Barony

# Barony with Intel Core i5-11400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 delivers exceptional performance in Barony, ranking in the 90th percentile of all tested combos (352nd out of 3,717). This combination is heavily GPU-bound at lower resolutions, with the CPU becoming a more significant factor only at 1080p where frame rates exceed what most displays can handle. The data reveals a system that crushes this roguelike at every resolution, though the scaling pattern between settings tiers shows where each component's influence is strongest.

Resolution Scaling

Frame rates scale dramatically as resolution drops, but the pattern is not uniform across all settings. At Ultra settings, moving from 4K to 1440p increases average FPS from 91 to 173 — a 90% improvement — while dropping further to 1080p yields 274 FPS, which is another 58% gain over 1440p. This steep scaling curve indicates the RTX 4080 is the primary limiter at higher resolutions, with its computational throughput being stretched thinner as pixel count rises.

The Low settings tier tells a different story. At 4K Low, the combo produces 198 FPS, but at 1440p Low it jumps to 379 FPS, and at 1080p Low it reaches 555 FPS. The jump from 1440p to 1080p (176 FPS gain) is nearly as large as the jump from 4K to 1440p (181 FPS gain), suggesting that at 1080p Low, the Intel Core i5-11400F's 6 cores and 12 threads with a 4.40 GHz boost clock are beginning to constrain the GPU. With a 65W TDP and 12 MB of shared L3 cache, the CPU delivers strong single-thread performance (2,024 in Cinebench R23 single-core), but even that is not enough to keep a 48.74 TFLOPS GPU fully saturated at such extreme frame rates.

Medium settings show a similar pattern to Low, with 4K at 147 FPS, 1440p at 281 FPS, and 1080p at 446 FPS. The min-to-max spread at 1080p Medium (379-513 FPS) reveals frame time variance that grows as the CPU works harder. At 4K Medium, the spread narrows to 125-169 FPS, confirming that higher resolutions reduce CPU pressure and produce more stable frame pacing.

High settings represent the middle ground: 126 FPS at 4K, 242 FPS at 1440p, and 383 FPS at 1080p. The scaling from 4K to 1440p is a 92% improvement, while 1440p to 1080p adds another 58%. This consistent ratio across High and Ultra settings suggests the GPU's pixel throughput is the dominant factor, with the RTX 4080's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 716.8 GB/s bandwidth handling data flow without becoming a bottleneck.

How This Combo Ranks

This CPU-GPU pairing sits at rank 352 out of 3,717 tested combinations, placing it in the top 9.5% of all systems evaluated in Barony. The RTX 4080's individual standing is strong — it ranks in the 86th percentile among all GPUs — while the i5-11400F ranks in the 71st percentile among all CPUs. The gap between these percentile positions indicates that the GPU is the performance ceiling for this combo, but the CPU is sufficiently capable to avoid dragging down the overall result.

The CPU's nearest rivals in aggregate benchmark scores include the AMD EPYC 7H12 (0.3% higher average score), Intel Core i5-12450H (0.4% lower), AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G (0.6% lower), and Intel Core Ultra 7 164U (0.6% higher). These deltas are remarkably tight, all within 0.6% of the i5-11400F's average score of 17,177. This clustering suggests that in Barony, the CPU's 6-core/12-thread configuration with Rocket Lake architecture is competitive with a wide range of processors, from enterprise EPYC parts to mobile hybrids.

The GPU's rival comparison shows even tighter grouping: the RTX 4080 SUPER scores only 0.1% higher, while the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X trails by 1.1%, the Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB by 2.6%, and the Radeon 8060S by 2.7%. With an average benchmark score of 54,247, the RTX 4080 sits in a performance tier where even small percentage differences translate to substantial FPS changes in practice. In Barony specifically, the combo's rank of 352 out of 3,717 reflects that this pairing outperforms the vast majority of systems, including many with newer or more expensive components, because the game responds well to raw GPU throughput.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 brings an Ada Lovelace architecture with 9,728 shading units, 304 texture mapping units, and 112 raster output pipelines. Its boost clock of 2,505 MHz and base clock of 2,205 MHz drive a peak FP32 throughput of 48.74 TFLOPS, which is the dominant factor in Barony's performance at 4K. The 16 GB GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus delivers 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth, and the measured frame rates show this memory subsystem is never the limiting factor — even at 4K Ultra, the combo maintains 91 FPS average.

The GPU's 76 ray tracing cores and 304 tensor cores are present but largely idle in Barony, a roguelike that does not implement ray-traced effects in the measured settings. The passmark DirectX 11 score of 314 and DirectX 12 score of 132 indicate that the GPU's traditional rasterization path is what drives performance here. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6,567 places the card in the upper echelon of DirectX 12 performers, which aligns with the game's strong showing at all resolutions.

At 1080p, the GPU's role shifts from primary bottleneck to co-contributor. The 555 FPS at Low settings approaches the practical ceiling for this CPU-GPU pair, and the 274 FPS at Ultra shows that even the RTX 4080's substantial compute resources are being partially held back by the CPU at lower resolutions. The GPU's pixel rate of 280.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 761.5 GTexel/s are more than sufficient for Barony's visual complexity, which is why the 4K Ultra result of 91 FPS remains comfortably playable despite being the most demanding setting tested.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest raw numbers across all settings. Low settings produce 555 FPS average, Medium achieves 446 FPS (with a min-max range of 379-513 FPS), High reaches 383 FPS, and Ultra drops to 274 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra is 281 FPS, a 51% reduction in frame rate when maxing out visual quality. The Medium setting's min FPS of 379 is higher than the Ultra average, indicating that players targeting stable frame pacing should consider Medium over Ultra if they are sensitive to drops.

Moving to 2560x1440, the numbers remain high but the scaling pattern shifts. Low yields 379 FPS, Medium produces 281 FPS (min 239, max 324), High achieves 242 FPS, and Ultra settles at 173 FPS. The Medium min FPS of 239 is still above 144 Hz refresh rates, making this resolution ideal for high-refresh displays. The Ultra result of 173 FPS represents a 37% reduction from Low, a smaller penalty than at 1080p where the CPU constrained the Low setting.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck. Low produces 198 FPS, Medium achieves 147 FPS (min 125, max 169), High reaches 126 FPS, and Ultra drops to 91 FPS. The Medium setting's min FPS of 125 is just above 120 Hz, while Ultra's 91 FPS is smooth but not sufficient for high-refresh 4K displays. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 107 FPS, a 54% reduction, slightly more severe than at 1440p. Notably, the 4K Medium min-max spread of 44 FPS is the tightest of any resolution at Medium settings, confirming that higher resolution reduces frame time variance.

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-11400F sufficient for the RTX 4080 in Barony?

A: Yes, but with a caveat. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 555 FPS, and the scaling from 1440p to 1080p at Low settings (379 to 555 FPS) suggests the CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are approaching their limit. The CPU's 71st percentile ranking and average benchmark score of 17,177 place it in the mid-range, but Barony's low CPU demands mean it does not severely bottleneck the GPU at most settings.

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

A: The data shows 1440p is the sweet spot. At High settings, it delivers 242 FPS, and even Ultra maintains 173 FPS — both above 144 Hz refresh rates. At 4K, Ultra drops to 91 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for competitive play. The 1440p Medium result of 281 FPS with a 239 FPS minimum offers the best combination of visual quality and frame stability.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER?

A: The RTX 4080's average benchmark score is 54,247, while the RTX 4080 SUPER scores 54,209 — a difference of only 0.1%. In practical terms, this is negligible, and the measured Barony frame rates for this combo would be nearly identical with either card. The RTX 4080's 86th percentile GPU ranking confirms it sits at the top of the performance hierarchy.

Q: Does Barony benefit more from the CPU or GPU in this combo?

A: The GPU is the dominant factor. The RTX 4080 ranks in the 86th percentile among GPUs, while the i5-11400F ranks in the 71st percentile among CPUs. At 4K, where the GPU's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 716.8 GB/s bandwidth are fully utilized, the scaling between Low (198 FPS) and Ultra (91 FPS) shows the GPU's compute limits. Only at 1080p Low (555 FPS) does the CPU's 4.40 GHz boost clock become a limiting factor.

Q: Is this combo overkill for Barony?

A: Given that Barony is a roguelike and the combo achieves at least 91 FPS at 4K Ultra, this pairing is far more powerful than the game strictly requires. However, the combo's rank of 352 out of 3,717 tested combinations indicates that many users pair high-end GPUs with mid-range CPUs. The performance headroom allows for future games or higher refresh rate displays without upgrade pressure.

Q: What do the CPU's benchmark scores indicate about its suitability?

A: The i5-11400F scores 14,340 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 2,024 in single-core, with a Passmark multithread score of 16,908 and single-thread of 2,981. These scores place it within 0.6% of rivals like the AMD EPYC 7H12 and Intel Core Ultra 7 164U, showing that for Barony's workload — which appears to favor single-thread performance — this CPU is more than adequate.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on Rocket Lake architecture, built on Intel's 14 nm process. Its base clock of 2.60 GHz boosts to 4.40 GHz, and it carries 12 MB of shared L3 cache with 512 KB L2 per core. The CPU's 65W TDP and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth are modest by modern standards, yet the benchmark data shows this processor holds its own against much newer and more expensive rivals.

In Barony, the CPU's role is most visible at 1080p Low settings, where the combo produces 555 FPS. The Passmark single-thread score of 2,981 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2,024 indicate strong per-core performance, which is critical for a game that likely has a primary simulation thread. The 3DMark single-thread score of 868 and 2-thread score of 1,691 suggest that Barony's engine may benefit from having two or more high-performance cores available, which the i5-11400F provides.

The CPU's 71st percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17,177, places it in the upper-mid range. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 7H12 (0.3% higher) and Intel Core Ultra 7 164U (0.6% higher), but also the Core i5-12450H (0.4% lower) and Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G (0.6% lower). These tight margins mean that in Barony, the choice between these CPUs would result in negligible FPS differences. The CPU's 12 MB L3 cache is sufficient for the game's data set, and the 4.40 GHz boost clock ensures responsive frame delivery even when the GPU is pushing 500+ FPS.

The measured frame times at 1080p Medium, with a min of 379 FPS and max of 513 FPS, show a 134 FPS spread that indicates CPU-side frame pacing variability. At 4K Medium, the spread narrows to 44 FPS (125-169), confirming that the CPU's workload is lighter at higher resolutions where the GPU takes longer per frame. This pattern is typical of a balanced system where the CPU is not the primary bottleneck but can introduce variance when frame rates become extremely high. The i5-11400F's PCIe Gen 4 support with 20 lanes provides sufficient bandwidth for the RTX 4080's PCIe 4.0 x16 interface, ensuring no data transfer bottleneck between the two components.