Barony

# Barony with AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070

This combination of AMD's 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X3D and NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 3070 lands at rank 1596 out of 3717 tested combos in Barony, placing it in the 43rd percentile of all system pairings for this roguelike title. The pairing of a top-tier desktop processor with a mid-range Ampere GPU creates a notably CPU-heavy system, and the measured frame rates across resolutions and settings reflect that dynamic clearly.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1596 out of 3717 places this system slightly below the median of all tested configurations in Barony. That might sound surprising given the processor's pedigree, but the data indicates the RTX 3070 is the limiting factor in most scenarios. The GPU sits at percentile 61 versus all GPUs, meaning it outperforms roughly three-fifths of the graphics cards in the database, but it's far from the top echelon. The CPU, by contrast, sits at percentile 95 versus all CPUs, outperforming 95 percent of processors tested.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 75779 puts it marginally ahead of its nearest rivals. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 9755 scores 75738, just 0.1 percent behind; the Ryzen 7 PRO 9755X3D also trails by 0.1 percent with a score of 75716; the AMD EPYC 8224P comes in at 75582, a 0.3 percent gap; and the Intel Core Ultra 9 285 scores 75488, 0.4 percent lower. These are extraordinarily tight margins, indicating the 9950X3D sits at the very top of the CPU performance hierarchy.

The GPU's average benchmark score of 17208 places it near the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT, which scores 17083 (0.7 percent lower), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 at 17037 (1 percent lower). The AMD Radeon HD 7970M scores 17019, 1.1 percent behind, while the NVIDIA Tesla K40c scores 17468, which is 1.5 percent ahead of the RTX 3070. This clustering shows the RTX 3070 holds its own against a narrow field of comparable cards, though the data set includes some older or specialized hardware in this range.

What this rank means in practice: in a game like Barony, which is a roguelike with relatively modest graphical demands, the system can push very high frame rates, but the ceiling is dictated by the RTX 3070. The 9950X3D's massive thread count and high clock speeds are effectively in reserve, waiting for workloads that can use them. The measured FPS values confirm this interpretation, with the system delivering playable performance even at 4K Ultra, though the gap between settings tiers grows as resolution increases.

FAQ

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D a good match for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 in Barony?

A: The data shows a strong pairing for high-refresh 1080p and 1440p play, with 1080p Low reaching 385 FPS and 1440p Low hitting 243 FPS. However, at 4K Ultra the system drops to 58 FPS, indicating the RTX 3070 becomes the bottleneck at higher resolutions and settings.

Q: How does the Ryzen 9 9950X3D compare to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The 9950X3D's average benchmark score of 75779 leads the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 9755 by 0.1 percent, the Ryzen 7 PRO 9755X3D by 0.1 percent, the AMD EPYC 8224P by 0.3 percent, and the Intel Core Ultra 9 285 by 0.4 percent. These are negligible differences in real-world terms.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 60 FPS gaming at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, High settings produce an average of 81 FPS, while Medium produces 95 FPS with a minimum of 80 FPS. Ultra drops to 58 FPS. For a locked 60 FPS experience at 4K, High settings provide a comfortable margin.

Q: Can this system handle 144Hz gaming at 1440p?

A: Yes, at 2560x1440 with High settings the average is 155 FPS, and Medium averages 181 FPS with a minimum of 154 FPS. Even Ultra settings reach 111 FPS, so 144Hz displays are well served across all presets.

Q: How much performance does the RTX 3070 leave on the table compared to the CPU?

A: The CPU's benchmark percentile of 95 versus the GPU's percentile of 61 indicates the processor is substantially more powerful relative to its peers. In Barony, this manifests as the GPU capping performance at higher resolutions, while the CPU has ample headroom.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Low settings average 385 FPS, High averages 246 FPS, Medium averages 287 FPS, and Ultra averages 176 FPS. The jump from Ultra to Low more than doubles the frame rate.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of which preset offers the best experience at each resolution. For 3840x2160, Medium settings deliver 95 FPS average with a minimum of 80 FPS, which is the only preset at 4K that maintains a minimum above 60 FPS. High settings average 81 FPS but lack a reported minimum, while Ultra averages 58 FPS, dipping below the 60 FPS threshold. Low settings at 4K reach 127 FPS, but the visual quality trade-off is substantial for a game where readability matters. Medium at 4K appears to be the sweet spot for a smooth, visually acceptable experience.

At 2560x1440, the choice becomes more flexible. Low settings hit 243 FPS, Medium averages 181 FPS with a minimum of 154 FPS, High averages 155 FPS, and Ultra averages 111 FPS. For competitive or fast-paced play, Medium offers the best combination of visual fidelity and performance headroom, with a minimum frame rate that never dips below 154 FPS. If the display is 144Hz, High settings also suffice, but Medium provides a larger safety margin.

At 1920x1080, the system is so powerful that even Ultra settings average 176 FPS, which exceeds most 144Hz displays. Medium averages 287 FPS with a minimum of 244 FPS, High averages 246 FPS, and Low reaches 385 FPS. For players with 240Hz or 360Hz monitors, Low or Medium settings unlock the full potential of the display. For everyone else, Ultra at 1080p is perfectly playable and offers the best visual experience.

The overall recommendation is to prioritize Medium settings at 4K for a locked 60-plus FPS experience, Medium at 1440p for high-refresh play, and Ultra at 1080p for maximum visual quality. The RTX 3070's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for Barony's demands, but the data shows diminishing returns beyond Medium at higher resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers exceptional performance across all presets. Low settings produce an average of 385 FPS, the highest measured value in the entire data set. Medium settings average 287 FPS with a minimum of 244 FPS and a maximum of 330 FPS, providing a wide performance envelope. High settings average 246 FPS, while Ultra settings average 176 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra shows a 54 percent reduction in average frame rate, from 385 down to 176 FPS, which is a substantial but expected trade-off for increased graphical fidelity.

At 2560x1440, performance remains strong but begins to show the GPU's limitations. Low settings average 243 FPS, down 37 percent from the 1080p Low result. Medium settings average 181 FPS with a minimum of 154 FPS and a maximum of 208 FPS, maintaining a smooth experience. High settings average 155 FPS, and Ultra settings average 111 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across presets, with Low losing 142 FPS, Medium losing 106 FPS, High losing 91 FPS, and Ultra losing 65 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 3070's limits become apparent. Low settings average 127 FPS, which is still highly playable. Medium settings average 95 FPS with a minimum of 80 FPS and a maximum of 109 FPS, providing a stable experience above 60 FPS. High settings average 81 FPS, while Ultra settings drop to 58 FPS, falling below the 60 FPS threshold. The 4K Ultra result is the only measured configuration that averages below 60 FPS, indicating that this preset is the boundary of what this GPU can handle in Barony.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset consistently provides the best minimum frame rate data. At 1080p, the minimum is 244 FPS; at 1440p, it is 154 FPS; and at 4K, it is 80 FPS. This makes Medium the most predictable preset for maintaining smooth gameplay, particularly at higher resolutions where the GPU is more heavily taxed.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K reveals how the system's performance scales with pixel count. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 385 at 1080p to 243 at 1440p (a 37 percent reduction) and then to 127 at 4K (a 48 percent reduction from 1440p). At Medium settings, the averages are 287, 181, and 95 FPS respectively, with reductions of 37 percent and 48 percent. High settings show 246, 155, and 81 FPS, with reductions of 37 percent and 48 percent. Ultra settings show 176, 111, and 58 FPS, with reductions of 37 percent and 48 percent.

The consistency of these percentage drops across all settings presets is a strong indicator that the limiting component is the GPU. The RTX 3070's pixel throughput, measured at 165.6 GPixel/s, and texture rate of 317.4 GTexel/s, determine how quickly the system can fill frames at higher resolutions. The CPU's role in this scaling is minimal, as the 9950X3D's single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2259 and Geekbench single-core score of 3064) is more than sufficient to feed the GPU at any resolution.

The fact that the frame rate drops by nearly half when moving from 1440p to 4K, regardless of settings, suggests the GPU is operating at its bandwidth and compute limits. The 8 GB GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth is a fixed constraint that becomes more binding as resolution increases. The GPU's FP32 throughput of 20.31 TFLOPS and 5888 shading units are the hardware resources that scale with resolution, and the data shows they saturate at 4K Ultra.

For players seeking higher 4K performance, the data suggests reducing settings from Ultra to High or Medium provides significant gains. The jump from Ultra (58 FPS) to High (81 FPS) is a 40 percent improvement, and from Ultra to Medium (95 FPS) is a 64 percent improvement. This is a classic GPU-bound scenario where the processor has ample headroom and the graphics card is the sole bottleneck.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D is a 16-core, 32-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, codenamed Granite Ridge, built on TSMC's 4 nm process. It features a base clock of 4.30 GHz and a boost clock of 5.70 GHz, with a 170 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1 MB of L2 cache per core, and 128 MB of L3 cache, which is notably large and beneficial for gaming workloads that exhibit high cache locality.

In Barony, a roguelike that is not traditionally associated with heavy multi-threading, the 9950X3D's 32 threads are largely underutilized. The game's frame rates are dictated by the GPU at higher resolutions and settings, as shown by the consistent resolution scaling percentages. However, at 1080p Low, where the system reaches 385 FPS, the CPU's single-thread performance becomes more relevant. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2259 and the 3DMark single-thread score of 1292 indicate strong per-core performance that can handle the game's main thread without becoming a bottleneck.

The CPU's multi-threaded capabilities, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 42018 and a Passmark multithread score of 70255, are far beyond what Barony requires. The benchmark data shows the 9950X3D scoring 16374 in 3DMark's 16-thread test and 17184 in the max-thread test, demonstrating that its performance scales well with thread count. But in this game, those resources sit idle, as the GPU is the constraining factor in most configurations.

The 9950X3D's 128 MB of L3 cache is a standout feature that can benefit games with large working sets, though the measured FPS data does not isolate cache effects specifically. The processor's DDR5 memory support with dual-channel configuration and 89.6 GB/s bandwidth provides ample memory throughput for the RTX 3070 to access frame data. The PCIe Gen 5 interface with 24 lanes ensures the GPU's PCIe 4.0 x16 connection is not a limiting factor.

The CPU's percentile rank of 95 versus all CPUs, combined with its average benchmark score of 75779, places it among the fastest desktop processors available. Its nearest rivals all score within 0.4 percent, indicating that the 9950X3D is at the leading edge of CPU performance. For Barony specifically, the CPU's role is to ensure that frame rates never drop due to processor limitations, which the data confirms: even at 1080p Low with 385 FPS, the CPU keeps pace.

The integrated Radeon Graphics on the 9950X3D are irrelevant for this test, as the discrete RTX 3070 handles all rendering. The CPU's 16 cores and 32 threads are future-proofing for more demanding titles, but in Barony, the system's overall performance is a story of GPU limitation rather than CPU capability. The RTX 3070's 61st percentile ranking versus the CPU's 95th percentile illustrates the imbalance, yet the measured results show the pairing still delivers excellent playable performance across all tested resolutions and settings.