Barony

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination delivers exceptional performance in Barony, a roguelike title from 2015. The measured data shows this pairing is not merely adequate but overwhelmingly dominant, with frame rates that remain playable even at 4K Ultra settings. The benchmark results reveal a system where the GPU is the primary scaling factor across resolutions, while the CPU provides a massive headroom that prevents any bottlenecking at lower settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 335.9 FPS at 1080p to 212.9 FPS at 1440p, then further to 112.8 FPS at 4K. This represents a significant decline of approximately 66% when moving from 1080p to 4K, indicating that the rendering workload scales heavily with pixel count. The pattern is consistent across all settings presets, with Low settings showing a drop from 523.3 FPS at 1080p to 329 FPS at 1440p and finally 169.8 FPS at 4K.

The scaling behavior suggests that at 1080p, the system is not fully utilizing the GPU's capabilities. The jump from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings only reduces performance by about 37%, which is relatively modest compared to the 48% reduction seen when moving from 1440p to 4K. This indicates that at lower resolutions, other factors such as CPU processing or memory bandwidth begin to limit the frame rate, while at 4K the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck. The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling, dropping from 241 FPS at 1080p to 152.7 FPS at 1440p and then to 81.6 FPS at 4K, a total reduction of 66% from the lowest to highest resolution.

These results imply that Barony is not particularly demanding on modern hardware, as even the most intensive 4K Ultra configuration maintains a playable frame rate above 80 FPS. The data suggests that users with high refresh rate monitors at 1080p or 1440p will experience extremely smooth gameplay, while 4K users will still enjoy a fluid experience without needing to compromise heavily on visual quality.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering a memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. The GPU operates with a base clock of 1980 MHz and a boost clock of 2475 MHz, paired with 7168 shading units and 80 ROPs. These specifications are more than sufficient for Barony, which is a roguelike game that does not feature the complex geometry or high-resolution textures typical of modern AAA titles.

The GPU's role in the measured results is most evident at 4K resolution, where the frame rate drops significantly compared to lower resolutions. At Ultra settings and 4K, the average FPS is 81.6, which is the lowest figure in the entire dataset. This suggests that even at this demanding configuration, the RTX 4070 SUPER remains well within its comfort zone, as the game's relatively simple rendering pipeline does not stress the GPU's raw compute capabilities. The 12 GB VRAM capacity is ample for Barony, and the data shows no indication of memory-related performance drops at any resolution.

The GPU's benchmark scores further contextualize its performance. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it scores 4627, while PassMark G3D shows a score of 29995. These figures place the GPU in the 84th percentile of all GPUs, with its closest rivals being the NVIDIA RTX A6000 (0.2% slower) and AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE (0.3% faster). The GPU's average benchmark score of 42576 demonstrates that it is a high-end part, but the Barony results show that the game does not fully utilize its capabilities, as even the most demanding settings produce frame rates far above typical display refresh rates.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700X is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, with a base clock of 4.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. It features 32 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR5 memory with a dual-channel configuration. The CPU's benchmark results show strong multi-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 30325 and a single-core score of 4281.

In the context of Barony, the CPU's role appears to be significant at lower resolutions where the GPU is not the limiting factor. At 1080p Low settings, the system achieves 523.3 FPS, a figure that likely approaches the CPU's maximum frame generation capability. The 16 threads provide ample processing power for the game's logic, AI, and physics calculations, allowing the GPU to render frames without waiting for the CPU to catch up. The CPU's high single-thread performance, as evidenced by its PassMark single-thread score of 4190, is particularly relevant for a roguelike game that may rely on single-threaded game logic.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 34313 places it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, with its closest rival being the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H (0.8% faster) and the AMD EPYC 4244P (0.8% slower). The 7700X's performance in Barony suggests that the game is not heavily CPU-bound, as even at 4K Ultra settings the frame rate remains above 80 FPS. However, the data indicates that at 1080p, the CPU may be the limiting component, as the frame rate scaling from 1080p to 1440p is less than proportional to the pixel count increase.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance on which settings preset offers the best experience for different priorities. For users seeking maximum frame rates, the Low preset at 1080p delivers 523.3 FPS, which is more than sufficient for even the highest refresh rate displays. However, this comes at the cost of visual quality, and the performance gain over Medium settings is substantial at 1080p, with a difference of 137 FPS.

For a balanced experience, the High preset appears to be the optimal choice. At 1440p, High settings achieve 212.9 FPS, which is only slightly lower than the Medium preset's 244.8 FPS, while providing better visual fidelity. At 4K, High settings produce 112.8 FPS, which remains well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The Ultra preset, while offering the best visuals, shows a significant performance penalty at 4K with 81.6 FPS, which may be acceptable for users with 60 Hz displays but less ideal for high refresh rate monitors.

The data suggests that Medium settings offer diminishing returns compared to High, as the frame rate difference between the two presets is relatively small at all resolutions. At 1080p, Medium produces 386.3 FPS compared to High's 335.9 FPS, a difference of only 15%. This indicates that High settings provide a better visual-to-performance ratio, making it the recommended preset for most users. For 4K users, the choice between High and Ultra is a trade-off between 112.8 FPS and 81.6 FPS, with the former being the safer choice for maintaining high refresh rates.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination ranks 300th out of 1702 tested combos in Barony, placing it in the top 17.6% of all configurations. This ranking is strong but not exceptional, suggesting that while the combo performs admirably, there are many higher-end systems that achieve better results in this particular game. The ranking likely reflects the fact that Barony is not a demanding title, and even mid-range hardware can achieve high frame rates.

The combo's ranking relative to its component scores is interesting. The CPU ranks in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU ranks in the 84th percentile of all GPUs. The combo's overall ranking in Barony is slightly lower than either component's percentile, indicating that the game may not fully utilize the capabilities of this hardware. This is supported by the measured FPS data, which shows frame rates far exceeding typical display refresh rates even at the most demanding settings.

The data implies that this combo is overkill for Barony, as the game does not present a significant challenge to either the CPU or GPU. Users with this configuration will experience flawless performance at all settings and resolutions, with the only limitation being the refresh rate of their display. The ranking also suggests that users seeking higher rankings in this game would need to invest in significantly more powerful hardware, which would likely provide minimal real-world benefit given the already high frame rates.

FAQ

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

A: The highest average FPS is 523.3, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Is this combo capable of maintaining 60 FPS at 4K Ultra settings?

A: Yes, the measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 81.6, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: The average FPS drops from 335.9 at 1080p to 112.8 at 4K, a reduction of approximately 66%.

Q: Which settings preset provides the best balance of performance and visual quality at 1440p?

A: The High preset achieves 212.9 FPS at 1440p, which is close to the Medium preset's 244.8 FPS while offering better visuals.

*Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations in Barony?*

A: It ranks 300th out of 1702 tested combos, placing it in the top 17.6% of all configurations.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p Low settings?

A: At 523.3 FPS, the CPU is likely the limiting factor, as the frame rate exceeds what most displays can show and the GPU is not fully utilized at this resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across all tested configurations. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates range from 241 FPS at Ultra settings to 523.3 FPS at Low settings, with Medium achieving 386.3 FPS and High achieving 335.9 FPS. These figures demonstrate that the combo is far more powerful than necessary for 1080p gaming, as even the most demanding settings produce frame rates that exceed the refresh rates of virtually all monitors.

At 2560x1440, the performance remains exceptionally high, with Low settings achieving 329 FPS, Medium achieving 244.8 FPS, High achieving 212.9 FPS, and Ultra achieving 152.7 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows a reduction of approximately 37% for Low settings, 37% for Medium, 37% for High, and 37% for Ultra. This consistent reduction indicates that the GPU is becoming more utilized at this resolution, but still has significant headroom.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates drop more substantially, with Low achieving 169.8 FPS, Medium achieving 127.8 FPS, High achieving 112.8 FPS, and Ultra achieving 81.6 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 4K shows a reduction of approximately 48% for Low, 48% for Medium, 47% for High, and 47% for Ultra. This larger reduction confirms that 4K resolution places a significantly higher load on the GPU, though the combo still maintains playable frame rates across all settings. The data shows a clear pattern where the GPU becomes the limiting factor at 4K, while the CPU's high performance ensures that frame rates remain consistently high even at lower resolutions.