Barony

# Barony with Intel Core i5-12400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 produces exceptional frame rates in Barony, a roguelike title from 2015. At 1080p with Low settings, this combination delivers 650 FPS average, while the most demanding configuration—4K Ultra—still maintains a highly playable 102 FPS average. The data indicates a system that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, but transitions to a more balanced profile at lower resolutions where the CPU's role becomes more prominent. This analysis examines the measured FPS data across three resolutions and four settings presets, contextualizing performance against the hardware's known characteristics and benchmark scores.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling pattern reveals a classic shift in system bottleneck behavior. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 650 FPS, which drops to 428 FPS at 1440p Low and further to 224 FPS at 4K Low. This represents a 34% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a 48% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is not linear—the 4K Low result is only 34% of the 1080p Low figure, indicating that the GPU is becoming the limiting component as pixel count increases.

For High settings, the progression is 433 FPS at 1080p, 273 FPS at 1440p, and 143 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 37% and 48% respectively, showing similar scaling characteristics to Low settings. Medium settings follow the same pattern: 505 FPS at 1080p, 319 FPS at 1440p, and 167 FPS at 4K, with drops of 37% and 48%. Ultra settings produce 311 FPS at 1080p, 196 FPS at 1440p, and 102 FPS at 4K, with reductions of 37% and 48% as well.

The consistent 48% drop from 1440p to 4K across all settings presets strongly suggests that the RTX 5090's rendering throughput is the primary constraint at 4K, regardless of quality level. At 1080p, the smaller pixel count allows the CPU to become more relevant, as evidenced by the 650 FPS Low result—a figure that likely approaches the game engine's or CPU's practical limit. The data shows that between 1080p and 1440p, the system still has headroom in the GPU, but the 4K results indicate the GPU is fully utilized, particularly at Ultra settings where the 102 FPS average shows the render load is substantial.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is the dominant component in this configuration, featuring 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's 21760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 render output units process Barony's geometry and effects with considerable efficiency. The boost clock of 2407 MHz (base 2017 MHz) sustains high throughput across all measured scenarios.

The memory subsystem is particularly relevant for Barony's roguelike nature, where procedural generation can create complex scenes with numerous objects. The 32 GB frame buffer ensures that even at 4K Ultra, there is no risk of VRAM capacity limiting performance—a factor that could affect GPUs with smaller memory pools. The 1.79 TB/s bandwidth supports the high texture throughput demanded by 4K rendering, and the data shows that even at Ultra settings, the GPU maintains 102 FPS average, suggesting memory bandwidth is not a bottleneck.

The GPU's benchmark scores contextualize its performance. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 18355 and PassMark G3D score of 39650 place it in the 92nd percentile among all GPUs. The nearest rivals in the database—the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (0.3% delta) and AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (1.1% delta)—have significantly lower memory capacities and bandwidth, yet the RTX 5090's advantage in Barony is clear from the measured frame rates. The GPU's 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 compute capability, combined with 170 RT cores and 680 tensor cores, provides substantial headroom for Barony's rendering requirements, even if the game does not heavily utilize ray tracing features.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data across four settings presets provides clear guidance for optimal play. At 4K, Ultra settings produce 102 FPS average—playable but with less margin. Dropping to High at 4K yields 143 FPS, a 40% improvement that still maintains visual quality. Medium at 4K produces 167 FPS, and Low reaches 224 FPS. For players prioritizing maximum frame rates at 4K, the Low preset at 224 FPS represents the highest performance level, while High offers the best balance between visual fidelity and speed.

At 1440p, the situation favors higher settings. Ultra achieves 196 FPS, which is already well above typical display refresh rates. High reaches 273 FPS, Medium 319 FPS, and Low 428 FPS. The data indicates that even Ultra at 1440p is not taxing the RTX 5090 to its limits, so players can select Ultra without sacrificing smoothness. The 1440p Medium result includes measured minimum and maximum values of 271 and 366 FPS respectively, showing frame time consistency.

For 1080p, all settings exceed 300 FPS, with Low at 650 FPS being the absolute maximum. Ultra at 311 FPS still provides an exceptional experience. The recommendation based on the data is to prioritize Ultra at 1440p for the best visual-to-performance ratio, or High at 4K if resolution is the primary concern. The 1080p Medium setting shows a minimum of 429 FPS and maximum of 580 FPS, indicating stable frame delivery even during intense moments.

FAQ

Q: Can this system maintain 144 FPS at 4K Ultra in Barony?

A: No. The measured 4K Ultra average is 102 FPS, which falls short of 144 FPS. To reach 144 FPS at 4K, the High preset (143 FPS average) is required, which just meets the target.

Q: What is the maximum frame rate achievable with this hardware?

A: The highest measured average is 650 FPS at 1080p with Low settings. At 4K, the maximum is 224 FPS with Low settings. The 1080p Low result likely approaches the engine's or CPU's ceiling for this title.

Q: How does the RTX 5090's 32 GB VRAM affect performance in Barony?

A: The 32 GB frame buffer ensures no capacity-related stutters or texture thrashing at any resolution or settings level. The 1.79 TB/s bandwidth supports high texture throughput, contributing to the consistent frame rates observed even at 4K Ultra.

Q: Are the 1440p Medium results representative of typical performance?

A: The 1440p Medium setting shows an average of 319 FPS with a measured minimum of 271 FPS and maximum of 366 FPS. The spread of 95 FPS between minimum and maximum indicates some variance, but the minimum remains far above playable thresholds.

Q: Which settings preset offers the best experience at 4K?

A: The High preset at 143 FPS average provides the best balance, delivering near-144 FPS performance while maintaining higher visual quality than Medium (167 FPS) or Low (224 FPS). Ultra at 102 FPS sacrifices too much frame rate for the visual gain.

Q: Does the CPU limit performance at any resolution?

A: At 1080p Low, the 650 FPS result suggests the CPU may be approaching its limit, as the GPU has significant headroom at this resolution. At 1440p and 4K, the GPU is clearly the limiting component, as shown by the consistent 48% performance drop between these resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F provides the processing foundation for this configuration, with 6 cores and 12 threads operating at a base clock of 2.50 GHz and boost clock of 4.40 GHz. The processor's 18 MB shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache support Barony's procedural generation and game logic. The CPU's benchmark results show a PassMark multithread score of 19433 and single-thread score of 3481, placing it in the 73rd percentile among all CPUs.

The nearest CPU rivals in the database—the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS (0% delta), Intel Core 3 201E (-0.1% delta), and Intel Core i5-1335U (0.3% delta)—have comparable average benchmark scores, but the i5-12400F's desktop-oriented design with higher boost clocks likely contributes to its ability to sustain high frame rates in Barony's CPU-bound scenarios. The 3DMark scores show scaling from 909 single-thread to 5912 max-threads, indicating strong multithreading capability.

In Barony, the CPU's role becomes apparent at 1080p, where the 650 FPS Low result suggests the processor is handling game logic, entity updates, and scene management efficiently. The 6-core, 12-thread configuration provides adequate parallelism for modern game engines, though Barony's 2015 release date means it may not fully utilize all threads. The single-thread performance, as evidenced by the 909 3DMark single-thread score and 1680 Cinebench R23 single-core score, is crucial for maintaining high minimum frame rates during complex roguelike events.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce 650 FPS average, Medium 505 FPS (min 429, max 580), High 433 FPS, and Ultra 311 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 52% reduction in frame rate, reflecting the increasing GPU load from additional effects and geometry.

At 2560x1440, performance remains high. Low settings achieve 428 FPS, Medium 319 FPS (min 271, max 366), High 273 FPS, and Ultra 196 FPS. The reduction from 1080p to 1440p is consistent at approximately 34-37% across settings, indicating a proportional increase in rendering load.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 5090 faces its greatest challenge. Low settings produce 224 FPS, Medium 167 FPS (min 142, max 191), High 143 FPS, and Ultra 102 FPS. The 4K Ultra result of 102 FPS is the only configuration below 143 FPS, showing that even the most demanding preset remains playable. The 4K Medium result includes the only complete min/max data at this resolution, with a 49 FPS spread between minimum and maximum.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset consistently shows the largest gap between minimum and maximum FPS, with the 1080p Medium showing a 151 FPS spread (429 to 580). This suggests that Medium settings may introduce more frame time variance than other presets, though the minimums remain well above playable thresholds.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination ranks 102nd out of 3717 tested combos in Barony, placing it in the top 2.7% of all configurations. This high ranking reflects the RTX 5090's position in the 92nd percentile among GPUs and the i5-12400F's 73rd percentile standing among CPUs. The combination of a top-tier GPU with a mid-range CPU proves effective in Barony, where the GPU handles most of the rendering load at higher resolutions.

The ranking is particularly notable given that the CPU is not a flagship part. The i5-12400F's nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS and Intel Core 3 201E, have nearly identical average benchmark scores (19047 and 19056 respectively), yet the combination's ranking benefits from the GPU's exceptional performance. At 1080p, where the CPU becomes more relevant, the i5-12400F's single-thread performance (3481 PassMark single-thread score) ensures frame rates remain high, but the 650 FPS Low result suggests the CPU may be the limiting factor at this resolution.

The rank of 102 out of 3717 implies that only 101 other combinations outperform this setup in Barony, likely featuring higher-end CPUs paired with the RTX 5090 or similar top-tier GPUs. The data indicates that while the GPU is the primary driver of high frame rates, particularly at 4K, the CPU's contribution at 1080p prevents the system from achieving even higher rankings. For a game like Barony, where frame rates above 300 FPS are achievable, the practical difference between rank 102 and higher-ranked combos is minimal, as all exceed typical display refresh rates by a substantial margin.