Barony

Barony, a roguelike with a 2015 release date, presents an interesting test for the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and Intel Arc B580 combination. The measured data reveals a system that is exceptionally capable at high refresh rates, though it requires some settings adjustments to fully exploit its potential at higher resolutions. This analysis will break down the measured FPS across different settings and resolutions, exploring what the numbers indicate about the balance between the CPU and GPU in this specific title.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for this combination in Barony paints a clear picture of which settings presets provide the best experience, heavily dependent on the target resolution. For a standard 1920x1080 display, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 127 FPS. While this is a very playable framerate, the data shows that the system is capable of significantly more. The High preset at the same resolution jumps to an average of 177 FPS, and the Medium preset reaches 206 FPS. The Low preset achieves a staggering 277 FPS. Given that roguelikes often feature fast-paced, precise gameplay, the massive framerate headroom offered by the High and Medium presets suggests they are the ideal choices for 1080p gaming, providing a smoother and more responsive experience than the Ultra preset without a proportional visual cost, based on the data.

Moving to 2560x1440, the situation remains favorable. The Ultra preset still manages an average of 80 FPS, which is generally considered a solid baseline for modern gaming. However, the High preset at this resolution offers a substantial improvement, reaching 112 FPS. The Medium preset is even higher at 130 FPS. These numbers indicate that at 1440p, the High preset is the sweet spot, offering a significant performance boost over Ultra with likely minor visual differences. The data suggests that users with high-refresh-rate 1440p monitors would find the High or even Medium presets to be the optimal choice for balancing visual fidelity with a high, consistent framerate.

At the demanding 3840x2160 (4K) resolution, the tables turn. Here, the Ultra preset produces an average of only 42 FPS, which can feel less fluid. The High preset brings this up to a more acceptable 58 FPS. The Medium preset further improves the situation to an average of 68 FPS, with a minimum of 58 FPS and a maximum of 78 FPS, indicating a reasonably stable performance window. The Low preset is the only one to crack the 90 FPS barrier, achieving 91 FPS. For a 4K experience, the data clearly points to the Medium preset as the best recommendation. It offers a substantial performance increase over High and Ultra, moving the average well into the 60+ FPS range, which is the target for most gamers, while likely still providing a visually rich experience compared to the Low preset.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and Intel Arc B580 combination ranks 2194 out of 2935 tested combos for Barony. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the overall performance spectrum, a ranking that seems at odds with the high framerates measured in this specific game. The benchmark results indicate that this low rank is likely due to the fact that the database includes many combinations with far more powerful (and expensive) components that achieve even higher frame rates, especially at lower resolutions where the CPU can become a significant factor.

This ranking is a relative measure against the entire field of tested hardware. While a rank of 2194 out of 2935 places it in the 25th to 75th percentile range, the actual playable performance is excellent for a roguelike. The data shows the combo is capable of well over 100 FPS at 1080p and 1440p on High settings, and it can even handle 4K at playable framerates. The ranking, therefore, is more a reflection of the sheer number of high-end systems in the database than a commentary on this combo's ability to run Barony well. In the context of this game, the performance is clearly sufficient for a great experience, even if it doesn't top the leaderboards.

FAQ

Q: Can this CPU and GPU combo run Barony at 4K resolution?

A: Yes, the measured data shows it can. The High preset at 3840x2160 achieves an average of 58 FPS, while the Medium preset provides a more comfortable average of 68 FPS, making 4K gaming viable.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 1440p monitor?

A: The data indicates the High preset is the most balanced choice at 2560x1440, delivering an average of 112 FPS. The Ultra preset is also playable at 80 FPS, but High offers a significant performance advantage.

Q: How does the Ultra preset performance compare between 1080p and 1440p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset achieves an average of 127 FPS. When moving up to 2560x1440, the average FPS drops to 80, a decrease of 47 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the framerates are exceptionally high (e.g., 277 FPS on Low), suggesting that neither component is heavily stressed. A CPU or GPU bottleneck is less likely at this resolution, as the system has more than enough performance headroom.

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

A: The data shows a significant difference. The Low preset at 3840x2160 averages 91 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages only 42 FPS. This indicates that the Ultra preset is more than twice as demanding on the system as the Low preset at this resolution.

Q: What kind of framerate can be expected on a standard 1080p monitor with High settings?

A: With the High preset at 1920x1080, the system achieves an average of 177 FPS. This is an exceptionally high framerate, well-suited for a high-refresh-rate monitor.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a comprehensive look at performance across three resolutions and four settings presets.

At 1920x1080, the system demonstrates its peak performance. The Low preset achieves an average of 277 FPS. The Medium preset delivers an average of 206 FPS, with a minimum of 175 FPS and a maximum of 237 FPS. The High preset averages 177 FPS. The Ultra preset, while the most demanding, still produces a very strong average of 127 FPS. These numbers show that at 1080p, the combo is capable of pushing framerates far beyond what is typically needed, even on high-refresh-rate displays.

At 2560x1440, performance remains very high. The Low preset averages 175 FPS. The Medium preset averages 130 FPS, with a minimum of 111 FPS and a maximum of 150 FPS. The High preset delivers an average of 112 FPS. The Ultra preset produces an average of 80 FPS. This resolution appears to be the sweet spot for the combo, offering high framerates on high and medium settings that are more than sufficient for smooth gameplay.

At 3840x2160, the GPU begins to feel the strain of the higher pixel count. The Low preset is the most playable, averaging 91 FPS. The Medium preset averages 68 FPS, with a minimum of 58 FPS and a maximum of 78 FPS. The High preset dips to an average of 58 FPS. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, with an average of 42 FPS. This data shows a clear progression of performance degradation as settings are increased at 4K, making the Medium preset the most balanced option for a 60 FPS experience.

Resolution Scaling

Analyzing the performance drop from 1080p to 4K reveals key insights into the system's bottleneck. At the High settings preset, the average FPS drops from 177 at 1920x1080 to 112 at 2560x1440, and finally to 58 at 3840x2160. This represents a 36.7% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 48.2% drop from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is not linear, with the most significant hit occurring when moving from 1440p to 4K.

This steep decline at 4K strongly suggests that the Intel Arc B580's GPU resources are the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. The jump from 1440p to 4K increases the pixel count by roughly 2.25 times, placing a massive load on the GPU's shading units, ROPs, and memory bandwidth. The 12 GB of VRAM and 456.0 GB/s of bandwidth are likely being fully utilized, and the rendering pipeline becomes saturated. Conversely, the relatively modest decline from 1080p to 1440p indicates that the CPU (Intel Core Ultra 5 245) is still able to feed the GPU efficiently at these lower resolutions. The data implies that at 1080p, the system is likely CPU-bound or balanced, but as resolution increases, the bottleneck shifts decisively to the GPU.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. Its benchmark scores are substantial, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32924 and a single-core score of 4648. These figures indicate a very capable processor for gaming. In Barony, a roguelike where the core game logic, AI, and procedural generation are all handled by the CPU, this processing power is crucial.

The high framerates observed at 1080p, such as 277 FPS on Low and 177 FPS on High, demonstrate that the CPU is rarely the bottleneck at this resolution. The data suggests that the Core Ultra 5 245 has more than enough single-thread and multi-thread performance to keep up with the demands of the game. Even at 1440p, the CPU appears to be sufficient, as the framerates are still very high. The shift in performance at 4K is a classic sign of a GPU bottleneck, where the CPU is waiting on the GPU to render frames. In this scenario, the CPU's high clock speeds and core count ensure it can handle the game's logic without holding back the GPU, at least until the GPU is fully saturated. The 14 cores help ensure that background tasks and the game's main thread don't compete for resources, maintaining consistent performance.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580, based on the Xe2-HPG architecture, features 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 80 ROPs, running at a boost clock of 2670 MHz. It is equipped with 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 456.0 GB/s. Its PassMark G3D score of 15748 places it in the 68th percentile of all GPUs, indicating solid mainstream performance. The measured FPS data in Barony confirms this, showing that the GPU is the defining component for playability at higher resolutions.

The GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution scales up. At 1080p, the B580 is able to produce incredibly high framerates, but its performance is not the limiting factor. However, at 4K, the sheer number of pixels becomes a monumental task. The 13.67 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power is heavily taxed, and the 456.0 GB/s memory bandwidth is likely a critical bottleneck. The 12 GB of VRAM is beneficial for storing high-resolution textures, but the rendering workload itself is what causes the framerate to drop. The data clearly shows the B580 is capable of a smooth 4K experience, but only when settings are lowered to Medium, which reduces the shading and texture work required. This demonstrates a GPU that is perfectly suited for 1080p and 1440p high-refresh-rate gaming, but which requires settings compromises for a stable 4K experience.