Barony

# Barony with Intel Core Ultra 5 225 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers an extraordinary performance profile in Barony, a roguelike title that scales aggressively across resolutions and settings. With measured frame rates ranging from 100 FPS at 4K Ultra to 663 FPS at 1080p Low, this combination sits at the 96th percentile of all tested configurations, ranking 111th out of 2,935 combos. The data reveals a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at lower resolutions, while the CPU's 10 cores and 4.90 GHz boost clock become increasingly relevant as resolution drops and frame rates skyrocket past the refresh rates of virtually any display.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate this combo achieves in Barony?

A: The highest measured average is 663 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This drops to 418 FPS at 2560x1440 Low and 219 FPS at 3840x2160 Low, showing a clear resolution scaling pattern.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations in Barony?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 + RTX 4090 combination ranks 111th out of 2,935 tested combos, placing it in the top 4% of all configurations. This rank reflects the overall performance across all resolution and settings combinations.

Q: What is the difference between Low and Ultra settings at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, Low settings produce 219 FPS average, while Ultra drops to 100 FPS average. The gap between these extremes is 119 FPS, with Medium at 163 FPS and High at 140 FPS falling between them.

Q: Does the RTX 4090's 24 GB VRAM matter for Barony?

A: The 24 GB GDDR6X memory with 1.01 TB/s bandwidth is far beyond what Barony requires. The game's maximum measured frame rate of 663 FPS at 1080p Low suggests the GPU is never VRAM-limited, as performance scales consistently with resolution rather than hitting memory capacity walls.

Q: How does the CPU's benchmark score compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 scores 36,938 in average benchmark performance, which is essentially tied with the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F at 36,945 (0% delta) and 0.2% behind the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D at 37,018. The CPU sits in the 85th percentile against all CPUs.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 144 Hz display at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Ultra settings deliver 191 FPS average, which comfortably exceeds 144 Hz. High settings push this to 267 FPS, while Medium reaches 311 FPS. All presets at this resolution clear 144 Hz, so the choice depends on visual quality preferences rather than frame rate requirements.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 brings 10 cores and 10 threads to this configuration, operating at a 3.30 GHz base clock with a 4.90 GHz boost. This Arrow Lake-S architecture chip, built on TSMC's 3 nm process, features 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB L2 per core. In Barony, a roguelike that relies heavily on procedural generation and physics calculations, these specifications directly influence frame pacing and minimum frame rates, particularly at lower resolutions where the GPU has headroom.

Benchmark data shows the CPU achieving a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 25,891 and single-core score of 3,655, placing it in the 85th percentile against all CPUs. The PassMark single-thread score of 4,412 indicates strong per-core performance, which is critical for a game like Barony that may not fully utilize all 10 threads. The CPU's 65W TDP and dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth provide adequate memory throughput for the game's data streaming needs.

The nearest rival comparison reveals the Core Ultra 5 225 sits in a dense competitive cluster: the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F scores 36,945 (0% delta), the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D scores 37,018 (-0.2% delta), and the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 scores 37,093 (-0.4% delta). These sub-1% differences suggest that CPU choice within this performance tier has minimal impact on Barony's frame rates, especially at higher resolutions where the GPU dominates.

At 1080p Low settings, the combo achieves 663 FPS, a figure that likely approaches CPU-imposed limits for this game engine. The transition from 1080p Low to 1440p Low shows a 245 FPS drop to 418 FPS, indicating the GPU is still the primary bottleneck at these settings. However, the CPU's 10 threads and high boost clock ensure that the game's simulation and entity update logic never starves the render pipeline, as evidenced by the consistent scaling across resolution changes.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 anchors this configuration with its AD102 chip on TSMC's 5 nm process, featuring 16,384 shading units, 512 texture mapping units, and 176 ROPs. The GPU operates at a 2,235 MHz base clock with a 2,520 MHz boost, supported by 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus delivering 1.01 TB/s bandwidth. This memory subsystem is critical for Barony's high-resolution textures and particle effects, though the game's modest visual complexity means even the 4K Ultra preset at 100 FPS likely leaves significant GPU headroom.

The RTX 4090's benchmark scores reinforce its position in the 88th percentile against all GPUs, with a PassMark G3D score of 38,194 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 271,631. The nearest rival comparison shows the Intel Arc Pro A60 at 60,326 average score (0% delta) and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 at 60,140 (0.3% delta), though these professional-oriented cards are not direct gaming competitors. The RTX 4090's 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 compute and 128 RT cores provide capabilities far beyond Barony's requirements, making this GPU the definitive performance ceiling for this title.

The measured frame rates demonstrate the RTX 4090's dominance: at 4K Ultra, the card still produces 100 FPS average, while 4K High reaches 140 FPS and 4K Medium hits 163 FPS. The 4K Low preset at 219 FPS shows that even at the highest resolution, the GPU can nearly double the refresh rate of standard 120 Hz displays. At 1440p and 1080p, the frame rates become astronomical — 418 FPS and 663 FPS at Low settings respectively — suggesting the game engine itself may cap performance before the GPU reaches its theoretical limits.

The GPU's 450W TDP and triple-slot cooler design indicate substantial thermal overhead, though Barony's low graphical intensity likely keeps power draw well below maximum. The 24 GB VRAM allocation remains effectively unused in this title, as even the most demanding preset at 4K Ultra does not appear to strain memory capacity based on the consistent frame rate scaling observed across settings tiers.

Settings Recommendations

For players with standard 60 Hz displays, every measured preset at every resolution exceeds 60 FPS, meaning visual quality should be maximized without concern. The 4K Ultra preset delivers 100 FPS average, which is the most demanding configuration tested and provides the best image quality while still maintaining smooth gameplay. At 1440p, Ultra settings produce 191 FPS, making this the recommended choice for high-refresh-rate monitors up to 165 Hz.

For 120 Hz displays at 4K, the High preset at 140 FPS provides the best balance of visual fidelity and frame rate headroom, while Medium at 163 FPS offers additional safety margin. The Low preset at 4K (219 FPS) provides diminishing returns in visual quality for frame rates that exceed display capabilities. At 1080p, even Ultra settings at 303 FPS exceed the refresh rate of the fastest gaming monitors, so players should select Ultra for maximum visual quality without sacrificing smoothness.

The Medium preset stands out as the only configuration with recorded minimum and maximum frame rates: at 4K, it ranges from 138 to 187 FPS; at 1440p, from 264 to 358 FPS; and at 1080p, from 419 to 567 FPS. This data indicates that Medium provides consistent frame pacing with a 49-50 FPS variance between minimum and maximum, suggesting it may offer the most stable experience for competitive play where frame time consistency matters more than raw average FPS.

For players prioritizing competitive responsiveness over visual fidelity, the Low preset at 1440p (418 FPS) or 1080p (663 FPS) eliminates any potential GPU bottleneck, ensuring the CPU and game engine are the sole performance determinants. However, given that Barony is a roguelike with turn-based elements and procedural generation, the visual benefits of Ultra settings likely outweigh the marginal frame rate gains from lower presets for most players.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 + RTX 4090 combination achieves a rank of 111 out of 2,935 tested combos in Barony, placing it in the 96.2nd percentile of all configurations. This ranking considers performance across all resolutions and settings, reflecting the combo's ability to deliver exceptional frame rates at every measured configuration. The top-4% placement indicates that this system outperforms the vast majority of tested hardware pairings, though the rank also suggests that a small number of combinations—likely featuring higher-end CPUs or more game-optimized pairings—achieve even better results.

The CPU's 85th percentile ranking against all CPUs and the GPU's 88th percentile ranking against all GPUs suggest that neither component is at the absolute top of its respective category. However, the combination of a strong mid-high-range CPU with a flagship GPU creates a balanced system that excels in Barony's specific performance profile. The CPU's 10 cores and 4.90 GHz boost clock provide sufficient processing power to feed the RTX 4090 at high frame rates, while the GPU's massive compute resources handle the game's rendering with substantial headroom.

The rank of 111 out of 2,935 is particularly notable given the CPU's position in the 85th percentile — this suggests that Barony's performance is more dependent on GPU capabilities than raw CPU throughput. The fact that this combo outperforms configurations with potentially stronger CPUs but weaker GPUs reinforces the GPU-centric nature of this title's performance scaling. The delta between this combo and the top-ranked configurations is not quantifiable from the available data, but the 2,824 combos ranked below this system demonstrate its elite status in the benchmark database.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160 (4K), the measured frame rates show a clear progression across settings: Low delivers 219 FPS average, Medium achieves 163 FPS with a range of 138 to 187 FPS, High produces 140 FPS, and Ultra drops to 100 FPS. The 119 FPS gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution represents a 54.4% performance penalty for maximum visual quality. The Medium preset's recorded minimum of 138 FPS and maximum of 187 FPS indicate that even at 4K, the system maintains frame rates well above 120 Hz across all settings.

At 2560x1440 (1440p), the performance scales dramatically: Low reaches 418 FPS, Medium hits 311 FPS with a range of 264 to 358 FPS, High achieves 267 FPS, and Ultra produces 191 FPS. The 227 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at this resolution shows a 54.3% performance drop, nearly identical to the 4K scaling. The Medium preset's minimum of 264 FPS at 1440p exceeds the maximum frame rate of most gaming monitors, making this resolution and preset combination effectively overkill for display technology currently available.

At 1920x1080 (1080p), the frame rates reach extraordinary levels: Low delivers 663 FPS, Medium achieves 493 FPS with a range of 419 to 567 FPS, High produces 423 FPS, and Ultra still manages 303 FPS. The 360 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at this resolution represents a 54.3% performance penalty, consistent with the other resolutions. The Medium preset's minimum of 419 FPS at 1080p is higher than the maximum frame rate of any commercially available monitor, indicating that the system's performance at this resolution is limited by the game engine or CPU rather than the GPU.

The scaling patterns across resolutions reveal consistent behavior: at each settings tier, the frame rate drops by approximately 37% when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and by another 46-48% when moving from 1440p to 4K. This logarithmic scaling suggests that the RTX 4090's memory bandwidth and compute resources are being utilized efficiently, with no unexpected bottlenecks at any resolution or settings combination. The data also shows that the Medium preset provides the most stable frame pacing, as it is the only settings tier with recorded minimum and maximum values across all three resolutions.