Barony

Settings Recommendations

For Barony with the Intel Core i5-12400F and Intel Arc B390, the Medium preset at 1080p delivers the best balance of smoothness and visual fidelity. The measured data shows 118 FPS average at 1080p Medium, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold, with a minimum of 101 FPS and a maximum of 136 FPS. This consistency matters in a roguelike where unpredictable enemy patterns and dungeon layouts demand stable frame pacing. High at 1080p reaches 102 FPS average, but the step down to Medium costs only 16 FPS while likely reducing visual noise, which can be advantageous for readability in a game where every tile matters.

At 1440p, Medium remains the recommended preset. The average of 75 FPS with a 64–86 FPS range is still smooth, though users with high refresh rate monitors will notice the drop from 1080p. Low at 1440p pushes to 100 FPS average, but the visual compromise is steep: the gap between Low and Medium at 1440p is 25 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is only 11 FPS. This suggests that the Medium preset captures most of the performance headroom without sacrificing the graphical elements that make Barony’s procedural dungeons distinguishable. Ultra at 1440p falls to 46 FPS, which is playable but begins to feel sluggish during dense enemy encounters or when traversing large floors.

At 4K, no preset delivers a fully smooth experience. Low achieves 53 FPS average, which is borderline playable but will stutter in hectic moments. Medium drops to 39 FPS, and High falls to 34 FPS. Ultra is the worst at 24 FPS, which is below the threshold for comfortable real-time play. For 4K users, the data indicates that Low is the only viable option, and even then, the 53 FPS average suggests that this combination is not optimized for 4K gaming. The benchmark results clearly show that 1080p Medium is the sweet spot: it provides 118 FPS average, which is 44 FPS higher than the 4K Low result and 15 FPS higher than the 1440p High result, while maintaining a minimum frame rate above 100 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the Intel Arc B390 ranks 2601 out of 2935 tested combinations in Barony. This places the combo in the bottom 11% of all tested systems, which is a poor result for a game that is not graphically demanding by modern standards. The ranking reflects the GPU’s severe limitations rather than the CPU’s capabilities. The i5-12400F is a capable desktop processor with a 73rd percentile ranking among all CPUs, but the Arc B390 sits at the 9th percentile among all GPUs. This mismatch creates a system where the CPU is effectively idle while the GPU struggles to maintain playable frame rates at higher resolutions.

The combo’s rank in Barony is not surprising given the GPU’s benchmark scores. The Arc B390 scores 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, which places it in the company of much older, low-end graphics solutions. Its nearest rivals in GPU benchmarks include the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (scoring 1463, a 1.3% delta), the NVIDIA GeForce 800M (1460, 1.5% delta), the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM (1446, 2.5% delta), and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 (1443, 2.7% delta). These are all entry-level GPUs from previous generations, and the Arc B390 only marginally outperforms them. In practical terms, this means the combo’s ranking is driven almost entirely by the GPU bottleneck.

Comparing to the CPU’s nearest rivals provides context for what the processor could achieve with a stronger GPU. The i5-12400F has an average benchmark score of 19039, which is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS (19047, 0% delta), the Intel Core 3 201E (19056, -0.1% delta), the Intel Core i5-1335U (18982, 0.3% delta), and the AMD EPYC 7773X (18979, 0.3% delta). These deltas are negligible, meaning the CPU is not the limiting factor in this combo. The data suggests that if the same CPU were paired with a mid-range GPU, the combo’s rank in Barony would improve substantially. As it stands, the 2601st ranking out of 2935 combos is a clear verdict: this pairing is severely unbalanced for gaming, and Barony’s performance reflects that imbalance.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is the dominant bottleneck in this combination. Its memory configuration is "System Shared" for size, type, and bus width, with bandwidth listed as "System Dependent." This means the GPU relies on the system’s main memory rather than dedicated VRAM, which is a significant disadvantage in a game like Barony that generates complex dungeon layouts and requires frequent texture streaming. The shared memory architecture also explains why the GPU’s performance scales so poorly with resolution increases: at 4K, the memory bandwidth demands exceed what the shared system memory can provide, resulting in the steep FPS drops observed in the data.

The GPU’s clock speeds are 300 MHz base and 2500 MHz boost, with a pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is 7.680 TFLOPS, with FP16 at 15.36 TFLOPS (2:1). These specifications are respectable on paper for an integrated-class GPU, but they do not translate into competitive gaming performance. The GPU’s 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 places it at the 9th percentile of all GPUs, which is a stark indicator of its limited capabilities. The nearest rivals in GPU benchmarks are all NVIDIA GeForce GT series parts from over a decade ago, and the Arc B390’s deltas to these parts range from 1.3% to 2.7%, meaning it is only marginally faster than a GT 520MX or a GT 710.

In Barony specifically, the GPU’s role is critical at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the GPU manages to keep up with the CPU, delivering 102–159 FPS depending on settings. At 1440p, frame rates drop to 46–100 FPS, and at 4K, they fall to 24–53 FPS. This pattern indicates that the GPU is the primary constraint, as the CPU’s performance is consistent across resolutions. The GPU’s 80 W TDP and IGP slot width confirm that it is designed for integrated use, and the "Portable Device Dependent" display outputs suggest it is intended for laptops or compact systems. For Barony, the data shows that the GPU can handle 1080p Medium well, but anything beyond that requires significant compromises in settings or resolution.

FAQ

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

A: 1080p is the only resolution where the combo achieves consistently smooth frame rates. At 1080p Medium, the average FPS is 118, with a minimum of 101 and a maximum of 136. At 1440p, the Medium average drops to 75 FPS, and at 4K, even Low only reaches 53 FPS average.

Q: Why does the combo rank so low among tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 2601 out of 2935 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 11%. This is due to the GPU’s 9th percentile ranking among all GPUs, while the CPU ranks in the 73rd percentile. The GPU is the limiting factor, as shown by the 1482 3DMark Steel Nomad score, which is only marginally better than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710.

Q: How does the GPU’s shared memory affect performance?

A: The GPU uses System Shared memory for size, type, and bus width, with bandwidth that is System Dependent. This means it competes with the CPU for memory bandwidth, which becomes more problematic at higher resolutions. The data shows a 44 FPS drop from 1080p Medium to 4K Medium, reflecting this limitation.

Q: Is the CPU holding back the GPU in this game?

A: No, the CPU is not the bottleneck. The i5-12400F has an average benchmark score of 19039, placing it at the 73rd percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS and Intel Core i5-1335U, have nearly identical scores. The FPS drops at higher resolutions are attributable to the GPU, not the CPU.

Q: Can this combo handle Ultra settings in Barony?

A: Ultra settings are only playable at 1080p, where the average FPS is 73. At 1440p, Ultra drops to 46 FPS, and at 4K, it falls to 24 FPS. For a smooth experience, Medium at 1080p is the recommended preset, as it offers 118 FPS average with a minimum of 101 FPS.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Arc B390 scores 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, which is 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463), 1.5% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce 800M (1460), 2.5% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM (1446), and 2.7% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 (1443). These are all very old, low-end GPUs, indicating the Arc B390 is not competitive with modern discrete graphics.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data in Barony reveals a dramatic scaling pattern as resolution increases. At 1080p Medium, the average FPS is 118. At 1440p Medium, it drops to 75 FPS, a 36% reduction. At 4K Medium, it falls further to 39 FPS, a 48% reduction from 1440p and a 67% reduction from 1080p. This steep decline indicates that the GPU is the limiting component, as the CPU’s workload in Barony is largely resolution-independent. The pattern is consistent across all settings: Low goes from 159 FPS at 1080p to 100 FPS at 1440p to 53 FPS at 4K; High goes from 102 to 64 to 34; Ultra goes from 73 to 46 to 24.

The resolution scaling data also shows that the GPU’s performance degrades non-linearly. Moving from 1080p to 1440p (a 1.78x pixel increase) results in a 36% FPS drop at Medium, while moving from 1440p to 4K (a 2.25x pixel increase) results in a 48% FPS drop. This accelerating degradation suggests that the shared memory system cannot keep up with the increasing memory bandwidth demands at higher resolutions. The fact that 4K Low (53 FPS) is only slightly better than 1440p Ultra (46 FPS) further emphasizes that the GPU is struggling to maintain playability as pixel count rises.

This scaling pattern has a clear implication for the limiting component: the CPU is not the constraint. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect FPS to remain relatively stable across resolutions, since the CPU’s workload (game logic, AI, procedural generation) does not scale with resolution. Instead, the FPS drops sharply with each resolution increase, which is the classic signature of a GPU-bound system. The i5-12400F’s strong single-thread and multi-thread scores (1680 in Cinebench R23 single-core, 12380 in multi-core) are more than sufficient for Barony, but the Arc B390’s 1482 3DMark score is simply too low to handle the game at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel’s 10 nm process. Its base clock is 2.50 GHz with a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, and it has 18 MB of shared L3 cache. The processor’s benchmark scores are solid for a mid-range desktop part: Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 12380, single-core is 1680, and Geekbench multi-core is 9472 with single-core at 1964. These scores place the CPU at the 73rd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19039.

In Barony, the CPU’s role is to handle game logic, procedural dungeon generation, and AI pathfinding, all of which are single-thread or lightly-threaded tasks. The i5-12400F’s single-thread performance is robust, as indicated by the 3DMark single-thread score of 909 and PassMark single-thread score of 3481. The CPU’s boost clock of 4.40 GHz provides ample headroom for these tasks, and the 6 cores are sufficient for any background processes that might run concurrently. The data shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this combo: at 1080p Low, the system achieves 159 FPS, which is likely near the CPU’s maximum frame output for this game.

The CPU’s nearest rivals all have nearly identical average benchmark scores: the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS scores 19047 (0% delta), the Intel Core 3 201E scores 19056 (-0.1% delta), the Intel Core i5-1335U scores 18982 (0.3% delta), and the AMD EPYC 7773X scores 18979 (0.3% delta). These deltas are within 0.3%, meaning the i5-12400F is statistically indistinguishable from these processors in synthetic benchmarks. This reinforces the conclusion that the CPU is more than capable of handling Barony, and the combo’s low ranking is entirely attributable to the GPU.

The CPU’s memory support includes both DDR4 and DDR5, with a dual-channel memory bus. This flexibility is relevant because the GPU uses System Shared memory, meaning the CPU’s memory controller and the system RAM type will influence GPU performance. The data does not specify which memory type was used in the measured FPS, but the "System Dependent" bandwidth for the GPU suggests that faster memory (DDR5) would improve the GPU’s performance. However, even with optimal memory, the GPU’s 9th percentile ranking indicates that it would remain the bottleneck in Barony. The CPU’s 65 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 compatibility make it a straightforward upgrade path for users who want to pair it with a more capable discrete GPU, but as configured, the i5-12400F’s potential is unrealized in this combination.