Barony

# Barony with AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070

Barony, the roguelike released in 2015, presents an unusual benchmark scenario for this high-end CPU and mid-range GPU pairing. The measured FPS data reveals a title that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, yet becomes increasingly CPU-sensitive as resolution drops and frame rates climb into the hundreds. With the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D's 16 cores and 32 threads driving the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070, the results show a clear hierarchy: at 4K the GPU is the limiting factor, but at 1080p the CPU's single-thread strength becomes visible through exceptionally high frame rates.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling behavior in Barony is dramatic and tells a clear story about where the bottleneck sits. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at High settings, average FPS drops from 299 to 189, a reduction of 110 FPS or approximately 37%. Scaling further to 3840x2160 at High settings yields 99 average FPS, which is another 48% drop from the 1440p result. This steep decline across resolutions indicates that the RTX 4070 is being pushed progressively harder as pixel count increases, with the GPU becoming the dominant constraint at 4K.

At Low settings, the scaling pattern intensifies. The 1080p Low result reaches 469 average FPS, while 1440p Low drops to 296, and 4K Low falls to 155. The gap between 1080p and 1440p at Low settings is 173 FPS, which is a larger absolute drop than the 110 FPS difference at High settings. This suggests that at Low settings, the CPU is able to feed frames rapidly at 1080p, but the GPU's rendering capacity at higher resolutions becomes the limiting factor even with reduced graphical load.

The Medium settings data, which includes minimum and maximum FPS values, provides additional insight. At 1080p Medium, the average is 349 FPS with a minimum of 296 and maximum of 401. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 220 with a minimum of 187 and maximum of 253. At 4K Medium, the average is 115 with a minimum of 98 and maximum of 132. The consistency of the frame pacing, as indicated by the relatively tight min-max ranges, suggests that the hardware combination handles the game's workload steadily without significant stutters or frame time spikes.

The Ultra preset shows the most significant performance cost at each resolution. At 1080p Ultra, average FPS is 215, which is 54 FPS lower than High settings at the same resolution. At 1440p Ultra, the average is 135, a 54 FPS drop from High. At 4K Ultra, the average falls to 71, which is 28 FPS below the High preset result. The consistent gap between High and Ultra across resolutions indicates that the Ultra preset adds a substantial but predictable rendering burden.

The resolution scaling analysis points to a system where the RTX 4070 is the primary limiter at 4K across all settings, while the Ryzen 9 9950X3D's capabilities become more relevant at 1080p, particularly at Low and Medium settings where frame rates exceed 300. The game appears well-optimized for high refresh rate play at 1080p, with diminishing returns as resolution increases.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D is a 16-core, 32-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture with Granite Ridge codename, built on TSMC's 4 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 4.30 GHz and boost clock of 5.70 GHz, and its 128 MB L3 cache is substantial for gaming workloads. In Barony, the CPU's role is most clearly demonstrated by the 1080p Low result of 469 average FPS, which is the highest measured frame rate in the entire dataset and indicates that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with frames faster than the GPU can render them at this resolution.

The CPU's benchmark scores provide context for its gaming performance. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 42018 and single-core score of 2259 show strong multi-threaded and single-threaded capabilities. The 3DMark single-thread score of 1292 and 2-thread score of 2549 further confirm that single-thread performance is competitive, which matters for a game like Barony that likely has a primary game thread. The PassMark single-thread score of 4737 and multithread score of 70255 reinforce this profile.

Comparing the Ryzen 9 9950X3D to its nearest rivals in the CPU benchmark database, the data shows it sits at the top of a tight cluster. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 9755 has an average score of 75738 with a delta of 0.1%, while the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 9755X3D scores 75716 with a 0.1% delta. The AMD EPYC 8224P scores 75582 with a 0.3% delta, and the Intel Core Ultra 9 285 scores 75488 with a 0.4% delta. This grouping indicates that the Ryzen 9 9950X3D is only marginally ahead of these competitors in average benchmark score, with a 95th percentile ranking among all CPUs.

In the context of Barony's measured FPS, the CPU's impact is most visible at 1080p where frame rates exceed 300 at most settings. The 1080p Low result of 469 FPS and 1080p Medium result of 349 FPS suggest that the CPU is not the bottleneck at these settings, as the frame rates are high enough to indicate headroom. However, the drop to 215 FPS at 1080p Ultra implies that the GPU becomes more involved even at this resolution when higher quality settings are enabled.

The CPU's 16 cores and 32 threads may be more than Barony requires, as roguelikes typically have modest threading requirements. However, the high single-thread performance, evidenced by the 3DMark single-thread score of 1292 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2259, likely contributes to the strong low-resolution performance. The 4.30 GHz base clock and 5.70 GHz boost clock provide the raw frequency that gaming workloads often favor.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS measured for this combination?

A: The highest average FPS is 469, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This is the peak performance point in the measured data and indicates that the CPU has substantial headroom at lower resolutions with reduced graphical demands.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in average benchmark score?

A: The RTX 4070 has an average benchmark score of 37648, placing it 0.1% above the NVIDIA Tesla P4 at 37628, 0.4% above the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 at 37507, and 1.3% above the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 at 37157. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile scores 38135, which is 1.3% higher than the RTX 4070.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded at 4K Medium settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the minimum FPS is 98, with a maximum of 132 and an average of 115. This is the only 4K configuration in the dataset that provides min/max FPS values, showing a relatively stable frame rate range.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested combinations in Barony?

A: This combination of AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 ranks 883 out of 3717 tested combos in Barony, placing it in the top 24% of all tested configurations.

Q: What are the CPU's core and thread counts?

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D has 16 cores and 32 threads, based on the Zen 5 architecture. It has a base clock of 4.30 GHz and a boost clock of 5.70 GHz, with 128 MB of L3 cache.

Q: What is the RTX 4070's memory configuration?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 has 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 504.2 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The memory clock runs at 1313 MHz with 21 Gbps effective speed.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific hardware pairing achieves a rank of 883 out of 3717 tested combinations in Barony, placing it in the 76th percentile of all tested configurations. This ranking reflects the balanced nature of the pairing: the Ryzen 9 9950X3D provides ample CPU performance while the RTX 4070 delivers solid GPU throughput, but neither component is at the absolute top of its respective class.

The CPU's 95th percentile ranking among all CPUs indicates that the processor is a high-end part, but the GPU's 81st percentile ranking among all GPUs shows that the graphics card is positioned slightly lower in the performance hierarchy. This combination results in a system that ranks in the upper quartile of all tested combos, with the GPU likely being the component that prevents a higher overall ranking.

Comparing the measured FPS to the hardware's benchmark scores provides context for the ranking. The CPU's average benchmark score of 75779 and the GPU's average benchmark score of 37648 are both solid figures, and the game's results at 1080p High (299 FPS) and 1440p High (189 FPS) suggest that the pairing works well together without obvious bottlenecking at these settings. The 4K Ultra result of 71 FPS shows that the GPU is the limiting factor at the highest resolution and quality settings.

The ranking position of 883 out of 3717 suggests that there are 883 combinations that perform better in Barony, which is reasonable given that higher-end GPUs than the RTX 4070 exist. The CPU's performance is likely not the limiting factor in this ranking, as the 16-core, 32-thread processor with a 5.70 GHz boost clock provides more than enough computational power for a roguelike title.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD104 chip, manufactured on TSMC's 5 nm process. It features 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units, along with 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores. The GPU runs at a base clock of 1920 MHz with a boost clock of 2475 MHz, and its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth.

In Barony, the GPU's role is most evident at 4K resolution where it becomes the clear bottleneck. The 4K Ultra result of 71 average FPS is the lowest measured performance point, and even at 4K Low, the average FPS of 155 is significantly lower than the 1080p Low result of 469. This substantial gap demonstrates that the GPU's rendering capacity at 4K is the primary constraint, regardless of quality settings.

The GPU's benchmark scores show a balanced profile. The Geekbench Vulkan score of 174152 and OpenCL score of 154858 indicate strong compute performance, while the PassMark G3D score of 26927 and GPU compute score of 14720 provide additional context. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3854 reflects modern API performance. These scores, combined with the GPU's 81st percentile ranking among all GPUs, position the RTX 4070 as a capable mid-to-high-range card.

The GPU's memory configuration of 12 GB GDDR6X may be a factor at 4K with higher quality settings, though the measured data does not show obvious VRAM limitations given the relatively modest texture requirements of a roguelike. The 504.2 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for the frame rates achieved, and the 2475 MHz boost clock provides the raw throughput needed for the high frame rates seen at 1080p.

Comparing the RTX 4070 to its nearest rivals in the GPU benchmark database, the data shows it is closely matched with several other cards. The NVIDIA Tesla P4 scores 37628 with a 0.1% delta, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 scores 37507 with a 0.4% delta, and the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 scores 37157 with a 1.3% delta. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile scores 38135, which is 1.3% higher. This tight grouping suggests that the RTX 4070 is competitively positioned among similar-performance GPUs.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080 resolution, the measured average FPS values span from 215 at Ultra settings to 469 at Low settings. The High preset achieves 299 average FPS, while Medium reaches 349 with a minimum of 296 and maximum of 401. This resolution shows the widest spread between settings, with a 254 FPS difference between Low and Ultra, indicating that the CPU is capable of supporting very high frame rates when the GPU load is reduced.

At 2560x1440 resolution, the average FPS ranges from 135 at Ultra to 296 at Low. High settings produce 189 average FPS, while Medium delivers 220 with a minimum of 187 and maximum of 253. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 161 FPS, narrower than at 1080p. This resolution represents a balanced point where both CPU and GPU contribute to performance, with the GPU becoming more influential than at 1080p.

At 3840x2160 resolution, the average FPS spans from 71 at Ultra to 155 at Low. High settings yield 99 average FPS, while Medium achieves 115 with a minimum of 98 and maximum of 132. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 84 FPS, which is the smallest absolute spread across resolutions. This indicates that the GPU is the primary limiter at 4K, and even reducing quality settings cannot fully compensate for the pixel count.

The Medium settings data provides the only min/max FPS measurements in the dataset. At 1080p Medium, the min is 296 and max is 401, a range of 105 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the min is 187 and max is 253, a range of 66 FPS. At 4K Medium, the min is 98 and max is 132, a range of 34 FPS. The narrowing range at higher resolutions suggests that frame pacing becomes more consistent when the GPU is the bottleneck, whereas at 1080p the CPU-driven high frame rates introduce more variability.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and refresh rate. At 1920x1080, the High preset at 299 average FPS provides an excellent experience for 144Hz or even 240Hz displays, while the Medium preset at 349 FPS with a minimum of 296 ensures that frame rates stay above 240 FPS in most scenarios. The Ultra preset at 215 FPS is still suitable for 144Hz displays, but the 54 FPS difference from High suggests that the visual gains from Ultra may not justify the performance cost.

At 2560x1440, the High preset at 189 average FPS is well-suited for 144Hz displays, while the Medium preset at 220 FPS offers headroom for 165Hz or 240Hz monitors. The Ultra preset at 135 FPS remains viable for 144Hz displays with a margin above the refresh rate. The Low preset at 296 FPS is excessive for most displays and indicates that lower settings at 1440p are GPU-limited rather than CPU-limited.

At 3840x2160, the High preset at 99 average FPS is suitable for 60Hz displays, while the Medium preset at 115 FPS provides additional headroom. The Ultra preset at 71 FPS is playable on 60Hz displays but leaves little margin for frame drops. The Low preset at 155 FPS offers the best performance at 4K, but the visual quality reduction may not be worth the frame rate increase for most users.

For the best overall experience, the Medium preset at 1440p appears to offer the most balanced combination of visual quality and performance, with 220 average FPS and a minimum of 187 FPS providing smooth gameplay across a wide range of scenarios. At 1080p, the High preset at 299 FPS is recommended for high refresh rate displays, while at 4K, the Medium preset at 115 FPS offers the best compromise between visual fidelity and smoothness. The Ultra preset is only recommended at 1080p, where 215 FPS still provides a high-refresh-rate experience.