Barony

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 delivers a highly playable experience in Barony, but the data reveals that the GPU is the definitive bottleneck. At 1080p Low settings, the combo achieves a smooth 138.8 FPS, yet this drops to 65.8 FPS at Ultra. The 4K results are largely unplayable, with an Ultra average of just 22 FPS. This is a combination where the CPU has ample headroom, but the GPU's 4 GB VRAM and 128.1 GB/s bandwidth cap performance at higher resolutions and presets.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for this CPU and GPU combo at 1080p?

A: Based on the measured data, the High preset at 1920x1080 provides the best balance, achieving 90.4 FPS. While Low yields a higher 138.8 FPS, High maintains a comfortable frame rate well above 60 FPS while presumably offering better visual fidelity.

*Q: Can this combo handle 1440p gaming in Barony?*

A: Yes, but with significant compromises. At 2560x1440, the High preset drops to 57.4 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to 39.1 FPS. Only the Low preset (85.1 FPS) delivers a consistently smooth experience at this resolution.

Q: Is 4K resolution viable with this hardware?

A: No. The data shows that at 3840x2160, even the Low preset only reaches 43.9 FPS. The High and Medium presets are borderline (31.4 and 33.4 FPS), while the Ultra preset is unplayable at 22 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Intel Core i5-12400F has an average benchmark score of 19221, placing it in the 77th percentile of all CPUs. It is effectively tied with the Intel Core i7-8700K, which has a score of 19210, showing a deltaPct of only 0.1%.

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

A: The GeForce GTX 1650 has an average benchmark score of 8713, placing it in the 43rd percentile of all GPUs. It is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile, which has a deltaPct of -0.4%, and the AMD Radeon 550X, also at -0.4%.

Q: What does the combo's rank in-game indicate?

A: The combo ranks 1608 out of 1702 tested combinations in Barony. This places it in the bottom 6% of all tested combos, indicating that most other hardware pairings will deliver higher frame rates.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Alder Lake architecture. It operates at a base clock of 2.50 GHz and can boost up to 4.40 GHz. This processor has a substantial 18 MB of shared L3 cache and supports dual-channel DDR4 and DDR5 memory. In synthetic benchmarks, it achieves a strong multi-threaded score of 16518 in Cinebench R23 and a single-core score of 2332, indicating robust processing power for game logic and physics.

In Barony, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU. The data shows that even at 1080p Low settings, the frame rate peaks at 138.8 FPS, which is a high number but not indicative of a CPU bottleneck. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would expect the frame rates to remain relatively constant across different resolutions and settings. Instead, we see a clear decline in FPS as resolution and settings increase, which points to the GPU as the primary constraint. The CPU has enough headroom to feed the GPU at lower settings, but the GPU cannot maintain higher frame rates as the workload increases. The 3DMark single-thread score of 909 and the 3DMark max-thread score of 5912 suggest the processor is capable of handling the game's required instructions without becoming a limiting factor in this specific title.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data clearly indicates that the High preset at 1080p is the optimal configuration for this hardware. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 90.4 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset offers 103.2 FPS, but the jump to High provides a better visual experience for a relatively small performance cost. The Low preset at 138.8 FPS is only necessary if the user prioritizes maximum frame rate over visual fidelity, perhaps for competitive play.

At 1440p, the High preset drops to 57.4 FPS, which is a borderline playable frame rate. Users with a 1440p monitor should consider the Medium preset at 66.4 FPS for a more comfortable experience, or the Low preset at 85.1 FPS for a consistent high frame rate. The Ultra preset at 39.1 FPS is not recommended for smooth gameplay. At 4K, no preset offers a consistently playable experience. The Low preset at 43.9 FPS is the only option that approaches playability, but even that is below the ideal 60 FPS target. The data suggests that 4K gaming is not feasible with this combo in Barony.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-12400F and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 ranks 1608 out of 1702 tested combos in Barony. This rank of 1608 places the combo in the bottom 5.5% of all tested hardware pairings. This low ranking is primarily attributed to the GPU, which sits in the 43rd percentile of all GPUs, while the CPU is in the 77th percentile of all CPUs. The performance disparity is clear: the CPU is a mid-to-high range component, while the GPU is a low-to-mid range component.

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU's average score of 19221 is nearly identical to its closest rival, the Intel Core i7-8700K (19210), with a deltaPct of only 0.1%. However, the GPU's average score of 8713 is slightly below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile (8746) and the AMD Radeon 550X (8749), with deltaPct values of -0.4%. This indicates that while the CPU is competitive, the GPU is at the bottom of its performance class. The combination of a strong CPU with a weak GPU results in a system that is heavily imbalanced for this game, leading to the low overall rank.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 is a Turing-architecture GPU built on a 12 nm process. It features 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 128.1 GB/s. The GPU has 896 shading units and operates at a base clock of 1485 MHz with a boost clock of 1665 MHz. Its FP32 performance is rated at 2.984 TFLOPS. The GPU's 4 GB VRAM is a significant limitation for higher resolutions and settings in modern games.

In Barony, the GPU's role is the primary determinant of performance. The benchmark results show a consistent and significant drop in FPS as the resolution increases. At 1080p, the High preset achieves 90.4 FPS, but at 1440p, it drops to 57.4 FPS, and at 4K, it falls to 31.4 FPS. This pattern is typical of a GPU bottleneck, where the rendering workload exceeds the GPU's processing capabilities. The 4 GB VRAM is also likely insufficient for 4K textures, potentially causing stuttering or texture pop-in. The GPU's low percentile ranking (43rd) compared to the CPU's (77th) confirms that the GTX 1650 is the limiting component in this system. The data suggests that the GPU is unable to keep up with the CPU's ability to feed it data, creating a significant performance imbalance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers a wide range of frame rates depending on settings. The Low preset achieves an average of 138.8 FPS, which is exceptionally smooth. The Medium preset drops to 103.2 FPS, the High preset to 90.4 FPS, and the Ultra preset to 65.8 FPS. The jump from Low to Ultra represents a 52.6% decrease in performance, highlighting the GPU's struggle with higher graphical loads.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates drop further. The Low preset averages 85.1 FPS, which is still smooth. The Medium preset averages 66.4 FPS, the High preset 57.4 FPS, and the Ultra preset 39.1 FPS. The High preset at 1440p is the first configuration to dip below the 60 FPS threshold. At 3840x2160, the results are mostly unplayable. The Low preset averages 43.9 FPS, the Medium 33.4 FPS, the High 31.4 FPS, and the Ultra 22 FPS. These numbers show a clear and consistent decline, confirming that the GPU is the limiting factor at every resolution above 1080p.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a stark picture of the GPU's limitations. At 1080p High, the combo achieves 90.4 FPS. Moving to 1440p High, the frame rate drops to 57.4 FPS, a 36.5% reduction. Moving to 4K High, the frame rate plummets to 31.4 FPS, a 65.3% reduction from the 1080p baseline. This scaling pattern is not linear, but rather exponential, which is characteristic of a GPU bottleneck. As the resolution increases, the number of pixels to render quadruples, placing an immense load on the GPU's shading units and memory bandwidth.

The CPU's performance does not scale with resolution. The i5-12400F's processing requirements for game logic remain largely constant regardless of resolution. The data shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor, as the frame rate drops significantly with resolution while the CPU workload stays the same. This indicates that the GTX 1650's 2.984 TFLOPS of compute power and 128.1 GB/s of bandwidth are insufficient for high-resolution rendering. The 4 GB VRAM is also a likely contributor to the poor performance at 4K, as it may not be able to hold the necessary textures and buffers. The conclusion is clear: this combo is only suitable for 1080p gaming, with 1440p being a stretch and 4K being out of the question.