Barony

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F paired with the Intel Arc B570 delivers a wide spread of performance in Barony, a roguelike that scales dramatically with both resolution and preset. The data shows a system that can comfortably exceed high-refresh 1080p expectations at lower settings but which tightens up considerably as pixel count and visual fidelity rise, placing the combo in the 2344th position out of 2935 tested configurations. This pairing presents a curious case of a high-end 8-core CPU anchoring a mid-range GPU, with benchmark results indicating that the graphics card becomes the dominant limiting factor at higher resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a predictable but steep decline in average frame rates as resolution increases, which strongly implicates the Intel Arc B570 as the primary bottleneck in this system. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves a very high average of 245 FPS, but moving to 1440p drops this to 154 FPS, and 4K further reduces it to 81 FPS. This represents a 67% reduction in performance from 1080p Low to 4K Low, a scaling pattern that points directly at pixel throughput limits rather than CPU constraints.

The scaling becomes more pronounced when examining the High preset. The average frame rate falls from 156 FPS at 1080p to 99 FPS at 1440p, and then to 52 FPS at 4K. This is a 67% drop from 1080p to 4K, almost identical to the Low preset's scaling. The consistency of this percentage across different settings suggests that the GPU's raw fillrate and bandwidth are the constraining factors, as the Ryzen 7 9700F with its 8 cores and 16 threads is unlikely to be the limiting component at these resolutions.

The transition from Medium to Ultra settings at each resolution provides further insight. At 1080p, the average FPS falls from 182 on Medium to 112 on Ultra, a 38% drop. At 1440p, the same transition sees a drop from 115 to 71 FPS, a 38% reduction. At 4K, the Medium preset averages 60 FPS while Ultra averages only 37 FPS, a 38% decrease as well. This consistent 38% penalty for moving from Medium to Ultra across all resolutions indicates that the additional graphical effects and shading complexity in Ultra place a proportional load on the GPU, independent of the resolution's pixel count.

What is particularly telling is the comparison between the Low and Ultra presets at the same resolution. At 4K, the gap between Low (81 FPS) and Ultra (37 FPS) is a massive 119% difference. This suggests that while the GPU is certainly resolution-limited, it still has significant headroom to render more complex scenes at 4K, just not at frame rates that would be considered smooth for fast-paced action. The data indicates that for this roguelike, the GPU's 10 GB of GDDR6 memory and 380.0 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for the textures at 4K, but the 2304 shading units are struggling to process the increased fragment work.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 2344 out of 2935 tested combinations places it in the lower 20% of all configurations tested for Barony. This ranking is notable because it sits far below what one might expect from the individual components' standalone benchmarks. The CPU itself holds a 94th percentile ranking against all CPUs, and the GPU holds a 65th percentile ranking against all GPUs, yet their combined performance in this specific game places them in the 80th percentile from the bottom. This discrepancy suggests that Barony may not be particularly well-optimized for this hardware combination, or that the game's engine is sensitive to certain architectural features.

When examining the CPU's nearest rivals, the Ryzen 7 9700F's average benchmark score of 69996 places it in a tight pack. It is 0.2% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (score 69875) and 0.7% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (score 69515), while sitting 0.2% behind the Intel Core i7-14700KF (score 70163) and 0.9% ahead of the Intel Core i7-14700K (score 69355). These deltas are incredibly small, all within 1% of each other, indicating that the CPU's processing power is not a distinguishing factor in this game's performance. The bottleneck clearly lies elsewhere.

The GPU's nearest rivals show a similar clustering. The Intel Arc B570's average benchmark score of 20556 is virtually identical to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (score 20534, delta 0.1%) and the Intel Arc A750 (score 20582, delta -0.1%). It also sits within 0.5% of the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (score 20480) and the AMD Radeon R9 M390X (score 20662). This grouping suggests that the Arc B570's raw compute capability is on par with a mobile RTX 3070, which is a reasonable expectation for a desktop card with a 150 W TDP.

Given these near-identical rival scores, the combo's low rank in Barony cannot be attributed to a weak CPU or a weak GPU in isolation. Rather, the data implies that the game's engine may not scale well with the Xe2-HPG architecture's specific features, or that driver overhead is limiting performance in this particular title. The fact that the 4K Ultra preset only manages 37 FPS, while the GPU's own Passmark G3D score of 14195 suggests it should handle more, points toward potential optimization issues within the game itself.

FAQ

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

A: The highest recorded average FPS is 245, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low preset. This drops to 154 FPS at 1440p Low and 81 FPS at 4K Low.

Q: How does the Ryzen 7 9700F compare to its closest rival in terms of benchmark score?

A: The Ryzen 7 9700F has an average benchmark score of 69996, which is 0.2% lower than the Intel Core i7-14700KF's score of 70163. It is 0.2% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX's score of 69875.

Q: Is the Intel Arc B570 more powerful than the RTX 3070 Mobile?

A: The average benchmark scores are nearly identical. The Arc B570 scores 20556, while the RTX 3070 Mobile scores 20534, giving the Arc B570 a marginal 0.1% lead. This is within the margin of error.

Q: What is the FPS penalty for moving from Medium to Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Medium preset averages 115 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 71 FPS. This represents a 38% reduction in average FPS when moving to Ultra settings.

Q: Does the 4K Medium preset maintain a playable frame rate?

A: The 4K Medium preset averages 60 FPS, with a minimum recorded FPS of 51 and a maximum of 69. This is a playable frame rate for most users, though it dips below 60 FPS at times.

Q: How does this combo rank relative to all other tested combinations?

A: The combo ranks 2344th out of 2935 tested combinations for Barony. This places it in the lower 20% of all tested configurations, despite the individual components having above-average benchmark scores.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the system is clearly CPU-bound at lower settings, with the Low preset hitting 245 FPS average. The Medium preset delivers 182 FPS with a minimum of 155 and a maximum of 209, showing good frame pacing. High settings produce 156 FPS average, while Ultra drops to 112 FPS. This 1080p range from 112 to 245 FPS indicates that the GPU is not the limiting factor at this resolution, and the 8-core CPU is handling the game's logic and rendering calls efficiently.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down as expected. The Low preset still manages a very high 154 FPS average, which is a 37% drop from 1080p Low. Medium settings produce 115 FPS with a minimum of 98 and a maximum of 132, while High settings average 99 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p yields 71 FPS average. This resolution represents a sweet spot for the combo, as even the most demanding preset stays above 70 FPS, providing a smooth experience for most gaming scenarios.

The 3840x2160 results show where the GPU's limits become apparent. The Low preset averages 81 FPS, which is still respectable for 4K. Medium settings average 60 FPS with a minimum of 51 and maximum of 69, putting it right at the edge of smooth gameplay. The High preset drops to 52 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 37 FPS. This 4K data indicates that the Intel Arc B570 is capable of 4K gaming at lower settings, but the Ultra preset will struggle to maintain consistent frame rates, especially in graphically intense scenes.

The minimum FPS data is only available for the Medium preset across all resolutions. At 1080p, the minimum is 155 FPS; at 1440p, it is 98 FPS; and at 4K, it is 51 FPS. These minimums are relatively close to their respective averages, suggesting that the game maintains consistent frame delivery without major hitches. The lack of minimum FPS data for other presets limits analysis, but the Medium preset's figures indicate good frame time stability.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570's specifications directly explain the performance scaling observed in Barony. The GPU features 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus, providing 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration appears sufficient for the game's textures at 4K, as the performance drop from 1440p to 4K is consistent with pixel count increases rather than texture swapping issues. The GPU's clock speed is fixed at 2500 MHz for both base and boost, which is a notable characteristic that keeps performance predictable.

The GPU's compute capabilities, rated at 11.52 TFLOPS for FP32, place it in a specific performance tier. The 2304 shading units and 144 texture mapping units work together to deliver the pixel and texture rates of 200.0 GPixel/s and 360.0 GTexel/s respectively. These specifications explain why the 4K Ultra preset only achieves 37 FPS, as the pixel fillrate is being heavily taxed by the combination of high resolution and complex shading effects.

The GPU's 150 W TDP and dual-slot design indicate a mid-range power envelope, which aligns with its performance class. The PCIe 4.0 x8 interface provides adequate bandwidth for the 10 GB frame buffer, and the 18 ray tracing cores are present but likely underutilized in this roguelike title. The GPU's driver and architecture support for DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4 ensures broad compatibility, but the benchmark results suggest that Barony's engine may not fully leverage the Xe2-HPG architecture's strengths, as evidenced by the combo's low ranking.

The GPU's Passmark G3D score of 14195 and its 65th percentile ranking against all GPUs indicate it is a solid mid-range performer. However, the measured FPS in Barony at 4K Ultra, which is below 40 FPS, suggests that the game's specific rendering requirements are not well-matched to this GPU's capabilities. The 10 GB VRAM is ample for this title, as even at 4K, the memory bandwidth of 380.0 GB/s is not saturated, indicating that the bottleneck is in the shader processing rather than memory access.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1080p, all presets provide playable frame rates, but the Medium preset at 182 FPS average offers the best balance of visual quality and performance, especially considering its minimum FPS of 155. The Ultra preset at 112 FPS is still very smooth and provides the best visual experience, making it a viable choice for users with high-refresh monitors who prioritize image quality.

For 1440p gaming, the Medium preset at 115 FPS average is the recommended choice, as it delivers a high frame rate with a minimum of 98 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay even in demanding scenes. The High preset at 99 FPS is also acceptable, but it offers only a marginal visual improvement over Medium while providing 14% lower performance. The Ultra preset at 71 FPS is playable but may feel less responsive on 144Hz displays.

At 4K, the choices become more constrained. The Low preset at 81 FPS is the only setting that consistently exceeds 60 FPS, making it the recommended choice for competitive play or smooth exploration. The Medium preset at 60 FPS average is viable but its 51 FPS minimum means it will occasionally dip below 60 FPS, which could cause noticeable stutters. The High and Ultra presets at 52 FPS and 37 FPS respectively are not recommended for 4K gaming on this hardware, as they fail to provide a consistently smooth experience.

The data suggests that the Medium preset offers the most consistent frame delivery, as it is the only preset with recorded minimum and maximum FPS values. This consistency is important for a roguelike game where unpredictable events can occur, and frame drops can impact reaction times. For users with adaptive sync displays, the Medium preset at 1440p provides the widest safety margin, keeping frame rates well above 90 FPS even in the worst-case scenarios.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F plays a supporting but important role in this combo's performance. With 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 5 architecture, the CPU has a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. The 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 1 MB L2 cache per core provide ample fast storage for game data. The CPU's Passmark single-thread score of 4691 and multithread score of 36470 indicate strong processing power, but in Barony, the CPU does not appear to be the bottleneck at higher resolutions.

The evidence for this is clear in the resolution scaling. The fact that 1080p Low achieves 245 FPS while 4K Low only achieves 81 FPS, despite the CPU's capabilities remaining constant, shows that the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU's 94th percentile ranking and its average benchmark score of 69996, which is within 1% of its nearest rivals, confirm that it provides more than enough processing headroom for this game.

The CPU's 65 W TDP and 4 nm process node allow it to maintain high clock speeds without excessive power draw, which is beneficial for sustained gaming sessions. The DDR5 memory support with 89.6 GB/s bandwidth ensures that the CPU can feed data to the GPU efficiently. However, in Barony, the CPU's role is primarily to handle game logic, AI, and physics calculations, which are not particularly demanding for a 2025-era 8-core processor.

The nearest rival comparisons show that the CPU's performance is virtually identical to several other high-end processors. It is 0.2% ahead of the Ryzen 9 7940HX and 0.7% ahead of the Ryzen 9 7950X, while being 0.2% behind the Core i7-14700KF. This clustering indicates that upgrading or downgrading the CPU within this performance class would have minimal impact on Barony's frame rates. The game's performance is clearly dominated by the GPU's capabilities, particularly at 1440p and 4K resolutions where the CPU has ample time to prepare frames while the GPU is still rendering the previous one.