Barony

# Barony with Intel Core Ultra 5 135H + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080

The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 delivers a remarkably consistent gaming experience in Barony, a 2015 roguelike that scales from highly accessible frame rates at 1080p to still-playable performance at 4K. Measured data shows this combination ranks 926th out of 2,935 tested combos in this title, placing it in the upper third of all configurations. The pairing's behavior across resolutions and settings reveals a system that is primarily GPU-bound at higher quality presets, with CPU headroom becoming apparent only at lower resolutions and settings.

FAQ

Q: What average frame rate does this combo achieve at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: At 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, the measured average FPS is 197, which remains well above the 144 Hz refresh rate threshold for high-refresh monitors.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its closest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4080's average benchmark score is 54,247, which is 0.1% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER (54,209) and 1.1% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (54,828 delta -1.1%).

Q: What is the combo's ranking among all tested CPU-GPU combinations in Barony?

A: The combination ranks 926th out of 2,935 tested combos, placing it in the 68th percentile of all configurations tested in this game.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU limit performance at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 Ultra, the average FPS drops to 65, indicating the GPU is the primary bottleneck at this resolution and quality level.

Q: What are the CPU's single-thread and multi-thread Cinebench R23 scores?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H scores 1,700 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 11,875.5 in multi-core, with the multi-thread score placing it 0.1% below the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X.

Q: Is the 16 GB VRAM sufficient for 4K gameplay in Barony?

A: Yes, the 16 GB GDDR6X memory with 716.8 GB/s bandwidth supports 4K Ultra at 65 FPS average, suggesting VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor in this title.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data reveals a clear hierarchy across quality presets at each resolution, with the gap between Low and Ultra widening as resolution decreases. At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 142 at Low to 65 at Ultra, a difference of 77 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K delivers 106 FPS average with a minimum of 90 FPS, which represents the best balance between visual fidelity and smoothness for demanding scenes. At 2560x1440, Medium achieves 202 FPS average with a 172 FPS minimum, making it an excellent choice for high-refresh-rate displays. The 1080p Medium preset delivers 320 FPS average with a 272 FPS minimum, which exceeds the capabilities of most displays.

For players prioritizing maximum frame rates, the Low preset at 1080p achieves 430 FPS average, though this comes at the cost of visual quality in a game where atmospheric lighting and particle effects contribute significantly to the experience. The data suggests that Medium is the optimal preset across all resolutions, as it maintains minimum frame rates above 90 FPS even at 4K while providing substantial visual improvements over Low. At 1440p, the Ultra preset at 124 FPS average is also viable for 120 Hz displays, though the 4K Ultra preset at 65 FPS average may feel less responsive in fast-paced combat scenarios.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a system that becomes increasingly GPU-limited at higher resolutions. Comparing High settings across resolutions, the average FPS drops from 275 at 1080p to 173 at 1440p (a 37% reduction) and further to 91 at 4K (a 67% reduction from 1080p). This scaling pattern is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario, where the RTX 4080's 48.74 TFLOPS FP32 compute and 716.8 GB/s memory bandwidth are the determining factors.

At Low settings, the scaling is even more pronounced: 430 FPS at 1080p drops to 272 FPS at 1440p (37% reduction) and 142 FPS at 4K (67% reduction). The consistent percentage drops across settings suggest that resolution scaling is independent of quality preset, reinforcing the GPU-bound nature of this workload. The CPU's role becomes more apparent at 1080p Low, where 430 FPS average indicates the Core Ultra 5 135H can feed the GPU sufficiently at lower resolutions, but the GPU still limits performance at 4K even with minimal graphical load.

The 4K Ultra result of 65 FPS average, compared to 4K Medium at 106 FPS, shows that the Ultra preset imposes a significant rendering cost beyond what Medium requires. This suggests that Barony's Ultra settings include computationally expensive effects that disproportionately impact higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 926 out of 2,935 tested combinations places it in the upper 31.6% of all configurations in Barony. This ranking reflects the balance between the Core Ultra 5 135H and RTX 4080, where the GPU's strength compensates for the CPU's mid-range position in the overall processor hierarchy. The CPU ranks in the 81st percentile against all CPUs based on average benchmark scores, while the GPU ranks in the 86th percentile against all GPUs.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 29,093 places it nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X (29,123, delta -0.1%) and AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT (28,940, delta +0.5%). This positioning means the Core Ultra 5 135H provides solid mid-range processing power that does not bottleneck the RTX 4080 in this roguelike title, where frame rates at 1080p High (275 FPS) and even 1080p Low (430 FPS) indicate the GPU remains the active bottleneck.

The GPU's average benchmark score of 54,247 is nearly identical to the RTX 4080 SUPER (54,209, delta +0.1%), suggesting that in Barony, this combo performs essentially at the level of a configuration using the SUPER variant. The 926th rank out of 2,935 combos is respectable given that this ranking includes configurations with both higher-end CPUs and more recent GPU releases.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the dominant component in this pairing, with its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus providing 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's 9,728 shading units, 304 TMUs, and 112 ROPs deliver 48.74 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, with a pixel rate of 280.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 761.5 GTexel/s. These specifications, combined with the 2,205 MHz base and 2,505 MHz boost clocks, enable the frame rates observed across all tested configurations.

The GPU's benchmark performance shows strong results across various APIs: 263,779 in Geekbench Vulkan, 214,739 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 34,457 in Passmark G3D. The Passmark DirectX 11 score of 314 and DirectX 12 score of 132 indicate the GPU's capability in modern graphics APIs, which aligns with Barony's modest rendering requirements as a 2015 roguelike. The 86th percentile ranking against all GPUs confirms the RTX 4080's position as a high-end graphics solution.

At 4K Ultra, the 65 FPS average demonstrates that even a GPU with 16 GB VRAM and 48.74 TFLOPS compute faces challenges with the most demanding settings in this title. However, the fact that 4K Medium achieves 106 FPS average with a 90 FPS minimum shows that the GPU's capabilities are more than sufficient for smooth gameplay at slightly reduced quality. The 716.8 GB/s memory bandwidth ensures that texture streaming and geometry processing at 4K do not become a bottleneck, as evidenced by the 4K Low result of 142 FPS average.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values span from 430 at Low settings to 197 at Ultra. The Medium preset at 1080p delivers 320 FPS average with a minimum of 272 and maximum of 368 FPS. High settings produce 275 FPS average, and Ultra drops to 197 FPS. These results indicate that at 1080p, the RTX 4080 has substantial headroom even at Ultra settings, with frame rates exceeding 144 Hz for all presets.

At 2560x1440, the scaling pattern continues with Low at 272 FPS, Medium at 202 FPS (minimum 172, maximum 232), High at 173 FPS, and Ultra at 124 FPS. The 1440p Ultra result of 124 FPS average remains above the 120 Hz threshold, making this resolution viable for high-refresh gaming even at maximum quality. The Medium preset's 172 FPS minimum ensures consistent frame delivery without noticeable dips.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates become more constrained: Low achieves 142 FPS, Medium delivers 106 FPS (minimum 90, maximum 121), High produces 91 FPS, and Ultra drops to 65 FPS. The 4K Medium result is particularly notable, as the 90 FPS minimum ensures smooth gameplay even in demanding scenes. The 4K High result of 91 FPS remains playable, but the 4K Ultra result of 65 FPS may require adaptive sync technology to feel smooth during fast-paced roguelike encounters.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H provides 14 cores and 18 threads based on the Meteor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 4.60 GHz. The processor's 18 MB of shared L3 cache, 2 MB L2 per core, and 112 KB L1 per core contribute to its benchmark performance. The CPU's 7 nm process node and 28 W TDP classify it as a mobile processor, yet its performance in Barony demonstrates sufficient capability for this game's workload.

In Cinebench R23, the CPU scores 1,700 in single-core and 11,875.5 in multi-core tests. The single-core performance is critical for roguelike games like Barony, where game logic and AI calculations often depend on single-threaded performance. The Passmark single-thread score of 3,521 and multithread score of 22,422 further confirm the CPU's balanced capabilities. The Passmark physics score of 1,482 and floating-point math score of 54,867 indicate the CPU can handle the physics and math computations typical of roguelike gameplay.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 29,093 places it in the 81st percentile against all CPUs, with its nearest rival being the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X at 29,123 (delta -0.1%). This near-identical performance means the Core Ultra 5 135H provides desktop-class processing power in a mobile form factor. The 4.60 GHz boost clock ensures responsive performance when Barony's procedural generation and enemy AI calculations demand peak single-thread speed.

The CPU's role becomes evident at 1080p Low settings, where the 430 FPS average suggests the processor can maintain high frame rates without becoming the limiting factor. However, the CPU's 18 threads and 14 cores provide ample parallel processing for the game's background tasks, ensuring consistent frame times even during complex procedural generation events. The 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth and dual-channel DDR5 support further contribute to the system's ability to feed data to the GPU efficiently, particularly at lower resolutions where CPU-bound scenarios are more common.