Barony

Barony, a roguelike released in 2015, exhibits unusual performance scaling with the Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER combination. The measured frame rates across resolutions and presets reveal a system that is heavily front-end bound at lower settings, with the GPU only becoming the primary limiter at the most demanding configurations. The data indicates a setup capable of very high refresh rates at 1080p, but one that shows significant performance volatility when pushed to 4K Ultra.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 produces a dramatic shift in frame rates, but the pattern is not uniform across all settings. At the Low preset, the average FPS drops from 317.3 at 1080p to 199.8 at 1440p, and finally to 104.5 at 4K. This represents a 67% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K, indicating that even at Low settings, the resolution increase is taxing the GPU substantially. However, the absolute numbers remain high, suggesting the RTX 2070 SUPER is still not fully saturated at 4K Low.

The scaling behavior changes character at the High preset. Here, the drop from 1080p (201.9 FPS) to 1440p (128.6 FPS) is a 36% loss, but the subsequent drop to 4K (68.7 FPS) is another 47% loss from the 1440p figure. This steeper decline at higher resolutions points to the GPU becoming the dominant bottleneck as pixel count increases. The Ultra preset shows the most constrained scaling, with 147.6 FPS at 1080p falling to 93.1 FPS at 1440p and then to 47.1 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 4K delta of 68% at Ultra is nearly identical to the Low preset's delta, but the absolute numbers are far lower.

The most telling data point lies in the Medium preset. At 1080p, the system achieves 236.9 FPS, which drops to 147.9 FPS at 1440p and 76.7 FPS at 4K. The scaling from 1440p to 4K here (a 48% drop) closely mirrors the High preset, reinforcing that the GPU's workload grows proportionally with pixel count once the CPU can feed it enough data. The fact that the Low preset at 4K (104.5 FPS) still exceeds the Ultra preset at 1440p (93.1 FPS) suggests that the game's visual effects at Ultra impose a heavy compute cost independent of resolution, likely related to lighting or shadow calculations on the Turing architecture.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Rocket Lake architecture, built on a 14 nm process. Its benchmark results show a strong single-threaded foundation, with a 3dmark_single_thread score of 868 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2029. These numbers, combined with a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, explain why the system can push 317.3 FPS at 1080p Low — the CPU has enough per-core horsepower to process game logic and draw calls at that rate.

However, the CPU's multi-threaded capabilities are more modest. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14372 places it in the 75th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17181. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U (avg score 17189, 0% delta) and the Intel Core i7-1260P (avg score 17212, -0.2% delta), indicating that while the 11400F is competitive, it is not a top-tier part. The 12 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for a roguelike, but they may contribute to the frame rate ceiling observed at 1080p.

The data suggests that at 1080p Low, the CPU is the limiting factor. The 317.3 FPS figure is likely near the maximum that the 11400F can produce in this game, as the GPU is capable of far more in less demanding titles. When moving to 4K Low, the frame rate drops to 104.5 FPS, which is still high but represents a shift toward GPU limitation. The CPU's role is most evident in the gap between 1080p Medium (236.9 FPS) and 1080p High (201.9 FPS) — a 15% difference that is smaller than the 40% gap between 1080p Low and Medium, suggesting that the rendering settings are beginning to engage the GPU more heavily while the CPU still holds the upper hand.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture with a 12 nm process, featuring 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock of 1605 MHz and boost clock of 1770 MHz, combined with 2560 shading units, produce a passmark G3D score of 18169, placing it in the 65th percentile of all GPUs. The nearest rivals include the NVIDIA RTX A400 (avg score 22307, -0.5% delta) and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 (avg score 21670, 2.5% delta), showing that the 2070 SUPER sits in a competitive mid-range position.

The GPU's 8 GB VRAM capacity is not the limiting factor in Barony, as the game's art style and genre do not require large texture pools. Instead, the compute performance is what matters. The fp32 throughput of 9.062 TFLOPS and texture rate of 283.2 GTexel/s are sufficient to handle the game's effects, but they are challenged at 4K Ultra where the average FPS drops to 47.1. The 4K Ultra result is the only configuration that falls below the 60 FPS threshold, indicating that the GPU is fully saturated at that point.

The scaling from Medium to High and Ultra at each resolution reveals the GPU's workload characteristics. At 4K, the jump from Low (104.5 FPS) to Medium (76.7 FPS) is a 27% loss, while the jump from Medium to High (68.7 FPS) is only 10%, and High to Ultra (47.1 FPS) is a 31% loss. This non-linear pattern suggests that the Ultra preset introduces effects that disproportionately burden the GPU, likely ray tracing or advanced post-processing features that the Turing architecture handles with its 40 RT cores. The pixel rate of 113.3 GPixel/s and ROP count of 64 are sufficient for 4K, but the shader complexity at Ultra creates the bottleneck.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER ranks 1038 out of 1702 tested combos in Barony, placing it in the 39th percentile of all systems. This is a surprisingly low ranking given the high frame rates observed, which suggests that the benchmark database includes many combinations with more powerful CPUs or newer GPUs that achieve even higher scores in this particular game.

The ranking implies that while this combo performs well in absolute terms, it is outclassed by a significant portion of the tested systems. The CPU's 75th percentile ranking and the GPU's 65th percentile ranking do not translate to a proportional in-game ranking, indicating that Barony is sensitive to specific hardware characteristics beyond raw benchmark scores. The combo's performance is likely held back by the CPU's memory bandwidth and the GPU's relatively low VRAM capacity relative to newer cards, even though neither appears to be a direct limiter in the measured FPS data.

The data's measured nature (dataIsMeasured: true) adds credibility to the ranking, but the 1702 total combos suggest a broad range of hardware. The fact that this combo sits in the lower half of the rankings while achieving 201.9 FPS at 1080p High implies that many other combinations are achieving even higher frame rates, possibly due to higher boost clocks or more efficient driver optimization for this older game. The combo's rank of 1038 is a useful reference point for users considering this hardware pairing, but it should be interpreted with the understanding that Barony is not a graphically demanding title at lower settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance for users of this hardware pairing. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 201.9 FPS, which is more than sufficient for any display, while the Ultra preset drops to 147.6 FPS — still excellent but with diminishing returns for the visual upgrade. The Medium preset at 236.9 FPS offers a balanced middle ground, but the jump from Medium to High is only a 15% performance cost, making High the recommended choice for 1080p gaming.

For 2560x1440 users, the High preset at 128.6 FPS is the best option, as it maintains high refresh rates while providing the game's full visual experience. The Ultra preset at 93.1 FPS is playable and will feel smooth on most monitors, but the 27% performance loss from High to Ultra may not be justified by the visual differences in a roguelike. The 1440p Medium preset at 147.9 FPS is a safer bet for competitive play, offering higher margins for demanding scenes.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes. The High preset at 68.7 FPS is the recommended choice, as it stays above 60 FPS and provides the best balance of image quality and performance. The Medium preset at 76.7 FPS is also viable and offers a 12% performance boost over High, making it a strong alternative for users who prioritize frame rate stability. The Low preset at 104.5 FPS is the highest-performing 4K option, but the visual downgrade is significant for only a 35% gain over Medium. The Ultra preset at 47.1 FPS should be avoided, as it falls below the 60 FPS threshold and introduces noticeable stutter in a game that benefits from fast reaction times. For most users, the High preset at 4K represents the sweet spot, as it leverages the GPU's capabilities without pushing the system into performance territory that compromises the experience.