Barony

Barony, a roguelike from 2015, may not be the first title that comes to mind for a high-end hardware stress test, but the measured frame rates for the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER tell a revealing story about how a modern, powerful combo handles a classic, CPU-bound genre. The data shows a system that is overwhelmingly capable, delivering hundreds of frames per second even at 4K, but the scaling patterns across resolutions and settings expose where the bottlenecks truly lie. This analysis digs into the measured FPS rows to understand what the numbers mean for this specific pairing.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear and expected trend: as resolution increases, average frame rates drop, but the magnitude of that drop is highly dependent on the graphics settings. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo hits an extraordinary 597 FPS average. Moving to 2560x1440 on Low reduces that to 377 FPS, a substantial 36.8% decrease. Pushing further to 3840x2160 on Low yields 197 FPS, which is a 47.7% drop from the 1440p figure. This steep decline at lower settings strongly suggests that the GPU is not the limiting factor at 1080p; the CPU and its 14 cores are doing the heavy lifting to feed frames that fast, and the GPU only begins to feel the load as pixel count climbs.

The picture changes significantly at Ultra settings. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 273 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it falls to 172 FPS, a 37% reduction. At 4K Ultra, the average is 90 FPS, another 47.7% drop from 1440p. The consistent percentage drops between resolutions at both Low and Ultra settings indicate a scaling pattern that is primarily tied to pixel throughput. However, the absolute numbers tell a different story about headroom. The gap between 1080p Low (597 FPS) and 1080p Ultra (273 FPS) is a massive 324 FPS, showing that the settings preset has a far larger impact on performance than the resolution change alone at this tier.

What does this imply about the limiting component? At 1080p Low, the system is likely CPU-limited, as the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 with its 14 threads and boost clock of 5.10 GHz is being pushed to its limits to generate over 500 frames. The RTX 4080 SUPER, with its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 736.3 GB/s bandwidth, is not being fully utilized. As the resolution climbs to 4K, the GPU's role becomes more prominent. The pixel rate of 285.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 816.0 GTexel/s are finally being exercised. The data suggests that for the most demanding 4K Ultra scenario, the system is more balanced, but even then, the 90 FPS average indicates the GPU is still not fully saturated, as the CPU continues to provide a solid foundation.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is a powerhouse built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process. Its specifications include a boost clock of 2550 MHz, 10240 shading units, and a memory interface that provides 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth across a 256-bit bus. In the context of Barony, these figures translate to a GPU that is rarely the primary constraint. The measured data shows that even at 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 90, which is well above playable thresholds for most users. The GPU's 16 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for a game of this era, and the benchmark results reflect that there is no VRAM-related performance ceiling being hit.

The GPU's benchmark scores further contextualize its standing. Its Passmark G3D score is 34245, and it holds a percentile of 86 among all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, has an average score of 54247, which is a delta of -0.1%, making the SUPER essentially a statistical tie in synthetic tests. This is interesting because the measured FPS in Barony shows that this combo performs at a level that would be expected of a top-tier card. The GPU's role here is to remove any graphical bottleneck, allowing the CPU's performance to shine through. At 1080p Low, the GPU is effectively idling, waiting for the CPU to feed it data, while at 4K Ultra, it is working harder but still not reaching its full potential, as the FPS drop from 1440p to 4K is proportional to the pixel count increase, not a sign of a sudden GPU limitation.

The clocks and memory bandwidth are key. The 23 Gbps effective memory speed and 736.3 GB/s bandwidth ensure that texture streaming and data transfer are not bottlenecks. In a roguelike like Barony, which likely has relatively simple geometry but potentially complex procedural generation, the GPU's raw compute power (52.22 TFLOPS FP32) is more than adequate. The data indicates that the RTX 4080 SUPER is a enabler, not a limiter, in this pairing.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combos, this specific pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and the RTX 4080 SUPER achieves a combo rank of 231 out of 2935 total combinations. This places it in the top 7.9% of all tested systems for Barony. This is a strong showing, but it is not the absolute top, which suggests that other combos—likely those with even higher-end CPUs or GPUs—can push frame rates higher in certain scenarios.

The CPU's percentile versus all CPUs is 90, and its average benchmark score is 48995. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G with an average score of 49196 (delta -0.4%) and the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 at 49228 (delta -0.5%). This means the Core Ultra 5 245 is essentially on par with these chips in general compute, but its performance in Barony specifically is what determines the combo rank. The GPU's percentile versus all GPUs is 86, with an average benchmark score of 54209. Its closest rival, the RTX 4080, is nearly identical in score, yet the combo rank of 231 suggests that the combination of this CPU and GPU works well together for this game, likely due to the CPU's strong single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4648) which is crucial for game logic.

The rank of 231 out of 2935 is a quantitative measure of how well this pair performs relative to all other tested hardware pairings. It indicates that while this is a high-end setup, there are systems that achieve higher frame rates, likely by pairing a similarly strong GPU with a CPU that has even higher single-thread performance or more cache. The data does not specify what those top combos are, but the delta between this combo's rank and the top suggests there is headroom for improvement, particularly in CPU-bound scenarios at lower resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. Here is the breakdown:

• 1920x1080 (1080p):
• Low: Average 597 FPS. This is the highest measured frame rate in the entire dataset, showing the system's maximum potential when the GPU is least stressed.
• Medium: Average 444 FPS, with a minimum of 377 and a maximum of 510 FPS. The consistency is impressive, with a narrow band between min and max.
• High: Average 381 FPS. A noticeable drop from Medium, indicating that High settings introduce a significant load increase.
• Ultra: Average 273 FPS. This is a 54.2% reduction from Low, showing the impact of the highest preset.

• 2560x1440 (1440p):
• Low: Average 377 FPS. The scaling from 1080p Low is a 36.8% drop, which is less than the drop from Medium to High at the same resolution.
• Medium: Average 280 FPS, with a minimum of 238 and a maximum of 322 FPS. The frame times remain stable.
• High: Average 240 FPS. This is a 36.2% drop from 1080p High, showing a consistent scaling factor.
• Ultra: Average 172 FPS. This is the first preset where FPS drops below 200 at this resolution, but it is still very high.

• 3840x2160 (4K):
• Low: Average 197 FPS. This is still above 144Hz refresh rates, making it ideal for high-refresh 4K monitors.
• Medium: Average 146 FPS, with a minimum of 124 and a maximum of 168 FPS. The min FPS is above 120, indicating smooth gameplay.
• High: Average 126 FPS. This is a 47.5% drop from 1080p High, showing the linear scaling with pixel count.
• Ultra: Average 90 FPS. This is the lowest measured average, but it is still perfectly playable for a roguelike, which does not require twitch-reflex frame rates.

The data shows that the system never drops below an average of 90 FPS, even at the most demanding settings. The gap between Low and Ultra is significant at all resolutions, with Ultra being roughly half the FPS of Low. This suggests that the game's Ultra preset likely enables heavy effects like shadows, ambient occlusion, or anti-aliasing that tax the GPU more than the CPU.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, manufactured on a 3 nm process. Its base clock is 3.50 GHz with a boost clock of 5.10 GHz, and it has a 24 MB shared L3 cache. In Barony, a game where CPU performance is critical due to game logic and procedural generation, this CPU's role is paramount. The benchmark results for the CPU show a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32924 and a single-core score of 4648. The single-core score is particularly relevant for gaming, as most game engines rely heavily on one or two threads.

The measured FPS at 1080p Low (597 FPS) reflects the CPU's capability. At this setting, the GPU is not the bottleneck, and the CPU's 14 threads are working to process the game's logic and render commands. The high boost clock of 5.10 GHz helps in single-threaded tasks, while the 14 cores ensure that background tasks do not interfere with game performance. The CPU's Passmark single-thread score of 4394 and multithread score of 38706 further support its strength.

Comparing to its nearest rivals, the CPU's average benchmark score of 48995 is within 1% of the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G (49196) and the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 (49228). This indicates that in general compute, the Core Ultra 5 245 is on par with these chips. However, in Barony, the CPU's specific architecture and clock speeds are what matter. The data suggests that the CPU is not a limiting factor at any resolution or setting, as the FPS drops are consistently tied to GPU load as resolution increases. Even at 4K Ultra, the 90 FPS average is likely still CPU-bound in certain scenes, but the CPU is delivering enough performance to keep the GPU fed.

The CPU's TDP of 65 W and its position in the Core Ultra Series 2 family indicate a focus on efficiency, which does not sacrifice performance in this game. The fact that this combo ranks 231 out of 2935 shows that the CPU is doing its part to create a high-performing system.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo in Barony?

A: The highest average FPS is 597 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

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

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 54209, while its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, scores 54247, a delta of -0.1%, making them statistically equivalent.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded, and at what settings?

A: The lowest average FPS is 90, recorded at 3840x2160 resolution with Ultra settings.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested combinations for Barony?

A: The combo ranks 231 out of 2935 total tested combinations.

Q: At 1440p Medium settings, what is the range of FPS observed?

A: At 1440p Medium, the average FPS is 280, with a minimum of 238 and a maximum of 322.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU become the limiting factor at 1080p Low?

A: At 1080p Low, the FPS of 597 is so high that it is almost certainly CPU-limited, as the GPU is not being fully utilized at such low graphical load.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the user's display and preference for frame rate versus visual fidelity. For users with a 1080p monitor, the data shows that even High settings deliver 381 FPS, which is far beyond any display's refresh rate. Ultra at 1080p yields 273 FPS, which is still exceptionally high and would be the best choice for maximum visual quality without sacrificing smoothness, as it remains well above 240 Hz. For 1440p users, Medium settings at 280 FPS provide a great balance, but High at 240 FPS is also excellent. The data suggests that Ultra at 1440p (172 FPS) is still very playable and would be recommended for those who prioritize graphics over raw frame rates.

For 4K users, the choice is more nuanced. Low settings produce 197 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh 4K displays (144 Hz or higher). Medium at 146 FPS is a strong choice for 120 Hz displays, offering a good balance between visuals and performance. High at 126 FPS is also viable for 120 Hz panels. Ultra at 90 FPS is the only setting that drops below 100 FPS, but it is still perfectly playable for a roguelike, where reaction times are less critical than in competitive shooters. For the best overall experience at 4K, Medium settings are recommended, as they provide a 62% improvement over Ultra in FPS (146 vs 90) while likely offering a noticeable visual upgrade over Low. The data clearly indicates that this system is overkill for 1080p and 1440p, allowing users to max out settings with ease, while 4K users have the luxury of choosing between high refresh rates and maximum fidelity based on their monitor's capabilities.