Barony

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 produces a dataset for Barony that is defined by extreme frame rates across all tested configurations. The measured results show a system capable of delivering well over 100 frames per second at nearly every resolution and preset, with the primary differentiator between settings being the headroom above the refresh-rate threshold rather than playability. This analysis examines the measured FPS rows to determine the optimal settings, the role of each component, and how this specific combination ranks among other tested hardware configurations.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data for this CPU-GPU combo in Barony indicates that the Ultra preset provides the most balanced experience at 1440p and 4K, though High settings offer a significant frame rate advantage at 1080p. At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset yields an average of 54 FPS, which is the only measured configuration that dips below the 60 FPS mark. The High preset at 4K produces 76 FPS on average, representing a substantial 22 FPS improvement over Ultra while maintaining high visual quality. For users prioritizing a smooth 60+ FPS experience at 4K, High is the clear choice, as the Medium preset delivers 88 FPS but comes with a noticeable reduction in visual fidelity.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset achieves 104 FPS on average, which comfortably exceeds standard 60 Hz displays and aligns well with 100 Hz monitors. However, the High preset at 1440p reaches 145 FPS, providing a 41 FPS advantage over Ultra while still offering the same high-quality rendering tier. The Medium preset at 1440p produces 169 FPS with a minimum of 144 FPS, making it the optimal choice for users with 144 Hz displays who want a guaranteed frame rate match. The Low preset at 1440p is excessive for most use cases, delivering 227 FPS on average, which outstrips nearly all display capabilities.

The 1920x1080 results are uniformly high, with the Low preset reaching 360 FPS and the High preset at 230 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1080p yields 165 FPS, which is still exceptionally smooth, but the High preset's 230 FPS provides a 65 FPS advantage that could matter for high-refresh-rate esports-style play. The data suggests that High settings at 1080p strike the best balance between visual quality and raw performance, as the jump from High to Ultra costs 65 FPS while the visual differences in a roguelike title are typically less impactful than in other genres. For the best overall experience across all resolutions, the High preset consistently delivers the highest frame rates above 60 FPS at 4K and above 144 FPS at lower resolutions, making it the recommended default setting for this combo.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 brings 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s. This memory configuration is more than sufficient for Barony, a roguelike title that does not demand large texture pools or high-resolution assets. The GPU's 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 96 render output units provide the raw throughput needed to push the high frame rates observed in the measured data. The card's boost clock of 2459 MHz and game clock of 2041 MHz indicate a well-binned RDNA 3.0 part that maintains high frequencies under load.

The data shows that the GPU becomes the limiting factor at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS drops to 54. This suggests that the RX 7700's compute resources, while substantial, are not sufficient to maintain high frame rates at the most demanding preset and resolution combination. However, at 1080p and 1440p, the GPU headroom is immense, with even the Ultra preset delivering 165 FPS at 1080p and 104 FPS at 1440p. The GPU's performance relative to its nearest rivals, as indicated by its average benchmark score of 15852, places it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs. The closest competitor, the AMD Radeon RX 9060, scores 16014, a 1% delta, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti scores 16129, a 1.7% delta. These small differences in synthetic benchmarks do not manifest as meaningful gameplay disparities in the measured Barony results, as the RX 7700's frame rates are consistently high.

The GPU's 16 GB VRAM capacity is a notable asset, though the measured data does not show any VRAM-related bottlenecks, suggesting that even the 4K Ultra preset stays within the available memory. The card's PCIe 4.0 x16 interface ensures adequate bandwidth for data transfer, though the CPU's Gen 3 PCIe support may slightly limit peak transfer rates, this does not appear to affect the measured frame rates in this title. The RX 7700's DirectX 12 Ultimate support aligns with Barony's rendering requirements, and the measured results confirm that the GPU handles the game's workload efficiently across all tested settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear scaling pattern as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 230 FPS at 1920x1080 to 145 FPS at 2560x1440, a 37% reduction, and further to 76 FPS at 3840x2160, a 67% reduction from the 1080p baseline. This scaling pattern indicates that the system is becoming increasingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, as the CPU has ample headroom to feed the GPU at lower pixel counts. The Low preset shows an even more dramatic scaling, from 360 FPS at 1080p to 227 FPS at 1440p and 119 FPS at 4K. The 4K Low result of 119 FPS demonstrates that even at the lowest settings, the RX 7700 can maintain a high frame rate, though the gap between 1080p and 4K grows to 241 FPS.

The Medium preset, which is the only one with min and max FPS data, shows a minimum of 228 FPS at 1080p, 144 FPS at 1440p, and 75 FPS at 4K. These minimums are all well above the 60 FPS threshold, indicating consistent frame pacing even at the highest resolution. The maximum FPS values follow a similar trend, with 308 FPS at 1080p, 194 FPS at 1440p, and 102 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset shows the steepest relative decline, from 165 FPS at 1080p to 104 FPS at 1440p and 54 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result being below 60 FPS suggests that this preset is too demanding for the GPU at that resolution, while the 1440p Ultra result remains playable.

The scaling behavior points to the GPU as the limiting component at 4K, particularly at higher presets. At 1080p, the frame rates exceed 230 FPS even at High settings, which far outstrips typical display refresh rates, indicating that the CPU-GPU combination is not fully stressed at this resolution. The transition from 1440p to 4K results in a 48% FPS drop at High settings (145 to 76 FPS), which is a larger relative decline than the 37% drop from 1080p to 1440p. This suggests that the GPU's pixel throughput becomes the dominant constraint at 4K, while the CPU maintains sufficient single-threaded performance to avoid becoming a bottleneck at lower resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and AMD Radeon RX 7700 combination ranks 1336 out of 2935 tested combos in Barony. This places the combo in the 45.5th percentile of all tested configurations, meaning it outperforms roughly 45% of the other CPU-GPU pairs in the database for this specific game. Given the high frame rates measured, this ranking may seem low, but it reflects the fact that many other combos feature higher-end CPUs and GPUs that achieve even more extreme frame rates in a lightweight roguelike title.

The combo's ranking is influenced by both components' positions in their respective performance hierarchies. The CPU sits in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19593. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen AI 5 430, scores 19617, a 0.1% delta, while the Intel Core i7-10700F scores 19499, a 0.5% delta in the opposite direction. This places the Ryzen 5 5500 in a tightly contested mid-range segment, where performance differences of less than 1% separate it from competitors. The GPU's 58th percentile ranking, with an average score of 15852, is lower than the CPU's relative standing, suggesting that the GPU is the weaker link in this pairing for overall system potential.

The rank of 1336 out of 2935 indicates that while this combo is capable of producing high frame rates in Barony, there are many other configurations that achieve even higher performance. This is expected given that the RX 7700 is not a top-tier GPU, and the Ryzen 5 5500 is a mid-range CPU. The measured results show that the combo is well-matched for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but the 4K Ultra result of 54 FPS demonstrates its limitations at the highest settings. The ranking suggests that users seeking the absolute best Barony performance would need to pair a higher-tier CPU and GPU, but this combo offers a solid balance of performance for its position in the database.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 provides 6 cores and 12 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. The CPU's 16 MB of L3 cache and 512 KB of L2 cache per core supply adequate data for the game's logic, while the dual-channel DDR4 memory support at 51.2 GB/s bandwidth ensures sufficient memory throughput. In Barony, a roguelike that typically involves procedural generation and turn-based or real-time combat, the CPU's single-threaded performance is often more critical than multi-threaded throughput.

The measured frame rates indicate that the CPU is not a bottleneck at any resolution tested. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 360 FPS, which confirms the CPU's ability to feed the GPU with draw calls and game state updates at very high rates. The CPU's single-thread score of 836 in 3DMark and 2319 in Cinebench R23 single-core suggest adequate per-core performance for the game's main thread. The multi-threaded scores, including 16429 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 5411 in 3DMark max threads, show that the CPU can handle background tasks and any multi-threaded game systems without issue.

The CPU's 65 W TDP and 7 nm process node contribute to efficient operation, though the measured FPS data does not provide thermal or power consumption figures. The CPU's nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i5-12500 and Intel Core i5-11600KF, have average benchmark scores within 0.7% of the Ryzen 5 5500, indicating that these CPUs would likely produce very similar frame rates in Barony. The fact that the combo achieves 230 FPS at 1080p High and 145 FPS at 1440p High suggests that the CPU's performance is more than sufficient for this title, and the GPU becomes the primary limiter at higher resolutions. The CPU's 12 threads provide enough parallelism for modern game engines, though Barony's roguelike nature may not heavily utilize all cores, making the strong single-threaded performance the more relevant metric.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are as follows: Low settings produce 360 FPS, Medium settings produce 268 FPS with a minimum of 228 FPS and a maximum of 308 FPS, High settings produce 230 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 165 FPS. The 1080p results show that even the most demanding preset maintains a frame rate well above 144 FPS, making this resolution ideal for high-refresh-rate displays. The gap between Low and High is 130 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is 65 FPS, indicating diminishing returns from the highest preset.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS values are: Low at 227 FPS, Medium at 169 FPS with a minimum of 144 FPS and a maximum of 194 FPS, High at 145 FPS, and Ultra at 104 FPS. The 1440p results show that the Medium preset's minimum FPS exactly matches a 144 Hz refresh rate, providing a guaranteed smooth experience on such displays. The High preset at 145 FPS is also suitable for 144 Hz monitors, while the Ultra preset at 104 FPS is better suited for 100 Hz displays.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS values are: Low at 119 FPS, Medium at 88 FPS with a minimum of 75 FPS and a maximum of 102 FPS, High at 76 FPS, and Ultra at 54 FPS. The 4K results show that the Low preset is the only configuration that exceeds 100 FPS, while the Medium and High presets remain above 60 FPS. The Ultra preset at 54 FPS is the only measured configuration that falls below the 60 FPS threshold, indicating that this preset-resolution combination is too demanding for the GPU. The Medium preset's minimum of 75 FPS provides a comfortable buffer above 60 FPS, making it the recommended 4K setting for users who want both quality and performance.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset for 4K gaming with this combo?

A: The High preset at 3840x2160 delivers 76 FPS on average, which is above 60 FPS. The Medium preset provides 88 FPS with a minimum of 75 FPS, offering a larger safety margin. The Ultra preset drops to 54 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: Can this combo achieve 144 FPS at 1440p?

A: Yes, the Medium preset at 2560x1440 produces 169 FPS on average with a minimum of 144 FPS, exactly matching a 144 Hz display. The High preset achieves 145 FPS, also meeting the 144 FPS target.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 230 at 1920x1080 to 76 at 3840x2160, a reduction of 154 FPS or 67% from the 1080p baseline.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the frame rates exceed 165 FPS even at Ultra settings, suggesting the GPU is not fully stressed. The CPU's single-threaded performance is sufficient to maintain high frame rates, and the GPU becomes the limiting component as resolution increases.

*Q: What is the combo's ranking among all tested configurations in Barony?*

A: This combo ranks 1336 out of 2935 tested combos, placing it in the upper-middle tier of the database for this game.

Q: Does the Ultra preset provide any benefit at 1080p?

A: The Ultra preset at 1080p yields 165 FPS on average, while High produces 230 FPS. The 65 FPS difference suggests that High is preferable for competitive play, though Ultra still maintains a very smooth frame rate.