Barony

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 delivers a broad spread of performance in Barony, with frame rates that scale from comfortably playable at 4K Ultra to exceptionally high at 1080p Low. The measured data shows this combination ranks 451st out of 1702 tested combos, placing it in the upper quartile of all systems evaluated for this roguelike title. The benchmark results reveal a configuration that is heavily influenced by resolution and settings, with the CPU taking a more prominent role as graphical load decreases.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K clearly illustrates where the performance bottleneck shifts. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 466.5 FPS, which drops to 297.5 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 157.2 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 66% reduction in frame rate from 1080p Low to 4K Low, indicating that even at the lowest graphical preset, the transition to higher resolutions imposes a substantial load on the rendering pipeline.

The scaling pattern becomes more pronounced at higher settings. Moving from 1080p Ultra at 214 FPS to 1440p Ultra at 134.5 FPS results in a 37% performance loss, while the jump to 4K Ultra at 72 FPS represents an additional 46% drop. The data suggests that at 4K Ultra, the GPU is operating near its limits, as the 72 FPS figure is the lowest recorded across all tested configurations. Conversely, at 1080p Low, the 466.5 FPS result indicates that the CPU is likely the primary limiting factor, as the graphics card has ample headroom to push frame rates well beyond typical display refresh rates.

The medium settings tier shows a similar trend, with 348 FPS at 1080p falling to 221.5 FPS at 1440p and 113 FPS at 4K. The high settings tier follows the same pattern: 299.8 FPS at 1080p, 190.4 FPS at 1440p, and 96.9 FPS at 4K. The consistency of these scaling ratios across settings suggests that Barony's rendering demands scale predictably with resolution, and the RTX 4070's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory is sufficient to handle the increased pixel throughput without hitting capacity limits.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 7 9700X brings 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 5 architecture, running at a base clock of 3.80 GHz with a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. The processor's benchmark scores reflect strong multi-threaded and single-threaded capabilities: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 31588 and a single-core score of 4459. In 3DMark, the 16-thread test yields 9824, while the single-thread test produces 1280. These figures indicate a CPU that can handle both lightly-threaded game logic and more demanding parallel workloads.

In Barony, the CPU's influence is most apparent at lower resolutions where the GPU is not the bottleneck. The 466.5 FPS result at 1080p Low demonstrates that the processor can sustain extremely high frame rates, suggesting that the game's simulation and AI logic are not overly demanding on the 8-core configuration. However, the gap between 1080p Low and 4K Low — a 309.3 FPS difference — indicates that the GPU becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases, even with minimal graphical settings.

The CPU's 32 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 89.6 GB/s bandwidth provide sufficient data throughput for the game's procedural generation and item interactions common in roguelike titles. The processor's 89th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 36029, places it slightly above the Intel Core i5-14500HX (35940, +0.2%) and just below the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H (36165, -0.4%). This positioning suggests balanced performance that rarely becomes a limiting factor in this game's frame delivery.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 7 9700X and RTX 4070 achieves a rank of 451 out of 1702 tested combos in Barony, placing it in the 73rd percentile of all configurations evaluated. This ranking reflects a system that delivers strong performance but is not at the absolute top tier, where more powerful GPUs or CPUs with higher multi-threaded scores would likely dominate.

The GPU's individual standing supports this assessment. The RTX 4070 holds an 81st percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37283. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (37507, -0.6%), which slightly outperforms it, and the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A (38008, -1.9%), which shows a larger margin. The RTX 4080 Mobile (38135, -2.2%) also ranks above, while the AMD Radeon RX 5300M (36371, +2.5%) trails behind. This competitive positioning means the combo's overall rank is driven primarily by the GPU's mid-to-high tier placement rather than any exceptional synergy between the components.

The CPU's 89th percentile ranking is notably higher than the GPU's 81st percentile, indicating that the processor has more headroom relative to its peers than the graphics card does. This imbalance suggests that in Barony, the RTX 4070 is more likely to be the performance ceiling, particularly at higher resolutions and settings where the GPU's rendering capabilities are fully utilized.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. Low settings produce 466.5 FPS, Medium reaches 348 FPS, High achieves 299.8 FPS, and Ultra drops to 214 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 252.5 FPS, demonstrating that graphical settings have a significant impact on performance even when the resolution is modest. The 1080p results suggest that players prioritizing maximum frame rates for competitive play can expect well over 200 FPS even at the highest preset.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down proportionally. Low settings yield 297.5 FPS, Medium produces 221.5 FPS, High reaches 190.4 FPS, and Ultra drops to 134.5 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 163 FPS, indicating that the GPU is beginning to exert more influence on performance as pixel count increases. The 1440p Ultra result of 134.5 FPS remains well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, providing ample headroom for high-refresh-rate monitors.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates become more modest but remain playable. Low settings achieve 157.2 FPS, Medium reaches 113 FPS, High produces 96.9 FPS, and Ultra drops to 72 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the only configuration that approaches the lower bounds of typical gaming performance, though 72 FPS still meets the standard for smooth motion. The scaling from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings shows a 66% reduction in frame rate, from 214 FPS to 72 FPS, which aligns with the increased pixel workload of 4K resolution.

GPU Role

The RTX 4070 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process, featuring 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1920 MHz with a boost clock of 2475 MHz, and its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory runs at an effective 21 Gbps across a 192-bit bus, yielding 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is sufficient for Barony's texture and asset requirements, which are typical of a 2015-era roguelike, and the 12 GB capacity provides ample headroom for the game's resolution scaling.

The GPU's compute capabilities are substantial, with an FP32 throughput of 29.15 TFLOPS and a pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s. These specifications support the frame rates observed in the measured data, particularly at 1440p and below where the GPU can maintain high utilization. The 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores are present but not directly relevant to Barony's rendering pipeline, which does not feature ray-traced effects.

The GPU's benchmark scores demonstrate consistent performance across different APIs. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test yields 3854, while Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan scores are 168006 and 157352 respectively. The Passmark G3D score of 26927 and GPU compute score of 14720 further confirm the card's balanced performance profile. The RTX 4070's 81st percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37283, places it slightly below the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (37507, -0.6%) but ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 5300M (36371, +2.5%). This positioning indicates that while the GPU is not a top-tier performer, it delivers solid frame rates in Barony across all tested resolutions and settings, with the 4K Ultra result of 72 FPS being the only figure that approaches typical 60 FPS gaming thresholds.