Barony

Barony is a roguelike that leans heavily on CPU logic for dungeon generation, simulation, and entity updates, and the measured frame rates for this Intel Core Ultra 5 235 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER combo show that the processor is doing the heavy lifting even at high resolutions. The GPU, a Turing-era part with 8 GB of VRAM, provides enough throughput to push pixels, but the data patterns across settings and resolutions clearly indicate where the bottleneck lies. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS rows to explain how the system behaves in Barony, which settings provide the best experience, and how this pairing ranks against other tested configurations.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data for Barony shows a clear hierarchy across the four preset settings at each resolution, and the best experience depends on whether you prioritize raw frame rate or visual fidelity. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 287 FPS, which is a massive headroom for any display, but the jump to Medium yields 213 FPS, and High drops to 183 FPS. The Ultra preset still produces a very playable 131 FPS at 1080p. Given that the game is a roguelike with fast-paced decision-making, the Medium preset at 1080p is the sweet spot: it provides 213 FPS average, with a reported minimum of 181 FPS and maximum of 245 FPS, ensuring smooth frame pacing without the visual austerity of Low. The 74 FPS gap between Medium and High (213 vs 183) is smaller than the 74 FPS gap between Low and Medium (287 vs 213), suggesting diminishing returns on lower settings, but the 82 FPS drop from High to Ultra (183 vs 131) indicates that Ultra's extra effects cost more than they offer at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the pattern shifts. The Low preset averages 181 FPS, which is still excellent for competitive play, while Medium drops to 135 FPS (min 114, max 155) and High sits at 116 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p averages 83 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold but not by a huge margin. Here, the Medium preset is the recommended choice because it maintains a 135 FPS average with a minimum of 114 FPS, providing a comfortable buffer above standard refresh rates while retaining more visual detail than Low. The data shows a 46 FPS delta between Low and Medium (181 vs 135), and a 19 FPS delta between Medium and High (135 vs 116), meaning that stepping up from Low to Medium costs more performance than stepping from Medium to High, but the visual improvement at Medium is typically more noticeable than the incremental change to High.

At 3840x2160, the GPU starts to become more relevant, but the CPU still holds sway. The Low preset averages 95 FPS, which is surprisingly high for 4K in many titles, but Barony's simple geometry means the RTX 2060 SUPER can handle it. The Medium preset drops to 70 FPS (min 60, max 81), which is right at the edge of a 60 Hz display's comfort zone. High averages 60 FPS exactly, and Ultra falls to 43 FPS, which is below the ideal threshold for smooth gameplay. For 4K, the Medium preset is the optimal choice: it delivers 70 FPS average with a minimum of 60 FPS, ensuring that even the slowest frame stays at the refresh boundary. The High preset is acceptable at 60 FPS average, but the minimum is not reported, and the 10 FPS gap between Medium and High (70 vs 60) is smaller than the 25 FPS gap between Low and Medium (95 vs 70), indicating that Medium is the last playable step before performance degrades significantly.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is a Turing-generation GPU built on the 12 nm process, with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its boost clock is 1650 MHz, with a base clock of 1470 MHz, and it features 2176 shading units, 136 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. In Barony, the GPU's role is to render the dungeon environments and particle effects, but the measured FPS data suggests that it is rarely the limiting factor. At 1080p, the GPU delivers 287 FPS on Low and 131 FPS on Ultra, which shows that even at the highest settings, the card has ample headroom. The 8 GB VRAM is not a concern for this game, as Barony's textures and geometry are modest for a 2015 roguelike, and the memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s is more than sufficient for the data throughput required.

The GPU's benchmark scores place it in the 62nd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 18093. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile (avg score 18159, delta -0.4%) and the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (avg score 18189, delta -0.5%), indicating that the RTX 2060 SUPER is slightly below those parts but within a 1.6% margin of the AMD Radeon RX 460 (avg score 18373, delta -1.5%). In Barony, this performance level translates to 4K Ultra at 43 FPS, which is the only setting where the GPU's limitations become apparent. The drop from High (60 FPS) to Ultra (43 FPS) at 4K is a 17 FPS loss, which is proportionally larger than the 48 FPS drop from High (116 FPS) to Ultra (83 FPS) at 1440p, suggesting that the GPU's fill rate and shading capacity are stretched at 4K Ultra. However, the fact that 4K Low still hits 95 FPS indicates that the GPU is not a bottleneck until the most demanding settings are enabled.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals how the system scales across resolutions, and the pattern is informative for understanding the limiting component. At the High preset, the average FPS drops from 183 at 1080p to 116 at 1440p, and then to 60 at 4K. This represents a 36.6% decrease from 1080p to 1440p (183 to 116), and a 48.3% decrease from 1440p to 4K (116 to 60). If the GPU were the sole bottleneck, the scaling would be more linear with pixel count, but the 1080p to 1440p drop is shallower than the 1440p to 4K drop, indicating that the CPU is still contributing significantly at lower resolutions. At 1080p High, the CPU is likely the primary limiter, as the RTX 2060 SUPER can easily render the frames, but the Core Ultra 5 235's 14 threads are managing the game logic.

The Low preset shows a similar pattern: 287 FPS at 1080p, 181 FPS at 1440p (a 36.9% drop), and 95 FPS at 4K (a 47.5% drop from 1440p). The consistent percentage drops across Low and High presets suggest that the CPU is the dominant factor at all resolutions, because the GPU's workload changes with settings, but the FPS scaling remains proportional to resolution. At the Ultra preset, the scaling is more pronounced: 131 FPS at 1080p, 83 FPS at 1440p (a 36.6% drop), and 43 FPS at 4K (a 48.2% drop). This indicates that even at Ultra, the CPU is still the bottleneck at 1080p and 1440p, while at 4K, the GPU begins to catch up, but the CPU's logic processing still limits the frame rate to 43 FPS, which is far below what the GPU could theoretically output given its 4K High result of 60 FPS.

The Medium preset, which has min/max data, shows the most complete picture: at 1080p, the average is 213 FPS with min 181 and max 245; at 1440p, the average is 135 FPS with min 114 and max 155; and at 4K, the average is 70 FPS with min 60 and max 81. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is a 36.6% drop (213 to 135), and from 1440p to 4K is a 48.1% drop (135 to 70). These numbers are remarkably consistent across all presets, which strongly suggests that the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 is the primary limiter in this combo, and the RTX 2060 SUPER has enough headroom to handle the resolution increases without becoming the bottleneck until the very highest settings at 4K.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Barony?

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 at Medium settings provides 135 FPS average with a minimum of 114 FPS, which is the best balance of visual quality and performance. At 1080p, the system exceeds 200 FPS on Medium, but the jump to 1440p only costs 78 FPS, making it the recommended resolution for a crisp image without sacrificing playability.

Q: Can this system handle 4K at 60 FPS?

A: Yes, but only at High settings, where the average FPS is exactly 60. The Medium preset at 4K averages 70 FPS with a minimum of 60 FPS, which is safer for maintaining a locked 60 FPS, while Ultra drops to 43 FPS, which is not recommended.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 18093, which is 0.4% below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile (18159), 0.5% below the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (18189), and 1.5% below the AMD Radeon RX 460 (18373). The Intel Arc A770M is 1.6% ahead at 18383.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this game?

A: The FPS scaling data indicates the CPU is the primary bottleneck. At 1080p High, the system hits 183 FPS, but the GPU is capable of much more, as shown by the 287 FPS at Low settings. The consistent percentage drops across resolutions (about 37% from 1080p to 1440p) point to the Core Ultra 5 235's 14 threads being the limiting factor.

Q: What is the lowest playable setting at 4K?

A: The Low preset at 4K averages 95 FPS, which is well above playable. However, the Medium preset at 70 FPS (min 60) is the lowest setting that still provides a consistent 60 FPS floor, making it the recommended minimum for a smooth experience.

Q: How does the CPU rank in overall performance?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 has a percentile rank of 89 among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 46062. Its nearest rival is the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 at 46030 (0.1% higher), and it is 0.1% ahead of the Intel Core i9-13900HX at 46098.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combos for Barony, this pairing of Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER ranks 2069 out of 2935 total combinations. This places it in the lower third of all tested systems, which is surprising given the strong individual component scores. The CPU ranks in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, and the GPU is in the 62nd percentile of all GPUs, yet the combined ranking is only in the 29.5th percentile (2069 divided by 2935). This discrepancy suggests that Barony is heavily CPU-bound, and while the Core Ultra 5 235 is a strong processor, the combo's overall rank is dragged down by the GPU's mid-tier position relative to other tested pairings.

The rank of 2069 means there are 2068 combos that perform better in this specific game, and 866 that perform worse. Given that the CPU is in the top 11% of all processors, the combo's low rank is not due to the processor's absolute capability, but rather because many other tested combos likely pair higher-end GPUs with comparable or better CPUs. The data shows that the RTX 2060 SUPER's 62nd percentile GPU rank is the weaker link in this pairing, as the CPU's 89th percentile rank is far stronger. In a game like Barony, where the CPU is the primary bottleneck, a stronger GPU would not improve the rank much, but the fact that this combo sits at 2069 suggests that the GPU's limitations at 4K Ultra (43 FPS) and the overall system balance place it below many alternatives that have more balanced CPU-GPU pairings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, built on a 3 nm process by TSMC. It has a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, with 24 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU's benchmark scores are strong: it achieves 14769 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 2085 in single-core, with a Passmark multi-thread score of 37816 and a single-thread score of 4516. In Barony, a roguelike that generates dungeons procedurally and simulates numerous entities, the CPU's 14 threads are actively used for game logic, pathfinding, and world state updates. The measured FPS data confirms this, as the system maintains high frame rates even at 4K Low (95 FPS), which would not be possible if the GPU were the bottleneck.

The CPU's 89th percentile rank places it among the top tier of processors, and its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (avg score 46030, delta 0.1%) and the Intel Core i9-13900HX (avg score 46098, delta -0.1%). The 14 cores and 14 threads are unusual in that they lack hyperthreading, but the high boost clock of 5.00 GHz compensates in single-threaded tasks, which Barony likely relies on for its core loop. The L3 cache of 24 MB is shared across all cores, which helps with the game's data-heavy operations. The CPU's Passmark physics score of 2570 is notable for a game with simple physics, but the integer math score of 87948 and floating-point score of 117951 indicate strong computational throughput for the game's logic. Overall, the CPU is the star of this combo in Barony, and the data shows that upgrading the GPU would yield diminishing returns unless the resolution and settings are pushed to Ultra at 4K, where the GPU's 43 FPS result finally becomes the limiting factor.