Barony

Barony is a roguelike that rarely stresses modern hardware, yet the measured results for the Intel Core i5-12400 with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 show a clear and consistent pattern: the GPU is the limiting factor at every step, and the CPU has ample headroom. The data shows a combo that is playable at 1080p, acceptable at 1440p with settings tweaks, and only at 4K when you drop to Low. This pairing ranks near the bottom of the database’s tested combos for this game, which is expected given the GTX 1650’s age, but the i5-12400 ensures that frame pacing remains smooth and that no CPU-side bottleneck ever appears.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, which is a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 86.4 FPS at 1920x1080 to 53.7 FPS at 2560x1440, a 38% reduction, and then to 30.5 FPS at 3840x2160, a further 43% drop. The pattern repeats at Medium, where 102.3 FPS at 1080p becomes 61.4 FPS at 1440p and 34.0 FPS at 4K. The scaling is nearly linear with pixel count, which means the GTX 1650’s 4 GB of GDDR5 memory and 128.1 GB/s bandwidth are being saturated as resolution increases.

At Low settings, the resolution scaling is less severe but still pronounced: 134.7 FPS at 1080p, 85.8 FPS at 1440p, and 46.6 FPS at 4K. This suggests that even with the lowest graphical load, the GPU’s raw compute—2.984 TFLOPS FP32—cannot keep up with 4K pixel throughput. The CPU, with its 6 cores and 12 threads boosting to 4.40 GHz, is never the constraint; the delta between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 69.9 FPS (134.7 vs 64.8), which is entirely attributable to GPU workload. If the CPU were limiting, that gap would shrink at higher resolutions, but it does not—it widens.

The takeaway is that this combo is designed for 1080p gaming. At 1440p, you are already sacrificing frame rate, and at 4K, only Low settings approach playability at 46.6 FPS. The data indicates that the GTX 1650’s 128-bit memory bus and 4 GB VRAM are the hard ceilings, not the i5-12400’s 18 MB of L3 cache or its 10 nm process node.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database’s ranking of tested CPU-GPU combos for Barony, this pairing sits at rank 1664 out of 1702 combos. That places it in the bottom 2.2% of all configurations tested, which is a stark but accurate reflection of the GTX 1650’s position in the market. The GPU’s percentileVsAllGpus is 43, meaning it outperforms only 43% of all GPUs in the database, and its average benchmark score of 8713 is within 0.5% of its nearest rivals—the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile (8746, delta -0.4%), AMD Radeon 550X (8749, delta -0.4%), and AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 (8761, delta -0.5%).

The CPU, by contrast, is a much stronger component. The i5-12400 has a percentileVsAllCpus of 77 and an average benchmark score of 19850, which puts it essentially tied with the Intel Core i7-9700 (19831, delta 0.1%) and Intel Core i7-8700 (19894, delta -0.2%). In practical terms, the CPU is not holding this combo back; it is the GPU that drags the rank down. If you were to pair the i5-12400 with a faster GPU, the combo rank would improve dramatically, but as measured, this configuration is firmly in the lower quartile of all tested systems.

The low rank is not a surprise given the GPU’s specs: 896 shading units, 56 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, all running at a boost clock of 1665 MHz. These are entry-level figures from 2019, and Barony’s roguelike visuals, while not demanding, still require the GPU to render at whatever resolution you choose. The data shows that this combo is viable for 1080p, but it is not competitive with even mid-range configurations from the same era.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 is the clear bottleneck in this pairing, and its role is defined by its memory and clock characteristics. It has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, yielding 128.1 GB/s of bandwidth. At 1080p, this is sufficient for Barony’s textures, but at 1440p and 4K, the limited VRAM and bandwidth cause frame rates to collapse. The GPU’s base clock is 1485 MHz and it boosts to 1665 MHz, which is modest by modern standards but typical for a 75 W part with no power connectors.

The GTX 1650’s compute capability is 2.984 TFLOPS FP32, which is the raw number that determines how fast it can process shader instructions. In Barony, this translates directly to the measured FPS: at 1080p Ultra, the card averages 64.8 FPS, which is playable but not smooth for a fast-paced roguelike; at 1080p High, it hits 86.4 FPS, which is more comfortable. The GPU’s pixel rate of 53.28 GPixel/s and texture rate of 93.24 GTexel/s are the limits for fill-rate-bound scenes, and the data shows that these are exceeded at 4K, where even Low settings only produce 46.6 FPS.

The GPU’s nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro P2200 (8671, delta 0.5%) and AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 (8761, delta -0.5%), both of which are workstation cards with similar performance. This reinforces that the GTX 1650 is a low-end gaming chip, and its 43rd percentile ranking confirms it. For Barony, the GPU’s 4 GB VRAM is not a problem at 1080p, but at 4K, the 128.1 GB/s bandwidth becomes the limiting factor, as evidenced by the 46.6 FPS at Low versus 22.6 FPS at Ultra.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the best experience for this combo is at 1920x1080 with High settings, which delivers 86.4 FPS. This gives a smooth frame rate without the visual quality penalty of Low settings, and it leaves headroom for moments of heavy action. At Medium settings, the frame rate rises to 102.3 FPS, but the visual difference between Medium and High in Barony is often negligible, so High is the recommended sweet spot.

At 2560x1440, the data suggests that Medium settings (61.4 FPS) are the maximum you should attempt for consistent playability. High settings at 1440p drop to 53.7 FPS, which is borderline, and Ultra at 37.7 FPS is not recommended for a game that requires quick reactions. Low settings at 1440p produce 85.8 FPS, which is smooth but sacrifices visual clarity.

At 3840x2160, the only viable option is Low settings, which averages 46.6 FPS. Medium at 4K drops to 34.0 FPS, and High to 30.5 FPS, both of which are below the threshold for comfortable play. Ultra at 4K is effectively unplayable at 22.6 FPS. The recommendation is to avoid 4K with this GPU unless you are willing to accept low fidelity and frame rates in the 40s.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 134.7 at Low to 64.8 at Ultra. The intermediate settings are 102.3 at Medium and 86.4 at High. This shows a clear linear relationship between settings and performance, with each step up in quality costing roughly 20-25 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 85.8 at Low, 61.4 at Medium, 53.7 at High, and 37.7 at Ultra. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is significant, with Low losing 48.9 FPS and Ultra losing 27.1 FPS. This confirms that the GPU is the limiting factor, as the CPU’s performance does not change with resolution.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 46.6 at Low, 34.0 at Medium, 30.5 at High, and 22.6 at Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 24 FPS, which is smaller than the 69.9 FPS gap at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is hitting its absolute limits regardless of settings. The data shows that even at Low, the GTX 1650 cannot maintain 60 FPS at 4K, and the i5-12400’s 18 MB of L3 cache and 12 threads are irrelevant to this outcome.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo playable at 1440p?

A: Yes, but only at Medium settings, which average 61.4 FPS. High settings drop to 53.7 FPS, and Ultra falls to 37.7 FPS, so Medium is the recommended ceiling for 1440p.

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU-GPU pairing?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 is the sweet spot. At High settings, it averages 86.4 FPS, and even Ultra achieves 64.8 FPS, which is playable. Higher resolutions require significant settings compromises.

Q: How does the GTX 1650 compare to its nearest rivals in this game?

A: The GTX 1650’s average benchmark score of 8713 is within 0.5% of the NVIDIA Quadro P2200 (8671) and AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 (8761), meaning performance is nearly identical to those workstation cards.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in Barony?

A: The GPU is the bottleneck. The i5-12400 ranks in the 77th percentile of all CPUs, while the GTX 1650 ranks in the 43rd percentile of GPUs, and the FPS scaling with resolution confirms the GPU is the limiting component.

Q: Can this combo run Barony at 4K?

A: Only at Low settings, which average 46.6 FPS. Medium drops to 34.0 FPS, High to 30.5 FPS, and Ultra to 22.6 FPS, so 4K is not recommended for smooth play.

Q: What is the difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: The measured average FPS is 134.7 at Low versus 64.8 at Ultra, a difference of 69.9 FPS. This shows that the GTX 1650 has enough headroom at 1080p to handle higher settings, but Ultra still cuts frame rates nearly in half.