Barony

The Intel Core i5-12600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti delivers a performance profile in Barony that is heavily defined by the game’s modest graphical demands. The measured frame rates across all resolutions and settings are exceptionally high, often exceeding 100 FPS, which indicates that this combination is far from being stressed at typical gaming loads. The data suggests that the primary bottleneck at lower resolutions shifts toward the CPU, while the GPU becomes more relevant as resolution increases. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS rows to understand how the components interact and where the limits of this system lie.

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

The scaling of average FPS from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 reveals a clear pattern of diminishing returns as pixel count rises. At the High preset, the system achieves 225.9 FPS at 1080p, which drops to 145.9 FPS at 1440p, and further to 73.9 FPS at 4K. This represents a 35% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 49% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The trend is consistent across all settings, with the largest absolute drop occurring at the Low preset, which goes from 353.6 FPS at 1080p down to 114.9 FPS at 4K.

The shape of this scaling curve points to the GPU becoming the limiting factor at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the frame rates are so high that the CPU’s processing speed is likely the ceiling, preventing the system from going even higher. As the resolution increases, the GPU’s workload grows, and the FPS drops accordingly. The RTX 3060 Ti’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 256-bit bus width are well-suited for 1440p, but the data shows that at 4K, the performance penalty is substantial. For instance, at the Ultra preset, the system only manages 52.9 FPS at 4K, a figure that is less than a third of the 160.1 FPS seen at 1080p. This indicates that while the CPU is strong enough to feed the GPU at lower resolutions, the GPU’s raw throughput is the primary constraint when pushing 4K pixels.

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

Examining the measured rows, the Medium preset offers the most balanced experience for this hardware. At 1080p, Medium delivers 265.7 FPS, which is a significant jump from the 225.9 FPS of High, and it is still far above any display refresh rate. Moving to 1440p, Medium sustains 168.2 FPS, again providing a smooth experience with a notable performance headroom. Even at 4K, the Medium preset maintains 86.2 FPS, which is playable and only slightly below the 73.9 FPS of High.

The High preset is the more demanding option, but it still yields excellent results. At 1440p, High produces 145.9 FPS, and at 1080p it reaches 225.9 FPS, making it a viable choice for users with high-refresh-rate monitors. The Ultra preset, however, is the least efficient. It drops frame rates dramatically across all resolutions, with 160.1 FPS at 1080p and only 52.9 FPS at 4K. For a game like Barony, where the visual fidelity differences between High and Ultra may be subtle, the data suggests that Medium or High are the sweet spots. The Low preset offers immense frame rates, but the visual trade-off is likely unnecessary given the strong performance of the other options.

FAQ

*Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo in Barony?*

A: The highest measured average FPS is 353.6, achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low settings preset.

Q: Is the system capable of 4K gaming at playable frame rates?

A: Yes, the data shows that at 3840x2160, the system achieves 73.9 FPS on High and 86.2 FPS on Medium, both of which are above the standard 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K at the High preset?

A: At the High preset, the average FPS drops from 225.9 at 1920x1080 to 73.9 at 3840x2160, a reduction of approximately 67%.

Q: What is the performance difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves 224.4 FPS, while the Ultra preset achieves 99.6 FPS, showing a substantial 125 FPS gap between the two extremes.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU appear to be the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: Given the extremely high frame rates at 1080p (e.g., 353.6 FPS on Low), the data suggests the CPU is likely the limiting component, as the GPU has excess capacity at this resolution.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded for this combination?

A: The lowest measured average FPS is 52.9, which occurs at 3840x2160 with the Ultra settings preset.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-12600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti ranks 881 out of 1702 tested combos in Barony. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the database, which is surprising given the high absolute frame rates observed. The ranking is relative to all other combinations tested, and the data suggests that many other systems, likely with higher-end GPUs, achieve even greater performance in this title.

This rank indicates that while the RTX 3060 Ti is a capable card, it is not top-tier for this specific game. The CPU’s percentile of 84 versus all CPUs shows it is a strong processor, but the GPU’s percentile of 69 versus all GPUs is more modest. The combo’s overall rank of 881 suggests that the GPU is the limiting factor in pushing this system higher up the leaderboard. For a game like Barony, which is a roguelike and not typically known for advanced graphics, this level of performance is more than adequate, but it does not place the system in the upper echelon of the benchmark database.

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

The Intel Core i5-12600KF is a 10-core, 16-thread processor from the Core 12th Gen series, based on the Alder Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. The CPU’s benchmark scores are strong, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 23444 and a single-core score of 3309. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 7956 and 2-thread score of 1995 indicate solid multi-threaded and single-threaded performance.

In Barony, the CPU’s role is most evident at lower resolutions. At 1080p, the frame rates are high enough that the CPU’s ability to process game logic and draw calls becomes the bottleneck. The high single-thread performance, evidenced by the Geekbench single-core score of 2529, is crucial for maintaining high FPS in a game that may not be fully multi-threaded. The fact that the system achieves 353.6 FPS at 1080p Low suggests the CPU is efficiently feeding the GPU. However, as resolution increases, the GPU takes over as the primary constraint, and the CPU’s advantage becomes less apparent. The processor’s 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache likely help with data locality, which is beneficial for game performance.

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

At 1920x1080, the system delivers outstanding performance across all settings. The Low preset reaches 353.6 FPS, Medium hits 265.7 FPS, High achieves 225.9 FPS, and Ultra still maintains a high 160.1 FPS. This resolution is clearly the strongest for this combo, with all settings providing frame rates well above the refresh rate of most monitors.

At 2560x1440, performance remains excellent. The Low preset produces 224.4 FPS, Medium delivers 168.2 FPS, High drops to 145.9 FPS, and Ultra falls to 99.6 FPS. This shows that even at a higher resolution, the system is more than capable of handling the game’s demands. The drop from High to Ultra at this resolution is 46.3 FPS, which is a significant difference.

At 3840x2160, the GPU workload becomes substantial. The Low preset still achieves 114.9 FPS, which is respectable, but Medium drops to 86.2 FPS, High falls to 73.9 FPS, and Ultra only manages 52.9 FPS. This demonstrates a clear scaling pattern where the GPU’s limits are reached at 4K, especially on the higher presets. The data indicates that for a consistent 60 FPS experience at 4K, the Medium or High presets are the recommended choices.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is built on the Ampere architecture and features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. Its base clock is 1410 MHz with a boost clock of 1665 MHz. The GPU has 4864 shading units and 152 texture mapping units, which contribute to its compute capabilities.

In Barony, the GPU’s role becomes increasingly prominent as resolution rises. At 1080p, the GPU is not fully utilized, as evidenced by the minimal FPS differences between the Low and High presets (353.6 vs. 225.9). The GPU’s 8 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient for this game, as it is not a VRAM-intensive title. At 4K, the GPU’s raw compute power becomes the bottleneck. The drop from 114.9 FPS at Low to 52.9 FPS at Ultra highlights the impact of increased shader and pixel workload. The RTX 3060 Ti’s 16.20 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is adequate for 1440p but struggles to maintain high frame rates at 4K on the highest settings. The data suggests that this GPU is best paired with a 1080p or 1440p monitor for this game, where it can deliver consistently high frame rates without compromise.