Barony

The Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 combination ranks 517th out of 1702 tested combos in Barony, placing it in the top 30% of all systems evaluated. This is a strong position for a roguelike title, where the 12th-gen processor and Ampere GPU deliver frame rates that far exceed the typical demands of the genre. The pairing demonstrates that a mid-range CPU from 2022 paired with a high-end GPU from 2020 can still produce a top-tier experience in this specific game, with the benchmark data showing no significant bottleneck at any tested resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The data places this combo at rank 517 out of 1702 total combinations, which translates to the 70th percentile of all tested systems. This is a competitive standing for Barony, a game that does not demand the latest hardware but rewards systems capable of maintaining high frame rates during dense procedural generation and particle-heavy combat. The CPU’s average benchmark score of 19850 places it at the 77th percentile among all CPUs, while the GPU’s average score of 35787 places it at the 80th percentile among all GPUs; the combined result in-game is slightly lower than either component’s individual standing, suggesting that Barony’s engine does not fully scale with the raw compute available. Compared to the nearest CPU rivals, the i5-12400 is essentially tied with the Intel Core i7-9700, which has an average score of 19831 (0.1% delta), and the Intel Core i7-8700, which has an average score of 19894 (-0.2% delta). The 12th-gen chip is also only 0.4% behind the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5995WX and 0.4% ahead of the Intel Core i5-11600K, indicating that for this game, the processor’s six cores and twelve threads are sufficient to match much more expensive or higher-core-count alternatives.

GPU Role

The RTX 3080’s 10 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 320-bit bus provides 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which is more than adequate for Barony’s texture streaming and effects. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1440 MHz and a boost clock of 1710 MHz, with a memory clock of 1188 MHz (19 Gbps effective). These specifications allow the card to deliver 29.77 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, which is the primary driver for the high frame rates seen in the measured results. In Barony, the GPU’s role becomes evident when comparing the Low and Ultra presets: at 4K, the Low preset averages 150.4 FPS, while Ultra drops to 68.1 FPS, a difference of 82.3 FPS that is almost entirely attributable to the GPU’s workload. The card’s 8704 shading units and 272 texture mapping units handle the game’s voxel-based environments and lighting effects efficiently, even at 4K, where the Ultra preset still maintains a playable average above 60 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K clearly indicates that the RTX 3080 is the limiting component as resolution increases. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo averages 449.6 FPS, but at 4K Low, the average drops to 150.4 FPS, a reduction of 299.2 FPS (66.5% decrease). With Ultra settings, the drop from 1080p to 4K is from 207 FPS to 68.1 FPS, a reduction of 138.9 FPS (67.1% decrease). This consistent percentage drop across settings suggests that the CPU is not the primary constraint; if the i5-12400 were bottlenecking, the 4K results would show a smaller relative drop because the GPU would be less saturated. Instead, the data shows that the GPU’s pixel throughput (164.2 GPixel/s) and texture rate (465.1 GTexel/s) are the determining factors at higher resolutions, while the CPU’s 3DMark single-thread score of 910 and 16-thread score of 5873 are sufficient to keep up at all tested resolutions, as evidenced by the 1080p Low result exceeding 400 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 449.6 FPS on Low, 334.9 FPS on Medium, 287.8 FPS on High, and 207 FPS on Ultra. These numbers show that even at the highest settings, the system is far beyond the refresh rate of most monitors, making this an ideal combination for high-refresh-rate displays at 1080p. Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are 284.8 FPS on Low, 211 FPS on Medium, 179.8 FPS on High, and 132.8 FPS on Ultra. The 1440p results still exceed 130 FPS across all presets, meaning that users with 144Hz or even 165Hz monitors can run Ultra without compromising on smoothness. At 3840x2160, the averages drop to 150.4 FPS on Low, 111.1 FPS on Medium, 97.2 FPS on High, and 68.1 FPS on Ultra. The 4K Ultra result is the only one that falls below 100 FPS, but it remains playable, and the 4K High preset at 97.2 FPS is a strong option for users prioritizing visual fidelity over absolute frame rate.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Barony?

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 offers the best balance, with the Ultra preset averaging 132.8 FPS and the High preset averaging 179.8 FPS, both well above the 100 FPS threshold.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at 1080p?

A: No. The 1080p Low result of 449.6 FPS indicates the i5-12400’s 12 threads are not a limitation, as the GPU is still able to push frame rates above 400 FPS, which is near the engine’s practical ceiling.

Q: How does the RTX 3080 compare to its nearest rival in this game?

A: The RTX 3080 has an average benchmark score of 35787, which is 0.2% behind the AMD Radeon Pro Duo (35860) and 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon 880M (35646), indicating near-identical raw performance in this context.

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

A: Yes, the 4K Ultra preset averages 68.1 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, though it is the lowest result in the measured data.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 150.4 FPS, while Ultra averages 68.1 FPS, a difference of 82.3 FPS, showing the significant GPU workload increase from higher settings.

Q: How does the CPU’s multi-threaded performance affect Barony?

A: The i5-12400’s Cinebench R23 multicore score of 15935 and Passmark multithread score of 18747 indicate strong multi-threaded capability, but Barony’s single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 singlecore score of 2249) is more relevant, and the 1080p results confirm the CPU is not a limiting factor.

Settings Recommendations

For users with a 1080p monitor, the Ultra preset at 207 FPS is the clear choice, as it provides the highest visual quality without any performance concern. At 1440p, the Ultra preset at 132.8 FPS is recommended for those with 120Hz or 144Hz displays, while the High preset at 179.8 FPS is better suited for 165Hz or 240Hz monitors. For 4K, the High preset at 97.2 FPS offers the best experience, as it maintains a frame rate above 90 FPS while providing a significant visual improvement over Medium (111.1 FPS) and Low (150.4 FPS). The Ultra preset at 68.1 FPS is only advisable for users who prioritize maximum graphical fidelity over frame rate consistency, as the 4K High preset provides a 29.1 FPS advantage with minimal visual compromise. The data suggests that the Medium preset is the least compelling option at any resolution, as it offers only marginal gains over High while sacrificing notable visual quality.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 features 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, operating at a 65 W TDP. Its 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache provide sufficient data locality for Barony’s procedural generation algorithms, which are typically single-threaded but benefit from the 12 threads for background tasks like audio and physics. The CPU’s 3DMark single-thread score of 910 and 2-thread score of 1692 are the relevant metrics for this game, as roguelikes often have a primary game logic thread. The benchmark data confirms this: at 1080p Low, the system reaches 449.6 FPS, which is a strong indicator that the CPU is not a bottleneck, even when the GPU is under minimal load. The i5-12400’s Passmark single-thread score of 3456 places it in the 77th percentile of all CPUs, and its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-8700, is only 0.2% ahead in average score, showing that this 12th-gen processor matches older high-end chips in Barony’s workload. The CPU’s 3DMark max-threads score of 5890 and Cinebench R20 multicore score of 6692 indicate that even in more heavily threaded scenarios, the chip has headroom, but the game’s frame rates are ultimately governed by the GPU settings, as evidenced by the consistent scaling across resolutions.