Barony

Barony, a roguelike from 2015, may seem like an unlikely candidate for high-end hardware stress testing, but the measured data for the Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combo reveals a fascinating performance profile. The pairing produces extraordinarily high frame rates across the board, but the scaling patterns suggest a complex interplay between the CPU's 6 cores and the GPU's massive compute resources. This analysis examines the measured FPS data to understand where the bottleneck lies and what it implies for players seeking the optimal experience in this dungeon-crawling title.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic, yet dramatic, shift in system bottleneck. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 600 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same settings, the average drops to 379 FPS, a reduction of 221 FPS. The scaling to 3840x2160 yields 198 FPS, which is 181 FPS lower than the 1440p result. This sharp decline with each resolution step indicates that at lower resolutions, the system is heavily CPU-bound; the RTX 4080 is capable of rendering frames far faster than the i5-12400 can feed it draw calls and game logic.

The pattern persists across all settings presets. For High settings, the FPS drops from 383 at 1080p to 242 at 1440p, and then to 126 at 4K. This represents a 63% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a 48% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The data suggests that while the GPU becomes more of a limiting factor at higher resolutions and settings, the CPU still exerts a significant influence even at 4K. The fact that the Ultra preset at 4K still manages 91 FPS indicates that the RTX 4080 is never fully idle, but the performance headroom is clear.

The scaling behavior implies that for players with high-refresh-rate 1080p or 1440p monitors, the i5-12400 will be the primary constraint, preventing the system from reaching its absolute maximum potential. Conversely, at 4K, the RTX 4080's workload increases, and the system moves toward a more balanced state, though the CPU still plays a role in limiting peak performance. The data shows that the 4K Ultra result of 91 FPS is more than double the 4K High result of 126 FPS, which is a surprising inversion that highlights the GPU's headroom.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination ranks 244th out of 3717 tested combos in Barony, placing it in the top 6.6% of all systems tested. This is a strong showing, but it is notably lower than what the individual component benchmarks might suggest. The RTX 4080 sits in the 86th percentile among all GPUs, and the i5-12400 is in the 72nd percentile among all CPUs. The combo rank being lower than both component percentiles indicates that the pairing is not perfectly optimized for this specific game.

The discrepancy between component rank and combo rank points to a potential bottleneck. The i5-12400's 6 cores and 12 threads, while capable, may not be sufficient to fully saturate the RTX 4080's rendering pipeline in Barony's engine. The game's roguelike nature, which often involves complex procedural generation and numerous on-screen entities, might place a heavy load on single-threaded performance. The CPU's single-core benchmark scores, such as a Geekbench single-core score of 1848 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2257, are solid but not exceptional, suggesting that the CPU could be the limiting factor in this pairing.

The rank of 244 out of 3717 implies that many other combinations, likely with higher-end CPUs like the AMD EPYC 7643 or Intel Core i7-1355U (which are listed as nearest rivals with similar average scores), can achieve better results in this title. The data indicates that while the RTX 4080 is a top-tier GPU, its performance in Barony is contingent on a CPU that can keep pace. The fact that the combo ranks lower than the GPU's percentile suggests that upgrading the CPU would yield a more significant improvement than upgrading the GPU, assuming the goal is to maximize FPS in this game.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is a formidable graphics card with 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s. Its memory clock is listed as 1400 MHz, with an effective speed of 22.4 Gbps. The GPU's boost clock reaches 2505 MHz, and it features 9728 shading units, 304 TMUs, and 112 ROPs. These specifications make it a powerhouse for traditional rasterization, which is the primary rendering method for a game like Barony.

In the measured data, the GPU's role becomes more pronounced as resolution and settings increase. At 1080p Low, the system is clearly CPU-bound, as evidenced by the 600 FPS average. The GPU is not being fully utilized. However, at 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 91, indicating that the GPU is now the primary driver of performance. The GPU's ability to maintain over 90 FPS at 4K Ultra reflects its raw power, especially considering the game's age and lack of modern graphics features like ray tracing or DLSS.

The VRAM capacity of 16 GB is more than sufficient for Barony, which is a lightweight game by modern standards. The game likely uses less than 4 GB of VRAM even at 4K Ultra, so the memory size is not a limiting factor. Instead, the GPU's compute throughput, reflected in its 48.74 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, is what allows it to push such high frame rates. The GPU's nearest rivals, including the RTX 4080 SUPER with a deltaPct of 0.1%, indicate that the 4080 is performing as expected, with no unusual bottlenecks or thermal throttling in the data.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the results are staggering. Low settings produce an average of 600 FPS, which is the highest measured value in the entire dataset. Medium settings yield 446 FPS, with a minimum of 379 and a maximum of 513. High settings drop to 383 FPS, and Ultra settings reduce the average to 274 FPS. These numbers suggest that at 1080p, the CPU is the absolute bottleneck, as the GPU is capable of producing far more frames than the CPU can process. The gap between Low and Ultra is 326 FPS, which is a massive range that highlights the CPU's influence.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are 379 FPS for Low, 281 FPS for Medium, 242 FPS for High, and 173 FPS for Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 239 and a maximum of 324 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is roughly a 37% reduction in FPS across all settings, which is expected as the GPU takes on more pixel-pushing duties. The system remains highly playable, with even the Ultra preset exceeding 170 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 198 FPS for Low, 147 FPS for Medium, 126 FPS for High, and 91 FPS for Ultra. The Medium preset at this resolution shows a minimum of 125 and a maximum of 169 FPS. These numbers are still exceptionally high for 4K gaming, but the scaling from 1440p to 4K shows a more significant drop, averaging around 45%. This indicates that the GPU is becoming the primary limiting factor, though the CPU still plays a role. The fact that 4K Low (198 FPS) is lower than 1440p Ultra (173 FPS) is a clear indicator of the GPU's workload increasing with resolution.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 18 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory and has a TDP of 65 W. These specifications make it a solid mid-range processor, but not a top-tier gaming CPU.

In Barony, the CPU's role is critical, as evidenced by the FPS scaling at 1080p. The CPU's multi-threaded performance is moderate, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15989 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 8564. Its single-threaded performance, as measured by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2257, is the more relevant metric for a game like Barony, which may not be well-optimized for multi-core scaling. The game's procedural generation and entity management likely rely heavily on single-threaded performance.

The CPU's percentile rank of 72% among all CPUs, and its average benchmark score of 18683, place it in the upper echelon of processors. However, its nearest rivals, such as the AMD EPYC 7643 (deltaPct -0.1%) and Intel Core i7-1355U (deltaPct -0.3%), show that it is not significantly ahead of other options. The data suggests that the i5-12400 is the limiting factor in this combo, as the RTX 4080's performance is held back by the CPU's inability to process game logic fast enough at lower resolutions. Upgrading to a CPU with higher single-threaded performance would likely yield a substantial FPS increase in Barony.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable with this combo in Barony?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 600, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested systems in Barony?

A: The Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combo ranks 244th out of 3717 tested combinations, placing it in the top 6.6% of all systems.

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

A: At 1080p, the CPU is the primary bottleneck. The data shows that the GPU is capable of producing far more frames than the CPU can process, as evidenced by the 600 FPS average at Low settings.

Q: What is the performance difference between 1080p and 4K at Ultra settings?

A: At Ultra settings, the average FPS drops from 274 at 1080p to 91 at 4K, a reduction of 183 FPS or approximately 67%.

Q: Does the GPU have enough VRAM for Barony at 4K?

A: Yes, the RTX 4080 has 16 GB of GDDR6X memory, which is more than sufficient for Barony, as the game is not VRAM-intensive even at 4K Ultra settings.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for the Medium preset at 1440p?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 shows a minimum average FPS of 239, with a maximum of 324.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Ultra preset is the clear best choice for this combo, as it provides the most visually rich experience while still maintaining exceptionally high frame rates. At 1920x1080, Ultra delivers 274 FPS, which is far beyond what any standard monitor can display. Even at 2560x1440, Ultra settings produce 173 FPS, which is perfect for high-refresh-rate gaming. At 3840x2160, Ultra settings still achieve 91 FPS, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

The High preset is a viable alternative for players who want to maximize frame rates at 4K, as it offers 126 FPS, a 35 FPS improvement over Ultra. However, the visual difference between High and Ultra in a game like Barony is likely minimal, making Ultra the recommended choice for most players. The Medium preset, with its 147 FPS at 4K, is a middle ground, but it sacrifices visual fidelity without providing a substantial performance benefit over High. The Low preset, while achieving 198 FPS at 4K, is not recommended as it would likely degrade the game's visual clarity and atmosphere significantly.

For players with 1080p or 1440p monitors, the Ultra preset is the only logical choice, as the CPU bottleneck means that lower settings will not provide a meaningful FPS increase that is perceptible. The data shows that the system is so powerful that even Ultra settings at 1440p exceed 170 FPS, making it an ideal configuration for high-refresh-rate displays. The only scenario where a lower preset might be considered is if a player has a 240 Hz or higher refresh rate monitor and insists on pushing the absolute maximum FPS, but the difference between 274 FPS and 383 FPS at 1080p is unlikely to be noticeable in gameplay.