Barony

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 delivers exceptional performance in Barony, a roguelike title from 2015. The measured data shows this combination is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, with frame rates scaling dramatically as resolution decreases, ultimately hitting a CPU-imposed ceiling at 1080p. This combo ranks in the top quarter of all tested configurations, making it an outstanding choice for high-refresh-rate gameplay.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling across resolutions reveals a clear division of labor between the CPU and GPU. At 4K with High settings, the combo produces 99 FPS average. Dropping to 1440p High increases this to 189 FPS, a 90 FPS jump. At 1080p High, the average hits 299 FPS, showing that even at the highest quality preset, the system scales nearly linearly with pixel count. This indicates the RTX 4070 is the primary limiting factor at 4K, while the CPU has ample headroom.

The Low preset tells an even more revealing story about the CPU ceiling. At 4K Low, the system achieves 155 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low, it jumps to 296 FPS, and at 1080p Low, it reaches 469 FPS. The massive leap from 4K to 1440p (141 FPS) contrasts with the smaller jump from 1440p to 1080p (173 FPS), suggesting the Ryzen 7 5800X is approaching its maximum frame output at these lower resolutions. The 8-core, 16-thread processor with a 4.70 GHz boost clock is evidently capable of feeding the GPU well beyond 400 FPS in this title.

The Medium settings show a similar pattern with more granular data. At 4K Medium, the average is 115 FPS with a minimum of 98 FPS and maximum of 132 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average rises to 220 FPS (min 187, max 253), and at 1080p Medium, it hits 349 FPS (min 296, max 401). The variance between minimum and maximum frames grows at lower resolutions, which is typical when the CPU becomes the bottleneck — frame pacing becomes less consistent as the processor works harder to queue frames.

Ultra settings provide the most demanding scenario. The system manages 71 FPS at 4K Ultra, 135 FPS at 1440p Ultra, and 215 FPS at 1080p Ultra. The scaling from 4K to 1440p is a 90% improvement, while 1440p to 1080p yields a 59% gain. This non-linear scaling reinforces that the GPU is heavily strained at 4K Ultra, where it can barely maintain 60 FPS-class performance, while the CPU remains the constraining component at 1080p Ultra.

Settings Recommendations

For the optimal balance of visual fidelity and frame rate, Medium settings at 1440p present the strongest case. The measured 220 FPS average with a 187 FPS minimum comfortably exceeds 144 Hz refresh rates, while the 115 FPS at 4K Medium offers a playable but less fluid experience. At 1080p Medium, the 349 FPS average is far beyond what most displays can show, making the extra pixels of 1440p a better use of the GPU's capabilities.

High settings at 1440p are also highly recommended, delivering 189 FPS average. This preset sacrifices only 31 FPS compared to Medium while presumably offering better visual quality. For users with 144 Hz monitors, both High and Medium at 1440p provide sufficient headroom. The data shows that High at 4K (99 FPS) is borderline for 100 Hz displays, while Ultra at 4K (71 FPS) is best reserved for users who prioritize image quality over smoothness.

At 1080p, Ultra settings at 215 FPS are the sensible choice for competitive play, as the frame rate remains well above 144 Hz while maximizing graphical detail. Low settings at any resolution provide no tangible benefit given the high frame rates already achieved at higher presets — the 469 FPS at 1080p Low is wasteful when Medium offers 349 FPS with presumably better visuals. The minimum frame rates at Medium settings (296 at 1080p, 187 at 1440p, 98 at 4K) indicate good frame pacing, with averages significantly higher than the minimums.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X is a Zen 3 architecture processor codenamed Vermeer, built on TSMC's 7 nm process. It features 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and boost clock of 4.70 GHz. The 32 MB L3 cache and 4,150 million transistors on a 74 mm² die contribute to its strong gaming performance. The processor's benchmark scores show balanced single-thread and multi-thread capabilities: a 3DMark single-thread score of 943 and a max-threads score of 7,578, alongside a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15,476 and single-core score of 1,574.5.

In Barony, the CPU's role becomes evident at lower resolutions where the GPU is less stressed. The 469 FPS at 1080p Low represents a practical ceiling for this processor in this game. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 7,586 nearly matches the max-threads score of 7,578, confirming that the 16 threads are effectively utilized when needed. However, the game's roguelike nature likely doesn't scale perfectly across all cores, as the 2-thread 3DMark score of 1,846 and 4-thread score of 3,543 suggest moderate multi-threading efficiency.

The CPU's 105 W TDP and AM4 socket compatibility make it a mainstream option, and its percentile ranking of 81 indicates it outperforms most CPUs in the database. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H with an average score of 29,093 (0.1% behind), and the AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT at 28,940 (0.6% ahead of this chip). The Ryzen 7 5800X's average benchmark score of 29,123 places it just 0.4% ahead of the Intel Xeon Phi 7210 (29,245) and 0.5% ahead of the Intel Core i5-13500HX (29,270), showing it remains competitive in synthetic workloads.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Ryzen 7 5800X and RTX 4070 holds a combo rank of 883 out of 3,717 tested combinations in Barony. This places it in the top 23.8% of all configurations, which is a strong result for a mid-range-to-high-end pairing. The rank reflects the system's ability to maintain high frame rates across all tested resolutions and settings, from the 71 FPS at 4K Ultra to the 469 FPS at 1080p Low.

The ranking is particularly impressive given the game's age — Barony released in 2015, and this hardware is far more powerful than what was available then. The combo's position in the upper quartile suggests that while some combinations with newer or more expensive components achieve higher frame rates, this pairing offers an exceptional balance of CPU and GPU capabilities. The GPU's 81st percentile ranking among all GPUs and the CPU's identical 81st percentile ranking indicate these components are well-matched in overall performance.

The RTX 4070's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (0.1% behind), AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (0.4% behind), and the RTX 4080 Mobile (1.3% ahead). The desktop RTX 4070 outperforms the mobile 4080 in average score, showing the benefits of a full-power desktop implementation. The CPU's rival comparisons similarly show tight competition, with the 5800X trading blows with modern mobile and older workstation parts.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using the AD104 chip, manufactured on TSMC's 5 nm process. It features 5,888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output pipelines, along with 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1,920 MHz and boost clock of 2,475 MHz, with memory running at 1,313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). The 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth.

In Barony, the GPU's influence is most apparent at 4K resolution. The drop from 99 FPS at High settings to 71 FPS at Ultra settings represents a 28% performance loss for the visual upgrade, while the jump from Low (155 FPS) to Medium (115 FPS) costs 40 FPS. This sensitivity to settings at 4K confirms the GPU is the limiting factor at this resolution. The GPU's FP32 performance of 29.15 TFLOPS and texture rate of 455.4 GTexel/s provide ample compute for this 2015 title, but the pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s becomes a constraint at 4K Ultra.

The GPU's benchmark results show strong DirectX performance, with a PassMark DirectX 11 score of 244 and DirectX 12 score of 103. The OpenCL score of 154,858 and Vulkan score of 174,152 in Geekbench indicate robust compute capabilities. The overall PassMark G3D score of 26,927 and G2D score of 1,164 place the RTX 4070 in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37,648. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, scores 37,507 (0.4% behind), while the RTX 4080 Mobile leads by 1.3% with 38,135.

The GPU's 200 W TDP and suggested 550 W PSU requirement are modest for the performance delivered. With 12 GB of VRAM, it handles Barony's relatively simple textures with ease, and the 504.2 GB/s memory bandwidth prevents any bandwidth bottlenecks even at 4K. The GPU's end-of-life production status and 2023 release date mean it represents the previous generation, but its performance in this game remains excellent.

FAQ

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1440p with High settings?

A: The measured data shows an average of 189 FPS at 2560x1440 with High settings, with no minimum or maximum values recorded for this configuration.

Q: Is the RTX 4070 or Ryzen 7 5800X the bottleneck at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the CPU becomes the limiting factor. Evidence shows 469 FPS at Low settings, which is likely near the processor's maximum output, while the GPU could potentially render more frames at this resolution.

Q: How does this combo compare to other tested configurations?

A: This pairing ranks 883rd out of 3,717 combinations tested in Barony, placing it in the top 23.8% of all configurations in the database.

Q: What is the best settings preset for smooth gameplay at 4K?

A: Medium settings at 3840x2160 provide an average of 115 FPS with a minimum of 98 FPS, making it the highest preset that reliably stays above 100 FPS at 4K.

Q: How does the Ryzen 7 5800X compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The CPU's average benchmark score of 29,123 is 0.1% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H (29,093) and 0.6% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT (28,940), while trailing the Intel Core i5-13500HX (29,270) by 0.5%.

Q: Does the RTX 4070 perform better than the RTX 4080 Mobile in this game?

A: While specific in-game data isn't available for the mobile chip, the desktop RTX 4070 has an average benchmark score of 37,648, which is 1.3% higher than the RTX 4080 Mobile's 38,135, suggesting comparable or better overall performance.