Barony

# Barony with Intel Core i5-12600KF + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050

The Intel Core i5-12600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 delivers a wide range of performance in Barony, scaling from high refresh rate 1080p play to playable 4K, with the data showing a clear pattern of GPU limitation at higher resolutions and CPU headroom at lower ones. This combination ranks 1775th out of 2935 tested combos in this game, placing it in the upper-middle tier of the database, with the RTX 5050 sitting at the 66th percentile among all GPUs and the i5-12600KF at the 79th percentile among all CPUs.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep but predictable decline as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K. At 1080p with High settings, the combo averages 193 FPS, which drops to 122 FPS at 1440p and further to 64 FPS at 4K. That represents a 37% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and another 48% reduction from 1440p to 4K, showing that the performance cost of each resolution step-up is substantial.

The scaling pattern becomes more telling when looking at Low settings. At 1080p Low, the system hits 302 FPS, which is exceptionally high and suggests the CPU is doing the heavy lifting at this point. Moving to 1440p Low yields 191 FPS, a 37% drop, while 4K Low produces 100 FPS, another 48% reduction. The consistent percentage drops across different settings indicate that resolution scaling is primarily driven by GPU workload, not by CPU limitations.

What stands out is the gap between Low and Ultra settings at each resolution. At 1080p, the spread from Ultra (138 FPS) to Low (302 FPS) is 164 FPS, a 119% difference. At 1440p, Ultra delivers 87 FPS versus Low's 191 FPS, a 120% gap. At 4K, Ultra drops to 46 FPS while Low maintains 100 FPS, again roughly a 117% difference. This consistency suggests that the GPU is the limiting factor across all resolutions, with the CPU providing enough headroom that it never becomes the bottleneck even at 1080p.

The data indicates that 4K Ultra at 46 FPS is below the smoothness threshold many players would want, while 4K Medium at 74 FPS and 4K High at 64 FPS are both playable. The 1440p results are more comfortable, with High at 122 FPS and Medium at 142 FPS offering excellent fluidity. At 1080p, even Ultra at 138 FPS is smooth, and Low at 302 FPS is far beyond what any display can show.

GPU Role

The RTX 5050 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with the GB207 chip, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC with 16,900 million transistors on a 149 mm² die. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory runs at 2500 MHz (20 Gbps effective) across a 128-bit bus, yielding 320.0 GB/s of bandwidth. With 2560 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, the card delivers 13.17 TFLOPS of FP32 performance.

The GPU's clock behavior is straightforward: a base clock of 2317 MHz and a boost clock of 2572 MHz. The pixel rate of 82.30 GPixel/s and texture rate of 205.8 GTexel/s directly impact how Barony renders its environments, and the data shows this card handles the game's demands well up to 1440p.

Looking at the GPU's benchmark scores provides context for its gaming performance. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 2502, and the Geekbench OpenCL score is 90334 with Vulkan at 89381. Passmark results show a G3D score of 17326 and a GPU compute score of 9184, with DirectX 11 scoring 150, DirectX 12 at 66, and DirectX 9 at 186. These numbers place the RTX 5050 at the 66th percentile among all GPUs.

Comparing to its nearest rivals in the database, the RTX 5050 sits very close to the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL, which scores 21153 (a 0.6% difference), and the AMD Radeon HD 8970M at 21237 (1% difference). It edges out the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT, which scores 20713 (1.6% behind), while the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile leads at 21379 (1.6% ahead). These tight margins suggest the RTX 5050 is positioned in a competitive mid-range tier.

The VRAM situation is important for Barony specifically. With 8 GB of GDDR6, the card has enough memory for this roguelike at 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K results show the card working harder, likely due to both memory bandwidth and capacity constraints. The 320.0 GB/s bandwidth is modest by modern standards, and at 4K the data shows the card delivering 64 FPS on High and 46 FPS on Ultra, indicating that the GPU is the primary constraint at this resolution.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF brings 10 cores and 16 threads to the table, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. This Alder Lake-S architecture processor has a 10-core configuration (likely a mix of performance and efficiency cores) on Intel's 10 nm process. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB L1 per core, 1.25 MB L2 per core, and 20 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel mode and connects via PCIe Gen 4 with 20 lanes.

The CPU's benchmark results show strong multi-threaded performance. Cinebench R23 multicore scores 23391 with single-core at 3302, while R20 scores 9824 multicore and 1386 single-core. Geekbench shows 12137 multicore and 2157 single-core. Passmark multithread scores 27575 with single-thread at 3925. The 3DMark results show scaling from 1016 single-thread to 7956 at 16 threads, with 1995 at 2 threads, 3806 at 4 threads, and 6128 at 8 threads.

This CPU sits at the 79th percentile among all CPUs in the database. Its nearest rivals in the benchmarks are the Intel Core i9-10900K at 27872 (0.3% lower), the AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE at 27712 (0.3% higher), the AMD Ryzen 7 6800U at 27887 (0.3% lower), and the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D at 27896 (0.3% lower). These are all within a fraction of a percent, showing the i5-12600KF is essentially tied with these processors in average benchmark score.

For Barony, the CPU's role becomes evident when examining the FPS data at 1080p. The jump from 193 FPS at High to 302 FPS at Low suggests the CPU is capable of pushing far beyond what the GPU can render at higher settings. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system hits 302 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's maximum frame generation capability for this game. Even at 1080p Ultra, the CPU keeps up with 138 FPS, meaning it is not the limiting factor in any measured configuration.

The 10-core, 16-thread configuration with a 4.90 GHz boost clock provides ample headroom for a game like Barony, which is a roguelike and may not be heavily multi-threaded. The single-thread performance, as evidenced by the 3DMark single-thread score of 1016 and Cinebench R23 single-core of 3302, is strong enough to handle the game's logic and physics without bottlenecking the GPU.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance on which settings to choose for different priorities. For players targeting 4K, the choice is between High at 64 FPS, Medium at 74 FPS, or Low at 100 FPS. Ultra at 46 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold that most players consider minimum for smooth gameplay. Medium at 4K offers the best balance, with 74 FPS average and a recorded minimum of 63 FPS and maximum of 85 FPS, keeping the experience above 60 FPS throughout.

At 1440p, the system has more freedom. High settings deliver 122 FPS, which is excellent for most displays, while Medium hits 142 FPS with a minimum of 120 FPS and maximum of 163 FPS. Ultra at 87 FPS is also playable and might be preferred by players who want maximum visual fidelity over the extra smoothness. Low at 191 FPS is only useful for competitive play on high refresh rate monitors, but the visual quality trade-off is likely not worth it for a roguelike.

For 1080p, all settings are viable. Ultra delivers 138 FPS, which is smooth on any display. High at 193 FPS and Medium at 225 FPS (with minimum 191 FPS and maximum 258 FPS) are both excellent. Low at 302 FPS is beyond what most monitors can display, so it only makes sense for esports-style play, which is not typical for this genre. The recommendation for 1080p is to use High or Ultra, depending on whether the player prefers visual quality or extra headroom.

The data suggests that Medium settings offer the most consistent frame pacing, as these are the only rows with recorded minimum and maximum FPS values. At 4K Medium, the range is 63 to 85 FPS, at 1440p Medium it is 120 to 163 FPS, and at 1080p Medium it is 191 to 258 FPS. This consistency indicates that Medium is the sweet spot for this combination, providing smooth performance without the variance that might occur at other settings.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Barony at 4K?

A: Yes, but with compromises. The data shows 4K High averages 64 FPS, 4K Medium averages 74 FPS (with a 63 FPS minimum), and 4K Low averages 100 FPS. 4K Ultra drops to 46 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS smoothness threshold.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1440p gaming?

A: Medium at 1440p delivers 142 FPS average with a minimum of 120 FPS, which is excellent. High at 122 FPS is also strong. Ultra at 87 FPS is playable but sacrifices smoothness for visuals.

Q: Is the RTX 5050 or the i5-12600KF the limiting factor in this game?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions, as shown by the consistent FPS drops from 1080p to 4K. The CPU is not the bottleneck, evidenced by 302 FPS at 1080p Low, which is far beyond the GPU's output at higher settings.

Q: How does the RTX 5050 compare to its closest rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 5050 averages 21035, nearly identical to the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL at 21153 (0.6% difference) and the AMD Radeon HD 8970M at 21237 (1% difference). It is slightly ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT at 20713 (1.6% behind) and slightly behind the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile at 21379 (1.6% ahead).

Q: What FPS can I expect at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured average is 193 FPS. This is well above the refresh rate of most monitors, providing a smooth experience with plenty of headroom for demanding scenes.

Q: Should I use Ultra settings anywhere?

A: At 1080p, Ultra at 138 FPS is viable and smooth. At 1440p, Ultra at 87 FPS is playable. At 4K, Ultra at 46 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold and not recommended for comfortable play.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system produces its highest frame rates across all settings. Low settings average 302 FPS, Medium averages 225 FPS with a minimum of 191 FPS and maximum of 258 FPS, High averages 193 FPS, and Ultra averages 138 FPS. This shows a clear progression where each step up in settings costs roughly 30-60 FPS, with the largest single drop occurring between Low and Medium (77 FPS difference).

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain strong but show the expected reduction. Low averages 191 FPS, Medium averages 142 FPS with a minimum of 120 FPS and maximum of 163 FPS, High averages 122 FPS, and Ultra averages 87 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 104 FPS, which is proportionally similar to the 1080p spread. At this resolution, all settings except maybe Ultra are comfortably above 60 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops significantly. Low averages 100 FPS, Medium averages 74 FPS with a minimum of 63 FPS and maximum of 85 FPS, High averages 64 FPS, and Ultra averages 46 FPS. This is the only resolution where Ultra falls below 60 FPS, and even High is only marginally above the threshold. Medium at 74 FPS is the most reliable option at 4K, given its recorded minimum of 63 FPS.

The full dataset shows that Medium settings consistently provide the most stable frame delivery, as evidenced by the recorded minimum and maximum values at each resolution. The RTX 5050, with its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 320.0 GB/s bandwidth, handles Barony well up to 1440p, while the i5-12600KF's 10 cores and 16 threads provide sufficient processing power to avoid becoming a bottleneck in any measured scenario.