Barony

The Intel Core i5-14600K paired with the Intel Arc B390 presents a stark contrast in component tiers within the Barony benchmark database. The CPU is a high-end desktop part with 14 cores (6 performance and 8 efficiency cores) and 20 threads, operating at a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. This processor is built on Intel’s Raptor Lake architecture using a 10 nm process and features a 24 MB shared L3 cache. Its benchmark percentile ranks in the 90th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 48618, placing it just 0.2% behind the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H and 0.3% ahead of the AMD EPYC 4345P. The CPU’s multi-threaded performance is substantial, as shown by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 24491 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 16673.

The GPU, in contrast, is an integrated graphics solution from Intel’s Arc Graphics-M (Panther Lake) family, based on the Xe3-LPG architecture on a 3 nm process. It has 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster operation pipelines, with a boost clock of 2500 MHz. The GPU’s memory is system-shared, meaning its bandwidth and size are dependent on the host system’s RAM. In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, it scores 1482, placing it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are all low-end discrete GPUs: the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1.3% faster), the NVIDIA GeForce 800M (1.5% faster), and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM (2.5% faster). This pairing creates a scenario where the CPU vastly outpaces the GPU, and the measured frame rates in Barony reflect this imbalance.

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

The Intel Core i5-14600K’s role in Barony is primarily to ensure that the game’s logic, entity updates, and procedural generation are never bottlenecked by the processor. With 14 cores and 20 threads, the CPU provides ample headroom for a roguelike title, which often relies on complex simulation and random map generation. The processor’s high boost clock of 5.30 GHz is beneficial for single-threaded tasks, which are common in game logic and AI pathfinding. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU achieves a Cinebench R15 single-core score of 297 and a PassMark single-thread score of 4270, indicating strong per-core performance. The L3 cache of 24 MB shared across the cores helps keep frequently accessed data close to the execution units, reducing latency for game state updates.

In Barony, the CPU’s performance is sufficient to feed the GPU at all tested settings and resolutions, as evidenced by the frame rate scaling patterns. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 159 FPS on average, which is a high frame rate that suggests the CPU is not the limiting factor at this resolution. The data shows that as resolution increases, the frame rates drop consistently, which is a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario. The CPU’s percentile rank of 90th among all CPUs means it is in the top 10% of processors, and its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks, such as the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H and the AMD EPYC 4345P, show that it competes with server-class parts in multi-threaded workloads. However, in Barony, the CPU’s capabilities are largely underutilized because the integrated GPU cannot keep up with the CPU’s output. The measured frame times do not show any stutter or min-FPS data for most settings, but where min-FPS is available (Medium settings), the values are close to the average, suggesting consistent frame pacing. For instance, at 1440p Medium, the average is 75 FPS with a minimum of 64 FPS, indicating that the CPU is maintaining a stable frame delivery without sudden drops. This stability is likely due to the CPU’s high single-thread performance, which handles the game’s turn-based and real-time hybrid mechanics efficiently.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

In the Barony benchmark database, this specific combination of the Intel Core i5-14600K and the Intel Arc B390 is ranked 2601 out of 2935 tested combos. This places it in the bottom 12% of all tested configurations, which is a direct consequence of the GPU’s low performance relative to other graphics cards. The combo’s rank is determined by the measured average FPS across all settings and resolutions, and the Intel Arc B390’s integrated nature severely limits the overall result. To put this in perspective, the GPU’s 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1482 is only 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, which is a legacy mobile part from over a decade ago. This means that the combo ranks poorly because the GPU is only capable of entry-level 3D rendering, even though the CPU is a top-tier desktop processor.

The rank of 2601 out of 2935 combos indicates that the vast majority of other CPU-GPU pairings in the database achieve higher average frame rates in Barony. The CPU’s high benchmark scores do not translate into a high in-game rank because the GPU is the dominant factor in determining the final FPS. For example, the CPU’s average benchmark score of 48618 is 0.3% higher than the AMD EPYC 4345P, but that does not matter when the GPU is bottlenecking the system. The data suggests that if the same CPU were paired with a more capable discrete GPU, the combo rank would be significantly higher, but with the current integrated graphics, the system is firmly in the lower quartile of all tested configurations. The gap between the CPU’s percentile (90th) and the combo’s rank (11.4th percentile) highlights the mismatch between the two components.

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

The Intel Arc B390’s role is the primary bottleneck in this configuration, as its integrated design and system-shared memory dictate the frame rates in Barony. The GPU has a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz, with a pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s. Its FP32 performance is 7.680 TFLOPS, which is modest for modern gaming, and its memory bandwidth is system-dependent, meaning it relies on the CPU’s DDR4 or DDR5 memory bandwidth. In practice, this shared memory architecture limits the GPU’s ability to access textures and geometry quickly, especially at higher resolutions where more data is needed per frame.

In Barony, the GPU’s performance is reflected in the measured FPS at different settings. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 159 FPS, which is playable, but at 4K Ultra, it drops to 24 FPS, which is not smooth. The GPU’s 9th percentile ranking among all GPUs confirms its low standing, and its nearest rivals are all entry-level parts that are not designed for high-end gaming. The GPU supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, which means it can run modern APIs, but its raw compute power is insufficient for demanding titles. The 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1482 is the only GPU benchmark available, and it shows that the GPU is about 2.7% faster than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710, which is a very old card. This explains why the frame rates in Barony are low at high settings: the GPU is simply not powerful enough to handle the pixel and texture workloads, and the system-shared memory adds latency that further reduces performance.

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

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the desired frame rate target and resolution. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers an average of 159 FPS, which is excellent for fast-paced roguelike gameplay, providing a smooth and responsive experience. The Medium preset at 1080p yields an average of 118 FPS with a minimum of 101 FPS and a maximum of 136 FPS, which is also very playable and offers better visual fidelity without a significant frame rate penalty. The High preset at 1080p drops to 102 FPS, which is still above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, but the jump from Medium to High costs 16 FPS on average. The Ultra preset at 1080p is the most demanding, producing an average of 73 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for a game that benefits from high refresh rates.

At 1440p, the Low preset delivers 100 FPS, which is good, but the Medium preset drops to 75 FPS with a minimum of 64 FPS, which is still acceptable for most players. The High preset at 1440p yields 64 FPS, which is right at the edge of smoothness, and the Ultra preset falls to 46 FPS, which may feel sluggish. At 4K, none of the presets provide a consistently smooth experience: Low averages 53 FPS, Medium averages 39 FPS with a minimum of 33 FPS, High averages 34 FPS, and Ultra averages 24 FPS. Given this data, the best experience for most users would be to play at 1080p with the Medium preset, as it balances visual quality with a high average FPS of 118 and a respectable minimum of 101 FPS, ensuring that the game remains fluid during intense moments. Alternatively, the Low preset at 1080p offers the highest frame rate of 159 FPS, which is ideal for competitive play or for users with high refresh rate monitors. For those who prioritize visuals over frame rate, the High preset at 1080p is acceptable, but the Ultra preset should be avoided due to its lower average FPS and lack of min-FPS data, which suggests potential instability.

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

The frame rate scaling across resolutions clearly indicates that the GPU is the limiting component in this configuration. From 1080p to 1440p, the average FPS drops by approximately 37% for the Low preset (from 159 to 100 FPS), 36% for the Medium preset (from 118 to 75 FPS), 37% for the High preset (from 102 to 64 FPS), and 37% for the Ultra preset (from 73 to 46 FPS). This consistent reduction of roughly one-third suggests that the GPU is being pushed harder as the pixel count increases, while the CPU has ample headroom to maintain its output. The drop from 1440p to 4K is even more pronounced: the Low preset falls from 100 to 53 FPS (a 47% drop), the Medium preset falls from 75 to 39 FPS (a 48% drop), the High preset falls from 64 to 34 FPS (a 47% drop), and the Ultra preset falls from 46 to 24 FPS (a 48% drop).

This pattern is typical of a GPU-bound system, where the rendering resolution directly impacts the frame rate because the GPU must process more pixels. The CPU’s performance, as measured by its high benchmark scores, does not change with resolution, but the GPU’s workload increases quadratically with pixel count. The fact that the frame rate drops by nearly half when going from 1440p to 4K indicates that the integrated GPU’s memory bandwidth and compute units are saturated at 4K, leading to significant performance degradation. In contrast, if the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rate would remain relatively constant across resolutions, which is not the case here. The data confirms that the Intel Arc B390 is the primary limiting factor, and the CPU’s high core count and clock speeds are largely irrelevant to the game’s performance at higher resolutions.

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

The measured FPS data for this combo is divided into three resolutions and four settings presets each, providing a complete picture of performance. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 159 FPS, with no minimum or maximum values recorded. The Medium preset at 1080p averages 118 FPS, with a minimum of 101 FPS and a maximum of 136 FPS, showing a consistent frame delivery. The High preset averages 102 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 73 FPS, both without min or max data. At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 100 FPS, the Medium preset averages 75 FPS with a minimum of 64 FPS and a maximum of 86 FPS, the High preset averages 64 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 46 FPS. At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 53 FPS, the Medium preset averages 39 FPS with a minimum of 33 FPS and a maximum of 45 FPS, the High preset averages 34 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 24 FPS.

The Medium preset is the only setting with complete min/max data across all three resolutions, which allows for an analysis of frame time consistency. At 1080p Medium, the spread between min and max is 35 FPS, at 1440p Medium it is 22 FPS, and at 4K Medium it is 12 FPS. This narrowing spread at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU is becoming more consistently saturated, reducing the variability in frame times. The average FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is significant: for Low, it is a 67% reduction; for Medium, it is a 67% reduction; for High, it is a 67% reduction; and for Ultra, it is a 67% reduction. This uniform percentage drop across all settings reinforces the conclusion that the GPU is the bottleneck, as the relative performance penalty of increasing resolution is identical regardless of the quality preset. The data also shows that the Low preset is the only setting that maintains an average FPS above 100 at 1440p, while no preset reaches 60 FPS on average at 4K, making 4K unplayable for this combo.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Barony with this CPU-GPU combo?

A: Based on the measured data, 1920x1080 is the best resolution, as it is the only resolution where the Low preset achieves an average FPS of 159 and the Medium preset achieves 118 FPS. At 2560x1440, the highest average FPS is 100 on the Low preset, and at 3840x2160, the highest average FPS is only 53, so 1080p is recommended for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The Intel Arc B390 has a 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1482, which is 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463), 1.5% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce 800M (1460), 2.5% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM (1446), and 2.7% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 (1443). This indicates it is only marginally faster than these legacy entry-level GPUs.

Q: Why is the combo ranked 2601 out of 2935 combos in Barony?

A: The combo ranks 2601 out of 2935 because the Intel Arc B390 is an integrated GPU with a 9th percentile ranking among all GPUs, which severely limits the average frame rates. The CPU is in the 90th percentile, but the GPU’s low performance dominates the in-game results, pulling the combo’s rank down to the bottom 12% of all tested configurations.

Q: At which settings does the combo provide the highest minimum FPS?

A: The Medium preset is the only setting with recorded minimum FPS values. At 1080p Medium, the minimum FPS is 101, at 1440p Medium it is 64, and at 4K Medium it is 33. The 1080p Medium setting offers the highest minimum FPS, ensuring a smoother experience than other presets.

Q: Does the CPU or the GPU limit performance in Barony?

A: The GPU limits performance. The evidence is the consistent frame rate drop across resolutions: from 1080p to 4K, the average FPS drops by 67% for all settings, which is a classic sign of GPU saturation. The CPU’s high benchmark scores, such as a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 24491, do not prevent this drop, confirming that the Intel Arc B390 is the bottleneck.

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

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 100 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 46 FPS. This represents a 54 FPS difference, meaning the Ultra preset delivers less than half the frame rate of the Low preset, making Low the preferred choice for higher frame rates at this resolution.