Barony

Measured FPS Breakdown

The recorded data for Barony with the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and Intel Arc B370 shows a clear performance curve across resolutions and presets. At 3840x2160, the average frame rates are consistently below the playable threshold. Low settings produce 47 FPS average, Medium drops to 35 FPS with a minimum of 30 and maximum of 41, High falls further to 30 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 22 FPS. None of the 4K presets clear the 60 FPS target, and only Low approaches a playable experience by a slim margin.

At 2560x1440, the results improve substantially. Low settings reach 91 FPS average, Medium delivers 67 FPS with a recorded minimum of 57 and maximum of 78, High manages 58 FPS, and Ultra drops to 42 FPS. The Medium preset is the only setting at this resolution that stays above 60 FPS on average, though its minimum of 57 FPS shows some fluctuation near the threshold.

At 1920x1080, the combination performs much more comfortably. Low settings hit 144 FPS average, Medium reaches 107 FPS with a minimum of 91 and maximum of 123, High delivers 92 FPS, and Ultra still holds 66 FPS. Every preset at 1080p clears the 60 FPS line, with Ultra being the most demanding option that remains playable.

The data shows a consistent pattern: each resolution step down from 4K to 1440p to 1080p yields significant gains. The delta between 4K and 1440p is roughly double the frame rate at most settings, while 1440p to 1080p adds another 40% to 50% depending on the preset. The minimum and maximum values recorded only for Medium settings show that frame pacing tightens as resolution decreases, with the 1080p Medium range of 91 to 123 being much narrower relative to its average than the 4K Medium range of 30 to 41.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data indicates that the Intel Arc B370, with its low 5th percentile ranking among all GPUs, is the limiting factor in this pairing. The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F sits in the 94th percentile for CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 69,996, placing it far above the GPU in relative capability. The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1,184 and its 6.144 TFLOPS FP32 throughput are modest figures, and the system-shared memory architecture means the GPU relies on the CPU's DDR5 bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s.

Resolution scaling confirms the GPU bottleneck. Moving from 1080p to 1440p reduces average FPS by roughly 25% to 30% across settings, and moving from 1440p to 4K reduces it by another 40% to 50%. This steep drop-off is characteristic of a GPU-limited scenario, where the rendering workload grows faster than the GPU can process it. The CPU, with 8 cores and 16 threads boosting to 5.50 GHz, has ample headroom for a roguelike title like Barony, which is not heavily threaded.

The preset scaling also points to the GPU as the dominant factor. At 1080p, Low to Ultra spans from 144 FPS to 66 FPS, a 2.2x range. At 1440p, the same preset range spans 91 to 42 FPS, also about 2.2x. At 4K, Low to Ultra spans 47 to 22 FPS, roughly 2.1x. The consistent multiplicative impact of presets across resolutions suggests the GPU's shading and texture throughput, not CPU instruction handling, determines the frame rate. The CPU's PassMark single-thread score of 4,691 and multithread score of 36,470 are strong enough that Barony's logic, AI, and procedural generation would not stall the pipeline.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, no preset in the measured data stays at or above 60 FPS. The closest is Low at 47 FPS average, but that falls short of the playable threshold. The verdict data confirms this: the playable settings list for 4K is empty, and no best settings are recorded.

At 2560x1440, the most demanding preset that holds 60 FPS or higher is Medium, with an average of 67 FPS. Low also qualifies at 91 FPS, but Medium is the superior choice for visual quality while remaining playable. The minimum of 57 FPS at Medium indicates occasional dips below 60, but the average stays comfortably above.

At 1920x1080, Ultra is the most demanding preset that clears 60 FPS, with an average of 66 FPS. All four presets at this resolution qualify as playable, so the recommendation is to use Ultra for maximum visual fidelity. The 66 FPS average leaves a 6 FPS margin above the threshold, which is sufficient for a roguelike with no competitive multiplayer demands.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Barony at 4K?

A: No. The highest average at 3840x2160 is 47 FPS on Low settings, and Medium, High, and Ultra all fall below 40 FPS. The playable threshold of 60 FPS is not reached at any 4K preset.

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p?

A: Medium is the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS, averaging 67 FPS. Low also works at 91 FPS, but Medium provides better visual quality while keeping the average above the threshold.

Q: Is 1080p Ultra playable?

A: Yes. Ultra averages 66 FPS at 1920x1080, which clears the 60 FPS playable threshold. All other presets at this resolution also exceed 60 FPS, with Low reaching 144 FPS.

Q: How does the GPU compare to nearby alternatives?

A: The Intel Arc B370 has an average benchmark score of 1,184. The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 scores 1,186, which is 0.2% higher, and the ATI Radeon HD 5770 scores 1,190, 0.5% higher. The AMD Radeon HD 7650M scores 1,192, 0.7% higher, while the AMD FirePro M2000 scores 1,168, 1.4% lower.

Q: How does the CPU compare to nearby alternatives?

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F has an average benchmark score of 69,996. The AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX scores 69,875, 0.2% lower, and the Intel Core i7-14700KF scores 70,163, 0.2% higher. The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X scores 69,515, 0.7% lower, and the Intel Core i7-14700K scores 69,355, 0.9% lower.

Q: Why does the frame rate drop so sharply between 1440p and 4K?

A: The GPU's system-shared memory and relatively low compute throughput, 6.144 TFLOPS FP32, become the limiting factor as pixel count increases. The 4K resolution roughly doubles the pixel workload compared to 1440p, and the recorded data shows average FPS falling by 40% to 50% across all presets.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F, the nearest rivals in the database are all within 1% of its average benchmark score of 69,996. The AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX scores 69,875, a 0.2% difference, which means it would behave nearly identically in CPU-bound scenarios. The Intel Core i7-14700KF scores 70,163, 0.2% higher, and the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X scores 69,515, 0.7% lower. The Intel Core i7-14700K scores 69,355, 0.9% lower. For Barony, where the CPU is not the limiting factor, any of these processors would deliver the same frame rates as the Ryzen 7 9700F when paired with the same GPU.

For the Intel Arc B370, the nearest rivals in the database are all within 1.4% of its average benchmark score of 1,184. The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 scores 1,186, 0.2% higher, and the ATI Radeon HD 5770 scores 1,190, 0.5% higher. The AMD Radeon HD 7650M scores 1,192, 0.7% higher, and the AMD FirePro M2000 scores 1,168, 1.4% lower. These GPUs would produce nearly identical frame rates in Barony, meaning the same 4K limitations and 1080p playability would apply. The performance spread among these five GPUs is so narrow that the choice between them would not materially change the gaming experience.

The Verdict

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and Intel Arc B370 combination can run Barony, but only at specific resolutions and presets. At 3840x2160, the system cannot achieve 60 FPS at any setting, with the best result being 47 FPS on Low. This resolution is not playable according to the database's playable threshold of 60 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the system is playable on Low and Medium presets. Medium is the recommended choice, averaging 67 FPS, though its minimum of 57 FPS shows occasional dips below the threshold. High and Ultra fall short at 58 FPS and 42 FPS respectively.

At 1920x1080, the system is playable on all four presets. Ultra is the best option, averaging 66 FPS, and Low reaches 144 FPS for high-refresh-rate displays. The verdict data confirms that all 1080p settings clear the playable threshold.

The overall assessment is that this combination works best as a 1080p gaming setup for Barony, with 1440p Medium as a viable but tighter alternative. 4K should be avoided due to sub-60 FPS averages across the board.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database's ranking of tested combinations for Barony, this CPU and GPU pairing ranks 3,428 out of 3,717 combos. That places it in the lower 8% of all tested systems, which aligns with the GPU's 5th percentile ranking among all GPUs. The CPU's 94th percentile ranking does not compensate for the GPU's low position, since Barony's frame rates are primarily GPU-limited as shown by the resolution scaling data.

The rank reflects that while the CPU is competitive with top-tier processors, the GPU holds back the overall experience. The 3,717 total combos include many with stronger GPUs, and the 3,428 position indicates that most other pairings deliver higher frame rates in this title. The 1080p results, where Ultra averages 66 FPS, are respectable for a 5th percentile GPU, but the 4K results, where no preset reaches 60 FPS, drag the overall ranking down. For users targeting 1080p, this combo performs adequately; for higher resolutions, it falls behind most of the field.