Barony

Barony, a roguelike released on 2015-06-22, presents an interesting case study in CPU and GPU scaling due to its high frame rate ceilings. The tested configuration combines the AMD Ryzen 7 5700 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti. The data shows this combo achieves a rank of 222 out of 1702 tested combinations, placing it in the 87th percentile of all configurations. This analysis breaks down the measured performance across resolutions and settings, interpreting what the numbers reveal about the system's balance.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700 is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture (codename Cezanne), manufactured on a 7 nm process at TSMC. It operates with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The processor supports DDR4 memory with a dual-channel bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s. Its cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 512 KB of L2 per core, and a 16 MB L3 cache.

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU demonstrates strong multi-threaded capability. It scores 6628 in 3dmark_16_threads and 6617 in 3dmark_max_threads, with a single-thread score of 901. The Cinebench R23 results show 20655 points multi-core and 2916 points single-core. These scores place the processor at the 84th percentile versus all CPUs. Its average benchmark score of 27220 is nearly identical to its nearest rivals, with the Intel Core i9-9900K scoring 27043 (0.7% slower) and the Intel Core i7-12700H scoring 27006 (0.8% slower). This suggests the Ryzen 7 5700 provides a balanced foundation for gaming, though in a roguelike title like Barony, single-thread performance often matters more than raw core counts.

The relevance of this CPU to Barony's results becomes clear when examining the frame rates. At 1080p Low settings, the combo produces 552.9 FPS, which is exceptionally high. This indicates that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough draw calls to reach frame rates far beyond typical display refresh rates. The 16 MB L3 cache and 3.70 GHz base clock are sufficient for the game's logic and entity updates, which are typical bottlenecks in roguelike titles. The benchmark data shows the processor's passmark multithread score of 24303 and integer math score of 90091, indicating strong computational throughput that prevents CPU-bound scenarios from limiting the GPU at lower resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti utilizes the AD104 chip on the Ada Lovelace architecture, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It features 7680 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output units, along with 60 ray tracing cores and 240 tensor cores. The GPU operates with a base clock of 2310 MHz and a boost clock of 2610 MHz. It is equipped with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. The memory clock is listed as 1313 MHz, with an effective data rate of 21 Gbps.

In GPU benchmarks, the RTX 4070 Ti achieves a passmark G3D score of 31624 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 205028. Its average benchmark score of 44900 places it at the 85th percentile versus all GPUs. The nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile with a score of 45152 (-0.6% delta), the Intel Arc A730M at 45592 (-1.5% delta), and the AMD Radeon Pro 580 at 44195 (1.6% delta). These comparisons show that the RTX 4070 Ti sits in a competitive performance tier, though its relevance to Barony lies in its ability to sustain high frame rates.

For Barony, the GPU's role is to handle the game's rendering workload, which includes procedural dungeon generation, particle effects, and lighting. The 12 GB VRAM is more than adequate for a roguelike of this era, and the 504.2 GB/s memory bandwidth ensures texture streaming is not a bottleneck. The data confirms that the GPU is not the limiting factor at lower resolutions, as the frame rates scale dramatically upward when moving from 4K to 1080p. At 1080p Low, the 552.9 FPS result is primarily limited by the CPU's ability to submit frames, while the GPU has ample headroom. The RTX 4070 Ti's FP32 performance of 40.09 TFLOPS provides substantial compute power, which is reflected in the consistent high frame rates across all settings at 1440p and below.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of resolution scaling that highlights the balance between CPU and GPU loads. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 552.9 FPS, which drops to 346.8 FPS at 1440p and 184.9 FPS at 4K. This represents a 37% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a 67% reduction from 1080p to 4K. The scaling is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions, where the rendering workload increases exponentially with pixel count.

Looking at High settings, the frame rates are 351.3 FPS at 1080p, 222.1 FPS at 1440p, and 116.8 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 37%, and from 1080p to 4K is 67%, mirroring the Low settings pattern. This consistency suggests that the GPU's pixel throughput becomes the primary constraint as resolution increases, irrespective of the quality preset. At 4K Ultra, the frame rate falls to 81.2 FPS, which is still playable but represents a 71% reduction from the 1080p Ultra result of 252.3 FPS.

The data indicates that at 1080p, the system is likely CPU-bound, as the frame rates exceed 350 FPS even at High settings. The CPU's 3dmark_single_thread score of 901 and passmark_single_thread score of 3296 suggest it can maintain high instruction throughput, but the diminishing returns between 1080p and 1440p (a 37% drop) versus 1440p to 4K (a 47% drop from 1440p to 4K at High settings) point to the GPU taking over as the limiting factor. At 4K, the RTX 4070 Ti's 40.09 TFLOPS compute and 208.8 GPixel/s pixel rate become the determining factors, with the CPU providing ample headroom.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 5700 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti achieves a rank of 222 out of 1702 tested combos in Barony, placing it in the top 13% of all configurations. This rank reflects the system's capability to deliver high frame rates across all tested resolutions and settings. The CPU's 84th percentile standing and the GPU's 85th percentile standing combine to produce a well-balanced pairing that excels in this title.

Relative to the nearest rival CPUs, the Ryzen 7 5700's average benchmark score of 27220 is within 1.2% of the AMD Ryzen AI 5 340 (26909) and 0.7% of the Intel Core i9-9900K (27043). This indicates that the CPU is not a differentiating factor in the combo's ranking, as its performance is tightly clustered with competitors. Similarly, the GPU's average score of 44900 is within 1.6% of the AMD Radeon Pro 580 (44195) and 1.5% of the Intel Arc A730M (45592), showing that the RTX 4070 Ti is also in a competitive performance band.

The combo rank of 222 suggests that while this system is not the absolute top performer, it is well above average. The data shows that the system can exceed 100 FPS at 4K High (116.8 FPS) and maintain over 250 FPS at 1080p Ultra (252.3 FPS), which are strong results for a roguelike game that does not typically demand extreme graphical fidelity. The ranking is likely influenced by the high frame rates achievable at 1080p and 1440p, where the CPU and GPU work in harmony to produce output that exceeds the refresh rates of most displays.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four quality settings. At 1920x1080, the system delivers 552.9 FPS on Low, 410.7 FPS on Medium, 351.3 FPS on High, and 252.3 FPS on Ultra. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 54% reduction in frame rate, which is consistent with the increasing graphical workload. The 1080p results demonstrate that the system can easily drive high-refresh-rate monitors, with even the most demanding Ultra preset exceeding 240 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates are 346.8 FPS on Low, 260.4 FPS on Medium, 222.1 FPS on High, and 161.5 FPS on Ultra. The drop from 1080p to 1440p ranges from 36% at Low to 36% at High, indicating a uniform scaling factor. The 1440p Ultra result of 161.5 FPS remains well above the 144 Hz threshold, making this resolution a sweet spot for high-refresh gaming with this combo.

At 3840x2160, the performance is 184.9 FPS on Low, 137.9 FPS on Medium, 116.8 FPS on High, and 81.2 FPS on Ultra. The 4K Ultra result of 81.2 FPS is the only measurement below 100 FPS, but it remains playable. The scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a 67% reduction at Low and a 68% reduction at Ultra, confirming that the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck at this resolution. Across all settings, the system maintains respectable frame rates, with the lowest recorded value being 81.2 FPS at 4K Ultra, which is still suitable for most gaming scenarios.

FAQ

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

A: The highest measured average FPS is 552.9, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the combo achieves an average FPS of 81.2, which is the lowest measured result but remains playable.

Q: Is the system more CPU-bound or GPU-bound at 1080p?

A: The data suggests CPU-bound behavior at 1080p, as the frame rates exceed 350 FPS even at High settings, indicating the CPU is the primary limiter while the GPU has headroom.

Q: What is the combo's ranking among all tested combinations?

A: The combo ranks 222 out of 1702 tested combinations in Barony, placing it in the top 13% of all configurations.

Q: How does the Ryzen 7 5700 compare to its nearest rival in CPU benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 7 5700's average benchmark score of 27220 is 0.7% higher than the Intel Core i9-9900K (27043) and 0.8% higher than the Intel Core i7-12700H (27006).

Q: What is the frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the frame rate drops from 351.3 FPS at 1080p to 116.8 FPS at 4K, representing a 67% reduction.