Barony

The Intel Core i5-12400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 delivers a compelling 1080p experience in Barony, with frame rates that remain fluid even at 4K on medium settings. The data shows a system where the CPU’s strong single-threaded performance keeps high refresh rates within reach at lower resolutions, while the GPU’s memory bandwidth becomes the defining factor as resolution climbs, creating a clear and predictable scaling curve across the four tested presets.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates reveal a pronounced shift in system bottleneck behavior as resolution increases. At 1920x1080, the combo achieves an average of 261 FPS on Low settings, which drops to 167 FPS on High and 120 FPS on Ultra. This scaling pattern—a 36% reduction from Low to High and a further 28% reduction to Ultra—suggests that at 1080p, the CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads, with a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, are capable of feeding the GPU efficiently, and the limiting factor is primarily the graphics workload. The 3DMark single-thread score of 910 for the i5-12400 supports this, indicating that the processor has ample headroom for per-frame draw calls in a roguelike title.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS on Low is 165, which is 36.8% lower than the 261 FPS seen at 1080p. This drop is steeper than the pixel count increase alone would suggest (which is 77% more pixels), pointing to a growing GPU limitation. The RTX 2060’s 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth, begins to saturate as the render target expands. The High preset at 1440p yields 105 FPS, and Ultra drops to 76 FPS, showing a consistent 36% performance penalty from Low to Ultra, which mirrors the 1080p scaling pattern but at lower absolute values.

At 4K (3840x2160), the GPU is clearly the dominant constraint. The Low preset averages 86 FPS, which is only a 48% reduction from the 1440p Low score of 165 FPS, despite a 2.25x increase in pixel count. This disproportionate scaling indicates that the GPU's compute resources—specifically its 1920 shading units and 48 ROPs—are the primary limit. The Ultra preset at 4K falls to 39 FPS, a 49% drop from the 1440p Ultra score of 76 FPS. Interestingly, the gap between Low and Ultra at 4K narrows to a 55% difference (86 vs 39 FPS), compared to a 54% difference at 1440p (165 vs 76 FPS) and a 54% difference at 1080p (261 vs 120 FPS), suggesting that once the GPU is fully saturated, the relative cost of higher settings becomes more uniform.

The Medium preset provides the only data with min/max FPS values, offering insight into frame pacing. At 4K Medium, the average is 64 FPS with a minimum of 55 and maximum of 74, a 19 FPS variance. At 1440p Medium, the average is 123 FPS with a 37 FPS variance (104 to 141), and at 1080p Medium, the average is 194 FPS with a 59 FPS variance (165 to 224). This widening variance at lower resolutions indicates that while the GPU is less stressed, the CPU’s frame delivery becomes less consistent, though the average remains high enough for smooth gameplay. The data implies that the i5-12400, with its 18 MB of shared L3 cache, is sufficient for this title, but the RTX 2060’s memory subsystem is the critical component for resolution scaling.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain a 60 FPS average in Barony?*

A: Based on the measured data, 4K on Medium settings yields an average of 64 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold. For higher settings, 2560x1440 on Ultra averages 76 FPS, and 1920x1080 on Ultra averages 120 FPS.

Q: How does lowering settings from Ultra to Low affect performance at 1080p?

A: The average frame rate increases from 120 FPS on Ultra to 261 FPS on Low, representing a 117% performance uplift. High settings offer a middle ground at 167 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more limiting at 4K resolution?

A: The GPU is the primary bottleneck at 3840x2160. The average FPS on Low is 86, while on Ultra it drops to 39, indicating that the RTX 2060’s shading units and memory bandwidth are the limiting factors, not the i5-12400’s processing power.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The only minimum FPS values provided are for the Medium preset. The lowest recorded minimum is 55 FPS at 4K, 104 FPS at 1440p, and 165 FPS at 1080p. No minimum values are listed for Low, High, or Ultra presets.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 compare to its closest rivals in average benchmark score?

A: The RTX 2060 has an average benchmark score of 15290. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580, scores 15283, a delta of 0%. The AMD Radeon 680M scores 15270 (0.1% higher), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM scores 15199 (0.6% higher).

Q: Does the i5-12400 have enough single-threaded performance for high FPS gaming?

A: Yes, the CPU’s 3DMark single-thread score of 910 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2257 indicate strong per-core performance. This is reflected in the 1080p Low preset achieving 261 FPS, where CPU overhead is more likely to be a factor than at higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12400 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 combination ranks 2937 out of 3717 tested combos in Barony, placing it in the 21st percentile of all configurations. This rank is remarkably low given the measured frame rates, which suggests that the benchmark database contains a large number of higher-end systems. The combo’s ranking is likely dragged down by the GPU’s age—the RTX 2060 is end-of-life—and its relatively modest 58th percentile standing among all GPUs. The CPU, however, performs better, sitting in the 72nd percentile against all processors.

Interpreting the rank, the data implies that while this combo can deliver excellent frame rates in Barony—the 1080p High average of 167 FPS is well above typical display refresh rates—it is outclassed by many other systems in the database. For context, the GPU’s nearest rival, the GTX 580, has the same average benchmark score, yet the RTX 2060’s modern features like 30 RT cores and 240 tensor cores may not be utilized in this roguelike title. The combo’s rank of 2937 suggests that for Barony specifically, the hardware is more than sufficient, but for more demanding titles, it would fall further behind. The deltaPct values for the CPU’s nearest rivals are minimal (ranging from -0.7% to +0.9%), indicating that the i5-12400’s performance is tightly clustered with its peers, meaning the ranking is more heavily influenced by the GPU’s standing.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo shows a clear gradient across presets. Low settings produce an average of 261 FPS, Medium averages 194 FPS (min 165, max 224), High averages 167 FPS, and Ultra averages 120 FPS. The step from Low to Medium is a 25.7% reduction, while Medium to High is a 13.9% reduction, and High to Ultra is a 28.1% reduction. This pattern indicates diminishing returns for CPU-bound performance at lower settings, with the Ultra preset imposing a significant GPU load.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 165 FPS on Low, 123 FPS on Medium (min 104, max 141), 105 FPS on High, and 76 FPS on Ultra. The percentage drops from Low are 25.5% for Medium, 36.4% for High, and 53.9% for Ultra. The consistency of these drops compared to 1080p (25.7%, 36.0%, 54.0%) suggests a uniform scaling behavior, but the absolute values are lower due to the increased pixel count.

At 3840x2160, the averages fall to 86 FPS on Low, 64 FPS on Medium (min 55, max 74), 55 FPS on High, and 39 FPS on Ultra. The drop from Low to High is 36.0%, and from Low to Ultra is 54.7%. Notably, the 4K Medium average of 64 FPS is only 9.9% higher than the 4K High average of 55 FPS, indicating that the Medium preset provides a significant performance boost over High with a modest visual quality reduction. The 4K Ultra at 39 FPS is below the 60 FPS target, making it the only preset/resolution combination that fails to reach a playable average.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060, based on the TU106 chip with 10,800 million transistors on a 12 nm process, plays a decisive role in Barony’s performance, particularly at higher resolutions. Its 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which becomes a limiting factor at 4K where texture data and framebuffer demands increase. The GPU’s base clock of 1365 MHz and boost clock of 1680 MHz, combined with 1920 shading units, deliver a FP32 throughput of 6.451 TFLOPS. This compute capacity is evident in the 4K Low average of 86 FPS, which is surprisingly high for a 2019 card, suggesting that Barony’s art style is not overly demanding on fill rate.

The GPU’s 48 ROPs produce a pixel rate of 80.64 GPixel/s, which is sufficient for the 4K Medium preset’s 64 FPS average. However, the Ultra preset at 4K drops to 39 FPS, indicating that the additional shading work (likely from effects like shadows and post-processing) overwhelms the GPU’s texture rate of 201.6 GTexel/s. The RTX 2060’s percentile ranking of 58th among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 15290, places it in the mid-range. Its nearest rival, the GTX 580, scores 15283, a negligible 0% difference, yet the RTX 2060’s modern architecture supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, which Barony may leverage for improved efficiency. The GPU’s 30 RT cores and 240 tensor cores are likely unused in this game, but their presence does not detract from performance. The memory clock of 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) is a critical spec, as the 4K scaling shows a 46% performance drop from Low to Ultra, which aligns with memory bandwidth saturation.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400, with 6 cores and 12 threads, provides a robust foundation for Barony, a game that likely benefits from single-threaded performance. The CPU’s base clock of 2.50 GHz and boost clock of 4.40 GHz, combined with a 10 nm Alder Lake architecture, yield a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2257 and a multi-core score of 15989. These scores are reflected in the 1080p Low preset’s 261 FPS average, where the CPU is the more active participant in frame generation. The 3DMark single-thread score of 910 and 2-thread score of 1692 indicate strong per-core IPC, which is crucial for a roguelike with potentially complex game logic and procedural generation.

The CPU’s 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache help reduce memory latency, which is vital for maintaining high minimum FPS. The data shows that at 1080p Medium, the minimum FPS is 165, which is 85% of the average, indicating good frame consistency. However, at 4K Medium, the minimum FPS is 55, which is 86% of the average of 64, showing that the GPU’s slower frame production allows the CPU to stay ahead. The i5-12400’s percentile ranking of 72nd among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 18683, places it in the upper-mid range. Its nearest rival, the AMD EPYC 7643, scores 18697, a -0.1% delta, while the Intel Core i7-1355U scores 18730, a -0.3% delta. This tight clustering suggests that the CPU is not a differentiator in Barony; instead, the GPU’s ability to render frames is the primary constraint at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, the Medium preset at 2560x1440 is the recommended configuration, delivering an average of 123 FPS with a minimum of 104 FPS. This ensures smooth gameplay with a 19 FPS margin above the minimum, and the 1440p resolution provides a sharper image than 1080p without the steep performance cost of 4K. If the user prefers 1080p, the High preset at 167 FPS is ideal, as it offers a significant improvement over Medium (194 FPS) in visual quality while still maintaining a frame rate that exceeds most high-refresh-rate displays.

For 4K users, the Medium preset is the only viable option, averaging 64 FPS with a minimum of 55 FPS. This is just above the 60 FPS target, but the 55 FPS minimum could result in occasional stutters. The High preset at 4K drops to 55 FPS, making it less suitable for fast-paced action, while Ultra at 39 FPS is not recommended for competitive play. The data suggests that the Ultra preset offers diminishing returns: at 1080p, the 120 FPS average is 28% lower than High’s 167 FPS, and at 1440p, the 76 FPS average is 28% lower than High’s 105 FPS. Given this consistent penalty, High settings provide the best visual-per-performance trade-off, while Medium is the fallback for higher resolutions. The Low preset, while achieving 261 FPS at 1080p, is likely to appear visually sparse and is only recommended for users with 240 Hz monitors who prioritize frame rate above all else.