Barony

The Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 combination delivers exceptionally high frame rates in Barony, with the data showing this pairing is firmly in the upper tier of tested systems. The measured results across all resolutions and settings reveal a setup that is overwhelmingly GPU-limited at higher graphical presets, while the CPU’s 6 cores and 12 threads prove more than sufficient for this roguelike’s demands.

CPU Role

The Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from Intel’s Rocket Lake architecture, running on a 14 nm process. Its base clock of 2.60 GHz boosts up to 4.40 GHz, and it features 12 MB of shared L3 cache. In Barony, these specifications are clearly not a bottleneck. The evidence lies in the frame rates at 1080p Low, where the system achieves an average of 388.9 FPS — a figure that far exceeds the refresh rates of most displays and indicates the CPU is feeding the GPU without constraint.

Comparing the processor’s synthetic performance, its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14372 and single-core score of 2029 place it in the 75th percentile of all CPUs. More tellingly, its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U (0% delta), Intel Core i7-1260P (-0.2%), and Intel Core Ultra 7 164U (-0.2%). The i5-11400F’s average benchmark score of 17181 sits within a fraction of these competitors, meaning that in CPU-bound scenarios, this chip trades blows with premium mobile and ultra-low-power parts. In Barony specifically, the data shows that even at Ultra settings with 1080p resolution (174.8 FPS), the CPU maintains headroom — the limiting factor shifts to the GPU as settings increase.

The processor’s memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s over dual-channel DDR4 is adequate for this title. The game’s roguelike genre typically involves procedural generation and numerous simulated entities, which can stress single-thread performance. The i5-11400F’s 3DMark single-thread score of 868 demonstrates solid per-core capability, and the 4-thread score of 3171 suggests that the game’s threading model is well-served by this chip’s 12 threads. In practice, the jump from 1080p Low (388.9 FPS) to 1080p Ultra (174.8 FPS) represents a 55% drop, which is far more attributable to GPU load than CPU limitation, confirming the processor’s role as a stable foundation rather than a performance ceiling.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, based on the GA104 chip with 8 nm Samsung process, brings 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its boost clock of 1725 MHz and 5888 shading units deliver 20.31 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. In Barony, the GPU’s influence is most evident when moving between Low and Ultra presets. At 4K, the average FPS drops from 130.7 (Low) to 61.1 (Ultra) — a 53% reduction that clearly demonstrates the graphics card is the primary component handling the increased visual load.

The RTX 3070’s 8 GB VRAM is sufficient for Barony at all tested settings, as there are no signs of memory-related stutters in the measured data. The GPU’s percentile rank of 72 against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 28238, places it near the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT (0.9% delta) and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (1% delta). This proximity is interesting: the RTX 3070 edges out the RX 6600 XT by 0.9% in average score, yet in real-world Barony performance, the 3070’s advantage could be more pronounced due to driver optimizations and the game’s specific rendering paths.

The GPU’s memory clock of 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) and 184 texture mapping units allow for high fill rates, which matters in a roguelike with dense particle effects and procedurally generated environments. The pixel rate of 165.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 317.4 GTexel/s are substantial, and the data supports this: at 1440p High, the system achieves 156.2 FPS, while Ultra drops to 110.8 FPS. The GPU’s 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores are not directly relevant to Barony’s traditional rendering, but the raw rasterization power is clearly the dominant factor in the measured performance differences across settings.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling data reveals a classic GPU-bound pattern. Moving from 1080p to 1440p to 4K at the same settings produces predictable FPS drops, with the magnitude varying by preset. At Low settings, the progression is 388.9 → 243.6 → 130.7 FPS. This represents a 37% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a further 46% drop to 4K. At Ultra settings, the progression is 174.8 → 110.8 → 61.1 FPS, showing a 37% drop and then 45% drop respectively. The consistency of these percentage drops across presets indicates that the limiting component is the GPU, not the CPU or memory bandwidth.

The RTX 3070’s 448.0 GB/s bandwidth is being taxed more heavily at 4K, where the pixel count quadruples from 1080p. The fact that 4K Ultra still maintains an average of 61.1 FPS is notable — it means the GPU has enough headroom for a playable experience at the highest settings on a 4K display, though just barely above the 60 FPS threshold. At 4K High, the 81.3 FPS average provides more comfortable margins. The scaling from 1440p to 4K at High shows a 48% drop (156.2 → 81.3), which is slightly steeper than the 1080p to 1440p drop of 36% (244.3 → 156.2). This steeper decline at higher resolutions further confirms that the GPU is the bottleneck, as the CPU’s workload remains relatively constant while the GPU’s pixel processing load increases multiplicatively.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 ranks 783 out of 1702 tested combos in Barony, placing it in the 54th percentile of all system pairings. This ranking is surprisingly modest given the absolute frame rates achieved, but it reflects the fact that Barony is a lightweight title where many CPUs paired with high-end GPUs can produce similar or better results. The i5-11400F’s 75th percentile CPU ranking and the RTX 3070’s 72nd percentile GPU ranking would suggest a higher combo placement, yet the game’s low system requirements mean that even mid-range components can saturate frame rates.

The combo’s ranking is more meaningful when considering that the CPU’s nearest rivals (Ryzen 7 5700U, Core i7-1260P) are often found in laptops or low-power systems, whereas the RTX 3070’s nearest rivals (RX 6600 XT, GTX 980 Ti) represent older or lower-tier desktop parts. This pairing of a 6-core desktop CPU with a 30-series GPU is well-balanced for Barony, as the data shows no obvious imbalance where one component drags down the other. The 1080p Low result of 388.9 FPS is exceptional, and even 4K Ultra at 61.1 FPS demonstrates that this combo can handle the most demanding preset at the highest resolution without dropping below playable thresholds.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the target display. For 1080p displays, the High preset at 244.3 FPS offers a perfect balance of visual fidelity and performance, as the jump to Ultra costs 70 FPS (down to 174.8) for marginal visual gains. For 1440p, the High preset at 156.2 FPS is the sweet spot — it comfortably exceeds 144 Hz refresh rates while maintaining quality, whereas Ultra drops to 110.8 FPS. For 4K, the Medium preset at 94.8 FPS provides a smooth experience with good visuals, while High at 81.3 FPS is still viable; Ultra at 61.1 FPS is playable but leaves little headroom for demanding scenes.

The Low preset is difficult to recommend for any resolution due to its massive FPS surplus (388.9 at 1080p, 243.6 at 1440p, 130.7 at 4K) relative to what displays can show. The Medium preset offers a middle ground, with 286 FPS at 1080p, 181.1 at 1440p, and 94.8 at 4K. For a 60 Hz 4K display, Ultra is acceptable, but for 144 Hz or higher refresh rate monitors, High at 1440p is the best measured experience, delivering 156.2 FPS with substantially better visual settings than Medium.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers 388.9 FPS on Low, 286 on Medium, 244.3 on High, and 174.8 on Ultra. These numbers show a clear step-down pattern, with Low being 36% faster than Medium, and Medium being 17% faster than High. The gap between High and Ultra is 28%, indicating that Ultra settings impose a significant additional load on the GPU.

At 2560x1440, the results are 243.6 FPS on Low, 181.1 on Medium, 156.2 on High, and 110.8 on Ultra. The percentage drops between consecutive settings are 26% (Low to Medium), 14% (Medium to High), and 29% (High to Ultra). This pattern differs from 1080p, where the Low-to-Medium drop was larger (36%), suggesting that at 1440p, the GPU is becoming more of a limiting factor even at lower settings.

At 3840x2160, the system achieves 130.7 FPS on Low, 94.8 on Medium, 81.3 on High, and 61.1 on Ultra. The 4K results show the most compressed range, with Ultra being only 53% of Low’s performance. The drops are 27% (Low to Medium), 14% (Medium to High), and 25% (High to Ultra). Across all resolutions, the Medium-to-High transition is consistently the smallest drop (14-17%), suggesting that High settings are efficiently implemented in Barony, while Ultra and Low represent more extreme ends of the GPU load spectrum.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K Ultra in Barony?

A: Yes, the measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 61.1, which sits just above the 60 FPS threshold. However, this leaves minimal headroom, so High settings at 81.3 FPS are safer for maintaining consistent performance.

Q: How does the i5-11400F compare to its closest CPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i5-11400F has an average benchmark score of 17181, which is essentially tied with the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U (0% delta) and slightly ahead of the Intel Core i7-1260P (-0.2%) and Intel Core Ultra 7 164U (-0.2%).

Q: What is the best resolution to pair with a 144 Hz monitor?

A: At 2560x1440 with High settings, the system delivers 156.2 FPS, which exceeds 144 Hz. At 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, it achieves 174.8 FPS. Both options work, but 1440p High offers better image quality while still surpassing 144 Hz.

Q: Does the RTX 3070 outperform its nearest GPU rivals by a wide margin?

A: No, the RTX 3070’s average benchmark score of 28238 is only 0.9% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT and 1% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti. The margins are slim in synthetic tests.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K at the same settings?

A: At Low settings, the drop is from 388.9 FPS to 130.7 FPS (66% loss). At High settings, it drops from 244.3 to 81.3 FPS (67% loss). At Ultra, it drops from 174.8 to 61.1 FPS (65% loss). The consistent ~66% reduction confirms GPU-bound scaling.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in Barony?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor. Evidence includes the consistent percentage drops across resolution scaling and the fact that even at 1080p Low (388.9 FPS), the CPU is not preventing high frame rates. The GPU’s load increases significantly with settings, while the CPU’s 6 cores and 12 threads appear sufficient for this game.