Barony

The Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT combination ranks 1180th out of 1702 tested combos in Barony. This places the pairing in the lower third of the database, a surprising result given the GPU's strong standalone standing. The Radeon RX 6600 XT sits at the 71st percentile among all GPUs, yet the combo's overall rank suggests the CPU is holding the experience back in this particular roguelike. The data implies that while the graphics card is capable, the processor's mid-pack performance—it sits at the 50th percentile among all CPUs—creates a bottleneck that prevents the system from reaching higher tier placement. The gap between the GPU's high percentile and the combo's low rank tells a clear story: Barony is sensitive to processor throughput, and this six-core chip is not providing enough of it.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 brings 6 cores and 6 threads to the table, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. This is a Coffee Lake architecture part on the Intel Socket 1151 platform, built on a 14 nm process. The lack of hyper-threading—6 threads for 6 cores—is a notable limitation for a game that appears to scale with CPU performance. The cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 256 KB of L2 per core, and 9 MB of shared L3, which is a modest pool for modern titles. Memory bandwidth is rated at 42.7 GB/s over dual-channel DDR4, another factor that could limit data flow in compute-heavy scenes.

Benchmark results for the i5-9400 underscore its middling position. In Cinebench R23, it scores 7969 multi-core and 1125 single-core. The average benchmark score across all tests is 2305, placing it exactly at the 50th percentile. Its nearest rivals in the database are the Intel Core i3-10305 at 2300 (0.2% slower) and the Intel Core i3-1125G4 at 2299 (0.2% slower), while the Intel Core i7-8809G is 0.6% faster at 2319. These narrow deltas show that the i5-9400 is clustered tightly with lower-tier chips, offering no meaningful advantage over a modern i3. In Barony, this means the CPU is likely the limiting factor at high frame rates, struggling to feed the GPU quickly enough to keep the system from being bottlenecked.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT is the stronger half of this pairing. Built on RDNA 2.0 architecture with the Navi 23 chip at 7 nm, it packs 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units. The GPU has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Clock speeds are substantial: a base of 1968 MHz, a game clock of 2359 MHz, and a boost of 2589 MHz. The memory runs at 2000 MHz with 16 Gbps effective speed. The card supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6, and its 32 ray accelerators provide hardware ray tracing capability.

The RX 6600 XT's benchmark results are impressive. It scores 16461 in Passmark G3D and 108608 in Geekbench Metal, with a Vulkan score of 89263. Its average benchmark score is 27985, placing it at the 71st percentile among all GPUs. Nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti at 27956 (0.1% slower) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 at 28238 (0.9% faster). The AMD Radeon R9 M395X is 0.4% slower at 27883, while the AMD FirePro S7150 is 1.5% faster at 28409. This positioning shows the 6600 XT competing with older high-end cards and trading blows with the RTX 3070, which is a far more expensive part. In Barony, the GPU has enough raw power to push high frame rates, but its performance is constrained by the CPU's inability to keep pace.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data reveals a system that is heavily CPU-limited at lower resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 287 FPS, which drops to 211.2 FPS at Medium, 186 FPS at High, and 133.1 FPS at Ultra. The jump from Low to Ultra is a 53.6% reduction in frame rate, but even at Ultra, the system exceeds 130 FPS. This suggests that at 1080p, the GPU is rarely the bottleneck—the frame rates are high enough that the CPU's single-thread performance becomes the deciding factor.

Moving to 2560x1440, the pattern shifts. Low preset runs at 181.4 FPS, Medium at 131.5 FPS, High at 115.1 FPS, and Ultra at 84.9 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra here is also significant, but the absolute numbers are lower, indicating that the GPU is starting to take on more of the workload. At 3840x2160, the system shows its true colors: Low runs at 94.7 FPS, Medium at 73.1 FPS, High at 61.7 FPS, and Ultra at 45.6 FPS. At 4K, the Ultra preset falls below the 60 FPS threshold, making it less playable for smooth action. The data shows a clear progressive scaling: as resolution increases, the GPU becomes more dominant, and the CPU bottleneck fades.

FAQ

Q: Why does the combo rank so low in Barony when the GPU is at the 71st percentile?

A: The GPU's high percentile is offset by the CPU's 50th percentile ranking. Barony appears to be sensitive to CPU performance, and the i5-9400's 6-core, 6-thread configuration with a 2.90 GHz base clock cannot feed the RX 6600 XT fast enough to achieve a higher combo rank.

Q: How does the i5-9400 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2305, which is 0.2% slower than the Intel Core i3-10305 and 0.2% slower than the Intel Core i3-1125G4. It is 0.6% slower than the Intel Core i7-8809G. These tiny deltas mean the i5-9400 offers no real advantage over modern i3 parts.

Q: What is the best preset for 1080p gaming?

A: At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 186 FPS on average, which is a solid balance between visual quality and performance. Ultra runs at 133.1 FPS, which is still smooth, but the jump from High to Ultra costs a 28.4% frame rate drop.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming?

A: At 3840x2160, the Low preset runs at 94.7 FPS, but Ultra drops to 45.6 FPS. High runs at 61.7 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS target. For 4K, players should stick to High or Medium presets to maintain playable frame rates.

Q: Is the RX 6600 XT a strong GPU on its own?

A: Yes, the RX 6600 XT has an average benchmark score of 27985 and sits at the 71st percentile. It is 0.1% faster than the GTX 980 Ti and only 0.9% slower than the RTX 3070, which is a much more expensive card.

Q: How does the CPU affect performance at different resolutions?

A: At 1080p, the CPU is the main limiter, with frame rates reaching 287 FPS at Low. As resolution increases to 1440p and 4K, the GPU becomes more dominant, and the frame rate drops are more attributable to the graphics card's workload.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data points to High as the best overall preset for this combo. At 1920x1080, High delivers 186 FPS, which is 40.2 FPS higher than Ultra while offering most of the visual fidelity. At 2560x1440, High runs at 115.1 FPS, which is smooth for competitive play, and at 3840x2160, High manages 61.7 FPS, just clearing the 60 FPS mark. Ultra is not recommended for any resolution above 1080p, as it drops to 84.9 FPS at 1440p and 45.6 FPS at 4K. For players prioritizing frame rate over visuals, Low is a viable option, hitting 287 FPS at 1080p and 181.4 FPS at 1440p. The sweet spot for most users is High, which offers the best balance of quality and performance across all resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a shifting bottleneck. At 1080p High, the system runs at 186 FPS, which drops to 115.1 FPS at 1440p—a 38.1% reduction. Moving to 4K High, the frame rate falls to 61.7 FPS, a further 46.4% drop from 1440p. This steep scaling indicates that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor as resolution increases. At 1080p Low, the system hits 287 FPS, but at 4K Low, it drops to 94.7 FPS, a 67% reduction. The data suggests that at 1080p, the CPU is the primary constraint, holding back the GPU's potential. At 4K, the GPU's workload becomes the dominant factor, and the CPU bottleneck diminishes. The system's performance profile is consistent with a mid-range CPU paired with a high-end GPU, where the processor limits low-resolution frame rates but the graphics card takes over at higher resolutions.