Barony

Barony, a roguelike from 2015, responds unusually to modern hardware. The measured data for the Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 combination reveals a title where frame rates reach extraordinary heights, yet the scaling pattern exposes a complex relationship between the CPU and GPU. This analysis breaks down the measured performance across resolutions and settings, interpreting what the numbers indicate about the limiting factors in this specific pairing.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic, but the shape of that curve is more telling than the absolute numbers. At Low settings, performance falls from 552.8 FPS at 1920x1080 to 211.9 FPS at 3840x2160 — a reduction to roughly 38% of the 1080p figure. This steep decline suggests that at 1080p Low, the system is heavily CPU-bound; the RTX 5080 is capable of far more than the i5-11400F can feed it, so lowering resolution does not unlock proportional gains. The data shows a 340.9 FPS gap between 1080p Low and 4K Low, which is a massive headroom difference.

At High settings, the pattern shifts. The 1080p result is 406 FPS, dropping to 259.2 FPS at 1440p, and then to 133.5 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1440p to 4K (roughly 48% reduction) is steeper than the drop from 1080p to 1440p (roughly 36% reduction). This indicates that as resolution increases, the GPU becomes progressively more of a limiting factor, but the CPU still exerts influence even at 4K. The Ultra preset tells a similar story: 292.5 FPS at 1080p, 186.3 FPS at 1440p, and 99 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra figure is the only measured result below 100 FPS, suggesting that even this high-end GPU struggles to maintain triple-digit frame rates when both resolution and graphical fidelity are maximized.

The scaling behavior implies that Barony is not a typical modern title. The fact that 1080p Low produces 552.8 FPS — a figure far beyond any display's refresh rate — indicates that the game's engine has a very low draw call overhead per frame. The limiting component at 1080p is unambiguously the CPU, as the RTX 5080's raw throughput is far beyond what is being utilized. At 4K Ultra, the GPU takes over as the primary constraint, but the CPU still prevents the frame rate from collapsing entirely, holding a playable 99 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Rocket Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its benchmark scores place it in the 75th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17181. The data shows that in multi-threaded tests, it achieves 14372 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 6036 in R20 multicore, while single-thread scores are 2029 and 852 respectively. These numbers suggest a capable mid-range processor that is not a bottleneck for most games, but Barony's frame rates at 1080p tell a different story.

The measured FPS at 1080p Low (552.8) is so high that it exceeds the CPU's ability to maintain consistency. The i5-11400F's single-thread performance, represented by a Passmark score of 2981, is sufficient for many titles, but Barony appears to have a serialized rendering path that limits overall throughput. The fact that the 1440p Low result (403.8 FPS) is only 27% lower than 1080p Low — while 4K Low (211.9 FPS) is 48% lower than 1440p — suggests that the CPU is still the primary limiter at 1440p Low. Only at 4K does the GPU's workload become substantial enough to balance the equation.

The CPU's 12 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s are modest by modern standards, but the game's age (2015 release) means it likely does not benefit from the latest cache hierarchies. The data indicates that the i5-11400F is the bottleneck at 1080p across all settings, as evidenced by the relatively small FPS differences between Low (552.8) and High (406) at that resolution — only a 27% drop despite much heavier GPU load. This is characteristic of a CPU-limited scenario where the GPU is waiting on the processor to submit draw calls.

FAQ

Q: Why is the 1080p Low frame rate so much higher than 4K Ultra?

A: The measured data shows 552.8 FPS at 1080p Low versus 99 FPS at 4K Ultra. This 5.6x difference is primarily due to the GPU workload scaling with resolution and settings; the RTX 5080's rendering load increases dramatically at 4K with Ultra settings, while the CPU's workload remains relatively constant.

Q: Is the RTX 5080 being fully utilized at 1080p?

A: No. The fact that 1080p Low (552.8 FPS) and 1080p High (406 FPS) differ by only 27% while the GPU is doing much more work at High settings strongly suggests the CPU is the limiting factor. The i5-11400F cannot feed the GPU fast enough at 1080p.

Q: How does the i5-11400F compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The CPU's average benchmark score is 17181, which is essentially tied with the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U (17189, 0% delta) and the Intel Core i7-1260P (17212, -0.2% delta). It is also within 0.2% of the Intel Core i5-1240U and Intel Core Ultra 7 164U.

Q: What GPU is the RTX 5080 most similar to?

A: Based on average benchmark scores, the RTX 5080 (59188) is 1.6% ahead of the Intel Arc A570M (58239) and 1.9% behind the Intel Arc Pro A60 (60326). It also leads the Intel Arc A580 by 2.5% and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500X by 2.6%.

Q: Does the game ever drop below 60 FPS with this combo?

A: No. The lowest measured average is 99 FPS at 4K Ultra. All other configurations exceed 133.5 FPS, indicating that this combination maintains smooth performance even at maximum settings.

Q: Why does the 4K Ultra result matter if the game is from 2015?

A: The 99 FPS at 4K Ultra shows that even a 2015 roguelike can stress modern hardware when pushed to extreme settings. The RTX 5080's 16 GB of GDDR7 memory and 960.0 GB/s bandwidth are being utilized, and the result indicates that the GPU becomes the bottleneck at this resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 achieves a rank of 107 out of 1702 tested combos in Barony. This places it in the top 6.3% of all configurations tested, which is a strong showing for a mid-range CPU paired with a high-end GPU. The ranking suggests that while the CPU is a bottleneck at lower resolutions, the overall system performance is still excellent because the GPU's dominance at higher resolutions compensates.

The data indicates that this combo outperforms the vast majority of tested systems. The 107th rank out of 1702 means there are 106 combinations that produce higher average frame rates across the measured scenarios. Given that the RTX 5080 is in the 89th percentile of all GPUs and the i5-11400F is in the 75th percentile of all CPUs, this ranking is consistent with expectations — the GPU is doing most of the heavy lifting, and the CPU is adequate but not exceptional.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured averages are: Low at 552.8 FPS, Medium at 475.3 FPS, High at 406 FPS, and Ultra at 292.5 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 260.3 FPS, representing a 47% reduction. This is a relatively narrow range compared to what might be expected, reinforcing the CPU-limited nature of the game at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the numbers drop to: Low at 403.8 FPS, Medium at 298.9 FPS, High at 259.2 FPS, and Ultra at 186.3 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 217.5 FPS, a 54% reduction. The larger percentage drop at 1440p indicates that the GPU is starting to become more relevant, but the CPU still exerts significant influence.

At 3840x2160, the results are: Low at 211.9 FPS, Medium at 154 FPS, High at 133.5 FPS, and Ultra at 99 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 112.9 FPS, a 53% reduction. The absolute numbers are much lower, but the relative scaling is similar to 1440p, suggesting that the system is now more balanced between CPU and GPU limitations.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the Medium preset at 2560x1440 offers the best balance of performance and visual quality for most users. The 298.9 FPS at this setting is more than sufficient for any display, and the jump from Medium to High at 1440p (259.2 FPS) costs only 13% performance while likely providing marginal visual improvements. For users with high-refresh-rate 1440p monitors, Medium is the sweet spot.

At 4K, the High preset (133.5 FPS) is recommended over Ultra (99 FPS). The 26% performance gain from dropping from Ultra to High is substantial, and the visual difference between the two is likely minimal in a roguelike with procedural generation. The 133.5 FPS at 4K High is well above the 120 Hz refresh rate found on many modern displays, making it the optimal choice for smooth gameplay.

For competitive play or users with 1080p 240 Hz monitors, the High preset at 406 FPS is preferable to Ultra at 292.5 FPS. The 28% performance increase from Ultra to High could be the difference between staying above or dipping below a 360 Hz refresh rate, though the measured data shows both are exceptionally fast. The Low preset at 1080p (552.8 FPS) is only recommended for users with extreme refresh rate displays, as the visual downgrade is unlikely to be worth the extra frames for most players.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is a Blackwell 2.0 architecture GPU with 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its clock speeds are 2295 MHz base and 2617 MHz boost, with 10752 shading units and 336 texture mapping units. The GPU's benchmark scores place it in the 89th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 59188. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Arc A570M (1.6% behind) and Intel Arc Pro A60 (1.9% ahead), showing that it is competitive with mid-range offerings from other manufacturers.

In Barony, the GPU's role becomes dominant at 4K, particularly at Ultra settings. The 99 FPS at 4K Ultra indicates that the RTX 5080's raw compute power — measured at 56.28 TFLOPS FP32 — is being fully taxed by the game's shaders and post-processing effects. The 16 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for this title, and the memory bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s ensures that texture streaming is not a bottleneck. However, at 1080p, the GPU is largely idle, as evidenced by the fact that the frame rate only drops by 47% from Low to Ultra while the GPU workload likely increases by several times.

The data suggests that the RTX 5080 is overkill for Barony at lower resolutions, but it provides headroom for future titles or for running the game at 4K with maximum settings. The 89th percentile ranking confirms that this is a top-tier GPU, and its performance in Barony is only limited by the CPU at resolutions below 4K.