Barony

The Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER combination delivers a highly capable 1080p and 1440p experience in Barony, with 4K remaining playable at reduced settings. The data shows a clear progression in frame rates as resolution drops, with the gap between settings narrowing at higher resolutions, indicating a shift in the performance bottleneck from the GPU to the CPU.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a predictable yet significant impact from resolution scaling. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 316 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 199 FPS, a reduction of 37%, and at 4K Low it further falls to 104 FPS, which is 48% lower than the 1440p result. This steep decline at lower settings strongly indicates that the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor as pixel count increases.

For High settings, the scaling is less drastic but still substantial. The 1080p High average is 202 FPS, which drops to 127 FPS at 1440p (a 37% decrease) and then to 67 FPS at 4K (a 47% decrease from 1440p). The pattern is remarkably consistent across Low and High presets, suggesting that the RTX 2070 SUPER's rendering throughput scales almost linearly with resolution in this title.

The Ultra preset tells a similar story but with lower absolute numbers. At 1080p Ultra, the combo averages 145 FPS. This falls to 91 FPS at 1440p, a 37% drop, and further to 48 FPS at 4K, a 47% reduction from the 1440p figure. The consistency of these percentage drops across all settings confirms that resolution scaling in Barony is primarily a GPU-bound exercise.

Interestingly, the gap between Low and Ultra settings narrows as resolution increases. At 1080p, Ultra is 54% slower than Low (145 vs 316 FPS). At 1440p, that gap shrinks to 54% as well (91 vs 199 FPS), but at 4K, Ultra is 54% slower than Low (48 vs 104 FPS). This consistency suggests that the GPU is equally stressed by both settings changes and resolution changes, with neither factor dominating the other in a non-linear fashion.

The data indicates that at 1080p, the CPU has enough headroom to push very high frame rates, but the GPU still imposes a ceiling. At 4K, the CPU is almost certainly not the bottleneck, as even the lowest settings cannot exceed 104 FPS, which is well below the CPU's potential at lower resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

For 1080p displays, the Ultra preset is the clear choice if you have a high refresh rate monitor. The 145 FPS average is well above the 144 Hz threshold, and the visual fidelity gains from Ultra are worth the performance cost. The High preset at 202 FPS is better suited for 240 Hz displays, but the difference between High and Ultra in terms of playability is minimal given that both exceed common refresh rates.

At 1440p, the High preset offers the best balance. The 127 FPS average is smooth on 120 Hz and 144 Hz monitors, while the Ultra preset's 91 FPS is still playable but may not fully utilize higher refresh displays. The Medium preset at 148 FPS provides a comfortable margin for 144 Hz panels, but the jump from Medium to High costs only 21 FPS, which is a reasonable trade for improved visuals.

For 4K gaming, the Low preset at 104 FPS is the only option that comfortably exceeds 60 FPS. The Medium preset at 78 FPS is still playable for slower-paced roguelike gameplay, but the High preset at 67 FPS is borderline, and Ultra at 48 FPS falls below the 60 FPS threshold that most players consider the minimum for smooth play. Given Barony's genre, the Medium preset at 4K is recommended for a balance between visual quality and frame rate, with Low available for those prioritizing performance.

The data shows that the Medium preset provides the most consistent minimum frame rate measurements across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the minimum is 200 FPS with a maximum of 270 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the minimum is 126 FPS with a maximum of 171 FPS. At 4K Medium, the minimum is 66 FPS with a maximum of 89 FPS. These ranges indicate that Medium offers stable performance without the frame time spikes that can occur at higher settings.

FAQ

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

A: Yes, but with caveats. The 4K Low preset averages 104 FPS, and 4K Medium averages 78 FPS. For a consistent 60+ FPS experience, stick to Medium or lower. The 4K High preset at 67 FPS is playable but leaves little headroom, while Ultra at 48 FPS is below the 60 FPS target.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 1080p?

A: At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 316 FPS, which is extremely high. The fact that 4K Low only drops to 104 FPS suggests the GPU is the primary limiter at all resolutions. The Core i5-12400's 12 threads and 6 cores provide ample processing power for Barony's roguelike gameplay.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 144 Hz monitor?

A: At 1080p, the High preset (202 FPS) and Ultra preset (145 FPS) both exceed 144 Hz. At 1440p, the High preset (127 FPS) is just below 144 Hz, so the Medium preset (148 FPS) is the safer choice for hitting that refresh rate consistently.

Q: How does the RTX 2070 SUPER's 8 GB VRAM affect performance?

A: The 8 GB GDDR6 memory with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for all tested settings in Barony. The data shows no signs of VRAM-related stuttering or performance cliffs, even at 4K Ultra, which suggests the game's texture requirements are well within this GPU's capacity.

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

A: At 1440p, Low averages 199 FPS while Ultra averages 91 FPS. This represents a 54% performance reduction for the highest visual quality preset. The Medium preset at 148 FPS offers a middle ground that is 26% slower than Low but 39% faster than Ultra.

Q: Is this combo future-proof for Barony updates?

A: The data indicates solid headroom. At 1080p, even Ultra settings leave 145 FPS on the table, which is well above typical display refresh rates. The 4K Medium result of 78 FPS suggests that if future updates increase graphical demands, there is still room to drop to Low and maintain playability.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER combination ranks 2153 out of 3717 tested combos for Barony. This places it in the 42nd percentile of all tested configurations, which is a moderate position. The ranking reflects the GPU's age; the RTX 2070 SUPER is from the GeForce 20-series and is now end-of-life, while the CPU is a solid mid-range part from Intel's Core 12th Gen family.

The CPU itself performs well in synthetic benchmarks, with an average benchmark score of 18683 and a percentile rank of 72 against all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 7643 (delta of -0.1%), Intel Core i7-1355U (-0.3%), and AMD Ryzen AI 5 330 (-0.7%). These rivals are all within 1% of the i5-12400's average score, indicating that the CPU is competitive with a wide range of other processors.

The GPU, however, has a lower standing. Its average benchmark score is 20282 with a percentile rank of 65 against all GPUs. The nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (-1%), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (-1.2%), and Intel Arc B570 (-1.3%). The RTX 2070 SUPER is slightly below these alternatives in raw compute performance, which explains its mid-pack ranking in Barony.

The combo's rank of 2153 out of 3717 suggests that while this pairing is not at the top of the charts, it is by no means a weak configuration. The measured FPS data shows that it handles Barony well at all tested resolutions, and the ranking is likely dragged down by the GPU's age rather than any fundamental incompatibility between the CPU and GPU.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture using a 12 nm process at TSMC. It features 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units. The GPU has 40 ray tracing cores and 320 tensor cores, which provide hardware acceleration for ray-traced effects and AI-based features, though Barony's roguelike visuals likely do not heavily utilize these capabilities.

The GPU's clock speeds are 1605 MHz base and 1770 MHz boost, with memory running at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory is paired with a 256-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. This memory configuration is adequate for the game's demands, as evidenced by the consistent frame rates across all settings.

In terms of compute performance, the RTX 2070 SUPER delivers 9.062 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 18.12 TFLOPS of FP16 performance (at 2:1 ratio). The pixel rate is 113.3 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 283.2 GTexel/s. These figures place the GPU in a competitive position for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but the 4K results show that it is pushing against its limits.

The GPU's power consumption is rated at 215 W TDP, requiring a 550 W suggested PSU. It uses a dual-slot cooling solution with 1x 6-pin and 1x 8-pin power connectors. The card measures 267 mm in length, 116 mm in height, and 35 mm in width, making it a standard dual-slot design that fits in most mid-tower cases.

The measured FPS data shows that the GPU's performance scales consistently with resolution and settings. At 4K Ultra, the 48 FPS average is the lowest result, which aligns with the GPU's position in the benchmark hierarchy. The fact that 4K Low reaches 104 FPS indicates that the GPU has enough raw throughput to handle the game's basic rendering at high pixel counts, but the Ultra preset's additional effects push it below the 60 FPS threshold.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest performance. The Low preset averages 316 FPS, with no minimum or maximum recorded. The Medium preset averages 235 FPS, with a minimum of 200 FPS and a maximum of 270 FPS. The High preset averages 202 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 145 FPS. These figures show that 1080p is well within the GPU's comfort zone, with even the most demanding preset exceeding 144 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the performance drops are noticeable but still playable. The Low preset averages 199 FPS, a 37% reduction from 1080p. The Medium preset averages 148 FPS, with a minimum of 126 FPS and a maximum of 171 FPS. The High preset averages 127 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 91 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 126 FPS is still above 120 Hz, making it a viable option for high refresh rate 1440p monitors.

At 3840x2160, the GPU begins to show its limitations. The Low preset averages 104 FPS, which is still quite playable. The Medium preset averages 78 FPS, with a minimum of 66 FPS and a maximum of 89 FPS. The High preset averages 67 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 48 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 66 FPS is just above the 60 FPS target, but the Ultra preset's 48 FPS average indicates that it is not suitable for smooth gameplay at 4K.

The data reveals that the Medium preset consistently provides the most stable frame rate ranges across all resolutions. At 1080p, the range from minimum to maximum is 70 FPS (200-270). At 1440p, the range is 45 FPS (126-171). At 4K, the range is 23 FPS (66-89). This suggests that Medium offers a balanced load on the GPU, avoiding the extreme frame time variations that can occur at higher settings.

For players targeting specific frame rates, the numbers are clear. To maintain 144+ FPS, 1080p Ultra (145 FPS) or 1440p Medium (148 FPS) are the options. For 100+ FPS, 1080p High (202 FPS), 1440p Low (199 FPS), or 4K Low (104 FPS) all qualify. For 60+ FPS, 1440p High (127 FPS), 4K Medium (78 FPS), or 4K High (67 FPS) are acceptable choices. The 4K Ultra preset at 48 FPS is the only tested configuration that fails to reach 60 FPS.