Barony

The data for Barony, paired with an Intel Core i5-9400 and an AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT, reveals a configuration that is heavily skewed toward GPU performance. The benchmark results show exceptionally high frame rates across all tested settings, with the primary scaling factors being resolution and graphical preset. This analysis breaks down the measured performance to understand the balance between the CPU and GPU in this specific title.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate behavior across the three tested resolutions provides a clear picture of where the bottleneck lies in this pairing. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440, and then to 3840x2160, shows a steady decline in average FPS that is directly proportional to the increase in pixel count. At the High preset, the average frame rate drops from 323 FPS at 1920x1080 to 204 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of approximately 37%. Scaling further to 3840x2160 yields 106 FPS, which is another 48% drop from the 1440p figure.

This pattern holds across all settings, indicating that the Radeon RX 7900 XT is the primary driver of performance, and its workload scales predictably with resolution. The Low preset shows the same trajectory: 451 FPS at 1080p, 319 FPS at 1440p, and 167 FPS at 4K. The relative consistency of these drops suggests that the Intel Core i5-9400 is not becoming a limiting factor at lower resolutions, as the GPU is still able to push frame counts well above 300 FPS even at 1080p.

The most telling aspect of the resolution scaling data is the difference between the Low and Ultra presets at each resolution. At 4K, the gap between Low (167 FPS) and Ultra (76 FPS) is 91 FPS, which is a significant 55% performance penalty for the highest quality settings. At 1080p, the same gap is 220 FPS (451 vs 231), which is a 49% penalty. This suggests that even as resolution increases, the impact of graphical settings remains substantial, confirming that the GPU has enough headroom to be the definitive performance controller.

Since the frame rates at 1080p are extremely high, it is likely that the CPU could become a factor if the GPU were less powerful, but the data shows no evidence of a CPU-induced ceiling. The i5-9400, with its 6 cores and 6 threads, is evidently sufficient to feed the RX 7900 XT data in this roguelike title. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is more moderate than the scaling from 1080p to 1440p, which is typical for a GPU-bound scenario where pixel fill rate becomes the dominant constraint.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured frame rates, the choice of settings should be driven by the user's display refresh rate and preference for visual fidelity over raw speed. The data includes four presets—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—with average FPS values that span a wide range at every resolution. For players with a 1080p display, the Ultra preset is a viable option, as the average of 231 FPS still leaves ample headroom above the 144 Hz or 240 Hz refresh rates common on modern monitors. The High preset at 323 FPS offers even more margin, suggesting that the visual upgrade from High to Ultra is the only trade-off for the significant FPS reduction.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 146 FPS, which is still comfortably above 144 Hz. This makes Ultra a defensible choice for 1440p high-refresh-rate displays. The Medium preset at 237 FPS and High at 204 FPS provide even more headroom, which could be beneficial for players who experience demanding scenes with many on-screen effects. The minimum FPS recorded for Medium at 1440p is 202, indicating that even the lowest frame times stay well within a playable range.

For 4K displays, the recommendation becomes more nuanced. The Ultra preset averages 76 FPS, which is playable but may not be ideal for competitive play or for users with 120 Hz or higher refresh rate panels. The High preset at 106 FPS is a strong middle ground, offering a significant improvement over Ultra while still maintaining a high level of visual quality. The Medium preset at 124 FPS is the best option for maximizing frame rates without dropping to the Low preset's visual compromises. The data shows that the Low preset at 4K (167 FPS) is unnecessary unless the user prioritizes absolute frame rate above all else.

The best experience per the measured rows appears to be the High preset at 2560x1440, as it balances a high average FPS (204) with a quality setting that is only one step below the maximum. At 4K, the High preset is also the most balanced choice, as it avoids the 30 FPS penalty of Ultra while still delivering a 106 FPS average. In all cases, the Medium preset offers the highest minimum FPS among the presets with recorded minimums, making it the safest choice for ensuring consistent performance.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is the dominant component in this configuration, and its specifications align with the measured performance. The GPU features 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 800.0 GB/s. This memory configuration is more than sufficient for Barony’s demands, as the game is not known for requiring massive texture pools. The high bandwidth ensures that the GPU can feed its 5376 shading units without memory-related stutters, which is reflected in the high average FPS values.

The clock speeds of the RX 7900 XT are also a factor in its performance. The base clock is 1387 MHz, with a game clock of 2025 MHz and a boost clock of 2394 MHz. The boost clock is particularly relevant, as it allows the GPU to reach higher frequencies under load, directly translating to higher frame rates. The pixel rate of 459.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 804.4 GTexel/s provide the raw throughput needed to handle the resolution scaling seen in the data.

The GPU's position in the benchmark database is interesting. Its average benchmark score is 13745, which places it in the 55th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 570X, which has an average score of 13871, and the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile, with a score of 13821. The deltaPct values show that the RX 7900 XT is only 0.9% behind the RX 570X and 0.5% behind the RTX A2000 Mobile, despite being a different class of hardware. This indicates that the average benchmark score is not fully representative of its gaming performance, as the measured FPS in Barony is exceptionally high.

The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5623 and Passmark G3D score of 29009 are more indicative of its gaming capabilities. The 51.48 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power is a massive number, and it explains why the GPU can maintain high frame rates even at 4K resolution. The RDNA 3.0 architecture, built on a 5 nm process, provides the efficiency needed to sustain these clocks without excessive power draw, though the 300 W TDP is still substantial.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across all tested configurations. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 451 FPS, which is the highest recorded value in the entire dataset. The Medium preset follows with 376 FPS, High with 323 FPS, and Ultra with 231 FPS. The Medium preset has recorded minimum and maximum values of 319 and 432 FPS, respectively, showing a tight frame time distribution.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 319 FPS, which is nearly identical to the High preset at 1080p. The Medium preset at 237 FPS has a minimum of 202 and a maximum of 273. The High preset averages 204 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 146 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra at this resolution shows a 54% performance reduction, which is consistent with the increased shading and texture work required by higher settings.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 167 FPS, which is a 63% drop from the same preset at 1080p. The Medium preset averages 124 FPS with a minimum of 105 and a maximum of 143. The High preset averages 106 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 76 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K is the only configuration that dips below 100 FPS, and it represents a 67% reduction from the Low preset at the same resolution. The data shows a clear linear relationship between resolution and FPS, with no anomalies that would suggest a CPU bottleneck.

The average FPS values across all settings show that the RX 7900 XT is capable of driving Barony at high frame rates even under the most demanding conditions. The minimum FPS values recorded for the Medium preset at each resolution provide the only frame time data, and they show that the GPU maintains consistent performance without severe dips. The lack of minimum FPS data for other presets leaves some uncertainty, but the average values suggest a stable experience.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate recorded for this combination?

A: The highest average frame rate is 451 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low preset.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-9400 a bottleneck for the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT in Barony?

A: Based on the resolution scaling data, there is no evidence of a CPU bottleneck. The frame rates scale consistently with resolution, indicating that the GPU is the limiting component.

Q: What is the performance difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 167 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 76 FPS. This represents a 91 FPS or 55% reduction in average frame rate.

Q: Which settings preset provides the highest minimum frame rate at 1440p?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 has a recorded minimum FPS of 202, which is the only preset with a recorded minimum at that resolution.

Q: How does the GPU's average benchmark score compare to its nearest rival?

A: The RX 7900 XT has an average benchmark score of 13745, which is 0.9% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 570X's score of 13871.

Q: Does the 20 GB VRAM provide any advantage in Barony?

A: The 20 GB of GDDR6 memory is more than sufficient for Barony, as the game's demands are met without issue, evidenced by the high frame rates across all settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor from the Coffee Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. Its benchmark scores indicate that it is a mid-range performer, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 6629 and a single-core score of 935. The Geekbench multi-core score of 5141 and single-core score of 1389 place it in the 47th percentile of all CPUs, which is a modest ranking.

In Barony, the CPU's role is to handle game logic, entity updates, and draw call submissions, while the GPU renders the frames. The data shows that the i5-9400 is not a limiting factor, as the frame rates are extremely high and scale with resolution. The CPU's 6 cores and 6 threads are sufficient for this roguelike genre, which typically does not have the heavy multi-threaded workloads found in strategy or simulation games. The lack of hyper-threading means that the CPU has fewer logical processors than some rivals, but the measured performance indicates this is not a hindrance in this title.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-1068NG7, which has an average score of 2259, and the Intel Core i7-10710U, with a score of 2248. The deltaPct values show that the i5-9400 is 0.2% behind the i7-1068NG7 and 0.3% ahead of the i7-10710U. This suggests that the CPU is comparable to these mobile and low-power parts, but its desktop-oriented design with a 65 W TDP allows for sustained boost clocks, which is beneficial for gaming.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s via dual-channel DDR4 is adequate for feeding the GPU, though the RX 7900 XT's own 800.0 GB/s memory bandwidth is the more critical factor. The PCIe Gen 3 interface with 16 lanes is sufficient for the GPU, as the RX 7900 XT is a PCIe 4.0 part but can operate on Gen 3 without significant performance loss. The integrated UHD 630 graphics are irrelevant in this configuration, as the discrete GPU handles all rendering tasks.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT ranks 812 out of 3717 tested combos in Barony. This places it in the top 22% of all tested configurations, which is a strong showing given the CPU's mid-range status. The ranking is likely driven by the GPU's exceptional performance, as the RX 7900 XT is a high-end part that excels in this game.

The rank of 812 out of 3717 indicates that there are 811 combos that perform better, which are likely to feature more powerful CPUs paired with the same or similar GPUs. However, the i5-9400's performance is sufficient to not drag down the overall ranking. The fact that this combo outperforms the vast majority of tested systems reflects the GPU's dominance in Barony.

The GPU's percentile rank of 55, while lower than expected for a high-end part, is based on average benchmark scores across multiple tests, not just gaming. The CPU's percentile rank of 47 is similarly modest. However, the combo's rank of 812 out of 3717 shows that the synergy between these two components is effective for this specific game. The data suggests that users with this configuration can expect excellent performance in Barony, with the ability to run high settings at high resolutions without compromise.

The deltaPct values for the GPU's nearest rivals are all within 1.5%, indicating that the RX 7900 XT is closely matched with other GPUs in synthetic benchmarks. In gaming, the measured FPS shows that it is a top-tier performer. The combo rank of 812 is a quantitative measure that confirms the qualitative observation from the FPS data: this is a powerful pairing for Barony.