Barony

# Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Barony reveals a dramatic sensitivity to resolution when running on the Intel Core i5-12600KF with the Intel Arc B370. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 144 FPS, which drops to 91 FPS at 1440p and further to 47 FPS at 4K. That represents a 37% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 48% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The pattern is consistent across all settings presets — the scaling factor remains steep regardless of quality level, which points to a specific bottleneck.

Looking at the Medium preset, the numbers tell a similar story: 107 FPS at 1080p, 67 FPS at 1440p, and 35 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 37%, and from 1440p to 4K it is 48%. These percentages are nearly identical to the Low preset, suggesting that resolution scaling is governed by a component whose load increases proportionally with pixel count, rather than being influenced heavily by graphical settings complexity.

The High preset shows 92 FPS at 1080p, 58 FPS at 1440p, and 30 FPS at 4K. Here the scaling from 1080p to 1440p is 37%, and from 1440p to 4K it is 48% again. The consistency across presets is striking — the same proportional drops appear regardless of whether the game runs at Low or High. This uniformity implies that the limiting factor is not the shader complexity or texture filtering, but rather the raw pixel throughput capability of the system.

Ultra settings reveal the steepest absolute drop: 66 FPS at 1080p, 42 FPS at 1440p, and 22 FPS at 4K. The percentage reductions are 36% and 48% respectively, matching the other presets closely. What is notable is that at 4K Ultra, the average FPS falls to 22 — below the 30 FPS threshold typically considered playable for action games, and Barony is a roguelike where precise timing matters.

The data suggests that the Intel Arc B370's memory architecture, which uses System Shared memory, is the primary constraint at higher resolutions. Since the GPU's memory bandwidth is system dependent, the increasing pixel count at 1440p and 4K forces more frequent accesses to shared system memory, which creates a bandwidth ceiling. The fact that FPS scales almost linearly with pixel count (approximately 2.25x pixels from 1080p to 4K, and FPS drops to roughly 1/3) indicates a memory-bound scenario rather than a compute-bound one.

Another observation: the gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 78 FPS (144 vs 66), while at 4K the same gap is only 25 FPS (47 vs 22). This compression of the settings range at higher resolutions further confirms that the bottleneck shifts from the GPU's shading units at 1080p to its memory subsystem at 4K. The 1280 shading units and 40 TMUs are capable enough at lower resolutions, but the 20 ROPs become a limiting factor when fill rate demands increase.

# FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable with this combo in Barony?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 144, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only settings combination that reaches or exceeds 144 FPS, which is typically the refresh rate target for competitive gaming.

Q: Is 4K playable with this system?

A: At 4K, the best result is 47 FPS with Low settings. Medium produces 35 FPS, High produces 30 FPS, and Ultra drops to 22 FPS. Only the Low preset at 4K approaches a comfortable playable range, and even that is below 60 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to similar processors in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Intel Core i5-12600KF has an average benchmark score of 27799, which places it in the 79th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D, scores 27896, putting the Intel chip 0.3% behind. The Intel Core i9-10900K scores 27872, also 0.3% ahead.

Q: What is the GPU's synthetic benchmark performance relative to other graphics cards?

A: The Intel Arc B370's only measured benchmark is 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, where it scores 1184. This places it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the ATI Radeon HD 5770, scores 1190, which is 0.5% higher.

Q: What is the best resolution for smooth gameplay?

A: For 60+ FPS, 1080p with Medium (107 FPS) or High (92 FPS) are the safest choices. At 1440p, only Low (91 FPS) exceeds 60 FPS, while Medium (67 FPS) stays above 60 but with less headroom.

Q: Does the game scale better with CPU or GPU improvements based on this data?

A: The consistent percentage drops from 1080p to 4K across all presets suggest that the GPU's memory bandwidth is the primary constraint. The CPU's 10 cores and 16 threads with a 4.90 GHz boost clock are unlikely to bottleneck a roguelike at these frame rates, so GPU-side improvements would yield more benefit.

# CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 10 nm process. Its base clock is 3.70 GHz with a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, and it supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration. The L3 cache is 20 MB shared, with 1.25 MB L2 per core and 80 KB L1 per core.

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU shows strong multi-threaded performance. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score is 23391, while the single-core score is 3302. The Geekbench multicore score is 12137 with a single-core score of 2157. The PassMark multithread score is 27575, and the single-thread score is 3925. These numbers indicate a capable processor for gaming workloads, where single-thread performance often matters most.

The CPU's percentile rank of 79 among all CPUs places it above average, but its nearest rivals are interesting. The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D scores 27896, just 0.3% higher. The Intel Core i9-10900K scores 27872, also 0.3% higher. The AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE scores 27712, which is 0.3% lower than the i5-12600KF. These margins are tiny, meaning the CPU sits in a tightly contested performance band.

For Barony, a roguelike game from 2015, the CPU demands are likely modest. The game's procedural generation and entity logic can be single-threaded in nature, but the 12600KF's strong single-core performance (Cinebench R15 single-core score of 332, R20 of 1386) ensures it is not a limiting factor. At 1080p Low, where the GPU is less stressed, the system reaches 144 FPS — this suggests the CPU can feed frames quickly enough even at high frame rates.

The 20 MB of shared L3 cache is substantial for a 10-core processor and helps with game data locality. The 16 threads allow for background tasks without interfering with the main game thread. Given that the FPS drops from 1080p to 4K follow a consistent pattern regardless of settings, the CPU is likely not the bottleneck — if it were, we would see less scaling with resolution and more with settings complexity.

# How This Combo Ranks

The combination of Intel Core i5-12600KF and Intel Arc B370 ranks 2701 out of 2935 tested combos in Barony. This places it in the bottom 8% of all tested systems, which is a poor showing for a CPU that ranks in the 79th percentile among all processors. The disconnect between CPU capability and overall combo ranking points squarely at the GPU as the weak link.

The 2701st rank out of 2935 means that 234 combos perform worse. The GPU's 5th percentile ranking among all GPUs (with an average benchmark score of 1184) drags the combo down significantly. The nearest GPU rivals — ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570, ATI Radeon HD 5770, AMD Radeon HD 7650M — are all older or lower-tier parts, confirming that the Arc B370 sits at the very bottom of the GPU performance spectrum.

This ranking has practical implications. In a game like Barony, where the CPU is more than adequate, the combo's performance is entirely dictated by the GPU. The measured FPS data supports this: at 1080p Low, the system hits 144 FPS, but this is likely the GPU's maximum output rather than a CPU-imposed limit. At 4K Ultra, the 22 FPS result is a clear GPU limitation.

The rank also suggests that many other combinations of CPUs and GPUs would outperform this setup in Barony. Given that the CPU alone is capable of much higher frame rates (as evidenced by its strong synthetic scores), pairing it with a more powerful GPU would likely yield significantly better results. The data does not include alternative GPU pairings, but the CPU's 79th percentile ranking versus the GPU's 5th percentile ranking illustrates the imbalance.

# GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated GPU based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on Intel's 3 nm process. It features 1280 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 20 ROPs, with 10 ray tracing cores. The base clock is 300 MHz with a boost clock of 2400 MHz, and its FP32 compute is 6.144 TFLOPS. The TDP is a modest 25 W, and it uses System Shared memory with system-dependent bandwidth.

The GPU's benchmark performance is minimal — only a single 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184 exists. This puts it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs, meaning 95% of tested graphics cards perform better. The nearest rivals are all legacy or low-end parts: the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190, 0.5% higher), ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186, 0.2% higher), AMD Radeon HD 7650M (1192, 0.7% higher), and AMD FirePro M2000 (1168, 1.4% lower).

In Barony, the GPU's limitations manifest clearly. At 1080p Low, the 144 FPS result is respectable for an integrated solution, but the steep drop at higher resolutions reveals the memory bandwidth constraint. The System Shared memory means the GPU competes with the CPU for memory bandwidth, and at 4K, the pixel fill rate demand (3840x2160 = 8.3 million pixels) overwhelms the 20 ROPs' capacity.

The 48.00 GPixel/s pixel rate and 96.00 GTexel/s texture rate are theoretical maxima that the shared memory architecture cannot sustain in practice. The 25 W TDP limits the GPU's power budget, preventing higher sustained clocks. The 2400 MHz boost clock is respectable, but the 300 MHz base clock indicates the GPU may drop significantly under sustained load.

The Vulkan 1.4 and DirectX 12 Ultimate support mean the GPU is feature-complete, but Barony's older engine may not leverage these modern APIs effectively. The data shows that the GPU is the clear bottleneck in this combo — the CPU can deliver frames faster than the GPU can render them, especially at higher resolutions.

# Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its best results. Low settings produce 144 FPS average, which is the highest recorded value across any resolution or preset. Medium averages 107 FPS with a minimum of 91 and maximum of 123. High averages 92 FPS. Ultra drops to 66 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 78 FPS, indicating that settings have a significant impact at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, performance decreases noticeably. Low averages 91 FPS, which is still above 60. Medium averages 67 FPS with a minimum of 57 and maximum of 78 — the minimum dips below 60, suggesting occasional stutters. High averages 58 FPS, just below the 60 FPS threshold. Ultra averages 42 FPS, which is marginal for gameplay. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1440p is 49 FPS, smaller than at 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles. Low averages 47 FPS. Medium averages 35 FPS with a minimum of 30 and maximum of 41. High averages 30 FPS exactly. Ultra averages 22 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra at 4K is only 25 FPS, showing that settings have diminishing returns at this resolution. Notably, the Medium preset at 4K has recorded min/max values, unlike most other cells, suggesting the testing captured a wider variance.

The data reveals that the transition from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 37% of FPS across all presets, and from 1440p to 4K costs another 48%. This geometric progression indicates that the GPU's memory bandwidth scales sub-linearly with pixel count, confirming the shared memory bottleneck.

For players seeking a consistent 60+ FPS experience, 1080p with Medium or High settings is the sweet spot. At 1440p, only Low guarantees 60+ FPS. At 4K, no preset achieves 60 FPS, and only Low (47 FPS) approaches playability.

# Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the player's resolution and frame rate priorities. At 1080p, Medium settings (107 FPS) offer a significant improvement over High (92 FPS) while maintaining a 91 FPS minimum. The jump from Medium to High costs 15 FPS, which may be worthwhile for visual fidelity, but the 107 FPS average at Medium provides ample headroom for demanding scenes.

For players with 1440p displays, Low settings (91 FPS) are the only preset that consistently stays above 60 FPS. Medium (67 FPS) is playable but the 57 FPS minimum indicates potential dips below 60. High (58 FPS) sits just below the 60 FPS threshold, and Ultra (42 FPS) is not recommended for smooth gameplay.

At 4K, the situation is challenging. Low (47 FPS) is the best option, but even this falls short of 60 FPS. Medium (35 FPS) and High (30 FPS) are borderline, and Ultra (22 FPS) is not playable. Players with 4K displays should consider lowering the resolution to 1440p for a better experience.

The recommendation hierarchy is clear: prioritize resolution over settings. At 1080p Medium or High, the game runs smoothly with good visual quality. At 1440p Low, the game runs well but with reduced visual fidelity. At 4K, no preset provides a fully satisfying experience, so 1440p is the practical maximum resolution for this combo.

The data also shows that the difference between Low and Medium at 1080p is 37 FPS (144 vs 107), while the difference between Medium and High is 15 FPS (107 vs 92), and between High and Ultra is 26 FPS (92 vs 66). The Medium preset offers the best balance of performance and quality at 1080p, with a 107 FPS average that comfortably exceeds 60 FPS.