Barony

The Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 delivers remarkably high frame rates in Barony, a 2015 roguelike that is far more dependent on CPU logic than GPU pixel pushing. Benchmark results show this combination ranks 19th out of 1,702 tested combos, placing it in the top 1.1% of all systems measured. The data indicates that this pairing produces exceptional performance even at 4K Ultra settings, where it maintains an average of 102.3 FPS, though the CPU becomes a clear bottleneck at lower resolutions and settings.

FAQ

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

A: The combo ranks 19th out of 1,702 tested combos, placing it in the top 1.1% of all systems measured. This is an elite position that reflects the raw power of both components, though the ranking suggests several other pairings achieve even higher frame rates.

Q: What is the performance difference between 1080p and 4K at Ultra settings?

A: At 1920x1080 Ultra, the combo averages 316 FPS, while at 3840x2160 Ultra, it drops to 102.3 FPS. This represents a 209% performance advantage for 1080p, showing that resolution scaling has a significant impact even with this flagship GPU.

Q: How does the RTX 5090 compare to its nearest rivals based on average benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 5090 has an average benchmark score of 84,306, which is 0.1% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D and 0.2% higher than the RTX 5050 Mobile. It is 1.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon PRO W6600 and 1.6% behind the NVIDIA CMP 40HX.

Q: What is the CPU's percentile ranking compared to all processors?

A: The Intel Core i3-12100F sits at the 72nd percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 13,516. Its closest rival, the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX, scores 13,534, putting the i3 just 0.1% behind.

Q: Does the game favor higher settings for this particular combo?

A: The data shows diminishing returns at higher settings. At 4K, the difference between Low (229.6 FPS) and Ultra (102.3 FPS) is 127.3 FPS, while at 1080p the gap between Low (641.2 FPS) and Ultra (316 FPS) is 325.2 FPS, indicating the CPU limits maximum frame rates more at lower settings.

Q: How much VRAM does the GPU have, and what is its memory bandwidth?

A: The RTX 5090 features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s. This massive memory allocation is far beyond what Barony requires, but it ensures no texture streaming bottlenecks occur.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, with a 12 MB shared L3 cache. The CPU's benchmark scores reveal a strong single-threaded capability with a 3dmark single-thread score of 893 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1,681, while multi-threaded performance is more modest with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 11,912.

In Barony, the CPU's role is critical because roguelike gameplay relies heavily on procedural generation, AI pathfinding, and turn-based logic that execute on the CPU. The measured FPS data shows that the i3-12100F becomes a limiting factor at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 641.2 FPS, but at 4K Ultra, it drops to 102.3 FPS. The CPU's 4 cores and 8 threads handle the game's logic well, but the gap between 1080p and 4K results indicates that the i3 cannot feed the RTX 5090 fast enough to maintain its maximum output.

The CPU's 72nd percentile ranking among all processors suggests it is a solid mid-range part, but it is clearly outpaced by higher-core-count chips. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX, scores nearly identically (13,534 vs 13,516), yet the Threadripper has far more cores. This indicates that Barony's workload does not scale well with core count, favoring the i3's strong single-thread performance instead.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's 19th place out of 1,702 tested configurations puts it in the 98.9th percentile of all systems. This is an impressive result, but it reveals that other combinations achieve higher frame rates. The ranking suggests that while the RTX 5090 is among the fastest GPUs available, the i3-12100F's modest multi-threaded performance prevents this combo from reaching the very top of the chart.

The gap between this combo and the top-ranked systems is likely due to CPU limitations. The i3-12100F's passmark multithread score of 14,015 and 3dmark max threads score of 4,023 indicate that it is not a high-end multi-threaded processor. In a game like Barony, where CPU logic is paramount, this becomes the bottleneck. Systems with faster CPUs, such as those with more cores or higher boost clocks, would likely achieve better frame rates in the most demanding scenarios.

However, the 19th rank is still exceptional. With 1,702 total combos, this pairing outperforms the vast majority of systems. The data shows that for players targeting 4K Ultra settings, the combo delivers 102.3 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. This makes the pairing highly capable, even if it is not the absolute fastest configuration available.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of how this combo performs across resolutions and settings. At 3840x2160, the average frame rates are 229.6 FPS on Low, 167.2 FPS on Medium, 145.7 FPS on High, and 102.3 FPS on Ultra. The scaling from Low to Ultra represents a 55.4% performance drop, showing that Ultra settings nearly halve the frame rate.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average frame rates increase substantially: 432.7 FPS on Low, 321.9 FPS on Medium, 277.9 FPS on High, and 202.2 FPS on Ultra. The jump from 4K to 1440p yields roughly a 90% improvement across all settings, confirming that resolution is the primary performance factor.

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates: 641.2 FPS on Low, 514 FPS on Medium, 437.8 FPS on High, and 316 FPS on Ultra. The 1080p Low result is over six times higher than the 4K Ultra result, demonstrating the enormous performance range of this pairing. Notably, the gap between settings narrows at higher resolutions: the difference between Low and Ultra is 325.2 FPS at 1080p but only 127.3 FPS at 4K. This indicates that the GPU becomes the limiting factor at 4K, while the CPU constrains performance more at 1080p.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is a flagship GPU based on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture, manufactured on TSMC's 5 nm process. It features 21,760 shading units, 680 TMUs, and 176 ROPs, with 170 RT cores and 680 tensor cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2017 MHz and a boost clock of 2407 MHz, delivering 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance.

The GPU's memory subsystem is exceptionally powerful: 32 GB of GDDR7 on a 512-bit bus provides 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. This is far more than Barony requires, but it ensures that the GPU never faces a memory bottleneck, even at 4K Ultra with high-resolution textures. The GPU's benchmark scores reflect its dominance: a 3dmark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14,411 and a Passmark G3D score of 39,650.

The RTX 5090's 94th percentile ranking among all GPUs places it near the top of the performance hierarchy. Its nearest rivals include the RTX 5090 D, which scores 0.1% lower, and the RTX 5050 Mobile, which scores 0.2% lower. The GPU's role in Barony is to render the game's simple graphics at extremely high frame rates, but the data shows that it is often waiting for the CPU to provide data.

At 4K Ultra, the combo achieves 102.3 FPS, which is likely GPU-limited given the resolution and settings. However, at 1080p Low, the 641.2 FPS result is constrained by the CPU's ability to process game logic. The GPU's massive compute power is underutilized in this scenario, as evidenced by the fact that the RTX 5090's Passmark G2D score of 1,413 is relatively modest compared to its G3D score. This suggests that the GPU excels at complex 3D rendering but is not the limiting factor in Barony's CPU-heavy workload.