Barony

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i5-12400 is a 6-core, 12-thread desktop processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process node. It operates with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with a 65 W TDP and support for both DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration. The chip carries 18 MB of shared L3 cache, alongside 80 KB of L1 and 1.25 MB of L2 per core. Its integrated graphics are the UHD Graphics 730, though in this tested combo the discrete GPU handles all rendering.

In synthetic workloads, the i5-12400 posts a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15989 and a single-core score of 2257. Its Geekbench results are 8564 multi-core and 1848 single-core. The processor's PassMark multi-thread score is 18747, while its single-thread score is 3456. These numbers place the CPU at the 72nd percentile among all tested CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 18683. The nearest rivals in the database show tight competition: the AMD EPYC 7643 scores 18697 (0.1% higher), the Intel Core i7-1355U scores 18730 (0.3% higher), and the AMD Ryzen AI 5 330 scores 18811 (0.7% higher). The Intel Core i3-14100F trails at 18519, which is 0.9% lower.

Barony is a roguelike title, a genre that typically relies more on single-thread performance for game logic, procedural generation, and AI pathfinding than on massive multi-core throughput. The i5-12400's strong single-core showing — reflected in its 3dmark single-thread score of 910 and its PassMark single-thread score of 3456 — suggests it is well-suited to handle the frame-by-frame simulation that roguelikes demand. The 4.40 GHz boost clock provides headroom for bursty workloads, and the 6 physical cores (12 threads) ensure that background tasks or multi-threaded engine components do not bottleneck the main game thread.

Benchmark results confirm this balance. At 1080p Low settings, the combo reaches 298 FPS average, which is an extremely high frame rate that would not be attainable if the CPU were the limiting factor. Even at 4K Ultra, where the GPU is heavily stressed, the system still delivers 45 FPS average, indicating that the CPU is not collapsing under load. The 3dmark 16-thread score of 5873 and max-thread score of 5890 show that the processor scales reasonably well with additional threads, though the difference between 2-thread (1692) and 4-thread (3012) scores suggests diminishing returns beyond a handful of cores — typical for a game like Barony that does not aggressively parallelize every system.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with the Navi 23 chip, fabricated on TSMC's 7 nm process. It packs 11,060 million transistors on a 237 mm² die, with a transistor density of 46.7 million per mm². The GPU features 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, 64 ROPs, and 32 ray tracing cores. Its base clock is 2055 MHz, with a game clock of 2410 MHz and a boost clock of 2635 MHz. Memory runs at 2190 MHz (17.5 Gbps effective), across an 8 GB GDDR6 frame buffer on a 128-bit bus, yielding 280.3 GB/s of bandwidth.

The card's compute capabilities include 10.79 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 21.59 TFLOPS of FP16 (at 2:1 ratio). Pixel rate is 168.6 GPixel/s and texture rate is 337.3 GTexel/s. The GPU supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, and connects via PCIe 4.0 x8. It draws up to 176 W and requires a 450 W power supply.

In the GPU benchmark database, the RX 6650 XT sits at the 65th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19765. Its nearest rivals are all professional/workstation cards: the NVIDIA Tesla K40m scores 19885 (0.6% higher), the AMD FirePro W7000 scores 19905 (0.7% higher), and the AMD FirePro D300 scores 19637 (0.7% lower). The NVIDIA Quadro K5200 scores 19602, which is 0.8% lower. This placement indicates the RX 6650 XT is a mid-range performer, well-matched to 1080p and 1440p gaming.

For Barony, the GPU's role is primarily about raw pixel throughput and fill rate, since roguelike visuals are typically not overly complex in terms of geometry or shader effects. The 8 GB VRAM is ample for this title, even at 4K, as the measured FPS at 4K High (63 FPS average) demonstrates. The 128-bit memory bus and 280.3 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for the texture streaming demands of a procedurally generated dungeon crawler. The 64 ROPs deliver a pixel rate of 168.6 GPixel/s, which helps explain why the GPU can push 298 FPS at 1080p Low without breaking a sweat.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data reveals a clear scaling pattern across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo averages 298 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 188 FPS, a 37% reduction. At 4K Low, the average falls to 98 FPS, which is 67% lower than the 1080p result. This steep decline as resolution increases indicates that the GPU becomes progressively more stressed, while the CPU maintains its output.

For High settings, the trajectory is similar but less dramatic in absolute terms: 190 FPS at 1080p, 120 FPS at 1440p, and 63 FPS at 4K. The 4K High result is 67% lower than 1080p High, nearly identical to the Low setting drop. This consistency suggests that the limiting component shifts from the CPU at low resolutions to the GPU at high resolutions, but the CPU is never the primary bottleneck — otherwise, the FPS would plateau rather than continue dropping.

Medium settings show 222 FPS at 1080p, 140 FPS at 1440p, and 73 FPS at 4K. Ultra settings scale from 136 FPS at 1080p to 86 FPS at 1440p and 45 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset at 4K produces the lowest average of all tested configurations, 45 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold many players consider smooth. This indicates that at maximum settings and resolution, the RX 6650 XT is nearing its limits.

The pattern is textbook GPU-bound behavior. At 1080p, the CPU can feed frames fast enough to hit nearly 300 FPS on Low, but the GPU cannot maintain that rate as pixel count rises. The fact that 4K Ultra still produces a playable 45 FPS average — rather than a slideshow — suggests the i5-12400 is providing enough instruction throughput to keep the GPU fed, and the RX 6650 XT's 8 GB VRAM is sufficient to avoid memory-related stutters at 4K.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Barony?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 298, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Barony?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K High settings, the average FPS is 63; at 4K Ultra, it drops to 45 FPS average. Low settings at 4K produce 98 FPS average.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The i5-12400 has an average benchmark score of 18683. The AMD EPYC 7643 scores 0.1% higher, the Intel Core i7-1355U scores 0.3% higher, and the AMD Ryzen AI 5 330 scores 0.7% higher. The Intel Core i3-14100F is 0.9% lower.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking?

A: The Radeon RX 6650 XT sits at the 65th percentile among all tested GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19765.

Q: What is the FPS difference between 1080p and 4K at Medium settings?

A: At Medium settings, the combo delivers 222 FPS average at 1080p, 140 FPS at 1440p, and 73 FPS at 4K. The 4K result is 67% lower than the 1080p result.

Q: Does the combo have any measured minimum FPS data?

A: Yes, for Medium settings across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the minimum FPS is 188 with a maximum of 255. At 1440p Medium, the minimum is 119 and maximum is 161. At 4K Medium, the minimum is 62 and maximum is 84.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-12400 and AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT ranks 2428 out of 3717 tested combos in Barony. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the database — roughly the 35th percentile of all combinations tested. The ranking reflects the fact that Barony is not a demanding title, so even mid-range hardware can achieve high frame rates, but the database includes many systems with far more powerful GPUs and CPUs that push the average higher.

The combo's position is more a function of the GPU's mid-range standing (65th percentile) and the CPU's upper-mid-range standing (72nd percentile) than any specific weakness. Both components are solid performers on their own, but the RX 6650 XT's 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit bus limit its ceiling at 4K Ultra, where it produces 45 FPS. The i5-12400's 6 cores and 12 threads are adequate for the game's logic, but they do not boost the combo into the top tier of the rankings.

When interpreting the rank, it is important to note that the database includes combos with top-end GPUs like the RTX 4090 and RX 7900 XTX, which naturally achieve far higher scores in a roguelike that is not graphically intensive. The 2428th rank out of 3717 means this combo outperforms roughly 35% of all tested configurations, which is consistent with its mid-range component choices. For a player targeting 1080p or 1440p gaming, this rank is more than sufficient; for 4K Ultra with high frame rates, the data suggests the GPU is the limiting factor.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions and four settings presets, with average FPS recorded for all, and minimum/maximum FPS available for Medium settings at each resolution.

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 298 FPS average
• Medium: 222 FPS average, with a minimum of 188 FPS and maximum of 255 FPS
• High: 190 FPS average
• Ultra: 136 FPS average

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 188 FPS average
• Medium: 140 FPS average, with a minimum of 119 FPS and maximum of 161 FPS
• High: 120 FPS average
• Ultra: 86 FPS average

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 98 FPS average
• Medium: 73 FPS average, with a minimum of 62 FPS and maximum of 84 FPS
• High: 63 FPS average
• Ultra: 45 FPS average

The data shows a consistent pattern: each doubling of pixel count (from 1080p to 4K is roughly 4x the pixels) results in roughly a 60-70% reduction in average FPS across all settings. The minimum FPS values at Medium settings scale similarly, with 188 at 1080p, 119 at 1440p, and 62 at 4K. The maximum FPS values follow the same trajectory: 255, 161, and 84 respectively.

At 1080p, every settings preset except Ultra exceeds 190 FPS average, making this combo an excellent choice for high-refresh-rate monitors. At 1440p, High settings achieve 120 FPS average, which is smooth for most displays, while Ultra drops to 86 FPS. At 4K, only Low settings exceed 60 FPS average, and Ultra dips below 45 FPS, indicating that players targeting 4K should stick to Low or Medium presets to maintain playable frame rates.

The gap between Low and Ultra settings narrows as resolution increases: at 1080p, the difference is 162 FPS (298 vs 136); at 1440p, it is 102 FPS (188 vs 86); and at 4K, it is 53 FPS (98 vs 45). This narrowing confirms that the GPU becomes the dominant bottleneck at higher resolutions, where the cost of each pixel outweighs the cost of each graphical effect.