Barony

# Barony with AMD Ryzen 7 3700X + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070

This combination of AMD's 8-core Ryzen 7 3700X and NVIDIA's RTX 4070 delivers exceptional performance in Barony, a roguelike title that clearly favors high refresh rates across all tested resolutions. The measured data shows this combo ranks 883rd out of 3,717 tested combinations in this game, placing it in the top quartile of all systems evaluated. With frame rates ranging from 71 FPS at 4K Ultra to 469 FPS at 1080p Low, the pairing demonstrates remarkable headroom for competitive play and smooth visuals alike.

Resolution Scaling

The scaling pattern across resolutions reveals a system that remains GPU-bound at higher settings but transitions to CPU-bound territory at lower settings and lower resolutions. At 4K High, the combo delivers 99 FPS, while dropping to 4K Low yields 155 FPS — a 56% improvement that shows the RTX 4070 has substantial untapped performance when visual demands are relaxed. Moving to 1440p, the gap widens dramatically: High produces 189 FPS, while Low reaches 296 FPS, representing a 57% uplift. At 1080p, the scaling becomes even more pronounced, with High at 299 FPS and Low at 469 FPS — a 57% increase that pushes well beyond typical high-refresh display capabilities.

The resolution-to-resolution transitions highlight where the bottleneck shifts. From 4K to 1440p at High settings, frame rates jump from 99 to 189 FPS, a 91% improvement that indicates the GPU is heavily loaded at 4K. From 1440p to 1080p at High, the increase is from 189 to 299 FPS, a 58% gain — still substantial but narrowing. At Low settings, the 4K-to-1440p transition yields 155 to 296 FPS (91% faster), while 1440p-to-1080p moves from 296 to 469 FPS (58% faster). This consistent pattern suggests the GPU remains the primary limiter even at 1080p Low, though the CPU's 8 cores and 16 threads begin to matter more as resolution drops.

Ultra settings tell a different story. At 4K Ultra, the combo manages 71 FPS, while 1440p Ultra hits 135 FPS and 1080p Ultra reaches 215 FPS. The scaling from 4K to 1440p is a 90% improvement, and 1440p to 1080p adds another 59%. The fact that even at 1080p Ultra the system doesn't exceed 215 FPS — far below the 469 FPS seen at Low — indicates that Ultra settings impose a significant GPU workload that even this capable card cannot fully overcome at lower resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

With a rank of 883 out of 3,717 tested combos in Barony, this pairing sits comfortably in the upper 24% of all systems benchmarked. This placement reflects a balanced configuration where neither component dramatically outclasses the other for this particular game. The Ryzen 7 3700X achieves an 84th percentile ranking among all CPUs, while the RTX 4070 sits at the 81st percentile among all GPUs — closely matched percentile positions that suggest harmonious cooperation rather than a bottleneck scenario.

The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks offer context for its standing. The Ryzen 7 3700X posts an average benchmark score of 34,260, nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 (34,222, 0.1% delta), the AMD EPYC 4244P (34,220, 0.1% delta), and the Intel Core i5-13450HX (34,333, -0.2% delta). The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H trails slightly at 34,083 (0.5% delta). This cluster of scores indicates the 3700X delivers performance on par with much newer processors, which helps explain why it can sustain high frame rates in Barony without becoming a limiting factor.

For the GPU, the RTX 4070's average benchmark score of 37,648 places it near the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (37,628, 0.1% delta) and AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (37,507, 0.4% delta), while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile leads at 38,135 (-1.3% delta) and the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 trails at 37,157 (1.3% delta). The tight clustering around the 37,500-38,000 score range underscores that the 4070 delivers consistent, mid-to-high-tier GPU performance that translates directly into the excellent Barony frame rates observed.

GPU Role

The RTX 4070's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, which proves more than adequate for Barony's demands across all tested configurations. The GPU's boost clock of 2475 MHz, built on TSMC's 5 nm process with the AD104 chip, delivers 29.15 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. The 5,888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output pipelines work together to produce the measured results, with pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s and texture rate of 455.4 GTexel/s.

The GPU's benchmark results align with its in-game performance. The PassMark G3D score of 26,927 and DirectX 12 score of 103 indicate solid DirectX 12 support, which Barony likely leverages. The Geekbench Vulkan score of 174,152 and OpenCL score of 154,858 show strong compute capabilities that may benefit the game's procedural generation and physics calculations. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3,854 provides additional evidence of the card's ability to handle modern rendering workloads.

At 4K Ultra, the 71 FPS average represents the most demanding scenario tested, and the GPU's 12 GB VRAM buffer ensures no memory-related stutters occur. The fact that 4K Low achieves 155 FPS — more than double the Ultra result — suggests the GPU's raw compute power is the limiting factor at Ultra, rather than memory capacity or bandwidth. The RTX 4070's 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores remain largely unused in this roguelike, as the game's visual style likely prioritizes other effects.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 469 FPS, Medium reaches 349 FPS with a minimum of 296 and maximum of 401, High achieves 299 FPS, and Ultra drops to 215 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra — a 254 FPS difference — illustrates how dramatically settings impact performance at this resolution. Even at Ultra, the 215 FPS average exceeds the refresh rate of most gaming monitors, making this an ideal configuration for high-refresh displays.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but shows the expected decline. Low settings average 296 FPS, Medium hits 220 FPS with a range of 187 to 253, High produces 189 FPS, and Ultra settles at 135 FPS. The 1080p-to-1440p transition at each setting costs roughly 37-45% of frame rate, consistent with the increased pixel count. The Medium preset's minimum of 187 FPS still exceeds 144 Hz refresh rates, ensuring smooth gameplay even during intense moments.

At 3840x2160, the system demonstrates its 4K capabilities. Low settings maintain 155 FPS, Medium averages 115 FPS with a range of 98 to 132, High achieves 99 FPS, and Ultra drops to 71 FPS. The 4K Ultra result of 71 FPS remains playable, but the gap between Low and Ultra (84 FPS difference) becomes most pronounced at this resolution. The Medium preset's minimum of 98 FPS suggests that even at 4K, the combo can maintain near-100 FPS with reasonable settings, making 4K gaming viable for this title.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 7 3700X's 8 cores and 16 threads, based on the Zen 2 architecture, provide ample processing power for Barony's roguelike gameplay. With a base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 4.40 GHz, the CPU demonstrates strong single-threaded performance — evidenced by its Cinebench R15 single-core score of 204 and Geekbench single-core score of 1,593. Multi-threaded performance is equally robust, with Cinebench R15 multi-core at 2,092 and Geekbench multi-core at 8,899.

The CPU's PassMark tests reveal specific strengths relevant to gaming. The multi-thread score of 22,458 and physics score of 1,181 indicate good overall processing capability. Integer math score of 66,399 and floating-point math score of 39,005 suggest the CPU handles game logic and physics calculations efficiently. The data compression score of 296,379 and encryption score of 18,900 show solid memory subsystem performance, while the 32 MB L3 cache helps keep frequently accessed data close to the cores.

The 65W TDP of the 3700X means it runs cool and efficient, allowing sustained boost clocks during extended gaming sessions. The DDR4 dual-channel memory support with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth provides sufficient memory throughput for Barony's requirements. At 1080p Low, the 469 FPS result suggests the CPU can feed the GPU at extremely high frame rates without becoming a bottleneck, though the gap between Low and Medium (469 to 349 FPS) at 1080p hints that the CPU may begin to limit performance at the lowest settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for high-refresh gaming with this combo?

A: At 1440p High settings, the combo delivers 189 FPS, while 1080p High reaches 299 FPS. For maximum refresh rates, 1080p Low provides 469 FPS, making it ideal for competitive play on 240 Hz or higher displays.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Barony?

A: Yes, at 4K Medium the combo averages 115 FPS with a minimum of 98, while 4K High achieves 99 FPS. Even 4K Ultra maintains 71 FPS, so all settings are playable at 4K.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4070 scores 37,648 on average, slightly ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (37,628, 0.1% delta) and AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (37,507, 0.4% delta), while trailing the RTX 4080 Mobile (38,135, -1.3% delta).

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 3700X a bottleneck at any settings?

A: The data suggests the CPU keeps pace with the GPU across most settings. At 1080p Low, the 469 FPS result indicates the CPU can sustain very high frame rates, though the diminishing returns from Low to Medium settings may indicate some CPU limitation at the lowest presets.

Q: What kind of frame rate variance can be expected at Medium settings?

A: At 1080p Medium, the range is 296 to 401 FPS with an average of 349. At 1440p Medium, it's 187 to 253 FPS with a 220 average, and at 4K Medium, it's 98 to 132 FPS with a 115 average.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems?

A: It ranks 883rd out of 3,717 tested combos in Barony, placing it in the top 24% of all configurations benchmarked for this game.

Settings Recommendations

For players prioritizing maximum frame rates, the Low preset at 1080p delivers an extraordinary 469 FPS, which far exceeds any current display's refresh rate. However, the Medium preset at 1080p offers a compelling balance — 349 FPS average with a minimum of 296, ensuring no frame drops below 300 FPS while providing improved visuals over Low. The jump from Low to Medium costs 120 FPS (25.6% reduction) but likely yields significant visual improvements given the settings tier difference.

At 1440p, the Medium preset emerges as the sweet spot for most users. The 220 FPS average with a 187 minimum comfortably exceeds 144 Hz refresh rates while maintaining higher visual fidelity than Low. For those with 240 Hz displays, the High preset at 189 FPS may be preferable, though it drops below 240 FPS. The Ultra preset at 135 FPS still provides smooth gameplay for 120 Hz displays, making it viable for visual purists.

For 4K gaming, the Medium preset is strongly recommended. The 115 FPS average and 98 FPS minimum keep frame rates above 90 FPS, which is smooth for most players. The High preset at 99 FPS remains playable but approaches the 60-100 FPS range where some players notice reduced smoothness. Ultra at 71 FPS is playable but may feel less responsive for fast-paced roguelike action, making Medium the clear choice for 4K balance.

The overall recommendation across all resolutions is the Medium preset, as it consistently provides the best combination of high average frame rates, acceptable minimums, and improved visual quality over Low. The measured data shows Medium outperforms High and Ultra by significant margins while maintaining frame rates well above typical display refresh rates at 1080p and 1440p, and remaining competitive at 4K.