Barony

Barony is an older roguelike title from 2015, and the benchmark results for the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 combination show a system that is heavily skewed toward CPU performance at lower resolutions. The data reveals a pattern where the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck only at the most demanding settings and resolutions, while the processor’s high core count and clock speeds dominate at 1080p. This pairing delivers exceptionally high frame rates across the board, but the scaling behavior between settings and resolutions tells a more nuanced story about where the performance ceiling lies for this specific title.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent, but the magnitude of that drop depends heavily on the graphics settings. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 384.8 at 1920x1080 to 127.7 at 3840x2160, a reduction of roughly 257 frames per second. That represents a 66.8% performance loss when moving from the lowest resolution to the highest, which clearly indicates that at 1080p Low, the system is heavily CPU-bound. The Ryzen 9 7900X’s 12 cores and 24 threads are able to push out an enormous number of frames, but the RTX 3070 simply cannot keep pace once pixel count increases.

At Ultra settings, the scaling is less dramatic but still significant. The average FPS drops from 177.1 at 1080p to 60.9 at 4K, a reduction of 116.2 FPS or 65.6%. This suggests that even at the highest settings, the CPU is still playing a major role at 1080p, since the frame rate is far above what a GPU-bound scenario would typically produce at that resolution. The gap between 1440p and 4K at Ultra is 52.5 FPS (from 113.4 to 60.9), while the gap between 1080p and 1440p is 63.7 FPS (from 177.1 to 113.4). This relatively even distribution of performance loss across resolutions indicates that neither component is completely dominant at Ultra; instead, both are contributing to the bottleneck.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 brings 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. Its base clock is 1500 MHz with a boost clock of 1725 MHz, and the memory runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). These specifications place the card in the 72nd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 28238. Its nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT, which scores 27985 (a delta of 0.9%), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti, which scores 27956 (a delta of 1%). The RTX 3070 sits slightly ahead of both of these cards, but the differences are small enough that they would be imperceptible in real-world gaming.

In Barony specifically, the GPU’s role becomes clear when examining the 4K results. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 60.9, which is the lowest figure recorded in the entire dataset. This is the only scenario where the frame rate dips below 80 FPS, and it indicates that the 8 GB VRAM buffer and the card’s compute resources are being pushed to their limit. The transition from High to Ultra at 4K costs 22.7 FPS (from 83.6 to 60.9), which is a 27.2% reduction. This is a much larger drop than the 10.8 FPS difference between Medium and High at the same resolution (from 92.4 to 83.6), suggesting that the Ultra preset introduces a significant additional load on the GPU.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It has a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, with 64 MB of shared L3 cache. The processor’s benchmark scores are impressive: a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 43695 and a single-core score of 6168. It sits in the 93rd percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 50556. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 (50598, delta -0.1%) and the AMD Ryzen 9 5900XT (50738, delta -0.4%), both of which are statistically tied with the 7900X.

In Barony, the CPU’s influence is most apparent at 1080p Low, where the system achieves 384.8 FPS. This is a frame rate that far exceeds what most monitors can display, and it is only possible because the processor’s high single-thread performance (a Geekbench single-core score of 2952) allows it to feed the GPU with an enormous number of draw calls. The gap between Low and Medium at 1080p is 99.7 FPS (from 384.8 to 285.1), which shows that even modest increases in graphics load start to shift the bottleneck toward the GPU. The 7900X’s 24 threads are likely overkill for Barony, as the game is a roguelike that does not typically scale well beyond a few cores, but the high clock speeds ensure that the CPU is never the limiting factor in any scenario tested.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 ranks 792 out of 1702 tested combos in Barony. That places it in the upper half of all configurations tested, but not in the top tier. Given that the CPU is in the 93rd percentile and the GPU is in the 72nd percentile, this ranking makes sense: the processor is doing most of the heavy lifting, while the graphics card is a mid-range performer that holds the system back in more demanding scenarios.

The ranking of 792 out of 1702 means that roughly 53.5% of tested combos perform better than this one, which might seem surprising given the high frame rates recorded. However, this is a reflection of the fact that many other combos likely feature more powerful GPUs paired with similarly capable CPUs. The RTX 3070’s position relative to its rivals — slightly ahead of the RX 6600 XT but behind the AMD FirePro S7150 by 0.6% — suggests that it is a competent but not exceptional card for this title. In a game like Barony, where the CPU can push frame rates into the hundreds, the GPU becomes the deciding factor for overall ranking.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its best performance. At Low settings, the average FPS is 384.8. Moving to Medium drops that to 285.1, a reduction of 99.7 FPS. High settings yield 244.4 FPS, and Ultra brings the frame rate down to 177.1. The spread between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 207.7 FPS, which is the largest of any resolution tested. This indicates that the CPU is able to maintain high frame rates regardless of settings, and the GPU only starts to become a limiting factor at the Ultra preset.

At 2560x1440, the performance is still very high but shows a more pronounced GPU influence. Low settings produce 244.5 FPS, which is a drop of 140.3 FPS compared to 1080p. Medium settings yield 181.8 FPS, High settings deliver 154.7 FPS, and Ultra drops to 113.4 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 131.1 FPS, which is smaller than at 1080p but still substantial. The transition from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings costs 140.3 FPS, while the same transition at Ultra costs 63.7 FPS. This pattern confirms that the GPU is becoming more of a factor as resolution increases.

At 3840x2160, the system’s performance is significantly lower but still playable. Low settings achieve 127.7 FPS, Medium drops to 92.4 FPS, High produces 83.6 FPS, and Ultra falls to 60.9 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 66.8 FPS, which is the smallest of all resolutions. This suggests that at 4K, the GPU is the dominant bottleneck, and the CPU’s performance advantage is largely irrelevant. The drop from 1440p to 4K at Low settings is 116.8 FPS (from 244.5 to 127.7), which is the largest single-resolution jump in the dataset.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Barony?

A: At 1080p, the system achieves between 177.1 and 384.8 FPS depending on settings, which is well above the refresh rate of most monitors. At 1440p, frame rates range from 113.4 to 244.5 FPS, so both resolutions are viable for high-refresh-rate displays.

Q: How does the RTX 3070 compare to its nearest rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 3070 has an average benchmark score of 28238, which is 0.9% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT (27985) and 1% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (27956). It trails the AMD FirePro S7150 (28409) by 0.6%.

Q: Is the Ryzen 9 7900X a bottleneck for the RTX 3070 in this game?

A: At 1080p Low, the system produces 384.8 FPS, which indicates the CPU is not a bottleneck. However, at 4K Ultra, the frame rate drops to 60.9 FPS, suggesting the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU’s 93rd percentile ranking and high single-core score of 2952 support this conclusion.

Q: What is the performance difference between High and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, High settings yield 154.7 FPS, while Ultra settings produce 113.4 FPS. This is a difference of 41.3 FPS, representing a 26.7% reduction in performance when moving from High to Ultra.

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

A: The combo ranks 792 out of 1702 tested combinations in Barony, placing it in the upper half of all configurations but not among the top performers.

Q: What is the frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings?

A: At Medium settings, the system drops from 285.1 FPS at 1920x1080 to 92.4 FPS at 3840x2160. This is a reduction of 192.7 FPS, or 67.6% of the original performance.