Barony

Barony is a roguelike that leans on a fast, procedural loop, and the measured frame rates for the Intel Core i5-12400 and AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT combination reveal a component pairing that is heavily skewed toward GPU dominance. The data shows a clear pattern: as resolution increases, the performance cost is steep, but the absolute frame rates remain exceptionally high, indicating that the RX 9070 XT is the primary driver of performance in this title.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial and tells a clear story about where the bottleneck lies. At 1080p with Ultra settings, the combo produces an average of 212.9 FPS. Moving to 1440p drops that to 132.6 FPS, a reduction of roughly 38%. The jump to 4K at Ultra yields 72.2 FPS, which is a 66% decrease from the 1080p result. This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU-bound scenario; the CPU is not the limiting factor at lower resolutions, but the GPU's workload increases dramatically with pixel count.

The scaling from Low settings is even more revealing. At 1080p Low, the system hits 468.9 FPS, which is an extraordinarily high number. At 1440p Low, it drops to 294.7 FPS, and at 4K Low, it falls to 154.6 FPS. The fact that the 4K Low result is still higher than the 1080p Ultra result (154.6 vs. 212.9) suggests that the game's visual settings have a more significant impact on the GPU load than resolution alone. This implies that for players seeking maximum frame rates, reducing settings is a more effective lever than lowering resolution, as the GPU has ample headroom even at 4K.

The data implies that at 1080p and even 1440p, the CPU is likely not being fully utilized, given the massive frame rates. The 6-core, 12-thread i5-12400 is sufficient to feed the GPU at these levels. However, the steep drop to 4K confirms that the RX 9070 XT, with its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory, becomes the definitive performance ceiling. The scaling is not linear, which is expected, but the magnitude of the drop between 1440p and 4K suggests that the GPU's memory bandwidth and compute units are being saturated.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of tested hardware combinations, this pairing holds a specific position. The combo ranks 496 out of 1702 total tested combos for Barony. This places it in the top 29% of all systems, which is a strong showing for a mid-range CPU paired with a high-end GPU. The percentile rank for the GPU alone is 82, indicating it outperforms 82% of all GPUs in the database. The CPU's percentile is 77, showing it is also a capable performer in the broader context.

The rank suggests that while this is not the absolute top-tier setup, it is significantly above average. The data indicates that the RX 9070 XT is the star of this show, as its performance percentile is higher than the CPU's. This is consistent with the resolution scaling analysis, which points to the GPU as the primary performance driver. The combo's rank is a product of the GPU's high placement, with the CPU providing enough support to avoid being a significant drag.

It is importantly the nearest rivals for the CPU, such as the Intel Core i7-9700 and Intel Core i7-8700, have nearly identical average benchmark scores (19831 and 19894, respectively) with delta percentages of 0.1% and -0.2%. This places the i5-12400 in a very tight performance band with older i7 parts, meaning the CPU is not a differentiator in this system. The GPU, similarly, is close to the AMD Radeon Pro 575 and NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile in aggregate scores, but those are workstation parts, not direct gaming rivals. The combination's rank is therefore more about the GPU's placement than the CPU's.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target refresh rate and resolution. For a 60 Hz display, even 4K Ultra is playable at 72.2 FPS, making it a viable option for maximum visual fidelity. However, for high-refresh-rate gaming, the data suggests a different approach.

At 1440p, the High preset delivers 188.5 FPS, which is excellent for 144 Hz or even 165 Hz monitors. The Medium preset at 221 FPS is even better for pushing a 240 Hz panel. The Ultra preset at 132.6 FPS is still very smooth and would be suitable for a 120 Hz display. The data shows that at 1440p, dropping from Ultra to High yields a 42% performance increase (from 132.6 to 188.5 FPS) with a likely minor visual penalty.

At 1080p, the frame rates are so high that the choice is about maximizing refresh rate. The Low preset at 468.9 FPS is overkill for most monitors, but it shows the CPU is not a bottleneck. The Medium preset at 344.8 FPS is more balanced, and High at 295.3 FPS is still incredibly fast. For competitive play on a 360 Hz monitor, the Medium preset would be the sweet spot, as it provides a massive frame rate headroom. For most users, the High preset at 1080p offers the best balance of visual quality and performance, as it is well above the threshold for any current display technology.

The data suggests that the Ultra preset is the only one that pushes the GPU hard enough to see a significant frame rate cost, and it is best reserved for 4K or for those who prioritize visuals over raw speed. In summary, the recommendation is to use High settings at 1440p for the best overall experience, or Medium at 1080p for esports-level frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a comprehensive look at performance across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the frame rates are exceptionally high, starting at 468.9 FPS on Low and dropping to 344.8 FPS on Medium, 295.3 FPS on High, and 212.9 FPS on Ultra. This shows a clear progression where each step up in settings costs a significant chunk of performance, but even the lowest result is far beyond the refresh rate of most monitors.

At 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but shows a more pronounced impact from settings. The Low preset averages 294.7 FPS, which is still incredibly high. Medium drops to 221 FPS, High to 188.5 FPS, and Ultra to 132.6 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra at this resolution is 55%, which is a larger relative decrease than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is starting to feel the load.

At 3840x2160, the impact is the most severe. The Low preset averages 154.6 FPS, which is still playable, but Medium drops to 114.4 FPS, High to 97.4 FPS, and Ultra to 72.2 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 4K is a 53% reduction, similar to 1440p. The data shows that the gap between Low and Medium at 4K is 40 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is only 25.2 FPS, suggesting that the Ultra preset is not efficiently utilizing the GPU resources compared to the others.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT is the dominant component in this system, and its specifications align with the measured performance. The GPU has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s. This is crucial for Barony, as the game appears to be sensitive to memory bandwidth given the steep scaling at 4K. The GPU's boost clock of 2970 MHz and game clock of 2400 MHz are high, and its 4096 shading units are more than enough for this title.

The GPU's benchmark scores are impressive, with a Passmark G3D score of 26795 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 160317. These numbers indicate a high level of raw compute power. The 4 nm process node from TSMC and the 53,900 million transistors on a 357 mm² die allow for significant performance density. The GPU's 82nd percentile ranking among all GPUs confirms its high-end status.

The data shows that the GPU is the clear limiting factor at 4K Ultra, where it delivers 72.2 FPS. This is not a failure, but rather a sign that the game is demanding enough to utilize the full capabilities of the RX 9070 XT. The 16 GB VRAM is likely sufficient for Barony at all settings, as the game is not known for extremely high memory usage, but the bandwidth is the key metric that drives the resolution scaling we see.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The highest average FPS is 468.9, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Is the combo capable of 4K gaming at 60 FPS?

A: Yes. At 4K with High settings, the combo averages 97.4 FPS, and even at Ultra settings it maintains 72.2 FPS, both above the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the CPU's performance compare to its nearest rival?

A: The Intel Core i5-12400 has an average benchmark score of 19850, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core i7-9700 and 0.2% lower than the Intel Core i7-8700, indicating very similar performance.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 294.7 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 132.6 FPS, a difference of 162.1 FPS.

Q: Does the GPU have enough VRAM for this game?

A: The GPU has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory, which is ample for the game's requirements at all tested resolutions and settings.

Q: What is the combo's overall rank in the database for this game?

A: The combo ranks 496 out of 1702 tested combinations, placing it in the top 29% of all systems tested.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 plays a supporting role in this combination, and its specifications are more than adequate for Barony. The CPU has 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. It is built on Intel's 10 nm process and uses the Alder Lake architecture. The 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache provide sufficient data for the game's logic.

The CPU's benchmark results show it is a solid mid-range performer. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score is 15935, and its single-core score is 2249. The Passmark multithread score is 18747, and its single-thread score is 3456. These numbers indicate that the CPU can handle the game's physics and AI calculations without becoming a bottleneck. The 3DMark single-thread score of 910 and 2-thread score of 1692 show that it has strong single-thread performance, which is often important for game logic.

Given the frame rates observed, especially at 1080p where the GPU is not fully stressed, it is clear that the CPU is not limiting performance. The i5-12400's 77th percentile ranking among all CPUs means it is faster than 77% of CPUs in the database. The data indicates that even at 1080p Low with 468.9 FPS, the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU. The CPU's TDP of 65 W and its support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory make it a flexible and efficient choice, but in this context, it is the supporting actor to the GPU's lead. The benchmark results show that the CPU is closely matched with older i7 parts, but the measured FPS data shows it is not holding back the RX 9070 XT in any meaningful way.