Barony

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti delivers exceptional performance in Barony, a 2015 roguelike. The data shows that this combination is heavily GPU-limited at higher settings but becomes increasingly CPU-bound at lower settings and resolutions, where frame rates exceed 400 FPS. For the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, the High preset at 1440p offers the most compelling experience, providing a smooth 161.9 FPS average, while 4K Ultra is the only configuration that dips below 60 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data clearly indicates that the High preset is the optimal choice for this hardware combination in Barony. At 1440p, High settings deliver 161.9 FPS, which is 45.2 FPS higher than Ultra’s 116.7 FPS, while the visual difference between High and Ultra in a roguelike of this style is typically marginal. The jump from Medium to High at 1440p costs only 28.3 FPS (190.2 down to 161.9), making it a worthwhile trade for improved image quality. At 1080p, High achieves 258.6 FPS, which is 70.6 FPS more than Ultra’s 188 FPS, ensuring that even the most demanding in-game scenes remain fluid. Low settings are unnecessary for this pairing; at 1080p Low, the system renders 408.5 FPS, which far exceeds the refresh rate of virtually any monitor, meaning the extra graphical detail from High is essentially free in practical terms. For 4K users, High remains the recommended preset, as it produces 88.6 FPS, comfortably above the 60 FPS target, whereas Ultra drops to 59.7 FPS, risking stutter on standard 60 Hz displays. Medium settings at 4K (99.3 FPS) are a viable fallback if the user prefers a higher frame rate cushion, but High’s 88.6 FPS is sufficient for smooth gameplay.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for a 60 Hz display?

A: For a 60 Hz display, 4K High settings provide the best experience, delivering an average of 88.6 FPS. This is 28.9 FPS above the 60 FPS threshold, leaving headroom for demanding scenes, while 4K Ultra drops to 59.7 FPS, which is technically below the refresh rate target.

Q: How much faster is the system at 1080p Low compared to 4K Ultra?

A: The difference is substantial. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 408.5 FPS, which is 348.8 FPS higher than the 59.7 FPS recorded at 4K Ultra. This represents a roughly 6.8x performance increase, illustrating how resolution and settings scale in this game.

Q: Does the system maintain playable frame rates at 4K resolution?

A: Yes, but only up to the High preset. The measured data shows 4K High at 88.6 FPS and 4K Medium at 99.3 FPS, both of which are playable. The 4K Ultra preset at 59.7 FPS is borderline, while 4K Low at 135.8 FPS is also viable if visual quality is not a priority.

Q: How does the CPU benchmark score compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core i5-11400F has an average benchmark score of 17181, placing it in the 75th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U, scores 17189, a negligible 0% difference. The Intel Core i7-1260P and Intel Core Ultra 7 164U score 17212 and 17215 respectively, both 0.2% higher, indicating the i5-11400F is essentially on par with these competing chips.

Q: What is the GPU’s performance percentile relative to all other graphics cards?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti sits in the 74th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 30849. Its closest competitor is the AMD Radeon RX 590 GME, which scores 30755, a 0.3% difference, while the AMD Radeon RX 6700 is 0.8% faster with a score of 31112.

Q: Is the frame rate at 1080p High limited by the CPU or the GPU?

A: At 1080p High, the system produces 258.6 FPS. Given that the 3DMark 16-thread score for the CPU is 5619 and the GPU’s Passmark G3D score is 23356, the high frame rate suggests the CPU is the limiting factor, as the GPU is capable of rendering frames faster than the CPU can issue draw calls at this resolution.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data reveals a classic CPU-bound scenario at lower resolutions, transitioning to a GPU-bound scenario at 4K. At 1080p Low, the system hits 408.5 FPS, but this drops to 258.7 FPS at 1440p Low, a 149.8 FPS decrease. The trend continues to 135.8 FPS at 4K Low, showing a further 122.9 FPS drop. This pattern indicates that at 1080p, the Intel Core i5-11400F’s 6 cores and 12 threads are the primary constraint, as the RTX 3070 Ti cannot be fully utilized when the CPU is feeding it frames at over 400 FPS. However, the scaling is more pronounced at higher settings. Moving from 1080p High (258.6 FPS) to 1440p High (161.9 FPS) is a 96.7 FPS loss, and then to 4K High (88.6 FPS) is another 73.3 FPS loss. This steeper decline at High settings confirms the GPU becomes the bottleneck as pixel count increases. At Ultra settings, the resolution scaling is even more dramatic: 188 FPS at 1080p, 116.7 FPS at 1440p, and 59.7 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result being below 60 FPS is a clear indicator that the RTX 3070 Ti’s 8 GB of GDDR6X memory and 608.3 GB/s bandwidth are saturated at this extreme configuration. The data suggests that for optimal scaling, 1440p High is the sweet spot, as it provides a high frame rate while still leveraging the GPU’s capabilities.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti ranks 673rd out of 1702 tested combinations in Barony, placing it in the top 39.5% of all systems tested. This rank is respectable given the game’s age and the fact that many higher-ranked combinations likely feature newer, more expensive hardware. The CPU’s percentile rank of 75th vs all CPUs and the GPU’s 74th percentile vs all GPUs suggest a balanced pairing, where neither component is drastically underpowered relative to the other. The rank of 673 out of 1702 indicates that while this system is above average, it is not at the very top tier, primarily because the RTX 3070 Ti, while powerful, is not the flagship of its generation. The combination outperforms 1029 other combos, which is a strong showing for a mid-range CPU paired with a high-end GPU. The data implies that users with this setup can expect top-tier performance in Barony at 1080p and 1440p, with solid 4K capability at High settings.

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. It has a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with a 12 MB shared L3 cache. In Barony, the CPU’s role is critical at lower resolutions and settings. The 1080p Low result of 408.5 FPS demonstrates the CPU’s ability to process game logic and draw calls at an extremely high rate, but it also shows its limits. The 3DMark single-thread score of 868 and the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2029 indicate strong single-core performance, which is essential for roguelike games that often rely on a single primary thread for game state updates. The multi-threaded performance, evidenced by the Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14372 and the Passmark multithread score of 16908, ensures that background tasks and secondary game systems do not cause frame drops. The CPU’s 75th percentile ranking versus all CPUs confirms it is a capable processor, but the data shows it becomes the bottleneck at 1080p, as frame rates do not scale linearly with GPU settings. For instance, at 1080p, the difference between Low (408.5 FPS) and High (258.6 FPS) is 149.9 FPS, which is less than the difference at 4K between Low (135.8 FPS) and High (88.6 FPS), which is 47.2 FPS. This suggests that at 1080p, the CPU is limiting the FPS, preventing the GPU from reaching its full potential.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1080p, the system produces 408.5 FPS on Low, 302.4 FPS on Medium, 258.6 FPS on High, and 188 FPS on Ultra. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a steady decline, with the largest drop occurring between High and Ultra, a 70.6 FPS reduction. At 1440p, the results are 258.7 FPS (Low), 190.2 FPS (Medium), 161.9 FPS (High), and 116.7 FPS (Ultra). The drop from Low to Medium is 68.5 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 45.2 FPS. At 4K, the frame rates are 135.8 FPS (Low), 99.3 FPS (Medium), 88.6 FPS (High), and 59.7 FPS (Ultra). The 4K results show the most significant relative decline, with Ultra being 76.1 FPS lower than Low. Notably, the 4K Ultra result of 59.7 FPS is the only measured configuration that falls below 60 FPS, indicating that this preset is not recommended for standard refresh rate monitors. The data also reveals that the scaling from 1080p to 4K at the same settings is substantial: for High settings, the drop is 170 FPS (258.6 to 88.6), and for Ultra, it is 128.3 FPS (188 to 59.7). This confirms that the RTX 3070 Ti’s performance is heavily dependent on resolution, with its 8 GB memory buffer being a limiting factor at 4K Ultra.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti is built on the Ampere architecture, featuring 6144 shading units, 192 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. It has a base clock of 1575 MHz and a boost clock of 1770 MHz, with 8 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 608.3 GB/s of bandwidth. In Barony, the GPU’s role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution and settings increase. The 4K results highlight the GPU’s limitations: at 4K Ultra, the frame rate drops to 59.7 FPS, indicating that the GPU is fully saturated. The GPU’s Passmark G3D score of 23356 places it in the 74th percentile of all GPUs, which is slightly below the CPU’s 75th percentile, suggesting a minor imbalance where the CPU is marginally more capable relative to its peers. The nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6700, is 0.8% faster, while the NVIDIA Quadro M5000 is 0.9% slower. This indicates that the RTX 3070 Ti is a solid mid-to-high-end card, but not the fastest available. The GPU’s 21.75 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is more than sufficient for Barony, as evidenced by the high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p. However, the 8 GB memory capacity is a potential bottleneck at 4K Ultra, where the combination of high-resolution textures and effects likely exceeds the available VRAM, causing the performance drop to 59.7 FPS. The data suggests that for 4K gaming, users should stick to High settings (88.6 FPS) to avoid the VRAM limitation.