Barony

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 570 ranks 2813th out of 2935 tested combinations in Barony. This places the combo in the bottom 5% of all tested systems, indicating that while the configuration is functional, it delivers a lower-tier experience compared to the vast majority of hardware pairings benchmarked for this title. The ranking reflects a substantial bottleneck, as the modern CPU is held back by a legacy GPU, resulting in a system that struggles to reach the upper echelons of performance in this roguelike.

How This Combo Ranks

The comboRankInGame data places this pairing at 2813 out of 2935 combos, which is a percentile rank of approximately 4.1. This means that 95.9% of all tested CPU-GPU combinations deliver better performance in Barony. The position is a direct consequence of the immense generational gap between the two components. The CPU sits in the 94th percentile among all processors, while the GPU sits in the 74th percentile among all graphics cards; however, the combination of the two yields a result far lower than either component's individual standing.

This rank disparity illustrates a classic performance ceiling scenario. The Ryzen 7 9700F, with an average benchmark score of 69996, is a top-tier processor capable of handling the game's logic with ease. However, the RX 570, with an average benchmark score of 28766, cannot translate that CPU potential into frame rate. The data suggests that in Barony, the system is almost entirely GPU-limited, dragging the overall combo ranking down to a level that does not reflect the CPU's capabilities. The 4K Ultra result of 21 FPS and the 1080p Low result of 138 FPS highlight the wide performance swing possible, but the average experience across all settings and resolutions is clearly constrained by the graphics card.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 570 is a Polaris 20 chip built on a 14 nm process, featuring 2048 shading units and 32 ROPs. Its memory configuration is 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s. The card's base clock is 1168 MHz with a boost clock of 1244 MHz. These specifications are dated, and the benchmark results reflect that, with the GPU achieving a percentile rank of 74 among all tested GPUs.

In Barony, the GPU's role is the primary limiting factor. The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern of performance degradation as resolution and settings increase, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario. At 1080p Low, the card produces 138 FPS, indicating it can handle simple rendering tasks. However, moving to 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 21, which is a 84.8% reduction. This steep decline is due to the card's limited 4 GB VRAM and its older GCN 4.0 architecture struggling with the fill-rate and memory bandwidth demands of higher resolutions. The card's nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 470, has an average score of 28996, which is 0.8% higher, showing that the RX 570 is positioned at the lower end of the performance spectrum even among older cards.

The GPU's memory bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s and its 4 GB frame buffer are insufficient for smooth 4K gameplay in Barony, as evidenced by the average FPS of 29 at 4K High. The card is end-of-life, and its performance in this game confirms that it is best suited for 1080p gaming at lower presets, where it can deliver playable frame rates.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F is a Zen 5 (Granite Ridge) architecture processor with 8 cores and 16 threads. It operates at a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. This CPU supports DDR5 memory with a dual-channel bus and has a large 32 MB shared L3 cache. Its benchmark scores are impressive, with a Passmark single-thread score of 4691 and a multithread score of 36470, placing it in the 94th percentile of all CPUs.

In the context of Barony, the CPU's role is to handle the game's logic, which includes procedural generation and entity updates. The data shows that the CPU is not the bottleneck in this combo. For instance, at 1080p Low, the system achieves 138 FPS, but the CPU is likely capable of far more. The nearest CPU rivals, such as the Intel Core i7-14700KF with an average score of 70163 (0.2% higher) and the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X with an average score of 69515 (0.7% lower), show that the 9700F is in elite company performance-wise.

The high CPU performance is evident when comparing the FPS at the same settings but different resolutions. At 1080p High, the system hits 88 FPS, but at 1440p High, it drops to 56 FPS, a 36.4% decrease. This drop is attributable to the GPU's workload increasing, not the CPU's. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the FPS would remain relatively constant across resolutions. Therefore, the Ryzen 7 9700F provides ample headroom for Barony, and its capabilities are effectively underutilized due to the GPU's limitations.

FAQ

Q: Why does the combo rank so low despite having a powerful CPU?

A: The combo rank of 2813 out of 2935 is determined by the combined performance of both components. The GPU, an AMD Radeon RX 570, is the limiting factor. Its average benchmark score of 28766 is significantly lower than the CPU's score of 69996, and in Barony, the GPU's rendering speed dictates the final frame rate, pulling the combo's overall rank down to the bottom 5%.

Q: What is the best resolution and settings for this combo?

A: Based on the measured FPS data, 1080p Low provides the best playable experience, with an average FPS of 138. While 1080p Medium also offers a smooth 103 FPS, the Low preset ensures maximum headroom for min-FPS drops, which are not recorded for most settings but are implied by the overall performance.

Q: How does the RX 570 compare to its closest rival, the RX 470?

A: The RX 570 has an average benchmark score of 28766, while its nearest rival, the RX 470, has an average score of 28996. This makes the RX 570 0.8% slower than the RX 470 in general benchmarks, indicating they are nearly identical in performance.

Q: Is the 4 GB VRAM on the RX 570 sufficient for 4K gaming in Barony?

A: No. The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 21, and at 4K Medium, it is 34. These low frame rates suggest that the 4 GB frame buffer is overwhelmed at 2160p, causing significant performance degradation compared to 1080p, where the same settings yield 63 and 103 FPS, respectively.

Q: Does the Ryzen 7 9700F bottleneck the RX 570 in this game?

A: No, the data indicates the opposite. The CPU is far more powerful than the GPU. For example, at High settings, the FPS drops from 88 at 1080p to 56 at 1440p. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would not drop so significantly with increased resolution, proving the GPU is the limiting component.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling across resolutions provides a clear picture of where the performance bottleneck lies. At Low settings, the average FPS is 138 at 1080p, 87 at 1440p, and 46 at 4K. This represents a 37.0% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a 66.7% drop from 1080p to 4K. This pattern is typical of a GPU-bound system, where increasing pixel count places a heavier load on the graphics card.

At High settings, the scaling is similar but with lower absolute numbers: 88 FPS at 1080p, 56 FPS at 1440p (a 36.4% drop), and 29 FPS at 4K (a 67.0% drop). The consistent 36-37% drop from 1080p to 1440p and the 66-67% drop from 1080p to 4K across both settings indicate that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are being saturated. The CPU's performance is not affected by resolution, so the consistent percentage drops confirm that the Radeon RX 570 is the sole component determining frame rate in this title.

The most extreme example is the 4K Ultra setting, which averages only 21 FPS. This is a 66.7% reduction from the 1080p Ultra average of 63 FPS. The card's 224.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 4 GB VRAM are simply inadequate for the demands of 4K rendering, making the game nearly unplayable at that resolution. The data shows that 1080p is the only resolution where this combo can achieve consistently high frame rates, while 1440p is borderline playable at lower settings.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience per the measured rows, the optimal settings for this combo are 1080p with the Low preset. This configuration yields an average FPS of 138, which is well above the threshold for smooth, responsive gameplay. While the Medium preset at 1080p offers a slightly higher visual quality at 103 FPS, the Low preset provides a more significant performance buffer for complex scenes common in roguelikes.

At 1440p, the Low preset is the only viable option for high refresh rates, averaging 87 FPS. The High preset at 1440p drops to 56 FPS, which may be acceptable for some but is not ideal for a game requiring precise inputs. The 4K resolution is not recommended for this combo, as even the Low preset only averages 46 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to a slideshow-like 21 FPS.

The data suggests that the "High" preset is a poor choice across all resolutions, as it offers a significant FPS penalty over Medium without a proportional jump in playability. For instance, at 1080p, going from Medium to High drops the average FPS from 103 to 88, a 14.6% decrease, while the visual difference in a roguelike is often minimal. Therefore, the Low or Medium preset at 1080p is the sweet spot, providing a balance between visual fidelity and the high, consistent frame rates that this game benefits from.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a granular look at performance across all tested configurations. At 1920x1080, the results are as follows:

• Low: 138 average FPS
• Medium: 103 average FPS, with a min of 87 and a max of 118
• High: 88 average FPS
• Ultra: 63 average FPS

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drops significantly:

• Low: 87 average FPS
• Medium: 65 average FPS, with a min of 55 and a max of 74
• High: 56 average FPS
• Ultra: 40 average FPS

At 3840x2160, the frame rates become marginal:

• Low: 46 average FPS
• Medium: 34 average FPS, with a min of 29 and a max of 39
• High: 29 average FPS
• Ultra: 21 average FPS

The Medium settings are the only rows with min and max FPS data. At 1080p Medium, the min FPS of 87 indicates that the combo can maintain a playable frame rate even in demanding scenes. At 1440p Medium, the min FPS drops to 55, which is still borderline playable. The 4K Medium min FPS of 29 confirms that 4K is not suitable for this hardware. The gap between the Low and Ultra presets at each resolution is substantial, with Ultra performing roughly half as well as Low, highlighting the GPU's struggle with higher graphical fidelity.