Barony

The Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the Intel Arc B390 delivers a playable experience in Barony, but the data indicates that this combination is heavily constrained by the graphics processor. At 1080p, the combo achieves a smooth 102 FPS on High settings, which is excellent for the game's fast-paced roguelike gameplay. However, the performance ceiling is low; the Ultra preset drops to 73 FPS, and at 4K, the system struggles to maintain fluid motion. The benchmark results suggest that users should prioritize the High preset at 1080p for the best balance of visual fidelity and frame rate, as it offers a substantial performance buffer over Ultra without the visual compromises of the Low preset.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data clearly points to the High preset at 1920x1080 as the optimal configuration for this hardware combo. At this setting, the average frame rate is 102 FPS, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay and leaves headroom for demanding in-game situations. While the Low preset at 1080p achieves a higher 159 FPS, the visual downgrade is not justified given that High already provides a fluid experience. Conversely, the Ultra preset at 1080p yields 73 FPS, which is still playable but represents a significant 28% performance drop from High, suggesting that the extra graphical effects tax the Arc B390 heavily without a proportional visual benefit.

At 2560x1440, the High preset delivers 64 FPS, which is marginally above the playability threshold. This resolution is viable for users with 1440p monitors, but the frame rate is less stable than at 1080p. The Medium preset at 1440p offers 75 FPS with a recorded minimum of 64 FPS, making it a safer choice for consistent performance. For users prioritizing maximum visual quality, the Ultra preset at 1440p drops to 46 FPS, which is below the ideal range for a fast-paced action game and is not recommended. At 4K, the situation is more challenging: High settings yield 34 FPS, and Ultra drops to 24 FPS, both of which are too low for comfortable gameplay. The Low preset at 4K reaches 53 FPS, which is the only 4K setting that approaches playability, but it requires significant visual compromises.

The data suggests a clear hierarchy: 1080p High is the sweet spot, 1440p Medium is a viable alternative for higher resolution displays, and 4K should be avoided except for the Low preset. The performance scaling from Low to Ultra at each resolution indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor, as frame rates drop by roughly half from Low to Ultra at every resolution. For the best experience, users should stick to 1080p High, which provides the highest frame rate without sacrificing visual clarity.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-10400F and Intel Arc B390 combination ranks 2601 out of 2935 tested combos in Barony, placing it in the bottom 11% of the database. This is a poor ranking that reflects the GPU's limited capabilities. The Arc B390 sits in the 9th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. Its nearest rivals are legacy NVIDIA parts: the GeForce GT 520MX scores 1463 (1.3% faster), the GeForce 800M scores 1460 (1.5% faster), the GeForce GT 625 OEM scores 1446 (2.5% faster), and the GeForce GT 710 scores 1443 (2.7% faster). This positions the Arc B390 as a very low-end graphics solution, barely outpacing decade-old mobile and OEM chips.

In contrast, the CPU is a mid-range performer. The Core i5-10400F ranks in the 68th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 14185. Its nearest rivals are the Intel Xeon 6756E (14163, 0.2% slower), the Intel Core 7 160UL (14232, 0.3% faster), the AMD EPYC 7552 (14115, 0.5% slower), and the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C (14277, 0.6% faster). This means the processor is well above average, but it is paired with a GPU that is far below average, creating a severe bottleneck. The combo's rank of 2601 out of 2935 indicates that most other tested configurations outperform it, primarily due to the GPU's inability to keep up with the CPU's capabilities. Benchmark results show that the CPU is not the limiting factor; the GPU is responsible for the low ranking.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics solution based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on a 3 nm process. It features 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, 24 raster output units, and 12 ray tracing cores. The GPU has a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz, with a pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s. It delivers 7.680 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 15.36 TFLOPS of FP16 performance. The memory configuration is "System Shared," meaning it relies on the CPU's DDR4 memory, with bandwidth described as "System Dependent." This shared memory architecture is a significant limitation, as it competes with the CPU for bandwidth and has no dedicated video memory.

In Barony, the GPU's role is clearly the primary constraint. The measured FPS data shows a dramatic drop as settings increase from Low to Ultra. At 1080p, the average frame rate falls from 159 FPS on Low to 118 FPS on Medium, 102 FPS on High, and 73 FPS on Ultra. This 54% reduction from Low to Ultra indicates that the GPU's shading units and texture units are overwhelmed by the increased graphical workload. The 24 ROPs are likely a bottleneck for pixel processing, particularly at higher resolutions. The boost clock of 2500 MHz is high, but the low base clock of 300 MHz suggests that the GPU may struggle to maintain sustained performance under load. The shared memory system also explains why higher resolutions cause such steep frame rate drops, as the system memory bandwidth is insufficient for 4K textures and effects.

The GPU's benchmark score of 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 places it in the 9th percentile, confirming its low-end status. The nearest rival, the GT 520MX, is a 2011 mobile GPU, highlighting how far behind modern standards the Arc B390 is. For Barony, this means users must rely on lower settings and resolutions to achieve playable frame rates. The GPU's 12 ray tracing cores are irrelevant for this game, as it does not utilize ray tracing, but the low ROP count and shared memory are significant drawbacks.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the combo's performance across three resolutions and four settings levels. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 159 FPS, which is the highest frame rate recorded. The Medium preset delivers 118 FPS, with a minimum of 101 FPS and a maximum of 136 FPS, indicating good stability. The High preset drops to 102 FPS, which is still excellent for smooth gameplay. The Ultra preset yields 73 FPS, which is playable but shows a significant performance hit from High.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset reaches 100 FPS, which is a 37% drop from 1080p Low. The Medium preset delivers 75 FPS, with a minimum of 64 FPS and a maximum of 86 FPS, showing reasonable consistency. The High preset yields 64 FPS, which is right at the edge of smooth playability. The Ultra preset drops to 46 FPS, which is below the ideal threshold for fast-paced action and may result in noticeable stuttering.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset achieves 53 FPS, which is the only 4K setting that approaches playability. The Medium preset delivers 39 FPS, with a minimum of 33 FPS and a maximum of 45 FPS, which is too low for comfortable gameplay. The High preset yields 34 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 24 FPS, both of which are unplayable for a roguelike that requires quick reactions. The data shows a clear pattern: each step up in settings reduces the frame rate by roughly 20-30%, and each resolution increase from 1080p to 4K cuts the frame rate by approximately half.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling data reveals the extent to which the GPU is the limiting component. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 on High settings, the average FPS drops from 102 to 64, a 37% reduction. From 2560x1440 to 3840x2160 on High, the FPS drops from 64 to 34, a 47% reduction. The total drop from 1080p to 4K on High is from 102 FPS to 34 FPS, a 67% decrease. This steep scaling is characteristic of a GPU that is severely bandwidth-limited and lacks the raw pixel throughput to handle higher resolutions.

The same pattern holds for other settings. On Low, the 1080p to 4K drop is from 159 FPS to 53 FPS, a 67% reduction. On Medium, the drop is from 118 FPS to 39 FPS, a 67% reduction. On Ultra, the drop is from 73 FPS to 24 FPS, a 67% reduction. The consistency of this 67% drop across all settings indicates that the resolution scaling is purely a GPU limitation, as the CPU's performance is unaffected by resolution. The system shared memory architecture is likely the primary culprit, as the GPU must access the same DDR4 memory as the CPU, and the available bandwidth decreases as the memory controller is taxed by higher resolutions.

The data suggests that the combo is not CPU-bound at any resolution. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see a smaller performance drop from 1080p to 4K, as the GPU would be waiting for the CPU. Instead, the linear scaling with resolution points to the GPU being the sole limiting factor. Users with 1440p monitors should expect a playable but not fluid experience, while 4K gaming is only viable at the lowest settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Comet Lake architecture, built on a 14 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU features 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 256 KB of L2 cache per core, and 12 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with a bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU scores 10283 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 1451 in single-core, with a PassMark multi-thread score of 12115 and a single-thread score of 2541. These scores place it in the 68th percentile among all CPUs, indicating a solid mid-range processor.

In Barony, the CPU's role is to handle game logic, AI, and physics, which is well within its capabilities. The 6 cores and 12 threads provide ample processing power for a roguelike, which is not typically a heavily threaded workload. The CPU's multi-threaded performance, as evidenced by the Cinebench R23 score of 10283, ensures that the game's background simulation runs smoothly without impacting frame rates. The single-thread performance of 1451 in Cinebench R23 is also sufficient for the game's primary thread, which is often the bottleneck in less optimized titles.

However, the benchmark data indicates that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this combo. The measured FPS scaling with resolution and settings is entirely consistent with a GPU bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the CPU delivers 159 FPS, which is near the refresh rate of most monitors, but the GPU cannot maintain this performance at higher settings or resolutions. The CPU's 68th percentile ranking compared to the GPU's 9th percentile ranking confirms that the processor is vastly more capable than the graphics solution. Users with this CPU should consider pairing it with a more powerful dedicated GPU to unlock its full potential, as the Arc B390 severely limits the system's gaming performance.