Barony

Barony is a demanding roguelike in its own way, and this specific pairing of the Intel Core i5-9400 with the Intel Arc B390 produces a very telling performance profile. The measured data shows a configuration that is heavily constrained by the integrated graphics solution, yet still manages to deliver playable results at lower resolutions. The Arc B390, despite being a modern integrated GPU, ranks in the 9th percentile among all GPUs, placing it in the company of legacy discrete cards like the GeForce GT 710 and GT 625 OEM. This is not a high-performance part, and the frame rates across the board reflect that reality. The CPU, however, sits in the 47th percentile, a far more respectable position, indicating that the processor is not the primary bottleneck in most scenarios tested. The following analysis breaks down exactly what these numbers mean for a player.

FAQ

Q: Is this combination capable of running Barony at a playable frame rate?

A: Yes, but only at specific settings. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the average frame rate is 159 FPS, which is exceptionally smooth. However, performance degrades quickly as resolution and settings increase, dropping to an average of 34 FPS at 3840x2160 with High settings.

Q: What is the biggest performance bottleneck in this system?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor. The Intel Arc B390 has a 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1482, placing it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are the GeForce GT 520MX and GeForce 800M, which are very old, low-end parts. The CPU, in contrast, scores in the 47th percentile.

Q: How does the Intel Core i5-9400 compare to its direct rivals?

A: The i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2254. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-1068NG7, scores 2259, which is only 0.2% higher. The AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 scores 2246, placing it 0.4% below the i5-9400. The performance difference between these CPUs is negligible.

Q: Is there a meaningful difference between the Medium and High settings presets?

A: Yes, the difference is substantial. At 2560x1440, the Medium preset delivers an average of 75 FPS, while High drops to 64 FPS. At 1080p, the gap is smaller but still present, with Medium at 118 FPS and High at 102 FPS.

Q: Can this system handle 4K resolution?

A: Not comfortably. At 3840x2160, even the Low preset only achieves an average of 53 FPS. The High preset drops to 34 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to 24 FPS. These results suggest 4K is not a viable option for a smooth experience.

Q: What is the best settings preset for this hardware to achieve a high frame rate?

A: For the smoothest experience, the Low preset is the only option that consistently delivers high frame rates, achieving 159 FPS at 1080p and 100 FPS at 1440p. The Medium preset is a viable alternative if you prefer higher visual quality, as it still manages 118 FPS at 1080p.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is the defining component in this system's gaming performance, and its specifications paint a clear picture of its capabilities. It operates with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz. Its memory is "System Shared," meaning it uses the system's main memory rather than dedicated VRAM, and its memory bandwidth is "System Dependent," which can be a significant limiting factor in memory-intensive scenarios. The GPU contains 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster output units, along with 12 ray tracing cores. Its raw compute performance is listed as 7.680 TFLOPS for FP32 operations.

In Barony, the impact of this GPU is immediate and clear from the measured frame rates. The GPU's 9th percentile ranking is a stark indicator of its position in the market; it sits just 1.3% above the GeForce GT 520MX and 2.7% above the GeForce GT 710 in the 3DMark benchmark. This is not a graphics card designed for high-refresh-rate or high-resolution modern gaming. The frame rate data shows a consistent pattern: as the graphical load increases, the system struggles. The transition from Low to Ultra settings at 1080p results in a performance drop from 159 FPS to 73 FPS, a clear sign that the GPU is being overwhelmed. The shared memory architecture likely contributes to this, as the GPU must compete with the CPU for memory bandwidth, creating a performance ceiling that is difficult to overcome. The data suggests that players must treat this as a low-end graphics solution and adjust their expectations accordingly.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a classic pattern of GPU-bound scaling, where performance drops dramatically as resolution increases. This is a strong indicator that the Intel Arc B390 is the primary limiting component. At the Low settings preset, the average frame rate scales from 159 FPS at 1920x1080, down to 100 FPS at 2560x1440, and further down to 53 FPS at 3840x2160. This is a roughly 67% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K. The drop is even more pronounced at the High settings preset, which starts at 102 FPS at 1080p, falls to 64 FPS at 1440p, and bottoms out at 34 FPS at 4K.

This behavior is typical of a GPU that is running out of processing power and memory bandwidth as the pixel count climbs. Because the GPU uses shared system memory, the increased demand for framebuffer space at higher resolutions likely exacerbates the bandwidth bottleneck. The CPU, with its 6 cores and 6 threads, is likely capable of feeding the GPU more frames at higher resolutions, but the GPU cannot keep up with the increased workload. The result is that the system's performance is not scalable; increasing the resolution has a disproportionate impact on frame rate. For a player, this means that 1080p is the only resolution where this combination can deliver consistently high frame rates, and even then, only on lower settings presets. The 1440p resolution is a compromise, offering playable frame rates on Medium settings, but the 4K results are uniformly below the threshold for a smooth experience.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the optimal settings preset depends entirely on the user's priority: maximum smoothness or better visual fidelity. For a competitive or fast-paced roguelike experience where frame rate is paramount, the Low preset is the clear recommendation. It delivers an average of 159 FPS at 1080p and 100 FPS at 1440p, ensuring the game remains fluid and responsive. This is the only preset that offers a significant margin above the 60 FPS threshold at 1080p.

For those who prefer a better-looking game without sacrificing too much performance, the Medium preset is the best compromise. At 1080p, it still achieves a very respectable 118 FPS, with a minimum recorded frame rate of 101 FPS. At 1440p, it drops to an average of 75 FPS, which is still playable. The jump from Medium to High is not worth the performance cost. At 1080p, the High preset averages 102 FPS, which is a 16 FPS drop from Medium. This gap widens at 1440p, where High averages 64 FPS versus 75 FPS for Medium. The Ultra preset should be avoided entirely, as it produces an average of 73 FPS at 1080p and only 46 FPS at 1440p, which is a significant performance hit for what is often a marginal visual improvement in a game like Barony.

The data clearly shows that the High and Ultra presets are not well-suited for this hardware. The performance penalty is too steep relative to the Medium preset. Therefore, the recommended settings are either Low for maximum frame rate or Medium for a balanced experience. At 4K, none of the presets are recommended for a consistently smooth experience, as even the Low preset only manages an average of 53 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The benchmark results provide a complete picture of performance across resolutions and settings. Here is the exact breakdown of the measured average frame rates:

At 1920x1080, the performance is at its best. The Low preset achieves an average of 159 FPS. The Medium preset averages 118 FPS, with a minimum of 101 FPS and a maximum of 136 FPS. The High preset averages 102 FPS. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, averaging 73 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates drop significantly. 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. The Ultra preset averages 46 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles to maintain playable frame rates. 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. The Ultra preset averages 24 FPS.

These numbers show a clear and consistent hierarchy. The Low preset is always the fastest, followed by Medium, then High, and finally Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra is substantial at every resolution, highlighting the GPU's limited headroom. The data for Medium presets shows the only recorded minimum and maximum frame rates, suggesting more variability in performance at this setting. Overall, this breakdown confirms that the system is only capable of delivering high refresh rates at 1080p with the Low preset.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, with a 9 MB shared L3 cache. Its performance in synthetic benchmarks places it in the 47th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 2254. Its nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 and AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500, are within a 0.4% performance margin, indicating that the i5-9400 is a solid, mid-range processor.

In the context of Barony, the CPU's role seems to be secondary to the GPU. The frame rate data shows a strong correlation with resolution and settings, which are primarily GPU-bound factors. However, the CPU's performance is sufficient to avoid becoming a major bottleneck at lower resolutions. For instance, at 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves 159 FPS, a high frame rate that requires a capable CPU to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The i5-9400's 6 cores are adequate for this task. The 47th percentile ranking suggests it is a better-than-average CPU, and its performance is on par with its direct competitors.

The fact that performance scales down so steeply with resolution suggests that the CPU is not the limiting factor in most scenarios. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see similar frame rates across different resolutions. Instead, the frame rates drop by roughly half when moving from 1080p to 4K, a clear sign that the GPU is the constraining component. The CPU's benchmark scores, including a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 6629 and a Geekbench single-core score of 1389, indicate that it has enough processing power to handle the game's logic without dragging down performance. While it is not a top-tier processor, it is more than capable of supporting the level of graphical performance the Arc B390 can deliver.