Barony

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i5-12600KF is a 10-core, 16-thread desktop processor based on the Alder Lake-S architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. Its base clock is 3.70 GHz, with a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. The CPU has a 20 MB shared L3 cache, with per-core L2 cache of 1.25 MB and per-core L1 cache of 80 KB. This configuration places it in the 84th percentile against all CPUs in the benchmark database, with an average benchmark score of 27827.

The processor's nearest rivals in the database are revealing. The Intel Core i9-10900K scores 27829, a delta of 0% — essentially identical. The Intel Core i5-12600K scores 27851, which is a -0.1% delta, meaning the 12600KF trails by a hair. The Intel Core Ultra 5 125H scores 27872 (-0.2%), and the Intel Core i7-13700H scores 27716 (+0.4%), meaning the 12600KF actually leads that mobile chip by a small margin. These deltas are all within a fraction of a percent, so the CPU's positional strength is consistent across its competitive set.

For Barony, a roguelike, the CPU's thread count and clock speed matter for game logic, procedural generation, and entity simulation. The 16 threads handle these workloads efficiently. The single-thread performance is also strong, as evidenced by a 3dmark single-thread score of 1016 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3309. In a game like Barony, where turn-based or real-time calculations can be serialized, this single-core capability prevents bottlenecks. The multicore scores — Cinebench R23 multicore at 23444 and Geekbench multicore at 12373 — indicate that the CPU can handle heavy background tasks without affecting frame pacing.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture with a TU104 chip, fabricated on TSMC's 12 nm process. It has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The memory clock is 1750 MHz, which translates to 14 Gbps effective. The GPU's base clock is 1605 MHz, with a boost clock of 1770 MHz. It houses 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, 64 ROPs, 40 RT cores, and 320 tensor cores.

In the GPU benchmark database, the RTX 2070 SUPER sits at the 65th percentile against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 22206. Its nearest rivals show modest deltas: the NVIDIA RTX A400 scores 22307 (-0.5%), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z scores 22006 (+0.9%), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile scores 22729 (-2.3%), and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 scores 21670 (+2.5%). This means the RTX 2070 SUPER is positioned slightly below the RTX A400 and RTX 4060 Mobile, but ahead of the GTX TITAN Z and RX 5700.

For Barony, the GPU's 8 GB VRAM is sufficient for the game's visual assets at all tested settings. The 448.0 GB/s bandwidth supports high-resolution textures without memory throttling. The 1770 MHz boost clock provides the raw throughput needed for the game's rendering pipeline. The pixel rate of 113.3 GPixel/s and texture rate of 283.2 GTexel/s are relevant because Barony's roguelike visuals — often containing many small sprites and particle effects — rely on fill-rate and texture fetch operations. The FP32 performance of 9.062 TFLOPS is adequate for the shader complexity in Barony's environments.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data across resolutions reveals the scaling behavior of this combo. At 1080p with Low settings, the average FPS is 317.6. Moving to 1440p Low drops performance to 198.6, a reduction of 37.5%. At 4K Low, the average FPS is 104.4, which is 67.1% below the 1080p Low figure. This steep decline as resolution increases indicates that the GPU becomes the primary limiter at higher pixel counts.

The High settings tell a similar story. At 1080p High, the average is 201.6 FPS. At 1440p High, it falls to 128.3, a 36.4% drop. At 4K High, the average is 66.2, which is 67.2% below the 1080p High result. The consistency of these percentage drops across Low and High settings suggests that the scaling is resolution-bound rather than settings-bound. The CPU is capable of feeding the GPU at 1080p, as evidenced by the 317.6 FPS Low result — a frame rate that would be impossible if the CPU were limiting. As resolution increases, the GPU's fill-rate and shader throughput become the constraining factors.

The Medium and Ultra presets follow the same pattern. 1080p Medium yields 236 FPS, dropping to 149.6 at 1440p (-36.6%) and 75.5 at 4K (-68.0%). 1080p Ultra produces 146.2 FPS, falling to 88.6 at 1440p (-39.4%) and 50.8 at 4K (-65.3%). The slightly larger drop from 1440p to 4K on Ultra (from 88.6 to 50.8, a -42.7% reduction) versus the Low preset (from 198.6 to 104.4, a -47.4% reduction) indicates that Ultra settings place additional strain on the GPU's compute units. The data supports a clear conclusion: the RTX 2070 SUPER is the bottleneck at higher resolutions, while the i5-12600KF has headroom to spare.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

In the database of tested combinations for Barony, this pairing of Intel Core i5-12600KF with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER ranks 1053 out of 1702 total combos. This places it in the 61.9th percentile of all tested configurations — meaning roughly 38% of combos perform better, and 62% perform worse. Given that the CPU sits at the 84th percentile and the GPU at the 65th percentile among their respective component pools, the combo's overall rank is dragged down by the GPU's relative position.

The ranking data indicates that this is a mid-to-upper tier combination for Barony specifically. The game's roguelike nature, with procedurally generated dungeons and potentially many entities on screen, benefits from the CPU's strong single-thread performance. However, the GPU's 65th percentile standing means that at higher resolutions and quality presets, the combo's rank will not reach the top tier. The measured FPS at 1080p High (201.6 FPS) and 1440p High (128.3 FPS) are well above playable thresholds, so the rank of 1053 reflects comparative performance against more powerful GPUs rather than any deficiency in real-world playability. The gap between this combo's rank and the top performers is attributable to the GPU's age and memory bandwidth relative to newer cards, not to any CPU limitation.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the four settings produce a wide range of average frame rates. Low settings deliver 317.6 FPS, Medium delivers 236 FPS, High delivers 201.6 FPS, and Ultra delivers 146.2 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 54.0% reduction in frame rate, which is substantial but expected given the increased graphical workload. The high 1080p numbers, particularly the 317.6 FPS Low result, indicate that the CPU is not a bottleneck at this resolution — the frame rate is likely capped by the GPU's rasterization throughput.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 198.6 FPS (Low), 149.6 FPS (Medium), 128.3 FPS (High), and 88.6 FPS (Ultra). The drop from Low to Ultra is 55.4%, nearly identical to the 1080p scaling. The 1440p High result of 128.3 FPS is still well above 60 FPS, and even the 1440p Ultra result of 88.6 FPS provides smooth gameplay. The data shows that this combo handles 1440p comfortably across all presets.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 104.4 FPS (Low), 75.5 FPS (Medium), 66.2 FPS (High), and 50.8 FPS (Ultra). The 4K Ultra result falls below the 60 FPS threshold, which is the only preset across all resolutions that does so. The 4K High result of 66.2 FPS is above 60 but not by a large margin. The 4K Low result of 104.4 FPS shows that the GPU can still produce high frame rates when graphical load is reduced. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 4K is a 51.3% reduction, slightly less pronounced than at lower resolutions, suggesting the GPU is hitting a compute ceiling that reduces the relative impact of settings changes.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

For 1080p gameplay, the Ultra preset at 146.2 FPS is the best choice for visual fidelity without sacrificing smoothness. The High preset at 201.6 FPS offers a substantial frame rate increase with only a minor visual downgrade, making it the recommended choice for competitive play or high-refresh-rate monitors. The Medium preset at 236 FPS is unnecessary unless the user has a 240 Hz display, and Low at 317.6 FPS is only relevant for extreme refresh rates or esports-style play.

At 1440p, the High preset at 128.3 FPS provides the best balance. It maintains frame rates above 120 FPS, which is smooth for most displays, while keeping visual quality high. The Ultra preset at 88.6 FPS is also viable for users prioritizing image quality over frame rate, as it stays above 60 FPS. The Medium preset at 149.6 FPS is a middle ground, but the jump from Medium to High only costs 21.3 FPS (from 149.6 to 128.3, a 14.2% reduction) while providing noticeable visual improvements. The Low preset at 198.6 FPS is not recommended for 1440p because the visual compromise is significant for a frame rate that exceeds display refresh rates for most users.

For 4K, the High preset at 66.2 FPS is the recommended choice. It stays above 60 FPS, which is the standard for smooth gameplay, and delivers the best visual quality among playable presets. The Ultra preset at 50.8 FPS falls below 60 FPS and may exhibit perceptible stutter on standard 60 Hz displays. The Medium preset at 75.5 FPS is a viable alternative for users who want a frame rate buffer above 60 FPS, and the Low preset at 104.4 FPS is the choice for users with high-refresh 4K displays. Overall, the data suggests that High settings at 1440p or 4K provide the most consistent experience for this combo, with 1080p Ultra as a strong option for users with lower-resolution displays.