Barony

Barony is a roguelike that scales aggressively with resolution, and the measured data for the Intel Core i5-13400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9060 shows a clear transition from a CPU-bound experience at lower resolutions to a GPU-bound one at 4K. At 1080p, the combination produces frame rates well above 200 FPS on most settings, indicating the processor is doing the heavy lifting. Moving to 1440p, the frame rates remain high but begin to show the GPU's influence, while at 4K, the average frame rates drop into a range that suggests the Radeon RX 9060 is the primary limiting factor. This pattern is typical for a game with simple geometry and effects, where the CPU's single-thread performance and the GPU's raw fill rate determine the outcome.

Resolution Scaling

The data reveals a steep performance curve as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system achieves an average of 315 FPS, which is an exceptional figure for any title. When resolution jumps to 2560x1440 at the same settings, the average drops to 199 FPS, a reduction of 116 FPS or roughly 37%. Moving to 3840x2160 at Low settings yields an average of 104 FPS, which is a further drop of 95 FPS from the 1440p result. This scaling shows that even at Low settings, the GPU's rendering load at 4K is substantial enough to cut the frame rate by two-thirds compared to 1080p.

The scaling pattern intensifies with higher quality presets. At High settings, the system delivers 201 FPS at 1080p, 127 FPS at 1440p, and 66 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 74 FPS, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 61 FPS. This is a relatively consistent scaling factor, indicating that the GPU is becoming the bottleneck at higher resolutions, but the CPU still has enough headroom at 1440p to push significant frame rates. At Ultra settings, the numbers are 144 FPS at 1080p, 91 FPS at 1440p, and 48 FPS at 4K, which shows that the most demanding preset puts the most strain on the GPU, especially at 4K where the average dips below 50 FPS.

The Medium preset provides the most complete dataset with min and max FPS values. At 1080p Medium, the average is 235 FPS with a minimum of 199 FPS and a maximum of 270 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average is 148 FPS with a minimum of 126 FPS and a maximum of 170 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average is 77 FPS with a minimum of 66 FPS and a maximum of 89 FPS. These figures highlight that the frame time consistency degrades as resolution increases, with the gap between min and max FPS widening from 71 FPS at 1080p to 23 FPS at 4K, indicating more variable performance under heavier load.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor from the Raptor Lake architecture, featuring a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. In Barony, a game that is likely not heavily threaded, the processor's single-thread performance is crucial. The benchmark data shows a 3dmark_single_thread score of 960 and a passmark_single_thread score of 3634, which are solid figures for a desktop chip. The multi-threaded scores, such as the cinebench_r23_multicore result of 22604, indicate that the CPU has ample headroom for background tasks, but the game's performance at 1080p suggests it is not a limiting factor at lower resolutions.

The CPU's role becomes evident when examining the frame rates at 1080p. At Low settings, the system hits 315 FPS, which is likely near the upper limit of what the game engine can produce with this processor. The fact that increasing settings from Low to Ultra at 1080p only reduces the average FPS from 315 to 144 suggests that the CPU is still able to feed the GPU enough data to maintain high frame rates, but the GPU's workload is increasing. The processor's 20 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support contribute to its ability to handle game logic and entity updates without becoming a bottleneck.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the i5-13400F holds its own. It has an average benchmark score of 25292, which puts it at the 77th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS, scores 25284, a difference of 0%. The Intel Core 5 120 and AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D are 0.3% behind, while the AMD Ryzen 7 6800H is 0.4% ahead. These negligible differences in synthetic benchmarks suggest that the processor's real-world gaming performance is comparable to these alternatives, and in Barony, the high boost clock ensures that single-threaded tasks are handled efficiently.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 is built on the RDNA 4.0 architecture with a Navi 44 chip, featuring 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with a bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s. The GPU has a base clock of 1700 MHz and a boost clock of 2990 MHz, with a game clock of 2400 MHz. These specifications indicate a mid-range card that is capable of high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, but struggles at 4K. The GPU's 1792 shading units and 64 ROPs are responsible for the pixel throughput, which is a key factor in Barony's rendering demands.

The GPU's role is clearly demonstrated by the 4K results. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 48, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. At 4K High, the average is 66 FPS, which is playable but not ideal. The 4K Medium preset yields 77 FPS, while 4K Low produces 104 FPS. This indicates that the GPU is the bottleneck at 4K, as the frame rates scale almost linearly with the quality preset, suggesting that the card's fill rate and memory bandwidth are stretched thin at this resolution.

At lower resolutions, the GPU is less of a limiting factor. At 1440p, the card delivers 199 FPS at Low, 148 FPS at Medium, 127 FPS at High, and 91 FPS at Ultra. At 1080p, the figures are 315, 235, 201, and 144 FPS respectively. The fact that the GPU can push over 300 FPS at 1080p Low indicates that it has significant headroom, but the drop to 144 FPS at 1080p Ultra shows that the card's shading and texture units are being fully utilized at higher settings. The GPU's 21.43 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is a strong indicator of its capability, and the benchmark results, such as the passmark_g3d score of 17631, place it in the 59th percentile of all GPUs.

Comparing the RX 9060 to its nearest rivals, the data shows it is closely matched with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti. The RX 9060 has an average benchmark score of 16014, while the RTX 3060 Ti scores 16129, a difference of -0.7%. The AMD Radeon R9 370X and AMD Radeon RX 7700 are both 1% behind, and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 is 2.1% behind. This suggests that in synthetic benchmarks, the RX 9060 is competitive with these cards, but in Barony, the 8 GB VRAM may be a limitation at 4K with high textures, as the game's memory footprint could exceed the available capacity.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combination achieves in Barony?

A: The highest average FPS is 315, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Is the system capable of 60 FPS at 4K?

A: Yes, but only with lower settings. At 4K Medium, the average FPS is 77, and at 4K High, it is 66. At 4K Ultra, the average drops to 48 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Intel Core i5-13400F has an average benchmark score of 25292, which is 0% different from the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS (25284). It is 0.3% behind the Intel Core 5 120 and AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D, and 0.4% behind the AMD Ryzen 7 6800H.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 9060 is in the 59th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 16014.

Q: What is the frame rate variance at 1440p Medium settings?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the average FPS is 148, with a minimum of 126 FPS and a maximum of 170 FPS, showing a variance of 44 FPS.

Q: Does the system maintain high frame rates at 1080p with all settings?

A: Yes, all 1080p presets produce average frame rates above 140 FPS. The lowest is 144 FPS at Ultra settings, and the highest is 315 FPS at Low settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal experience depends on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For 1080p, the High preset at 201 FPS offers a balance of visual quality and performance, as the Ultra preset at 144 FPS is still smooth but the visual gains may not justify the 57 FPS drop. For 1440p, the High preset at 127 FPS is recommended for a smooth experience, as the Ultra preset at 91 FPS is still playable but approaches the lower end of high-refresh-rate monitors. For 4K, the Medium preset at 77 FPS provides the best balance, as the High preset at 66 FPS is playable but the Medium preset offers a higher frame rate with likely minimal visual difference in a roguelike. The Low preset is not recommended for any resolution above 1080p, as it sacrifices too much visual fidelity for a marginal frame rate gain.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers 315 FPS on Low, 235 FPS on Medium, 201 FPS on High, and 144 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 199 FPS and a maximum of 270 FPS, indicating a very stable frame rate. At 2560x1440, the average FPS is 199 on Low, 148 on Medium, 127 on High, and 91 on Ultra. The Medium preset at 1440p has a minimum of 126 FPS and a maximum of 170 FPS. At 3840x2160, the average FPS is 104 on Low, 77 on Medium, 66 on High, and 48 on Ultra. The Medium preset at 4K has a minimum of 66 FPS and a maximum of 89 FPS. These numbers show a clear hierarchy: 1080p is the most playable resolution with all settings, 1440p is excellent with High and below, and 4K requires Medium or Low settings to maintain playable frame rates.