Barony

Barony is a roguelike title that, despite its 2015 release, presents a demanding workload at high resolutions and settings. The measured data for the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 reveals a configuration that is heavily GPU-bound at lower resolutions but becomes more balanced as resolution increases. The benchmark results show a wide performance envelope, from a maximum average of 462 FPS at 1080p Low to a minimum average of 70 FPS at 4K Ultra, indicating that the frame rate is dictated almost entirely by graphics settings and resolution rather than CPU limitations.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear hierarchy for settings selection based on the desired experience. For players targeting the highest possible frame rates, the Low preset delivers exceptional performance, with average FPS of 462 at 1080p, 291 at 1440p, and 152 at 4K. These figures suggest that the Low preset is the only setting that can comfortably exceed 144 Hz at 4K resolution, making it the optimal choice for competitive play or high-refresh-rate displays at that resolution.

For a balance between visual fidelity and performance, the Medium preset is the most versatile option. It delivers average FPS of 343 at 1080p, 217 at 1440p, and 113 at 4K, with the 4K result including a minimum FPS of 96. This indicates that Medium settings provide a consistently smooth experience across all tested resolutions, with the 4K minimum still above the 60 FPS threshold for playability. The High preset is also viable, offering 295 FPS at 1080p and 186 FPS at 1440p, but its 4K average of 97 FPS is notably lower than Medium, suggesting diminishing returns for the visual upgrade at that resolution.

The Ultra preset presents the most demanding scenario, with average FPS of 211 at 1080p, 133 at 1440p, and only 70 at 4K. While the 1080p and 1440p results are still respectable, the 4K Ultra performance drops to a level that may not be ideal for fast-paced gameplay. Benchmark results indicate that the Medium preset offers the best overall experience, as it maintains high frame rates while providing a more visually substantial rendering than Low. For users with 4K displays, Medium is the recommended starting point, with High as a fallback for those who prioritize visual quality over the extra FPS headroom.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is the dominant component in this configuration, and its specifications directly explain the measured performance. The GPU features 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s. This substantial bandwidth is critical for the high-resolution textures and effects that Barony's Ultra preset likely employs, and it explains why the GPU remains the primary bottleneck even at 4K, where the average FPS drops to 70 on Ultra settings.

The GPU's clock speeds, with a base of 2295 MHz and a boost of 2617 MHz, allow it to process the game's rendering workload efficiently. The architecture, Blackwell 2.0, on a 5 nm process node, includes 10752 shading units and 84 RT cores, though the roguelike genre typically does not heavily utilize ray tracing. The measured data shows that the GPU's performance scales nearly linearly with resolution when settings are held constant. For instance, at High settings, the average FPS drops from 295 at 1080p to 186 at 1440p, a reduction of 37%, and then to 97 at 4K, a further reduction of 48%. This pattern indicates that the GPU's rendering throughput is the limiting factor, as the CPU is capable of feeding it data at all tested resolutions.

The GPU's benchmark scores corroborate its position. With a Passmark G3D score of 36565 and a percentile ranking of 87 against all GPUs, it sits in the upper tier of graphics cards. The nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE, has an average score of 57367, which is 2.2% higher, while the AMD Radeon 8060S is 0.6% higher with a score of 55757. This places the RTX 5080 in a competitive position, and the measured FPS data shows that it is more than capable of handling Barony at high frame rates, provided the settings are adjusted appropriately.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 125H is a mobile processor with 14 cores and 18 threads, featuring a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.50 GHz. Its architecture, Meteor Lake, is built on a 7 nm process node and includes an 18 MB shared L3 cache. The CPU's benchmark scores, such as a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 12804.5 and a single-core score of 1647.5, indicate solid performance, but the measured FPS data in Barony shows that the CPU is rarely the limiting factor.

At 1080p Low settings, the average FPS reaches 462, which is the highest measured value in the dataset. This extreme frame rate suggests that the CPU is still capable of keeping up with the GPU's output, as the CPU's single-threaded performance, which is critical for game logic and draw calls, is sufficient for this workload. The CPU's Passmark single-thread score of 3399 and its percentile ranking of 79 against all CPUs support this interpretation. The nearest CPU rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 5800, has an average benchmark score of 27535, which is only 0.1% higher than this CPU's average of 27507, indicating that the Core Ultra 5 125H is competitive with desktop-class parts from a few generations ago.

However, the data shows that the CPU's role becomes more apparent at lower resolutions and settings. The jump from 1080p High (295 FPS) to 1080p Low (462 FPS) represents a 57% increase in frame rate, which is entirely attributable to the reduced graphics workload. This indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck even at 1080p, as the CPU is able to push frame rates well above 300 FPS without issue. The CPU's 14 cores and 18 threads provide ample parallelism for the game's background tasks, but Barony's roguelike nature likely limits the number of active threads, making single-core performance more relevant. The CPU's boost clock of 4.50 GHz, which is maintained across multiple cores, ensures that the game's main thread is not starved, allowing the GPU to operate at its full potential.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 achieves a rank of 764 out of 2935 tested combos in Barony. This places the configuration in the top 26% of all tested systems, which is a strong result given that the CPU is a mobile part. The ranking reflects the GPU's dominant role in this game, as the RTX 5080's high performance can compensate for the CPU's lower tier compared to desktop flagship processors.

The combo's ranking is particularly impressive when considering the CPU's position relative to its rivals. The CPU's average benchmark score of 27507 is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 7 5800 (27535, delta of -0.1%) and the Intel Core i5-12600K (27578, delta of -0.3%), both of which are desktop processors. This means that the mobile CPU is not a significant weak link in the system, and the combo's rank is likely higher than what would be achieved with a less capable CPU paired with the same GPU.

The data suggests that the combo's rank is primarily determined by the GPU, as the RTX 5080's percentile ranking of 87 is substantially higher than the CPU's percentile of 79. This discrepancy indicates that the GPU is the stronger component in the pairing, and the combo's overall rank of 764 reflects a system that is well-balanced but slightly GPU-centric. For users considering this configuration, the rank suggests that it will deliver a high level of performance in Barony, with the GPU providing the bulk of the rendering power and the CPU offering sufficient support to avoid bottlenecking.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals clear scaling patterns as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 462 at 1080p to 291 at 1440p, a decrease of 37%, and then to 152 at 4K, a further decrease of 48% from 1440p. This scaling is nearly linear with the number of pixels, which increases by 78% from 1080p to 1440p and by 125% from 1440p to 4K. The fact that the FPS drops are smaller than the pixel count increases suggests that the GPU is not fully saturated at lower resolutions, and that other factors, such as CPU overhead or memory latency, are coming into play.

At Medium settings, the scaling is similar, with FPS dropping from 343 at 1080p to 217 at 1440p (a 37% reduction) and then to 113 at 4K (a 48% reduction from 1440p). The minimum FPS values at Medium settings also show consistency, with 292 at 1080p, 184 at 1440p, and 96 at 4K, indicating that the frame time variance is relatively stable across resolutions. At High settings, the scaling is slightly steeper, with FPS dropping from 295 at 1080p to 186 at 1440p (37%) and then to 97 at 4K (48% from 1440p), which is almost identical to the Medium scaling.

The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling, with FPS dropping from 211 at 1080p to 133 at 1440p (a 37% reduction) and then to 70 at 4K (a 47% reduction from 1440p). This consistent scaling pattern across all settings indicates that the GPU is the limiting component at every resolution, as the CPU's performance does not change with resolution. The data shows that the transition from 1080p to 1440p results in a consistent 37% FPS drop across all settings, which is exactly proportional to the 78% increase in pixel count when accounting for the GPU's rendering efficiency. This suggests that the GPU is operating near its full capacity at 1440p and 4K, while at 1080p, the frame rates are high enough that the CPU's single-thread performance may begin to introduce minor limitations, particularly at Low settings where the GPU workload is minimal.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are as follows: Low settings produce an average of 462 FPS, Medium settings produce 343 FPS with a minimum of 292 FPS and a maximum of 395 FPS, High settings produce 295 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 211 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 251 FPS, representing a 119% performance difference, which highlights the significant impact of settings on frame rate at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS values decrease proportionally: Low settings produce 291 FPS, Medium settings produce 217 FPS with a minimum of 184 FPS and a maximum of 249 FPS, High settings produce 186 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 133 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 158 FPS, which is a 119% difference, identical to the 1080p percentage, indicating that the settings scaling is consistent regardless of resolution.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS values drop further: Low settings produce 152 FPS, Medium settings produce 113 FPS with a minimum of 96 FPS and a maximum of 130 FPS, High settings produce 97 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 70 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 82 FPS, which is a 117% difference, again consistent with the other resolutions. The minimum FPS values at 4K Medium (96 FPS) and the average FPS at 4K High (97 FPS) are nearly identical, suggesting that the Medium preset at 4K offers a similar experience to High at the same resolution but with a higher average frame rate.

The data shows that the Medium preset consistently delivers the best balance of average and minimum FPS across all resolutions, with the 4K Medium minimum of 96 FPS providing a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold. The Ultra preset at 4K, with an average of 70 FPS, is the only configuration that dips below the 100 FPS mark, making it suitable only for users who prioritize visual quality over frame rate.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable with this combo in Barony?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 462, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This is the maximum frame rate recorded in the dataset, and it indicates that the CPU and GPU combination is capable of extremely high performance when the graphics workload is minimized.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K resolution with Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the combo achieves an average FPS of 70. This is the lowest average FPS in the dataset, indicating that the Ultra preset at 4K is the most demanding configuration tested. The performance is still playable, but it falls below the 100 FPS threshold that many users prefer for smooth gameplay.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The data indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at all resolutions and settings. This is evidenced by the consistent percentage drop in FPS when moving from 1080p to 1440p (37%) and from 1440p to 4K (48%) across all settings. The CPU, with a boost clock of 4.50 GHz and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1647.5, is capable of supporting frame rates well above 400 FPS, as shown at 1080p Low.

Q: What is the combo's ranking among all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 764 out of 2935 tested combos in Barony, placing it in the top 26% of all systems. This ranking is driven primarily by the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080, which has a percentile ranking of 87 against all GPUs, while the CPU has a percentile ranking of 79.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 125H has an average benchmark score of 27507, which is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 7 5800 (27535, delta of -0.1%) and the Intel Core i5-12600K (27578, delta of -0.3%). This indicates that the mobile CPU performs on par with these desktop processors in general-purpose workloads.

Q: What settings preset is recommended for the best experience at 4K?

A: The Medium preset is recommended for 4K, as it delivers an average FPS of 113 with a minimum of 96 FPS. This provides a smooth experience with a margin of safety above 60 FPS, while the High preset at 4K offers only 97 FPS average, which is lower than the Medium preset's minimum.