Barony

The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 delivers a performance curve in Barony that clearly illustrates the shifting balance between CPU and GPU load as resolution climbs. At 1080p with Low settings, the combination produces 250 FPS, a figure that drops to 158 FPS at 1440p and further to 82 FPS at 4K. This represents a 68.8% reduction in frame rate from the lowest resolution to the highest. The scaling pattern suggests that at 1080p, the system has ample headroom, but the demand on the rendering pipeline increases substantially with each step up in pixel count.

When moving from 1080p to 1440p at High settings, the average frame rate falls from 160 FPS to 101 FPS, a 36.9% decrease. The transition from 1440p to 4K at the same settings is even more punishing, with the average dropping from 101 FPS to 53 FPS, a 47.5% reduction. This steepening decline indicates that the GPU is becoming the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. The data for Ultra settings reinforces this trend: 114 FPS at 1080p, 72 FPS at 1440p, and 38 FPS at 4K. The gap between Low and Ultra settings also widens with resolution, from 136 FPS at 1080p to 44 FPS at 4K, showing that the GPU struggles to maintain performance when both resolution and graphical fidelity are maximized.

The Medium settings tier provides the most complete data, including minimum and maximum frame rates. At 1080p, the average is 186 FPS with a minimum of 158 FPS and maximum of 214 FPS. At 1440p, those figures shift to 117 FPS average, 100 FPS minimum, and 135 FPS maximum. At 4K, the average drops to 61 FPS with a minimum of 52 FPS and maximum of 70 FPS. The consistency of the frame pacing, as indicated by the relatively tight min-max ranges, suggests that the system handles the game’s procedural generation without severe hitches, even as the resolution climbs.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals that Barony scales predictably with resolution, but the rate of decline accelerates as pixel count increases. From 1080p to 1440p at High settings, the loss is 59 FPS, while from 1440p to 4K, the loss is 48 FPS. While the absolute drop is slightly smaller in the second step, the percentage decline is more severe. At Low settings, the 1080p result of 250 FPS collapses to 82 FPS at 4K, a 67.2% reduction. This behavior is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions, where the RTX 5050’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 128-bit memory interface become stressed.

The data indicates that the CPU, with its 16 cores and 22 threads, is not the bottleneck until frame rates reach very high levels. At 1080p Low, the system produces 250 FPS, which is likely near the upper limit of what the game engine can deliver. The transition to 4K Low drops the frame rate to 82 FPS, a clear sign that the GPU’s rendering throughput is the limiting factor. The game’s roguelike nature, with its procedural dungeon generation, typically relies on single-threaded performance for game logic, but the Core Ultra 9 185H’s boost clock of 5.10 GHz appears sufficient to keep up with the GPU at lower resolutions.

When examining the scaling from Medium to Ultra at each resolution, the pattern remains consistent. At 1080p, the drop from Medium (186 FPS) to Ultra (114 FPS) is 72 FPS, a 38.7% reduction. At 1440p, the same comparison shows 117 FPS versus 72 FPS, a 45 FPS or 38.5% reduction. At 4K, Medium yields 61 FPS while Ultra produces 38 FPS, a 23 FPS or 37.7% reduction. The relative consistency of these percentages across resolutions suggests that the graphical settings have a similar impact regardless of resolution, but the absolute frame rates at 4K are already low enough that Ultra settings push the experience below acceptable thresholds.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050, built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process node, is the primary driver of Barony’s visual output. The GPU features 2,560 shading units, 80 texture mapping units, and 32 raster operation pipelines. Its boost clock of 2572 MHz allows for a pixel rate of 82.30 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 205.8 GTexel/s. These specifications translate into a passmark G3D score of 17,326, placing it at the 66th percentile of all GPUs. The nearest rivals in the synthetic benchmark data include the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL with a score of 21,153 (0.6% higher) and the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT with a score of 20,713 (1.6% lower), indicating that the RTX 5050 sits in a competitive mid-range segment.

The GPU’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory operates at 2500 MHz with a 20 Gbps effective data rate, delivering 320.0 GB/s of bandwidth over a 128-bit bus. In Barony, this memory configuration proves adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where the game’s textures and effects fit comfortably within the available VRAM. However, at 4K resolution, the demand on memory bandwidth increases, and the data shows the frame rates dropping to 53 FPS at High settings and 38 FPS at Ultra. These figures suggest that the memory subsystem, rather than the raw compute power, may be the limiting factor at the highest resolution.

The RTX 5050’s FP32 performance of 13.17 TFLOPS provides the compute foundation for the game’s rendering. The GPU also includes 20 ray tracing cores and 80 tensor cores, though the measured FPS data for Barony does not indicate whether ray tracing is enabled. The DirectX 12 Ultimate support, with its 12_2 feature level, ensures compatibility with modern rendering techniques, but the game’s roguelike aesthetic likely does not stress these advanced features. The GPU’s passmark DirectX 12 score of 66, compared to 186 for DirectX 9, suggests that the hardware handles older API workloads more efficiently, which aligns with Barony’s 2015 release date.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H serves as the processing backbone for this combination, featuring 16 cores and 22 threads in a Meteor Lake architecture. The CPU’s base clock of 3.90 GHz and boost clock of 5.10 GHz provide the single-threaded performance necessary for game logic and AI calculations. The 24 MB of shared L3 cache helps reduce memory latency, while the 2 MB per-core L2 cache supports high-frequency operation. The CPU’s cinebench R23 multi-core score of 17,984.5 and single-core score of 1,810.5 demonstrate its capability for both multithreaded and single-threaded workloads.

In the context of Barony, the CPU’s role is primarily to manage the game’s procedural generation and entity updates. The game’s roguelike genre typically does not require massive thread counts, but the Core Ultra 9 185H’s 22 threads ensure that background tasks do not interfere with frame pacing. The passmark single-thread score of 3,697 places the CPU in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, indicating strong single-threaded performance. The nearest rivals, including the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 350, show a deltaPct of -0.1%, meaning the Core Ultra 9 185H performs nearly identically to these competitors.

The CPU’s performance is evident in the 1080p results, where frame rates exceed 160 FPS at High settings and reach 250 FPS at Low. These high frame rates indicate that the CPU can feed the GPU with enough data to avoid becoming a bottleneck. The 45 W TDP, while modest for a 16-core processor, is sufficient for mobile applications, and the CPU’s memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s over a dual-channel DDR5 interface provides adequate data throughput. The integrated Arc Xe-LPG Graphics with 128 execution units is present but not used in this discrete GPU configuration, as the RTX 5050 handles all rendering duties.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest performance across all settings. The Low preset produces an average of 250 FPS, while Medium yields 186 FPS with a minimum of 158 FPS and maximum of 214 FPS. High settings achieve 160 FPS, and Ultra drops to 114 FPS. These figures indicate that 1080p gaming is well within the capabilities of this hardware, with even the most demanding settings maintaining frame rates above 100 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra of 136 FPS shows that graphical settings have a substantial impact at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but begins to show the GPU’s limitations. Low settings produce 158 FPS, Medium averages 117 FPS with a minimum of 100 FPS and maximum of 135 FPS, High delivers 101 FPS, and Ultra falls to 72 FPS. The 1440p results are still playable across all settings, with Ultra maintaining above 60 FPS. The minimum frame rate of 100 FPS at Medium settings indicates that even during demanding scenes, the system avoids significant frame drops.

At 3840x2160, the performance becomes more constrained. Low settings average 82 FPS, Medium averages 61 FPS with a minimum of 52 FPS and maximum of 70 FPS, High produces 53 FPS, and Ultra drops to 38 FPS. The 4K results show that 60 FPS is only achievable at Low or Medium settings, and even then, the minimum frame rates at Medium dip to 52 FPS, suggesting occasional stutters. Ultra settings at 4K produce frame rates below 40 FPS, which may be too low for a smooth experience in a fast-paced roguelike.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 ranks 2,332 out of 2,935 tested combos for Barony. This places the system in the lower 20% of all configurations tested, which is notable given the individual component performance. The CPU’s 85th percentile ranking and the GPU’s 66th percentile ranking suggest that both components are above average, yet the combination falls short of the top tier. This discrepancy likely stems from the GPU being a mid-range mobile part, while many higher-ranked combos feature desktop-class GPUs with greater memory bandwidth and compute power.

The ranking of 2,332 out of 2,935 means that 603 combinations performed better, which is a substantial number. This indicates that while the system is capable of playing Barony at playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, it is not competitive with high-end configurations. The 4K results, particularly at Ultra settings, reinforce this assessment, as the 38 FPS average is well below what many other combos would achieve. The data suggests that this mobile CPU-GPU pairing is best suited for 1080p gaming, with 1440p being a viable secondary option for users willing to compromise on settings.

The GPU’s synthetic benchmark scores provide context for this ranking. With a 3dmark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2,502 and a passmark G3D score of 17,326, the RTX 5050 performs near its rivals, including the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL and the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT. However, the combo ranking indicates that other factors, such as driver optimization or thermal constraints, may affect real-world performance in Barony. The CPU’s benchmark scores, including a geekbench multi-core score of 11,657 and a passmark multi-thread score of 29,376, are solid, but they do not translate into top-tier gaming performance in this specific title.

FAQ

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

A: The highest average frame rate is 250 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 4K resolution?

A: At 4K, the system averages 82 FPS at Low settings and 61 FPS at Medium settings, but High settings drop to 53 FPS and Ultra falls to 38 FPS. So 60 FPS is only sustainable at Low or Medium settings.

Q: How does the RTX 5050 compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5050 has a passmark G3D score of 17,326, while the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL scores 21,153, which is 0.6% higher. The AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT scores 20,713, which is 1.6% lower.

Q: What is the CPU’s boost clock and how does it affect performance?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H has a boost clock of 5.10 GHz, which helps maintain high single-threaded performance, evidenced by the 250 FPS result at 1080p Low where the CPU is not a bottleneck.

*Q: What is the combo’s overall rank in Barony?*

A: The combo ranks 2,332 out of 2,935 tested combinations, placing it in the lower portion of the performance distribution.

Q: What is the GPU’s memory configuration?

A: The RTX 5050 features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory with a 128-bit bus, operating at 2500 MHz with a 20 Gbps effective data rate, delivering 320.0 GB/s of bandwidth.