Barony

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers an exceptional performance profile in Barony, a roguelike title that scales aggressively with hardware capability. The data shows that this combination places 40th out of 1,702 tested combos, putting it in the top 2.4% of all systems evaluated. The measured frame rates are consistently high across all resolutions, with the most demanding configuration (4K Ultra) still producing an average of 97.4 FPS, while lower settings at 1080p exceed 600 FPS. This pairing leverages a 6-core Zen 4 processor with a flagship Ada Lovelace GPU to create a system that is never the bottleneck, regardless of the graphical load presented by the game.

FAQ

*Q: What is the overall rank of this CPU and GPU combination in Barony?*

A: The combo ranks 40th out of 1,702 tested combinations, placing it in the top percentile of all systems benchmarked for this game.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 7600X compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The CPU's average benchmark score is 26,272, which is statistically tied with its nearest rivals. It is 0.1% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 7 7735U, 0.2% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 5655GE, and 0.2% behind the AMD Ryzen 7 5700X.

Q: What is the performance difference between the RTX 4090 and its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RTX 4090's average benchmark score is 66,473. It trails the NVIDIA Tesla T4 by 0.4%, leads the NVIDIA Tesla P40 by 0.5%, and sits 0.9% behind the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 in aggregate performance metrics.

Q: What frame rate can be expected at 1440p with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 2560x1440 with High settings is 268.2 FPS, which is more than sufficient for high-refresh-rate monitors and indicates the game is heavily GPU-bound at this configuration.

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

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system achieves an average of 668.2 FPS. This extreme frame rate suggests the CPU's single-thread performance is the primary constraint, as the GPU has ample headroom at this resolution.

Q: What are the release dates for these components?

A: The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X was released on 2022-09-26, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 was released on 2022-09-19.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X is a 6-core, 12-thread processor built on the Zen 4 architecture, codenamed Raphael, using a 5 nm process at TSMC. It operates with a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, a configuration that provides strong single-threaded performance critical for Barony's game logic. The CPU's synthetic benchmark results confirm its capability: it scores 3,406 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 24,128 in multi-core, while its Geekbench scores are 2,892 single-core and 12,905 multi-core. These figures indicate a balanced design that can handle both the simulation aspects of a roguelike and the rendering pipeline demands.

The processor's 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 1 MB per-core L2 cache help reduce memory latency, which is beneficial for the procedural generation and state tracking common in roguelike games. Its memory bandwidth is rated at 83.2 GB/s over a dual-channel DDR5 interface, ensuring the CPU can feed data to the GPU without stalling. In the context of Barony, the CPU's role is evident in the scaling pattern: at 1080p Low, the average FPS jumps to 668.2, which is 60% higher than the 420.2 FPS seen at 1440p Low. This indicates that at lower resolutions and settings, the CPU's ability to issue draw calls and process game state becomes the limiting factor, rather than the GPU.

The 7600X's percentile ranking of 83 among all CPUs underscores its position as a capable mid-range-to-high-end processor. Its nearest rivals in aggregate benchmark scores include the AMD Ryzen 7 5700X, which is just 0.2% faster, and the AMD Ryzen 7 7735U, which is 0.1% slower. This proximity in scores suggests that the 7600X is well-matched to its competition, but its architectural advantages—such as PCIe Gen 5 support and a 5 nm process—provide headroom for future workloads. In Barony, the CPU's multi-threaded performance, as evidenced by its Passmark multi-thread score of 28,390, ensures that background tasks and game AI do not cause frame-time spikes, even when the GPU is producing over 400 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the dominant component in this pairing, featuring the AD102 chip on the Ada Lovelace architecture with 16,384 shading units and 128 RT cores. It comes with 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s, which is essential for high-resolution textures and complex shaders in Barony. The GPU's clocks are set at a base of 2235 MHz and a boost of 2520 MHz, with memory running at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). This hardware configuration allows for a pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 1,290.2 GTexel/s, both of which are critical for maintaining high frame rates at 4K.

The RTX 4090's benchmark scores reinforce its flagship status: it achieves a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 9,223 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 317,684. Its Passmark G3D score of 38,194 and GPU compute score of 26,613 show strong raw compute performance, which translates directly to Barony's rendering workload. The GPU's role in this game is best demonstrated by the FPS scaling across settings at each resolution. At 4K, the average frame rate drops from 222.9 FPS on Low to 97.4 FPS on Ultra, a 56% reduction, indicating that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at this resolution. In contrast, at 1080p, the drop from Low to Ultra is from 668.2 FPS to 306.4 FPS, a 54% reduction, but the absolute numbers are so high that the GPU is rarely constrained.

The RTX 4090's 91st percentile ranking among all GPUs places it above the vast majority of competitors, with its nearest rivals being professional-grade cards like the Tesla T4 and Quadro P6000. The data shows that the RTX 4090 is 0.5% faster than the Tesla P40 and 0.9% slower than the Radeon Pro Vega 56 in aggregate benchmarks, but in gaming-specific workloads like Barony, its architecture is optimized for real-time rendering. The 24 GB of VRAM ensures that even the highest texture packs and draw distances in Barony will not exceed memory capacity, eliminating potential stuttering from memory swapping. With a TDP of 450 W and a suggested PSU of 850 W, this GPU is power-hungry, but its performance justifies the requirement for enthusiasts seeking maximum frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this combo shows a clear hierarchy across resolutions and settings, with the system consistently delivering playable frame rates even at the most demanding configurations. At 3840x2160 (4K), the average FPS ranges from 97.4 on Ultra to 222.9 on Low, with High settings at 137.7 FPS and Medium at 161.2 FPS. This scaling indicates that the RTX 4090 has enough headroom to handle 4K gaming, but the gap between Low and Ultra (a 125.5 FPS difference) shows that the GPU is actively processing more complex lighting and effects at higher settings.

Moving to 2560x1440 (1440p), the frame rates increase substantially: 420.2 FPS on Low, 310.6 FPS on Medium, 268.2 FPS on High, and 195.1 FPS on Ultra. The 1440p results show a more linear scaling pattern, with each settings tier reducing the average by roughly 30-40 FPS, suggesting that the GPU is still the primary constraint but with more margin than at 4K. At 1920x1080 (1080p), the system reaches its peak performance, with an average of 668.2 FPS on Low settings, which is the highest recorded value in the dataset. The High setting at 1080p produces 422.6 FPS, Medium achieves 492.3 FPS, and Ultra drops to 306.4 FPS.

The data reveals that the transition from 1440p to 1080p yields a significant boost in frame rates, particularly at Low settings where the average jumps from 420.2 FPS to 668.2 FPS, a 59% increase. This suggests that at 1080p, the CPU's single-thread performance becomes more relevant, as the GPU is no longer the bottleneck. Conversely, at 4K, the CPU has minimal impact, as evidenced by the 137.7 FPS at High settings being only 40% of the 1080p High result. The measured data does not include minimum or maximum FPS values, so the analysis is based solely on average FPS, which represents the typical performance users can expect.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination ranks 40th out of 1,702 tested combos in Barony, placing it in the top 2.4% of all systems benchmarked for this game. This high ranking is primarily driven by the RTX 4090's exceptional performance, as the GPU's 91st percentile ranking among all GPUs is significantly higher than the CPU's 83rd percentile ranking. The data suggests that the GPU is the dominant factor in achieving this rank, as the CPU's performance is adequate to avoid bottlenecking at most settings, but it is not the primary reason for the combo's top-tier status.

The combo's rank of 40 implies that only 39 other combinations of CPUs and GPUs produce higher average FPS in Barony. Given the RTX 4090 is one of the fastest consumer GPUs available, the few combos that beat this one likely feature even higher-end CPUs, such as recent flagship models with higher single-thread scores. The CPU's nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 7 5700X, have nearly identical aggregate benchmark scores (26,214 vs. 26,272), so the difference in ranking likely comes down to the GPU pairing and specific game optimizations. In Barony, the CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient to drive the game's logic, but the 24,128 Cinebench R23 multi-core score ensures that it can keep up with the GPU's high frame output without becoming a bottleneck.

This ranking also reflects the game's scalability; Barony appears to be well-optimized for high-end hardware, as evidenced by the linear FPS scaling across settings. The combo's 40th rank is impressive given that there are 1,702 possible combinations, and it underscores the value of pairing a top-tier GPU with a capable mid-range CPU. The data indicates that for users targeting 4K gaming, this combo is more than sufficient, as the 97.4 FPS at 4K Ultra is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. For competitive players seeking maximum frame rates at 1080p, the 668.2 FPS on Low settings provides a significant advantage, though the CPU's single-thread performance may limit further gains beyond this point.