Barony

# Barony with AMD Ryzen 7 7700 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 delivers exceptionally high frame rates in Barony, a roguelike title from 2015. Across the measured resolutions and settings, the combo never drops below 71 FPS average, indicating that this hardware pairing is far more powerful than the game demands at 4K Ultra. The data reveals a system that is heavily GPU-limited at higher resolutions and settings, while at 1080p Low, the CPU becomes the primary constraint, with frame rates soaring to 469 FPS. This analysis examines how the combo scales across resolutions, which settings offer the best experience, and how it ranks against 3,716 other tested combinations.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K tells a clear story about where the bottleneck shifts. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 469 FPS, but dropping to 1440p Low reduces that to 296 FPS, a 37% decrease. Moving from 1440p Low to 4K Low brings another drop from 296 to 155 FPS, a 48% reduction. This pattern shows that even at Low settings, resolution scaling has a massive impact, suggesting the GPU is doing significant work even when visual fidelity is minimal.

At High settings, the scaling is similar but with lower absolute numbers. The combo delivers 299 FPS at 1080p, 189 FPS at 1440p, and 99 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 37%, and from 1440p to 4K is 48%. Interestingly, these percentages mirror the Low settings scaling almost exactly, indicating that the relative cost of resolution is consistent regardless of quality preset.

Medium settings show the same pattern with 349 FPS at 1080p, 220 FPS at 1440p, and 115 FPS at 4K. The 1440p to 4K transition costs 48% performance here as well. Ultra settings produce 215 FPS at 1080p, 135 FPS at 1440p, and 71 FPS at 4K. The scaling from 1440p to 4K at Ultra is a 47% reduction, nearly identical to the other presets.

The consistent ~48% drop from 1440p to 4K across all settings strongly indicates that the RTX 4070's rendering pipeline is the limiting factor at 4K. The GPU's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are being taxed heavily when pixel count quadruples. At 1080p, however, the scaling between Low and Ultra is only 54% (from 469 to 215 FPS), which is less than resolution scaling, hinting that the CPU begins to cap performance at lower resolutions.

The data shows that 1080p Low at 469 FPS is likely near the CPU's practical limit for this game. The Ryzen 7 7700's 8 cores and 16 threads, running at a base clock of 3.80 GHz and boost of 5.30 GHz, can only push so many draw calls per second, regardless of how fast the GPU can render. This is why the jump from 1080p Low to 1080p Medium only costs 26% performance (469 to 349 FPS), while the same setting change at 4K costs 26% (155 to 115 FPS) — the GPU is equally stressed at both resolutions, but the CPU headroom at 4K allows more room for GPU-bound work.

Settings Recommendations

Examining the measured rows, the most balanced experience appears to be at Medium settings. At 1080p Medium, the combo produces 349 FPS average with a minimum of 296 FPS and maximum of 401 FPS. This delivers a remarkably smooth experience with no frame drops below 296 FPS, which is well above any display refresh rate. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 220 FPS with a minimum of 187 FPS, still providing excellent smoothness for high-refresh monitors.

For users prioritizing visual quality, Ultra at 1440p delivers 135 FPS average, which remains playable on 120Hz displays. However, the jump from High to Ultra at 1440p costs 54 FPS (189 to 135), a 29% performance penalty for the additional visual features. High settings at 1440p, producing 189 FPS, may represent the sweet spot for competitive play where frame rate matters more than subtle graphical enhancements.

At 4K, the situation becomes more constrained. High settings yield 99 FPS, which is suitable for 60Hz displays but not for high-refresh 4K panels. Ultra at 4K drops to 71 FPS, still technically playable but with less headroom for demanding scenes. Medium at 4K offers 115 FPS with a minimum of 98 FPS, making it the recommended preset for 4K gaming if the display supports 100Hz or higher.

The Low preset, while delivering 469 FPS at 1080p, 296 FPS at 1440p, and 155 FPS at 4K, likely sacrifices too much visual fidelity for a roguelike where readability of the dungeon environment matters. Barony's gameplay relies on spotting enemies, items, and environmental hazards, and the visual simplification at Low settings could hamper gameplay awareness.

The data suggests that Medium settings provide the best overall experience across all three resolutions. The minimum frame rates at Medium — 296 FPS at 1080p, 187 FPS at 1440p, and 98 FPS at 4K — are consistently higher than the average frame rates of the next lower preset at the same resolution, indicating a well-balanced quality-to-performance ratio.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination ranks 883rd out of 3,717 tested combos in Barony, placing it in the top 24% of all configurations. This ranking is notable because Barony is a 2015 roguelike with relatively modest graphical demands, yet the combo still faces competition from 882 other setups that achieve higher frame rates.

Given that the measured FPS numbers are exceptionally high — even at 4K Ultra the combo maintains 71 FPS — the ranking suggests that many other combinations may include higher-end GPUs or CPUs that push frame rates even further, particularly at 1080p where CPU limits become apparent. The Ryzen 7 7700's benchmark scores show it is a strong processor, with a multi-core score of 18,760 in Cinebench R23 and a single-core score of 1,930, placing it in the 87th percentile of all CPUs. However, its nearest rivals in the CPU benchmarks — the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365, Intel Core 5 221E, AMD Ryzen 9 270, and Intel Core i9-13905H — all have average benchmark scores within 0.6% of the 7700, indicating a tightly packed field of similar-performing processors.

The RTX 4070, with an average benchmark score of 37,648 and an 81st percentile ranking among GPUs, is also competitive but not at the absolute top. Its nearest rivals — the NVIDIA Tesla P4, AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile, and AMD Radeon PRO W6400 — all sit within 1.3% of its average score. This suggests that the combo's 883rd ranking is driven more by the presence of many higher-end configurations rather than any deficiency in this specific pairing.

The ranking implies that for Barony, this combo is among the top quarter of tested systems, but there are 882 other combinations that achieve higher frame rates. Given that the measured FPS at 1080p Low reaches 469, the ceiling for this game appears to be very high, and systems with faster CPUs (or those running at lower resolutions with less overhead) could push even higher.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average FPS achievable with this combo in Barony?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 469, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: Can this combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K Ultra settings?

A: Yes, the measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 71, which exceeds the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1440p to 4K at High settings?

A: The average FPS drops from 189 at 2560x1440 to 99 at 3840x2160, a 48% reduction.

Q: What is the lowest minimum FPS recorded across all settings and resolutions?

A: The lowest minimum FPS is 98, recorded at 3840x2160 with Medium settings.

Q: Does the combo rank in the top 20% of all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 883rd out of 3,717, placing it in the top 24% but not the top 20%.

Q: What is the difference in average FPS between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Low produces 469 FPS while Ultra produces 215 FPS, a difference of 254 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 plays a critical role in determining frame rates at higher resolutions and settings in Barony. The GPU's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, which is substantial for a 2015 roguelike that likely does not utilize modern texture streaming techniques. The memory clock runs at 1313 MHz with 21 Gbps effective speed, and the GPU operates at a base clock of 1920 MHz with a boost clock of 2475 MHz.

The RTX 4070's benchmark data shows a PassMark G3D score of 26,927 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3,854, placing it in the 81st percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (0.1% higher average score), AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (0.4% higher), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (1.3% lower), and AMD Radeon PRO W6400 (1.3% higher). This tight grouping indicates that the RTX 4070 is competitively positioned, but not uniquely powerful.

The GPU's FP32 performance of 29.15 TFLOPS and texture rate of 455.4 GTexel/s provide ample raw compute for Barony's rendering needs. The 5,888 shading units and 184 texture mapping units ensure that even at 4K Ultra, the GPU can process the game's geometry and effects without becoming the primary bottleneck. The measured data supports this: at 4K Ultra, the combo still achieves 71 FPS, suggesting the GPU has headroom even in the most demanding configuration tested.

However, the GPU's role becomes more pronounced at higher resolutions. The consistent 48% performance drop from 1440p to 4K across all settings indicates that the RTX 4070's rendering capacity — likely limited by its 192-bit memory bus and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth — is what caps performance when pixel count increases. At 1080p, the GPU is less stressed, allowing CPU-bound frame rates to emerge.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700's contribution to Barony's performance is most evident at lower resolutions and settings where frame rates exceed 300 FPS. The CPU's 8 cores and 16 threads, based on the Zen 4 Raphael architecture built on a 5 nm process, operate at a base clock of 3.80 GHz and boost to 5.30 GHz. This configuration provides strong single-threaded performance, as evidenced by the Geekbench single-core score of 2,525 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1,930.

The CPU's multi-threaded capabilities are also substantial, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 18,760 and a PassMark multi-thread score of 34,470. These scores place the 7700 in the 87th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 40,081. Its nearest rivals — the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365, Intel Core 5 221E, AMD Ryzen 9 270, and Intel Core i9-13905H — all have average scores within 0.6%, indicating that the 7700 is not an outlier but rather part of a competitive mid-range segment.

In Barony, the CPU's role appears to be the limiting factor at 1080p Low, where the combo achieves 469 FPS. This is likely near the maximum frame rate the CPU can generate for this game's simulation and draw call processing. The fact that 1080p Medium only reduces FPS to 349 (a 26% drop) while 1440p Low drops to 296 (a 37% drop from 1080p Low) suggests that the CPU is still capable of feeding the GPU at 1080p Medium, but the GPU becomes the constraint as resolution increases.

The CPU's 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 1 MB L2 per core help maintain low latency for game logic, which is critical in a roguelike where procedural generation and AI decisions occur frequently. The 83.2 GB/s dual-channel DDR5 memory bandwidth supports rapid data access, though Barony's memory footprint is likely small enough that this is not a major factor. The CPU's 65 W TDP indicates efficient operation, but its 5.30 GHz boost clock ensures that single-threaded workloads — common in game logic — are processed quickly.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 469 FPS, which is the maximum measured in the entire dataset. Medium settings reduce the average to 349 FPS, with a minimum of 296 FPS and maximum of 401 FPS. High settings yield 299 FPS average, and Ultra settings drop to 215 FPS average. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 254 FPS, showing that settings have a substantial impact even at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but with more pronounced drops. Low settings average 296 FPS, Medium averages 220 FPS with a minimum of 187 FPS and maximum of 253 FPS, High averages 189 FPS, and Ultra averages 135 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 161 FPS, narrower than at 1080p but still significant. The Medium preset's minimum of 187 FPS is particularly noteworthy, as it remains well above the 144 FPS threshold for high-refresh monitors.

At 3840x2160, the combo still delivers playable frame rates but with a clear GPU bottleneck. Low settings average 155 FPS, Medium averages 115 FPS with a minimum of 98 FPS and maximum of 132 FPS, High averages 99 FPS, and Ultra averages 71 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K provides the best balance, with a 98 FPS minimum that ensures consistent smoothness even in demanding scenes.

The data shows that the Medium preset is the only one with recorded minimum and maximum FPS values across all three resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the 296 FPS minimum and 401 FPS maximum indicate a 105 FPS variance, suggesting some frame time inconsistency. At 1440p Medium, the variance narrows to 66 FPS (187 to 253), and at 4K Medium, it narrows further to 34 FPS (98 to 132). This trend indicates that as resolution increases and the GPU becomes more consistently utilized, frame pacing becomes more stable.

The Low settings at each resolution show the largest performance headroom, with 469 FPS at 1080p, 296 FPS at 1440p, and 155 FPS at 4K. These numbers suggest that the CPU can handle even the most demanding frame rate scenarios, while the GPU's capabilities are more fully exercised at higher settings. The Ultra preset, while delivering the lowest frame rates, still maintains 71 FPS at 4K, confirming that this combo can handle Barony at maximum quality on any resolution without dropping below 60 FPS.