Barony

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9060 delivers a versatile 1080p and 1440p experience in Barony, with the data showing High settings at 1440p as the optimal balance of visual fidelity and frame rate. The combo achieves a 127 FPS average at 2560x1440 High, while 1080p High reaches 201 FPS, both comfortably above typical display refresh rates. At 4K, the pair still manages a playable 66 FPS average on High, but the scaling curve indicates the GPU becomes the primary constraint at higher resolutions, making 1440p the recommended target for consistent performance across all tested presets.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data presents a clear hierarchy across presets, and the choice depends heavily on resolution. At 1080p, the RX 9060 is barely stressed; even Ultra settings produce a 144 FPS average, which is high enough for fast-paced roguelike action. Low settings at 1080p yield 315 FPS, but this is unnecessary headroom that sacrifices visual clarity for no practical gain. Medium at 1080p (235 FPS) and High (201 FPS) are both excellent, with High offering substantially better image quality for only a 34 FPS drop from Medium.

Moving to 2560x1440, the picture sharpens. High settings deliver a 127 FPS average, which is the sweet spot for this combo. Ultra at 1440p drops to 91 FPS, still playable but with diminishing returns on visual polish. Medium at 1440p (148 FPS) is a strong alternative for competitive play, but the gap between Medium and High is only 21 FPS, making High the better value in terms of experience per frame. Low at 1440p (199 FPS) again offers little benefit beyond raw speed.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes dramatically. Ultra settings produce only 48 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. High at 4K (66 FPS) is the minimum viable preset, barely clearing 60 FPS. Medium at 4K (77 FPS) provides a better margin, and Low (104 FPS) is the only preset that offers truly fluid motion at this resolution. For 4K users, Medium is the recommended preset: it delivers 77 FPS with a 66 FPS minimum observed, ensuring no noticeable stutter during intense scenes.

The data suggests that the best overall experience is 1440p High, as it combines high frame rates (127 FPS) with the visual quality that Barony's roguelike pixel art benefits from. For users prioritizing competitive responsiveness, 1080p High (201 FPS) or 1440p Medium (148 FPS) are better choices. The 4K Medium preset (77 FPS) is acceptable for those who must have 4K, but the 1440p High preset is the clear recommendation for most users.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F brings six cores and twelve threads to this pairing, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Barony is a roguelike that relies on procedural generation and simulation, which can stress single-thread performance, but the data indicates this CPU is more than adequate for the tested GPU. The processor's 3DMark single-thread score of 909 and multi-thread score of 5912 suggest it has ample headroom for game logic and AI calculations.

The 18 MB of shared L3 cache helps with the frequent random access patterns common in roguelike dungeon generation. At 1080p, where the GPU is less constrained, the i5-12400F's performance becomes more relevant. The jump from 1080p Ultra (144 FPS) to 1080p High (201 FPS) is a 57 FPS difference, which is primarily a GPU load reduction, but the CPU must maintain frame pacing. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 5895 and 8-thread score of 4779 indicate that the CPU can feed the GPU even at high frame rates without becoming a bottleneck.

The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 12380 and single-core score of 1680 further confirm that this processor has strong per-thread performance, which is critical for games with complex enemy AI and item interactions. The 65 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 compatibility make it a practical choice, but the benchmark data shows no signs of CPU limitation: at 1080p Low, the combo reaches 315 FPS, and even at 4K Low (104 FPS), the CPU is not the limiting factor. The 3DMark 2-thread score of 1699 and 4-thread score of 3067 suggest that Barony's main thread is well-served, and the 12 threads provide ample room for background tasks and streaming.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 is built on the Navi 44 chip with RDNA 4.0 architecture, featuring 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 288.0 GB/s bandwidth. The 1792 shading units and 64 ROPs deliver a peak FP32 throughput of 21.43 TFLOPS. In Barony, the GPU's role scales predictably with resolution: at 1080p, the card is overkill for most presets, but at 4K, the 8 GB VRAM and memory bandwidth become the limiting factors.

The GPU's boost clock of 2990 MHz and game clock of 2400 MHz indicate high headroom for sustained loads. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3322 places it in a competitive position, while the Geekbench OpenCL score of 88183 and Vulkan score of 39476 show strong compute capabilities. In practical terms, the RX 9060's performance in Barony is best illustrated by the 1440p High result of 127 FPS, which represents a 47% improvement over the 4K High result of 66 FPS.

The 8 GB VRAM is sufficient for Barony's art style, which does not require large texture sets. However, the 128-bit memory bus and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth are modest by modern standards. At 4K Ultra, the GPU's 48 FPS average suggests that memory bandwidth or fill rate is the constraint, not raw shader throughput. The pixel rate of 191.4 GPixel/s and texture rate of 334.9 GTexel/s are adequate for 1440p but show their limits at 4K with Ultra settings. The PassMark G3D score of 17631 and DirectX 11 score of 182 indicate that the card's architecture is well-suited for older API workloads, which is relevant for a game released in 2015.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of Intel Core i5-12400F and AMD Radeon RX 9060 ranks 1704 out of 2935 tested combos in Barony, placing it in the upper-middle tier of all configurations. This ranking reflects the balance between the CPU's 73rd percentile standing among all processors and the GPU's 59th percentile among all graphics cards. The combo's percentile ranking suggests that while neither component is top-tier, their pairing is well-matched for this specific game's requirements.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS (average score 19047, deltaPct 0), which is essentially identical in performance, and the Intel Core 3 201E (19056, deltaPct -0.1), which is marginally slower. The Intel Core i5-1335U (18982, deltaPct 0.3) and AMD EPYC 7773X (18979, deltaPct 0.3) are also close, showing that the i5-12400F sits in a crowded performance band. For the GPU, the nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (16129, deltaPct -0.7), which is slightly faster, while the AMD Radeon R9 370X (15862, deltaPct 1) and RX 7700 (15852, deltaPct 1) are slightly slower.

In Barony specifically, the combo's 1704th place out of 2935 means it outperforms roughly 42% of all tested systems. This is a respectable position, especially considering the game's age and the fact that many higher-ranked combos likely feature newer flagship GPUs. The data shows that this combo achieves 144 FPS at 1080p Ultra, which is sufficient for any display, and 91 FPS at 1440p Ultra, which is still smooth. The ranking would likely be higher if the game were more CPU-intensive, as the i5-12400F has more headroom relative to the GPU's performance ceiling.

FAQ

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

A: The data indicates 2560x1440 is the optimal resolution. At 1440p High, the combo achieves 127 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold. 1080p offers higher frame rates (201 FPS on High) but the visual difference at 1440p is worth the 74 FPS reduction. 4K is playable only on Low (104 FPS) or Medium (77 FPS).

Q: How does the RX 9060 compare to its nearest GPU rival?

A: The RX 9060 has an average benchmark score of 16014, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti scores 16129, making the RTX 3060 Ti 0.7% faster. The AMD Radeon RX 7700 (15852) and R9 370X (15862) are both 1% slower than the RX 9060.

Q: Is the i5-12400F a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: No. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 315 FPS, and at 1080p Ultra it maintains 144 FPS. The CPU's single-thread score of 909 in 3DMark and multi-thread score of 5912 indicate it can keep up with the GPU's output at all tested presets.

Q: What Ultra settings performance can I expect at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440 Ultra, the combo delivers an average of 91 FPS. This is playable but noticeably lower than High settings at 127 FPS. The 36 FPS difference between High and Ultra suggests that Ultra settings are not worth the performance cost at this resolution.

Q: Does the 8 GB VRAM cause issues at 4K?

A: The measured data shows 4K Ultra at 48 FPS and 4K High at 66 FPS, indicating that the GPU's memory and bandwidth are limiting factors. The 288.0 GB/s bandwidth and 128-bit bus are modest, and the 8 GB capacity is sufficient for Barony's textures but not for pushing Ultra settings at 4K.

Q: How does this combo compare to the average tested system?

A: This combo ranks 1704 out of 2935 tested configurations in Barony, placing it in the 42nd percentile. The CPU ranks in the 73rd percentile among all processors, while the GPU ranks in the 59th percentile, showing the combo is slightly GPU-limited in this game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce a 315 FPS average, Medium reaches 235 FPS with a minimum of 199 FPS and maximum of 270 FPS, High achieves 201 FPS, and Ultra drops to 144 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 171 FPS, showing that the GPU has significant headroom at this resolution. The Medium preset's 199 FPS minimum indicates that even the lowest frames are far above any display refresh rate.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance remains strong. Low settings yield 199 FPS, Medium delivers 148 FPS with a minimum of 126 FPS and maximum of 170 FPS, High reaches 127 FPS, and Ultra falls to 91 FPS. The minimum FPS at Medium (126 FPS) is still higher than the 4K Ultra average, highlighting the resolution's impact. The step from High (127 FPS) to Ultra (91 FPS) is a 36 FPS drop, which represents a 28% performance penalty for Ultra settings.

At 3840x2160, the data shows a significant scaling penalty. Low settings produce 104 FPS, Medium delivers 77 FPS with a minimum of 66 FPS and maximum of 89 FPS, High reaches 66 FPS, and Ultra drops to 48 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 66 FPS is the only sub-70 FPS minimum recorded, indicating that 4K gaming pushes the GPU to its limits. The difference between 4K Low (104 FPS) and 4K Ultra (48 FPS) is 56 FPS, showing that Ultra settings are not viable at this resolution.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and reveals the GPU as the limiting component. The average FPS across presets at 1080p is 224 FPS, at 1440p it is 141 FPS, and at 4K it is 74 FPS. This represents a 37% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and an additional 47% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario, as the CPU's performance does not change with resolution.

Looking at specific presets, the High settings show the most linear scaling: 201 FPS at 1080p, 127 FPS at 1440p (a 37% drop), and 66 FPS at 4K (a 48% drop from 1440p). The Medium preset follows a similar pattern: 235 FPS at 1080p, 148 FPS at 1440p (37% drop), and 77 FPS at 4K (48% drop). This consistency indicates that the GPU's rendering load scales predictably with pixel count.

The Ultra preset shows the worst scaling: 144 FPS at 1080p, 91 FPS at 1440p (37% drop), and 48 FPS at 4K (47% drop). The fact that all presets show nearly identical percentage drops from 1080p to 1440p suggests that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are the primary constraints. The 4K results, which hover around 50-74 FPS average, indicate that the RX 9060's 8 GB VRAM and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for Low and Medium presets but insufficient for High and Ultra. The limiting component at 4K is clearly the GPU, as the CPU's 3DMark multi-thread score of 5912 and single-thread score of 909 show no signs of bottlenecking even at 4K Low's 104 FPS. The data supports the conclusion that this combo is best utilized at 1080p or 1440p, where the GPU can maintain high frame rates across all presets.