Barony

Barony, a roguelike title from 2015, proves remarkably scalable when paired with an Intel Core i5-9400 and an AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX. The measured frame rates across resolutions and settings reveal a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher presets, while the processor occasionally asserts itself at the most demanding combinations. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS data to characterize the performance envelope of this specific pairing.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 illustrates a classic GPU-bound scaling curve, though the magnitude of the drop varies significantly by preset. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 448.3 FPS at 1080p to 346.9 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 101.4 FPS, and then to 178.2 FPS at 4K, representing a 60.0% drop from the 1080p baseline. This steep decline indicates that even at Low settings, the sheer pixel count at 4K begins to tax the Radeon RX 7900 XTX's rendering pipeline.

The scaling pattern shifts dramatically at Ultra settings. Here, the average frame rate drops from 249 FPS at 1080p to 158.7 FPS at 1440p, and finally to 82.4 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K at Ultra is 66.9%, slightly steeper than at Low settings. This suggests that the combination of higher pixel count and more complex shading work at Ultra places a heavier relative burden on the GPU, as expected.

Notably, the gap between Low and Ultra settings narrows as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference between Low (448.3 FPS) and Ultra (249 FPS) is 199.3 FPS. At 4K, that difference shrinks to 95.8 FPS (178.2 FPS vs. 82.4 FPS). This convergence indicates that at 4K, the limiting factor becomes the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth rather than the CPU's ability to feed it draw calls. The 960.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 479.6 GPixel/s pixel rate of the RX 7900 XTX are substantial, but the data shows they are still the bottleneck at 4K Ultra.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of tested combinations, this pairing of Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX achieves a combo rank of 295 out of 1702 tested configurations in Barony. This places the system in the top 17.3% of all tested combos, a strong showing that reflects the GPU's dominance in this title. The Core i5-9400 itself sits at the 50th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 2305, while the RX 7900 XTX ranks at the 85th percentile among all GPUs with an average score of 44019.

The CPU's nearest rivals help contextualize its role. The Intel Core i3-10305 and Intel Core i3-1125G4 both score 2300 and 2299 respectively, placing them a mere 0.2% behind the i5-9400. The Intel Xeon E-2134 is also close at 2295, just 0.4% behind. On the other side, the Intel Core i7-8809G scores 2319, which is 0.6% faster. These narrow deltas indicate that the i5-9400 is positioned in a dense cluster of mid-range processors, and its performance in Barony is unlikely to be a differentiator compared to these peers.

The GPU's rival comparisons are more dramatic. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile scores 43667, which is 0.8% slower than the RX 7900 XTX's average benchmark score, while the AMD Radeon Pro 580 is 0.4% faster at 44195. The NVIDIA Quadro M6000 trails by 1.6% at 43313. The most relevant comparison for gaming is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti, which scores 44900, placing it 2.0% ahead of the RX 7900 XTX in general benchmarks. However, in Barony specifically, the measured FPS for this combo indicates the RX 7900 XTX is more than sufficient to drive high refresh rates.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is the primary engine driving these frame rates. With a 24 GB GDDR6 memory pool on a 384-bit bus, it delivers 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is crucial for feeding the shader units at 4K resolution. The GPU's boost clock is listed at 2498 MHz, with a game clock of 2365 MHz and a base of 1929 MHz. These clocks, combined with 6144 shading units, produce a peak FP32 throughput of 61.39 TFLOPS, which explains the high frame rates even at Ultra settings.

The data shows that the GPU is the clear bottleneck at 1440p and 4K. At 1440p High, the combo achieves 222.1 FPS, while at 4K High it falls to 115.3 FPS. This 106.8 FPS drop is almost entirely attributable to the increased pixel count, as the CPU workload for Barony's roguelike logic and object management remains relatively constant. The GPU's 192 ROPs and 384 TMUs handle the rasterization and texture filtering, and the measured results suggest they are well-utilized.

At 1080p, the GPU's headroom becomes apparent. The RX 7900 XTX is capable of 448.3 FPS at Low settings, which is likely beyond the refresh rate of most displays. Even at Ultra, 249 FPS leaves significant margin. However, the scaling from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings (448.3 to 346.9 FPS, a 22.6% drop) indicates that the GPU is still the limiting component even at lower resolutions, as the CPU would struggle to push frame rates much beyond 450 FPS in a game with this genre's complexity.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the Medium preset offers the most balanced experience across all resolutions. At 4K Medium, the combo delivers 133.3 FPS, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold and smooth on most displays. At 1440p Medium, 255.4 FPS provides headroom for high refresh rate monitors up to 240 Hz. The jump from Medium to High is significant: 133.3 to 115.3 FPS at 4K (a 13.5% drop) and 255.4 to 222.1 FPS at 1440p (a 13.0% drop), while the visual fidelity improvement is typically modest in a roguelike title.

For users with 4K displays, High preset at 115.3 FPS is viable, but Ultra at 82.4 FPS may be preferable for those prioritizing visual quality over raw frame rate. The difference between Medium and High at 4K is 18.0 FPS, which could be noticeable on a 120 Hz panel. For 1080p users, even Ultra at 249 FPS is playable, but Medium at 406.6 FPS or High at 345.7 FPS may be unnecessary unless the display supports extremely high refresh rates. Low settings are generally not recommended, as they provide 448.3 FPS at 1080p but reduce visual clarity in a game where reading enemy patterns and environmental details is crucial.

The data suggests that Medium is the sweet spot for this combination. At 4K, it delivers 133.3 FPS, which is 61.8% higher than Ultra's 82.4 FPS, while the visual difference between Medium and Ultra in a roguelike is often less impactful than in modern 3D shooters. The 255.4 FPS at 1440p Medium also ensures that the system never feels CPU-limited, as the i5-9400's six cores and six threads are sufficient to keep up with the GPU's output at this preset.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX produce a wide spread of results. Low settings yield an average of 448.3 FPS, Medium drops to 406.6 FPS, High to 345.7 FPS, and Ultra to 249 FPS. The step from High to Ultra is the largest at 96.7 FPS, indicating that Ultra's additional effects place a significant load on the GPU. The 1080p results show that the CPU, with a boost clock of 4.10 GHz and 9 MB of shared L3 cache, is capable of feeding the GPU at very high frame rates, though the 448.3 FPS ceiling suggests some CPU limitation at the absolute peak.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are 346.9 FPS at Low, 255.4 FPS at Medium, 222.1 FPS at High, and 158.7 FPS at Ultra. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is most pronounced at Low settings, where the frame rate falls by 101.4 FPS (22.6%). At Ultra, the drop is 90.3 FPS (36.3%). The 1440p results indicate that the GPU remains the primary bottleneck, as the frame rates scale consistently with the pixel count increase from 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the measured averages are 178.2 FPS at Low, 133.3 FPS at Medium, 115.3 FPS at High, and 82.4 FPS at Ultra. The 4K Ultra result is the only one below the 100 FPS mark in the entire dataset, confirming that this is the most demanding configuration. The scaling from 1440p to 4K at Ultra is a 76.3 FPS drop (48.1%), while at Low it is a 168.7 FPS drop (48.6%). These similar percentages across presets indicate that the resolution scaling is geometrically consistent, and the GPU's 24 GB framebuffer is not a limiting factor at any resolution tested.

The data shows that the RX 7900 XTX, with its 61.39 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 959.2 GTexel/s texture rate, provides ample performance for Barony at all but the most extreme settings. The Intel Core i5-9400, despite being a 2018-era six-core processor, does not bottleneck the GPU at 4K or 1440p, as evidenced by the smooth scaling. At 1080p, the CPU may impose a soft ceiling around 450 FPS, but this is well beyond practical display refresh rates. Overall, this combo delivers excellent playability in Barony, with the Medium preset offering the best balance of performance and visual quality across all resolutions.