Barony

Barony, a roguelike that has been in continuous development since its 2015 release, presents a unique challenge for hardware analysis. This particular pairing of an Intel Core i5-12400 with an Intel Arc B580 produces a fascinating dataset, particularly when examining how the game scales across standard resolutions and quality presets. The measured results reveal a system that is surprisingly robust at 1080p but shows clear signs of stress as pixel count increases, prompting a deeper investigation into which component governs performance at each stage.

Resolution Scaling

The most striking pattern in the measured data is the dramatic FPS drop when moving from 1440p to 4K. At 1080p with Medium settings, the combo achieves a comfortable 206 FPS average. Stepping up to 2560x1440 reduces that to 130 FPS, and finally at 3840x2160, the average falls to 68 FPS. This represents a 67% reduction in average FPS from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings. The frame time implications are significant, as the jump from 1440p to 4K alone costs 62 FPS, which is a far steeper decline than the 76 FPS drop seen when moving from 1080p to 1440p.

This scaling behavior strongly suggests that the Intel Arc B580 becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions. The GPU's 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 456.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which appears sufficient for 1080p but struggles to maintain the same frame throughput when pixel count quadruples. The data supports this interpretation: at 4K, the gap between Low (91 FPS) and High (58 FPS) settings is a substantial 33 FPS, indicating that the GPU is working progressively harder with each visual enhancement. In contrast, at 1080p, the difference between Low (277 FPS) and High (177 FPS) is 100 FPS, but the absolute values are so high that the CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are likely the primary constraint.

The Ultra preset tells a similar story of GPU-bound scaling. At 1080p, Ultra still manages 127 FPS, which is playable for most genres. However, at 4K Ultra, the average plummets to 42 FPS, which would be challenging for any fast-paced gameplay. The scaling from 1440p Ultra (80 FPS) to 4K Ultra (42 FPS) represents a 47.5% performance drop, highlighting how the B580's 2560 shading units and 80 ROPs become saturated as resolution increases. The pixel rate of 213.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 427.2 GTexel/s are respectable figures, but they are clearly insufficient for maintaining 60 FPS at 4K with maximum detail in this title.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of tested combinations for Barony, this particular pairing achieves a rank of 2789 out of 3717 total combos. This places it in the 75th percentile of all tested systems, meaning roughly a quarter of all configurations deliver better performance in this game. The ranking is notable because it positions this mid-range CPU and GPU pairing ahead of many older or less balanced systems, but behind the high-end configurations that dominate the top of the leaderboard.

The combo's rank relative to other pairings suggests that the i5-12400 and Arc B580 are well-matched for this title's demands, but they do not push into enthusiast territory. The CPU's 72nd percentile ranking among all processors indicates it is a solid mid-pack performer, while the GPU's 68th percentile places it slightly below the CPU in relative standing. This small discrepancy implies that the GPU is marginally more likely to be the performance bottleneck in this pairing, which aligns with the resolution scaling observations.

Looking at the nearest rivals for each component provides context for the combo's overall ranking. The i5-12400's average benchmark score of 18683 is nearly identical to the AMD EPYC 7643 (18697, -0.1% difference) and the Intel Core i7-1355U (18730, -0.3% difference). The fact that a desktop 12th-gen chip competes with a server-grade EPYC and a mobile i7 in average scores underscores that raw core count is not the sole determinant of performance. Similarly, the Arc B580's average score of 23021 puts it within 0.6% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (22895) and 0.7% of the RTX 3080 (23172), demonstrating that Intel's Battlemage architecture delivers competitive rasterization performance despite its 5 nm process node and 19,600 million transistors.

Settings Recommendations

For players seeking the optimal balance between visual fidelity and frame rate, the Medium preset emerges as the clear recommendation from the measured data. At 1080p, Medium delivers 206 FPS average with a minimum of 175 FPS and maximum of 237 FPS, providing a smooth experience that far exceeds the 60 FPS threshold typically required for comfortable gameplay. The minimum FPS of 175 ensures that even the most demanding scenes in Barony's procedurally generated dungeons will not cause noticeable stuttering.

Stepping up to 1440p, Medium remains an excellent choice with a 130 FPS average and a minimum of 111 FPS. This gives players a 45% resolution increase over 1080p while still maintaining frame rates that are well above what most displays can show. The minimum FPS of 111 suggests that there is still headroom for occasional drops without impacting the experience. At 4K, however, Medium drops to 68 FPS average with a 58 FPS minimum, which is borderline for 60 Hz displays but may cause issues for players using high refresh rate monitors.

The High preset offers a modest visual improvement over Medium but at a significant performance cost. At 1080p, High runs at 177 FPS, which is 29 FPS slower than Medium. The gap widens at higher resolutions: 112 FPS at 1440p (18 FPS slower than Medium) and 58 FPS at 4K (10 FPS slower). The diminishing returns of High settings are most apparent at 4K, where the 10 FPS difference may not justify the visual upgrade. Conversely, the Ultra preset pushes the system too hard at higher resolutions, with 4K Ultra dropping to 42 FPS, which is below the playability threshold for most users.

FAQ

Q: Does the Intel Arc B580 have enough VRAM for Barony at 4K?

A: The GPU features 12 GB of GDDR6 memory, which is substantial for a roguelike title. The measured data shows 4K performance ranges from 91 FPS at Low to 42 FPS at Ultra, suggesting that VRAM capacity is not the limiting factor at these settings. The 456.0 GB/s memory bandwidth is more likely the constraint, as the 192-bit bus width may struggle with the increased data throughput required at 4K.

Q: How does the i5-12400's 6-core/12-thread configuration impact performance?

A: The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads provide solid multithreaded performance, as evidenced by its 15989 score in Cinebench R23 multicore. In Barony, the 1080p results show that the CPU can drive frame rates up to 277 FPS at Low settings, indicating that the processor is not a bottleneck at lower resolutions. The 18 MB of shared L3 cache also helps maintain smooth performance during complex dungeon generation.

Q: Is the Arc B580 better than the NVIDIA RTX 2080 for this game?

A: The benchmark data shows the two GPUs are nearly identical in average performance, with the Arc B580 scoring 23021 against the RTX 2080's 22895, a difference of only 0.6%. However, this is an average across all tests, not specific to Barony. The measured FPS in this game varies significantly by resolution and settings, so real-world performance could differ from the synthetic benchmark comparison.

Q: What is the expected frame rate at 1440p with High settings?

A: The measured data shows an average of 112 FPS at 2560x1440 with High settings. This provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS and should be suitable for most gaming scenarios. The lack of a reported minimum FPS for this configuration suggests that the frame rate remains stable throughout gameplay.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming?

A: At 4K, the combo can achieve 91 FPS on Low settings and 58 FPS on High settings. The Medium preset runs at 68 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold but leaves little headroom. Ultra settings at 4K drop to 42 FPS, which would be problematic for smooth gameplay. Players seeking 4K should stick to Medium or lower settings.

Q: How does the combo's rank of 2789 out of 3717 translate to real-world performance?

A: This rank places the combo in the top 25% of all tested configurations for Barony. It indicates that this pairing delivers better performance than 75% of other systems in the database, making it a solid choice for this game. The CPU's 72nd percentile and GPU's 68th percentile rankings suggest a balanced pairing where neither component dramatically outperforms the other.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580's architecture, based on the Xe2-HPG design and manufactured on TSMC's 5 nm process, plays a crucial role in determining the game's performance envelope. The GPU's 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 80 ROPs provide the computational foundation for rendering Barony's pixel art and procedural environments. The 20 ray tracing cores, while not heavily utilized in a 2D roguelike, contribute to the GPU's overall feature set and DirectX 12 Ultimate support.

The memory subsystem is particularly important for this game. With 12 GB of GDDR6 memory running at 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective), the GPU achieves a bandwidth of 456.0 GB/s. This is a substantial figure that supports high-resolution textures and complex scenes, but the measured data shows that it becomes a limiting factor at 4K. The 192-bit bus width, while not as wide as some competing GPUs, provides sufficient bandwidth for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but the 4K results suggest that memory bandwidth is the primary constraint at that resolution.

The GPU's clock speed is fixed at 2670 MHz for both base and boost, which is a relatively high frequency for a modern graphics card. This consistent clock rate helps maintain predictable performance across different workloads. The pixel rate of 213.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 427.2 GTexel/s are respectable figures that translate to smooth rendering in Barony's relatively simple visuals. The GPU's FP32 performance of 13.67 TFLOPS and FP16 performance of 27.34 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio) indicate that the card has substantial compute capability, though Barony likely does not fully utilize these resources.

In the benchmark database, the Arc B580 ranks in the 68th percentile among all GPUs, with an average score of 23021. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (23061, -0.2%), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (22895, 0.6%), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (23172, -0.7%). This clustering suggests that the B580 delivers performance comparable to several generations of NVIDIA and AMD cards, making it a versatile option for various game titles.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400, based on the Alder Lake architecture and built on Intel's 10 nm process, provides the computational backbone for this pairing. Its 6 cores and 12 threads operate at a base clock of 2.50 GHz with a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, offering strong single-threaded performance that is essential for game logic and AI calculations. The 65 W TDP ensures efficient operation, while the dual-channel memory support for both DDR4 and DDR5 provides flexibility for system builders.

The CPU's cache hierarchy is designed to minimize latency and maximize throughput. Each core has 80 KB of L1 cache and 1.25 MB of L2 cache, while a shared 18 MB L3 cache facilitates communication between cores. This cache configuration is well-suited for Barony's procedural generation algorithms, which benefit from fast access to frequently used data. The 3DMark benchmarks show the CPU scaling well with thread count: 1692 for 2 threads, 3012 for 4 threads, 4745 for 8 threads, and 5873 for 16 threads, with a max thread score of 5890.

In Cinebench tests, the CPU achieves 2257 in R23 single-core and 15989 in multicore, demonstrating strong performance in both single-threaded and multithreaded workloads. The Geekbench scores of 1848 single-core and 8564 multicore further reinforce this balanced performance profile. The PassMark tests show particularly strong results in integer math (58366) and floating-point math (45494), which are relevant for game physics and collision detection.

The CPU's 72nd percentile ranking among all processors, with an average score of 18683, places it in the upper-middle tier of available CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 7643 (18697, -0.1%), Intel Core i7-1355U (18730, -0.3%), and AMD Ryzen AI 5 330 (18811, -0.7%). This positioning suggests that the i5-12400 competes favorably with both server-grade and mobile processors in synthetic benchmarks, though its real-world gaming performance is more dependent on the specific game's optimization.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS dataset for Barony with the Intel Core i5-12400 and Intel Arc B580 reveals distinct performance tiers across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the configuration achieves exceptional frame rates across all presets. Low settings produce an average of 277 FPS, Medium delivers 206 FPS with a minimum of 175 FPS and maximum of 237 FPS, High reaches 177 FPS, and Ultra maintains 127 FPS. These figures indicate that at 1080p, the system has significant headroom and could support high refresh rate monitors up to 240 Hz on Medium settings or higher.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but shows the first signs of GPU limitation. Low settings average 175 FPS, Medium achieves 130 FPS with a minimum of 111 FPS and maximum of 150 FPS, High runs at 112 FPS, and Ultra drops to 80 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum FPS of 111 ensures smooth gameplay even during intense moments, while the Ultra preset's 80 FPS average still provides a comfortable experience for most players.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck. Low settings average 91 FPS, Medium achieves 68 FPS with a minimum of 58 FPS and maximum of 78 FPS, High runs at 58 FPS, and Ultra falls to 42 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K is borderline playable, with the 58 FPS minimum hovering near the 60 FPS threshold. The Ultra preset's 42 FPS average would likely result in noticeable stuttering during fast-paced gameplay, making it unsuitable for serious play.

The data also reveals interesting frame consistency patterns. The Medium preset at all resolutions includes minimum and maximum FPS values, allowing for a more detailed analysis of frame pacing. At 1080p, the 175-237 FPS range shows a 62 FPS spread, indicating some variance but not enough to cause issues. At 1440p, the 111-150 FPS range narrows to a 39 FPS spread, suggesting improved frame consistency. At 4K, the 58-78 FPS range shows a 20 FPS spread, which is tighter but still represents a 34% variance from the average. This pattern suggests that the system's frame delivery becomes more consistent as resolution increases, likely due to the GPU becoming the dominant factor and reducing CPU-induced frame time spikes.