Barony

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER delivers a surprisingly robust experience in Barony, a roguelike that clearly favors high frame rates over graphical fidelity. Across the measured resolutions, this combination produces playable to exceptionally smooth frame rates, with the most demanding 4K Ultra setting still maintaining an average above 47 FPS. The data indicates that while the GPU is the primary scaling factor at higher resolutions, the CPU’s strong single-thread performance ensures no bottleneck even at 1080p, where frame rates approach and exceed 300 FPS. This combo ranks 1046th out of 1702 tested combinations, placing it in the upper half of all systems, which is a solid position for a mid-range pairing from different hardware generations.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved by this combo in Barony?

A: The highest recorded average is 318.2 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is significantly ahead of the High preset at the same resolution, which achieves 201.9 FPS.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average frame rate drops to 47.2 FPS. This is the only measured configuration that falls below 60 FPS, indicating a hard limit for the GPU at maximum settings and resolution.

Q: Is the i5-12400F a capable processor for this game based on the data?

A: Yes. The processor’s single-thread score of 909 in 3dmark and its passmark_single_thread score of 3481 suggest strong per-core performance. The 1080p Low result of 318.2 FPS demonstrates that the CPU can feed the GPU well beyond typical display refresh rates.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all tested GPUs?

A: The RTX 2070 SUPER falls into the 65th percentile of all GPUs, per the benchmark data. Its average benchmark score is 22206, positioning it between the NVIDIA RTX A400 and the AMD Radeon RX 5700.

Q: How much faster is the 1440p Medium preset compared to the 4K High preset?

A: The 2560x1440 Medium preset averages 147.5 FPS, which is more than double the 64.8 FPS average seen at 3840x2160 High. This shows a massive performance headroom when dropping from 4K to 1440p.

Q: What is the processor's multi-threaded performance relative to its nearest rival?

A: The i5-12400F scores 19221 on average, which is effectively tied with the Intel Core i7-8700K, which scores 19210, a delta of just 0.1%. It is also 1.3% ahead of the AMD EPYC 7773X.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is the decisive component in Barony’s higher resolution and settings scenarios. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is ample for the textures and effects in this roguelike. The GPU’s boost clock of 1770 MHz and its 2560 shading units are directly responsible for the frame rate differences seen between presets. At 4K Ultra, the GPU’s workload becomes the limiting factor, as evidenced by the steep drop to 47.2 FPS from 77.2 FPS at Medium. The data clearly shows that the RTX 2070 SUPER’s raw compute, rated at 9.062 TFLOPS FP32, is sufficient for high-refresh 1440p but is overwhelmed by the pixel count and shader complexity of 4K Ultra.

The GPU’s role is less critical at 1080p. At this resolution, the frame rates climb from 143 FPS at Ultra to 318.2 FPS at Low, a 122% increase. This scaling suggests that while the GPU still has headroom, the gap between presets narrows compared to 4K. The RTX 2070 SUPER’s Turing architecture, with 40 RT cores and 320 tensor cores, does not appear to be a factor here, as Barony is not a ray-tracing title per the data. The GPU’s directx 12 score of 67 in passmark is modest, but the measured FPS in Barony tells a different story, indicating that the game’s rendering pipeline is well-suited to this hardware.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and reveals a classic GPU-bound scaling pattern. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 201.9 at 1920x1080 to 129.3 at 2560x1440, a 36% reduction, and then to 64.8 at 3840x2160, a further 50% reduction from 1440p. This is a total drop of 68% from 1080p to 4K. The pattern is consistent across all presets, but the absolute FPS values differ. For Low settings, the drop is from 318.2 to 203.2 to 105.9, showing that even at minimal graphical load, the 4K pixel count halves the performance relative to 1440p.

This scaling strongly indicates that the GPU is the primary limiter at 1440p and 4K. The CPU’s contribution is nearly negligible at these resolutions, as the frame rates are constrained by the RTX 2070 SUPER’s fill rate and shader throughput. At 1080p, however, the scaling is more favorable, with the CPU able to maintain high frame rates across all presets. The data suggests that for this specific game and combo, 1440p is the sweet spot for high refresh rates, while 1080p is best for maximum FPS, and 4K is only viable at Low or Medium settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers exceptional performance across the board. Low settings produce an average of 318.2 FPS, which is the highest measured value in the entire dataset. Medium settings drop to 235.1 FPS, still far beyond any standard display’s refresh rate. High settings average 201.9 FPS, and even Ultra maintains a strong 143 FPS. This shows that at 1080p, the user has complete freedom to enable maximum settings without sacrificing smoothness.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains impressive. Low settings average 203.2 FPS, which is still higher than the 1080p Ultra result. Medium averages 147.5 FPS, and High averages 129.3 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p drops to 93.3 FPS, which is still comfortably above 60 FPS and suitable for high refresh rate monitors. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is roughly a 36-38% reduction for each preset, which is a typical cost for the increased pixel count.

At 3840x2160, the GPU starts to show its limits. Low settings average 105.9 FPS, which is playable but a significant drop from the 203.2 FPS at 1440p. Medium averages 77.2 FPS, and High averages 64.8 FPS. The Ultra preset drops to 47.2 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold and indicates that this setting is not recommended for smooth gameplay. Across all resolutions, the gap between Low and Ultra widens as resolution increases, confirming that the GPU is the dominant factor in performance scaling.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal experience for this combo depends on the target resolution. For 1920x1080, the Ultra preset is the clear choice, delivering 143 FPS average. This is well above the 60 FPS threshold and provides the best visual quality without any meaningful performance penalty. There is no reason to use lower settings at 1080p, given that even Ultra maintains a high frame rate.

For 2560x1440, the High preset is the best balance, offering 129.3 FPS average. This is a significant improvement over Ultra’s 93.3 FPS, while still providing high visual fidelity. The Medium preset at 147.5 FPS is an option for users seeking even higher refresh rates, but High appears to be the sweet spot for most displays. The Low preset at 203.2 FPS is only necessary for competitive play at very high refresh rates, which is unlikely to matter in a roguelike.

At 3840x2160, the Medium preset is the recommended choice, with an average of 77.2 FPS. This is well above the playable threshold and offers a decent visual experience. The Low preset at 105.9 FPS is faster but sacrifices visual quality, while High at 64.8 FPS is acceptable but noticeably slower. The Ultra preset at 47.2 FPS should be avoided, as the frame rate drops below 60 FPS, which can impact responsiveness in a game that requires quick reactions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F plays a supporting role in Barony, but its performance is more than adequate. With 6 cores and 12 threads based on the Alder Lake architecture, the processor has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its single-thread performance is particularly strong, as shown by a 3dmark_single_thread score of 909 and a passmark_single_thread score of 3481. This is crucial for a game that likely has a primary game logic thread.

The processor’s multi-threaded performance is also solid, with a cinebench_r23_multicore score of 16518 and a passmark_multithread score of 19433. However, the data suggests that Barony does not heavily utilize multiple threads, as the frame rates at 1080p Low (318.2 FPS) are limited by the GPU, not the CPU. The 12 threads provide headroom for background tasks and ensure that the game never stutters due to CPU contention. The i5-12400F’s 18 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support are sufficient for this title, and its 65 W TDP indicates efficient operation. The processor’s percentileVsAllCpus of 77 places it well above average, confirming that it is not a bottleneck in this configuration.

How This Combo Ranks

In the grand scheme of tested combinations, the Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER pairing ranks 1046th out of 1702 total combos. This places it in the 61st percentile of all systems tested, which is a respectable position for a mid-range setup. The ranking reflects the GPU’s 65th percentile standing and the CPU’s 77th percentile, indicating that the overall system performance is slightly dragged down by the GPU relative to the processor.

The combo’s position is not surprising given the age of the RTX 2070 SUPER, which is end-of-life per the production status. However, the measured FPS in Barony shows that this rank does not tell the whole story. The combo performs remarkably well in this specific game, achieving frame rates that rival much newer hardware. The nearest GPU rivals include the NVIDIA RTX A400 (0.5% faster), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z (0.9% slower), and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 (2.5% slower), showing that the RTX 2070 SUPER is still competitive in its class. The CPU’s nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-8700K, is effectively tied in performance, which further solidifies the i5-12400F’s standing. For a roguelike like Barony, this combo offers a high-refresh experience at 1080p and 1440p, with only 4K Ultra being the weak point. The data confirms that this is a well-balanced pairing for the game, despite its middling overall rank.