hz 4K display, neither High nor Ultra will reach that refresh rate, so Medium or Low are the only viable options, with Low providing 100 FPS.

The data suggests that the sweet spot for this combo is 1440p with High or Medium settings, where the i3-12100F and RTX 5050 deliver between 122 and 142 FPS average, which is ideal for most gaming monitors. At 1080p, Ultra is the best choice for visual quality without sacrificing performance, as the 138 FPS average exceeds the refresh rate of most displays. For 4K, Medium settings provide the best experience per the measured rows, with a min FPS of 63 ensuring no drops below 60. The 4K Ultra result of 46 FPS is the only measured scenario that falls below playable thresholds, so users should avoid that preset at 3840x2160. Overall, the RTX 5050’s 8 GB VRAM and the i3-12100F’s strong single-thread performance make this combo a versatile choice for Barony, with the flexibility to prioritize either frame rate or resolution based on the settings and preset selected.