Barony

Barony, a roguelike from 2015, presents an interesting case for the AMD Ryzen 7 5700 and AMD Radeon RX 570 combination. The measured FPS data across resolutions and settings reveals a system that is capable but constrained, particularly at higher graphical presets. The data indicates this pairing ranks 1633 out of 1702 tested combinations in this game, placing it in the lower percentile of systems, yet the results are playable under the right conditions.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data offers a clear hierarchy for optimizing the experience. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers the highest average FPS at 140.4, while the Medium preset drops to 102.0, and the High preset yields 89.7. The Ultra preset falls to 60.4. For a roguelike where reaction speed matters, the difference between 140 and 60 FPS is substantial. The data suggests that High is the sweet spot for visual fidelity on a 1080p display, as it remains well above the 60 FPS threshold, but those prioritizing competitive responsiveness should consider Medium, which maintains a 102.0 average.

Moving to 2560x1440, the story shifts. The Low preset achieves 84.5 FPS, which is excellent for this resolution. However, the High preset drops to 57.9, and Ultra plummets to 42.2. Since the Medium preset sits at 63.2, the data implies that 1440p users should stick with Medium to stay above 60 FPS. Pushing to High at 1440p sacrifices 5.3 FPS compared to Medium, a marginal gain in visuals for a noticeable loss in smoothness.

At 3840x2160, the situation becomes challenging. Even the Low preset only manages an average of 43.6 FPS, while High dips to 28.9 and Ultra to 22.0. No setting at 4K reaches the 60 FPS mark. The data suggests that 4K is not a viable option for this combo unless the user accepts a sub-30 FPS experience. For the best experience, the recommendation is clear: use the Low preset at 1080p for maximum frame rates, or the High preset at 1080p for a balanced experience. At higher resolutions, Medium is the ceiling for playability.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 570 is the primary driver of these results. With 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, the card provides a bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s. The base clock of 1168 MHz and boost clock of 1244 MHz, combined with 2048 shading units, produce a pixel rate of 39.81 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 159.2 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance of 5.095 TFLOPS is modest by modern standards, and the data reflects this.

The GPU's percentile rank against all GPUs is 74, meaning it outperforms 74% of the database. However, its nearest rivals are surprisingly modern: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 has a deltaPct of 0.2, and the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT shows a 0.2 deltaPct as well. This suggests the RX 570's average benchmark score of 30158 is competitive in synthetic tests, but the Barony measured FPS tells a different story. The 4K results, where the GPU is heavily loaded, show the card's limits. The drop from 43.6 FPS at Low to 22.0 FPS at Ultra at 4K is a 21.6 FPS swing, indicating the GPU struggles with the increased fill-rate demands of higher presets.

The VRAM capacity of 4 GB is likely a limiting factor at higher resolutions. The data shows that at 1440p, the Ultra preset only achieves 42.2 FPS, which is a 42.3 FPS drop from the Low preset at the same resolution. This suggests the memory bandwidth or capacity is being saturated as textures and effects scale up. In contrast, at 1080p, the Ultra preset still achieves 60.4 FPS, indicating the GPU can handle the load when the pixel count is lower. The GPU's role is dominant: it is the bottleneck at all resolutions above 1080p.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Barony?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 140.4, achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low preset.

Q: Can this system run Barony at 4K resolution?

A: Yes, but with limitations. The best 4K result is 43.6 FPS on the Low preset, while High and Ultra drop to 28.9 and 22.0 FPS, respectively. No 4K setting reaches 60 FPS.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the High preset averages 57.9 FPS, while Ultra drops to 42.2 FPS. This is a 15.7 FPS difference, making Ultra significantly less fluid.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck, especially at higher resolutions. The FPS drops from 1080p to 4K are steep, and the GPU's percentile rank of 74 is lower than the CPU's 84.

Q: What is the performance delta between the Low and Ultra presets at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 140.4 FPS, while Ultra averages 60.4 FPS. This represents an 80.0 FPS difference, showing the heavy cost of maxing out settings.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested systems for Barony?

A: This combination ranks 1633 out of 1702 tested combos, placing it near the bottom 4% of systems.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the data shows a clear progression. The Low preset leads with an average of 140.4 FPS. The Medium preset follows at 102.0 FPS, which is a 38.4 FPS reduction. High drops further to 89.7 FPS, a 12.3 FPS reduction from Medium. The Ultra preset sits at 60.4 FPS, a 29.3 FPS loss from High. This pattern shows that each preset tier costs a significant number of frames, with the jump from High to Ultra being the most severe.

At 2560x1440, the same settings produce lower numbers. Low averages 84.5 FPS, which is a 55.9 FPS drop from the 1080p Low result. Medium comes in at 63.2 FPS, a 38.8 FPS drop from 1080p Medium. High averages 57.9 FPS, a 31.8 FPS drop from 1080p High. Ultra achieves 42.2 FPS, an 18.2 FPS drop from 1080p Ultra. The relative gap between settings narrows at this resolution, suggesting the GPU is becoming the limiting factor.

At 3840x2160, the results are consistently low. Low averages 43.6 FPS, Medium 36.5 FPS, High 28.9 FPS, and Ultra 22.0 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 21.6 FPS, which is smaller than the 80.0 FPS gap at 1080p. This compression of frame rates at 4K indicates that the GPU's rendering capacity is saturated, and changing settings has diminishing returns.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1633 out of 1702 places this system in the 4th percentile of tested combinations for Barony. This is a low position, indicating that most other systems provide a superior experience. The CPU's percentile rank is 84, meaning it is better than 84% of all CPUs. The GPU's percentile rank is 74, which is lower but still above average. However, the combination of these two components in this specific game yields a poor result.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core i9-9900K with a deltaPct of 0.7 and the Intel Core i7-12700H with a deltaPct of 0.8. This shows the Ryzen 7 5700 is competitive with these parts in synthetic benchmarks. The GPU's nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 and AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, both with a deltaPct of 0.2. This suggests the RX 570's average benchmark score is on par with these much newer cards. Yet, the in-game rank is low, which implies that Barony's specific demands are not well-served by this pairing. The data suggests the GPU is the weak link, as its lower percentile and 4 GB VRAM likely hinder performance in this title.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep. At the Low preset, the average FPS falls from 140.4 at 1080p to 84.5 at 1440p, and then to 43.6 at 4K. This represents a 31.4% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a 48.4% drop from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is almost linear with pixel count, which is typical for a GPU-bound scenario. At the Ultra preset, the drop is from 60.4 at 1080p to 42.2 at 1440p, and then to 22.0 at 4K. This is a 30.1% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a 47.9% drop from 1440p to 4K.

The consistent percentage drops across settings indicate that the GPU is the limiting component. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would not scale so predictably with resolution. The 1080p results, where the CPU has more headroom, show higher FPS, but even there, the Ultra preset only reaches 60.4 FPS, suggesting the GPU is still taxed. The data implies that to improve 4K performance, a more powerful GPU with higher memory bandwidth would be necessary, as the RX 570's 224.0 GB/s bandwidth is insufficient for the pixel throughput required.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700 provides a solid foundation for this system. With 8 cores and 16 threads, it offers substantial parallel processing capability. The base clock of 3.70 GHz and boost clock of 4.60 GHz, built on the Zen 3 architecture, deliver strong single-threaded performance. The CPU's average benchmark score of 27220 places it in the 84th percentile, and its nearest rival, the Intel Core i9-9900K, has a deltaPct of only 0.7, indicating near-identical performance.

In Barony, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and handle game logic. The data shows that at 1080p, the Low preset achieves 140.4 FPS, which is a high frame rate that many CPUs would struggle to maintain. The Ryzen 7 5700's 3dmark single-thread score of 901 and passmark single-thread score of 3296 suggest it can handle the game's single-threaded demands. The 16 MB of L3 cache and 20 PCIe Gen 3 lanes provide adequate bandwidth for the GPU.

However, the CPU is not the limiting factor here. The FPS drops at higher resolutions are attributable to the GPU, as discussed. The CPU's high percentile rank and competitive benchmark scores indicate it would not bottleneck the system in most scenarios. In fact, the data suggests that if the GPU were upgraded, the CPU could support higher frame rates, as its 16-thread performance (3dmark score of 6628) provides ample headroom for the game's logic. The CPU is a capable partner, but the GPU holds this combo back from achieving better results.