Barony

FAQ

Q: How does the Intel Core i7-12700KF compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i7-12700KF posts an average benchmark score of 35355, placing it 0.1% ahead of the Intel Core i5-14400 (35336) and 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core i9-12900HX (35289). It trails the Intel Core i7-13800H by 0.2% (35416) and sits 0.3% above the Intel Core i5-13600T (35256).

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all tested graphics cards?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 580 sits at the 53rd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 13559. Its closest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 at 13564 (0% delta), followed by the GTX 950 at 13549 (0.1% delta) and the AMD Radeon Pro 455 at 13416 (1.1% delta).

Q: What memory configuration does the RX 580 use?

A: The card features 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, with memory clocked at 2000 MHz (8 Gbps effective). This yields a bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s, paired with a base clock of 1257 MHz and a boost clock of 1340 MHz.

Q: How does the combo rank in Barony specifically?

A: This CPU-GPU pairing ranks 1575th out of 1702 tested combinations in Barony, placing it in the lower portion of the database for this particular game. The data is measured, not estimated.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 157.1 FPS average, while Ultra drops to 72 FPS. That is a 85.1 FPS gap, representing a 54.2% reduction in frame rate when moving from the lowest to the highest quality preset.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU bottleneck at 4K resolution?

A: The data indicates the GPU becomes the limiting factor at 3840x2160. At High settings, the average FPS falls to 34.1, which is below the 60 FPS threshold. The CPU's strong multi-threaded scores (28979 in Cinebench R23 multi-core) suggest it has ample headroom, but the RX 580 cannot maintain high frame rates at this resolution.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 580 is built on the Polaris 20 chip using GCN 4.0 architecture, fabricated on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. It carries 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The card's pixel rate is 42.88 GPixel/s, and its texture rate reaches 193.0 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance at 6.175 TFLOPS and FP16 at the same 6.175 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio).

The memory subsystem is critical for Barony's performance. With 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, the card achieves 256.0 GB/s bandwidth. Memory is clocked at 2000 MHz with 8 Gbps effective speed. The GPU's boost clock of 1340 MHz and base clock of 1257 MHz determine how quickly it can process the game's geometry and effects.

In Barony, the GPU's role shifts dramatically across resolutions. At 1920x1080, the card can push past 150 FPS on Low settings, indicating the GPU is not the primary constraint at lower resolutions. However, as resolution increases to 2560x1440 and then 3840x2160, the RX 580's fixed pixel throughput (42.88 GPixel/s) becomes the wall. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS collapses to 23.6, showing that the GPU's 32 ROPs cannot handle the pixel workload at that resolution and quality level.

The card's API support includes DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3, which allows Barony to use modern rendering paths. The GCN 4.0 architecture, while older, still provides the necessary feature set for this roguelike title. The GPU's 185 W TDP and dual-slot design with a single 8-pin power connector are consistent with its mid-range positioning, as is its 53rd percentile ranking among all GPUs.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data shows a clear and predictable scaling pattern from 1080p to 4K. At Low settings, the average frame rate starts at 157.1 FPS at 1920x1080, drops to 95.9 FPS at 2560x1440, and falls further to 49.3 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 68.7% reduction in FPS when moving from 1080p to 4K at Low settings.

At High settings, the progression is 97.4 FPS at 1080p, 64.7 FPS at 1440p, and 34.1 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 32.7 FPS, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 30.6 FPS. This relatively even spacing suggests the GPU is being scaled proportionally with pixel count.

The Ultra preset tells a different story. At 1080p, it achieves 72 FPS, which is playable. At 1440p, it falls to 42.4 FPS, and at 4K, it plummets to 23.6 FPS. The 48.4 FPS difference between 1080p Ultra and 4K Ultra is stark, representing a 67.2% performance loss.

The limiting component becomes evident when comparing the scaling. Between 1080p and 1440p (a 1.78x pixel increase), the FPS at Medium drops from 114.5 to 70.8, a 38.2% decrease. Between 1440p and 4K (a 2.25x pixel increase), the same settings drop from 70.8 to 40.4, a 42.9% decrease. The FPS scales almost inversely with pixel count, which is the hallmark of a GPU-bound scenario.

The CPU's performance characteristics — 12 cores, 20 threads, boost clock of 5.00 GHz, and a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 28979 — are far beyond what Barony requires. Even at 1080p Low, where the GPU is least stressed, the 157.1 FPS result does not appear to be CPU-limited, as the i7-12700KF's single-thread score of 4091 in Cinebench R23 suggests substantial headroom.

How This Combo Ranks

In Barony, this combination of Intel Core i7-12700KF and AMD Radeon RX 580 ranks 1575th out of 1702 tested combos. This places it in the bottom 7.5% of all configurations, which is a poor showing for a CPU that ranks in the 89th percentile among all processors.

The discrepancy between the CPU's strong synthetic performance and the combo's poor game ranking is directly attributable to the GPU. The RX 580 sits at the 53rd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 13559. Its nearest rivals — GTX 570, GTX 950, and Radeon Pro 455 — are all older or lower-tier cards, confirming that the RX 580 is not a high-end part by current standards.

The combo's rank of 1575 suggests that most other tested configurations in the database achieve higher frame rates in Barony. This is expected given the GPU's age (released with a launch MSRP of 229 USD) and its end-of-life production status. The CPU, by contrast, is still in active production, with a launch MSRP of $384.

What is notable is that the combo still delivers playable frame rates at 1080p across most settings. The 97.4 FPS at High and 114.5 FPS at Medium are respectable for a roguelike title. The rank primarily reflects that many other combos achieve higher absolute FPS, not that this combo is unplayable.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured results are as follows: Low settings produce an average of 157.1 FPS, Medium produces 114.5 FPS, High produces 97.4 FPS, and Ultra produces 72 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 85.1 FPS, and all four presets remain above the 60 FPS threshold.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 95.9 FPS for Low, 70.8 FPS for Medium, 64.7 FPS for High, and 42.4 FPS for Ultra. Here, the Low, Medium, and High presets stay above 60 FPS, but Ultra falls below the playable threshold.

At 3840x2160, the results are 49.3 FPS for Low, 40.4 FPS for Medium, 34.1 FPS for High, and 23.6 FPS for Ultra. No preset at 4K reaches 60 FPS, and only Low approaches playable territory.

The pattern across all resolutions is consistent: each step up in settings costs a measurable amount of performance. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Medium is 42.6 FPS, between Medium and High is 17.1 FPS, and between High and Ultra is 25.4 FPS. At 1440p, the steps are 25.1 FPS, 6.1 FPS, and 22.3 FPS respectively. At 4K, the steps are 8.9 FPS, 6.3 FPS, and 10.5 FPS.

The diminishing returns at higher resolutions are clear. At 4K, the absolute FPS differences between presets shrink because the GPU is heavily constrained by pixel throughput. The 32 ROPs and 42.88 GPixel/s pixel rate simply cannot keep up with 8.3 million pixels per frame at any quality level.

Settings Recommendations

For 1920x1080, the data supports using High or Ultra settings. High delivers 97.4 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS standard, while Ultra still achieves 72 FPS. The 25.4 FPS cost of upgrading from High to Ultra may be worth it for visual fidelity, given that both remain playable. Low at 157.1 FPS is excessive for a roguelike, and Medium at 114.5 FPS offers no meaningful advantage over High.

For 2560x1440, High is the optimal choice. It delivers 64.7 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS threshold, while Ultra drops to 42.4 FPS, which is below playable standards. Low at 95.9 FPS and Medium at 70.8 FPS are also viable, but High provides the best visual quality while maintaining acceptable performance. The 6.1 FPS difference between Medium and High suggests that High is clearly the better value in terms of quality per frame.

For 3840x2160, the situation is more constrained. Low produces 49.3 FPS, which is below 60 FPS but potentially playable for a turn-based roguelike. Medium at 40.4 FPS, High at 34.1 FPS, and Ultra at 23.6 FPS are progressively less viable. If 4K is the target resolution, Low is the only reasonable choice, and even then, users should expect a sub-60 FPS experience.

The overall recommendation is to prioritize 1080p with High or Ultra settings, as this resolution allows the RX 580 to demonstrate its capabilities without hitting the pixel throughput wall. At 1440p, High is the sweet spot. At 4K, only Low is recommended, and users seeking higher frame rates at 4K would need a different GPU. The data clearly shows that this combo is best suited for 1080p gaming, where it consistently exceeds 70 FPS across all presets.