Barony

# Barony with AMD Ryzen 7 9700X + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER

This pairing of an 8-core Zen 5 processor with a Turing-generation GPU lands at rank 1056 out of 1702 tested combinations in Barony, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database. The combo sits at the 62nd percentile of all tested configurations, which is a surprisingly modest position given the CPU's strength—but the data reveals that this game's performance is heavily constrained by the graphics card, not the processor. The RTX 2070 SUPER, with its 65th percentile ranking among all GPUs, becomes the clear bottleneck in most scenarios, while the Ryzen 7 9700X's 89th percentile standing among CPUs goes largely underutilized at lower resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The rank of 1056 out of 1702 tested combos means roughly 62% of configurations outperform this pairing in Barony, while 38% fall behind. This is a notable gap from what the individual component rankings might suggest—the CPU alone outperforms 89% of all processors, and the GPU outperforms 65% of all graphics cards. The combination's rank is dragged down primarily by the GPU, which is the limiting factor in most Barony scenarios. When examining the GPU's nearest rivals, the RTX 2070 SUPER's average benchmark score of 22206 sits just 0.5% below the NVIDIA RTX A400, 0.9% above the GTX TITAN Z, and 2.5% above the AMD Radeon RX 5700. The RTX 4060 Mobile leads this group by 2.3%, suggesting the desktop 2070 SUPER is competitive with modern mid-range mobile parts. This ranking context matters because Barony appears to be a GPU-bound title at higher settings—the CPU's strong benchmark scores (Cinebench R23 multicore of 31588, single-core of 4459) cannot compensate for the GPU's mid-pack positioning when frame rates are driven by rasterization throughput.

GPU Role

The RTX 2070 SUPER brings 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth—a configuration that proves sufficient for Barony's needs across all tested resolutions. The GPU's base clock of 1605 MHz boosts to 1770 MHz, and its 2560 shading units handle the game's roguelike rendering demands with reasonable efficiency. The memory runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective), which at 4K Ultra settings yields 48 FPS average—the lowest measured result in the entire dataset. The GPU's FP32 throughput of 9.062 TFLOPS and texture rate of 283.2 GTexel/s provide the raw compute foundation, while 40 RT cores and 320 tensor cores remain largely idle in this title, as Barony does not appear to leverage ray tracing or DLSS features. The 65th percentile GPU ranking places it among capable but not exceptional performers; its nearest rival, the RTX 4060 Mobile, edges it out by 2.3% in average benchmark score, yet the desktop card's higher sustained clocks likely explain its competitive standing against newer mobile silicon.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic GPU-bound pattern. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 318.1 FPS at 1920x1080 to 197.4 FPS at 2560x1440 (a 37.9% reduction), then to 104.8 FPS at 3840x2160 (a 46.9% further reduction from 1440p). This steep decline indicates the GPU is the primary constraint—if the CPU were limiting, the frame rate would remain relatively flat across resolutions. At Ultra settings, the scaling is even more pronounced: 146.3 FPS at 1080p falls to 90.2 FPS at 1440p (38.3% drop) and then to 48 FPS at 4K (46.8% drop). The 4K Ultra result of 48 FPS barely maintains playability, while 4K High achieves 69 FPS—a 43.8% improvement over Ultra. The data suggests that at 1080p, the CPU's 8 cores and 16 threads have enough headroom to feed the GPU, but as resolution climbs, the GPU's pixel and texture throughput becomes the deciding factor. The RTX 2070 SUPER's pixel rate of 113.3 GPixel/s and texture rate of 283.2 GTexel/s are the specifications that ultimately govern these results.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data across twelve settings-resolution combinations points to High as the optimal balance for most users. At 1920x1080, High delivers 200.4 FPS—more than double the 146.3 FPS of Ultra, while looking substantially better than Low's 318.1 FPS. The 1440p High result of 124.4 FPS remains above the 120 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, making this the sweet spot for high-refresh monitors. At 4K, High's 69 FPS is the only preset that clears the 60 FPS playability bar; Ultra drops to 48 FPS, which may be acceptable for slower-paced roguelike gameplay but falls short of smooth standards. Medium settings offer incremental gains over High—79.9 FPS at 4K and 146.8 FPS at 1440p—but the visual quality difference between Medium and High is typically more noticeable than the frame rate gap. For competitive play at 1080p, Low's 318.1 FPS provides maximum responsiveness, but the game's roguelike genre does not demand such extreme frame rates. The data clearly favors High as the default recommendation, with Ultra reserved for users who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate at 1440p or below.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RTX 2070 SUPER delivers a wide range of performance depending on preset. Low settings achieve 318.1 FPS average, Medium drops to 236.5 FPS (25.7% lower), High reaches 200.4 FPS (15.3% below Medium), and Ultra falls to 146.3 FPS (27.0% below High). This scaling suggests diminishing returns on GPU load as settings climb—the jump from Low to Medium costs 81.6 FPS, while High to Ultra costs 54.1 FPS, indicating that Ultra's additional effects impose a significant but not catastrophic penalty.

At 2560x1440, the pattern continues with lower absolute numbers. Low runs at 197.4 FPS, Medium at 146.8 FPS (25.6% drop), High at 124.4 FPS (15.3% drop from Medium), and Ultra at 90.2 FPS (27.5% drop from High). The percentage drops between settings remain remarkably consistent across resolutions, confirming that each preset tier imposes a similar relative cost regardless of pixel count.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates become more demanding. Low achieves 104.8 FPS, Medium drops to 79.9 FPS (23.8% lower), High reaches 69 FPS (13.6% below Medium), and Ultra falls to 48 FPS (30.4% below High). The 4K Ultra result represents the most demanding configuration in the dataset, and the 48 FPS average indicates the GPU is working near its limits. The 4K High result of 69 FPS is notable—it represents the highest preset that maintains 60+ FPS at this resolution, making it the practical ceiling for this combination.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X, with its 8 cores and 16 threads, provides far more processing power than Barony appears to require. Its base clock of 3.80 GHz and boost clock of 5.50 GHz, combined with 32 MB of shared L3 cache, deliver strong single-threaded performance—evidenced by Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4459 and 3DMark single-thread score of 1280. The CPU's 89th percentile ranking among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 36029, places it just 0.2% above the Intel Core i5-14500HX and 0.6% above the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845, while trailing the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H by 0.4% and the Ultra 5 225H by 0.8%. In Barony, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic, and the data suggests it does so effortlessly—the FPS scaling patterns across resolutions indicate GPU-bound performance at every settings level. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 9824 and max-thread score of 9771 show strong multi-threading capabilities, but the game likely uses only a fraction of these resources. The CPU's 65W TDP and 4 nm process node (TSMC) make it an efficient choice, though the GPU's 215W TDP dominates the system's power profile. For this title, the 9700X is effectively overkill—its capabilities would be better utilized in CPU-intensive games or productivity workloads.

FAQ

Q: Is this combination capable of running Barony at 4K?

A: Yes, but only at High settings, which achieves 69 FPS average. Ultra drops to 48 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. Low and Medium reach 104.8 FPS and 79.9 FPS respectively at 4K.

Q: Which preset delivers the best frame rate at 1080p?

A: Low settings achieve the highest average of 318.1 FPS, followed by Medium at 236.5 FPS, High at 200.4 FPS, and Ultra at 146.3 FPS. The choice depends on whether visual quality or raw frame rate is prioritized.

Q: How does the RTX 2070 SUPER compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: Its average benchmark score of 22206 is 0.5% below the NVIDIA RTX A400, 0.9% above the GTX TITAN Z, 2.5% above the AMD Radeon RX 5700, and 2.3% below the RTX 4060 Mobile.

Q: What CPU benchmark scores does the Ryzen 7 9700X achieve?

A: It scores 31588 in Cinebench R23 multicore, 4459 in single-core, 9824 in 3DMark 16-thread, and 1280 in 3DMark single-thread. Its average benchmark score is 36029, ranking in the 89th percentile of all CPUs.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in Barony?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor. Frame rates drop consistently as resolution increases at every settings level, which is the signature of GPU-bound performance. The CPU's strong benchmark scores are not fully utilized in this title.

Q: What is the best resolution-to-settings combination for this hardware?

A: High settings at 1440p offer the best balance, achieving 124.4 FPS average. This provides smooth gameplay while maintaining visual quality. For 4K, High settings at 69 FPS is the highest playable option, and at 1080p, High delivers 200.4 FPS for high-refresh displays.