Barony

Barony, a roguelike released in 2015, presents an interesting case for hardware analysis due to its low system demands and high frame rate ceiling. The measured data for the Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 shows a combination that is heavily bottlenecked by the CPU at lower resolutions, while the GPU becomes the primary constraint as resolution increases. The data indicates that this pairing is capable of exceptional performance across all tested settings, with frame rates remaining highly playable even at the most demanding 4K Ultra preset.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows reveal a clear hierarchy across the four tested presets: Low, Medium, High, and Ultra. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 360 FPS, which is the highest recorded frame rate for this combination. However, this setting does not provide a balanced experience relative to what the hardware can deliver. The Medium preset at 1080p yields 268.9 FPS, while High drops slightly to 232.6 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1080p still manages a very strong 163.7 FPS average, which is more than sufficient for high refresh rate displays.

For the best experience per the measured data, the High preset at 2560x1440 stands out as the optimal balance. This configuration produces an average of 147.7 FPS, which is comfortably above the 144 Hz threshold common on modern monitors. The jump from High to Ultra at 1440p results in a significant performance cost, dropping to 106.8 FPS, which is still playable but represents a 27.7% reduction in average frame rate. At 4K, the High preset delivers 79 FPS, which is smooth for most gameplay, but the Ultra preset falls to 53.2 FPS, indicating a substantial performance penalty that may not be worth the visual gains in a roguelike title.

The data suggests that High settings provide the most consistent experience across all three resolutions. At 1080p High, the system achieves 232.6 FPS, which is only 10.4% lower than Medium and 29.8% higher than Ultra. The Low preset, while faster, sacrifices visual quality for frame rates that exceed the refresh rate of virtually all consumer displays. Therefore, the recommended preset is High, as it delivers frame rates that are either above or near the refresh rate of typical gaming monitors at 1440p, while maintaining solid performance at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 ranks 804th out of 1702 tested combos in Barony, placing it in the upper half of all tested configurations. This percentile ranking indicates that, while the combination is not at the top tier of performance, it significantly outperforms the majority of systems tested in this game. The ranking is particularly notable given that Barony is a CPU-light roguelike, meaning the GPU has less influence on the overall result than in more graphically intensive titles.

The CPU itself holds a percentile rank of 72 among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 13516. Its nearest rivals in the database include the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX, which scores 13534 and is only 0.1% higher, and the Intel Core i7-1250U, which scores 13462 and is 0.4% lower. The Intel Core i3-10105 trails by 0.6% with a score of 13430, while the Intel Core i7-7700K is 1.8% behind at 13280. These narrow deltas show that the i3-12100F is positioned almost exactly at the median of its performance class, neither dominating nor being dominated by its direct competitors.

The GPU, meanwhile, ranks in the 73rd percentile among all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 30109. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, which matches it exactly with a 0% delta, and the AMD Radeon RX 570, which is 0.2% lower. The NVIDIA Tesla M60 sits 0.5% below, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile is 0.6% higher at 29928. This tight clustering suggests that the RTX 5060 delivers performance that is highly competitive within its segment, and the overall combo ranking of 804/1702 reflects a system that is well-matched to the game’s demands.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a GB206 chip fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It features 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2280 MHz and boosts to 2497 MHz, with memory clocked at 1750 MHz or 28 Gbps effective. This configuration yields a pixel rate of 119.9 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 299.6 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance of 19.18 TFLOPS. The card has a TDP of 145 W and requires a 300 W power supply, connecting via a single 8-pin connector.

In Barony, the GPU’s role becomes more pronounced as resolution increases. At 1080p, the frame rates are so high that the CPU becomes the limiting factor, as evidenced by the relatively small differences between settings. The Low preset at 1080p hits 360 FPS, but even the Ultra preset achieves 163.7 FPS, which is far above what the CPU can sustain in more demanding scenarios. However, at 4K, the GPU’s capabilities are more fully utilized. The High preset at 4K produces 79 FPS, while Ultra drops to 53.2 FPS, showing that the GPU is now the primary bottleneck. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for Barony’s requirements, as the game does not appear to exceed this limit even at 4K Ultra settings, given that the frame rate remains playable.

The data indicates that the RTX 5060 is more than adequate for Barony at all tested settings and resolutions. The GPU’s performance in synthetic benchmarks, such as a Passmark G3D score of 20891, further confirms its capability. The measured frame rates show that the GPU can handle 4K High settings at nearly 80 FPS, which is a strong result for a roguelike title. However, the transition from High to Ultra at 4K causes a significant drop, suggesting that the game’s Ultra preset includes effects that are particularly demanding on the GPU’s shading units and memory bandwidth.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved by this combination?

A: The highest recorded average FPS is 360, which occurs at 1920x1080 with the Low preset. This is followed by 268.9 FPS at 1080p Medium and 232.6 FPS at 1080p High.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra preset compare to 4K High in terms of frame rate?

A: The 4K Ultra preset delivers an average of 53.2 FPS, while 4K High achieves 79 FPS. This represents a 32.7% reduction in average frame rate when moving from High to Ultra at 4K resolution.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1440p?

A: At 1440p, the system achieves 147.7 FPS on High settings, which is high but not as extreme as the 1080p results. The data shows a clear scaling pattern: as resolution increases, the GPU becomes more of a bottleneck, but at 1440p the balance still favors the CPU, given the frame rates exceed 100 FPS on all presets except Ultra.

Q: What is the combination’s rank among all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 804th out of 1702 tested combinations in Barony, placing it in the 47th percentile of all tested systems.

Q: How does the RTX 5060 compare to its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT?

A: The RTX 5060 and the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT have identical average benchmark scores, with a delta of 0%. This indicates that they perform at virtually the same level in synthetic benchmarks.

Q: What frame rate can be expected at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: At 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, the system achieves an average of 163.7 FPS. This is the lowest frame rate at 1080p but still high enough for smooth gameplay on high refresh rate monitors.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a distinct pattern as resolution scales from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At 1080p, the system delivers extremely high frame rates across all presets, ranging from 360 FPS at Low to 163.7 FPS at Ultra. Moving to 1440p, these figures drop to 228.2 FPS at Low and 106.8 FPS at Ultra, representing reductions of 36.6% and 34.8%, respectively. At 4K, the frame rates fall further to 122 FPS at Low and 53.2 FPS at Ultra, which are 66.1% and 67.5% lower than the 1080p equivalents.

This scaling behavior indicates that the limiting component changes with resolution. At 1080p, the CPU is the primary constraint, as the frame rates are so high that the GPU is not fully utilized. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 196.3 FPS, which is substantial but still results in playable performance even at Ultra. As resolution increases to 1440p and 4K, the GPU becomes more heavily loaded, and the frame rate drops become more pronounced. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 68.8 FPS, which is smaller in absolute terms but represents a larger percentage difference relative to the lower baseline.

The data reveals that the RTX 5060’s 8 GB of GDDR7 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient to maintain playable frame rates at 4K, even on Ultra settings where the average is 53.2 FPS. However, the steep drop from High to Ultra at 4K suggests that the Ultra preset includes settings that disproportionately impact the GPU, possibly related to shadow quality or post-processing effects. The overall trend indicates that this combination is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where it can deliver frame rates well above 100 FPS on high settings, while 4K is viable but requires lowering the preset to High or below for a consistently smooth experience.