Barony

The benchmark data for Barony, paired with an Intel Core i5-11400F and an AMD Radeon RX 9070, provides a clear picture of a system that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions but reveals CPU limitations at 1080p. The measured FPS across twelve distinct configurations shows a performance curve that scales predictably with both resolution and graphical presets, offering distinct insights into the hardware's behavior in this roguelike title.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K demonstrates a significant performance drop that is typical for a demanding GPU, but the magnitude of the drop varies considerably depending on the settings preset. At the Low preset, the average FPS falls from 441.2 at 1920x1080 to 144 at 3840x2160, representing a 67.4% reduction in frame rate. This steep decline indicates that even at the lowest graphical fidelity, the RX 9070 is being pushed substantially harder at 4K, suggesting the rendering workload scales aggressively with pixel count.

The scaling pattern is more moderate at the High preset, where average FPS drops from 280.9 at 1080p to 90.5 at 4K, a 67.8% decrease. Interestingly, the Medium preset shows a similar relative drop, falling from 331.7 to 111.8, which is a 66.3% reduction. The Ultra preset, however, exhibits the smallest relative decline, going from 202.9 at 1080p down to 65.4 at 4K, a 67.8% reduction that mirrors the High preset's behavior. The data reveals that at 4K, the average FPS across all presets is compressed into a range of 65.4 to 144, while at 1080p the range spans from 202.9 to 441.2.

This compression at higher resolutions strongly suggests that the limiting component shifts depending on the resolution. At 1080p, the CPU's ability to feed the GPU becomes a bottleneck, as evidenced by the diminishing returns between the Low and Medium presets at that resolution. At 4K, the GPU's raw pixel-pushing capability becomes the primary constraint, as the frame rates across different presets converge more tightly, indicating that the GPU is saturated regardless of the graphical workload.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070, with its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory and a 256-bit memory bus, plays a central role in determining the upper limits of performance in Barony. The memory bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s and the boost clock of 2520 MHz are key specifications that directly influence how the card handles the game's texture-heavy environments and effects. The GPU's 128 ROPs and 224 TMUs provide ample rasterization and texturing throughput, which is reflected in the high frame rates seen at 1080p and 1440p.

The GPU's benchmark scores corroborate its strong performance, with a Passmark G3D score of 25381 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6290. These scores place the RX 9070 in the 79th percentile of all GPUs, indicating it is a high-performing part. The data shows that at 1440p with High settings, the card achieves 175.7 FPS, and at 4K with Medium settings, it maintains 111.8 FPS, demonstrating its capability to handle modern resolutions without compromising on fluidity.

The VRAM capacity of 16 GB is more than sufficient for Barony, as the game's requirements do not appear to exceed this allocation even at 4K Ultra settings. The GPU's role is further highlighted by the fact that at 4K, the difference between Low and Ultra presets is 78.6 FPS (144 vs 65.4), which is a substantial gap that underscores the GPU's sensitivity to the graphical workload at that resolution. The card's performance in this game is not constrained by memory capacity but rather by its compute and rasterization limits.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal settings for this hardware configuration depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers 202.9 FPS, which is exceptionally high, making it the recommended choice for users with high-refresh-rate monitors. The data shows that even at Ultra settings, the system has significant headroom, as the frame rate remains well above the 144 FPS threshold.

For 2560x1440, the High preset appears to be the sweet spot, achieving 175.7 FPS. This provides a smooth experience that is close to the 1080p Ultra performance, while the Ultra preset at 1440p drops to 130.7 FPS, which is still playable but represents a more noticeable performance cost. The Medium preset at 1440p offers 208.3 FPS, which is higher than High, but the visual quality trade-off may not be worth the extra 32.6 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the Medium preset with 111.8 FPS is the recommended choice for a balanced experience, as it maintains a frame rate above 100 FPS while providing better visual fidelity than Low. The High preset at 4K drops to 90.5 FPS, which is still playable, but the Medium preset offers a better margin for maintaining consistent frame times. The Low preset at 4K provides 144 FPS, but this sacrifices too much visual quality for the modest performance gain over Medium.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average FPS achievable at 1080p with this setup?

A: The highest measured average FPS at 1920x1080 is 441.2, achieved with the Low preset, while the Ultra preset still delivers 202.9 FPS.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra performance compare to 1080p Ultra?

A: At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 65.4, which is a 67.8% reduction compared to the 202.9 FPS seen at 1080p Ultra.

Q: Is the RX 9070 powerful enough to maintain 60 FPS at 4K?

A: Yes, all measured 4K presets exceed 60 FPS, with the lowest being 65.4 FPS on Ultra and the highest being 144 FPS on Low.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 281.1 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 130.7 FPS, a difference of 150.4 FPS.

Q: Which preset at 1080p provides the closest performance to the 1440p High preset?

A: The 1080p Ultra preset at 202.9 FPS is closest to the 1440p High preset at 175.7 FPS, with a difference of 27.2 FPS.

Q: Does the GPU's 16 GB VRAM become a limiting factor at any resolution?

A: Based on the data, the 16 GB VRAM does not appear to limit performance, as frame rates remain high at 4K Ultra, indicating the memory capacity is sufficient.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, plays a critical role in the system's overall performance, particularly at lower resolutions where the GPU is less stressed. The CPU's boost clock of 4.40 GHz and its 12 MB of shared L3 cache are important for maintaining high frame rates in Barony. The benchmark results show that the CPU achieves a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 14372 and a single-core score of 2029, which are respectable figures for a mid-range desktop processor.

The data indicates that at 1080p, the CPU becomes a more significant factor, as the frame rates at Low and Medium presets (441.2 and 331.7 FPS) are substantially higher than at 1440p, suggesting the GPU is not the sole determinant of performance. The CPU's Passmark multithread score of 16908 and its 75th percentile ranking among all CPUs indicate that it is a capable processor, but it is not the top of the line. This is evident in the fact that the measured 1080p Low preset performance is nearly double that of the 4K Low preset, showing that the CPU can push frames faster than the GPU can render them at lower resolutions.

The CPU's role becomes less critical at 4K, where the GPU is the clear bottleneck. The frame rate differences between presets at 4K are largely attributable to the GPU's workload, not the CPU's processing capabilities. The i5-11400F's 65 W TDP and its architecture, Rocket Lake, provide sufficient single-threaded performance for the game's logic, but the data suggests that pairing it with the RX 9070 creates a balanced system where neither component is severely underutilized at 1440p, the resolution where the best balance of CPU and GPU load is observed.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset of measured average FPS reveals a detailed performance profile. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 441.2 FPS, the Medium preset delivers 331.7 FPS, the High preset delivers 280.9 FPS, and the Ultra preset delivers 202.9 FPS. This shows a clear step-down in performance as settings increase, with the largest relative drop occurring between Medium and High, which is a 15.3% reduction.

At 2560x1440, the FPS values are 281.1 for Low, 208.3 for Medium, 175.7 for High, and 130.7 for Ultra. The pattern remains consistent, with the Ultra preset being the most demanding, but the relative differences between presets are slightly smaller than at 1080p. The transition from Low to Medium at 1440p is a 25.9% decrease, while the transition from Medium to High is a 15.7% decrease.

At 3840x2160, the measured FPS is 144 for Low, 111.8 for Medium, 90.5 for High, and 65.4 for Ultra. The scaling here shows that the Low preset provides a playable experience, but the Ultra preset drops to a level where the frame rate is less than half of the Low preset's performance. The data also shows that the difference between High and Ultra at 4K is 25.1 FPS, which is a 27.7% reduction, making the Ultra preset a significant performance hit for marginal visual gains.