Barony

The Intel Core i5-13400F is a 10-core, 16-thread desktop processor from the Core 13th Gen series, built on Intel's Raptor Lake architecture using a 10 nm process. Its base clock is 2.50 GHz with a boost clock of 4.60 GHz, and it carries a 65 W TDP. The cache layout includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and a shared 20 MB L3 pool. In Barony, a roguelike title from 2015, the game's procedural generation and simulation logic can be sensitive to single-thread performance, but the measured results across resolutions reveal that frame rates scale more dramatically with GPU workload than with CPU throughput alone.

Looking at the CPU's synthetic benchmark scores, single-thread performance is moderate: 3DMark single-thread scores 960, Cinebench R23 single-core scores 3004, and Geekbench single-core scores 2301. Multi-threaded results are substantially higher, with Cinebench R23 multi-core at 21279 and Passmark multithread at 25032, reflecting the benefit of 16 threads. The processor ranks in the 82nd percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 25236. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-13620H (average score 25201, delta 0.1%), AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D (25365, delta -0.5%), AMD EPYC 9474F (25103, delta 0.5%), and AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO 340 (25099, delta 0.5%). This places the i5-13400F within a tight performance band, essentially neck-and-neck with mobile and server parts that differ vastly in power characteristics, but in Barony the CPU rarely becomes the limiting factor.

The data indicates that at 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 521.4 FPS, while at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings it drops to 81.4 FPS. The spread between the lowest and highest tested configurations spans a factor of over 6x, which is far larger than the CPU's single-thread to multi-thread performance ratio. This suggests that the CPU's 10 cores are more than adequate for Barony's logic, and the bottleneck shifts entirely to the GPU as resolution and settings increase. Even at 1080p Low, where CPU overhead would be most visible, the frame rate exceeds 500 FPS, indicating that the i5-13400F's single-thread capabilities — while not class-leading — are far beyond what Barony requires.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-13400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER achieves a rank of 304 out of 1702 tested combos in Barony. This places the pairing in the top 18% of all configurations tested, a strong showing for a mid-range desktop CPU paired with a high-end GPU. The percentile position reflects that while the RTX 4070 SUPER is a capable card, the CPU does not hold the combo back in a game with relatively modest processing demands.

The rank of 304 indicates that roughly 1400 other combinations produce higher average frame rates in Barony, but this must be interpreted with context. The game is a roguelike, not a AAA graphical showcase, so many high-end CPUs paired with top-tier GPUs will naturally push higher numbers. The i5-13400F's 82nd percentile standing among all CPUs, combined with the GPU's 84th percentile, suggests a balanced pairing. The CPU's average benchmark score of 25236 is nearly identical to its closest rival, the Intel Core i7-13620H at 25201, a delta of just 0.1%, meaning the i5-13400F offers no meaningful computational advantage over that mobile chip in synthetic tests, yet in Barony the desktop platform's memory bandwidth and sustained clocks help maintain consistent frame delivery.

The measured FPS data shows that at 1440p High, the combo hits 211 FPS, and at 1080p Medium it reaches 390.2 FPS. These numbers are well above the refresh rates of most displays, indicating that the combo rank of 304 is more a function of absolute top-end configurations (likely featuring flagship CPUs and GPUs) rather than any deficiency in this pairing. The data suggests that for practical gaming, this combo delivers performance in the upper quartile of all tested systems.

FAQ

Q: How does the i5-13400F compare to its closest CPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i5-13400F scores 25236 on average, which is 0.1% ahead of the Intel Core i7-13620H (25201), 0.5% behind the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D (25365), and 0.5% ahead of both the AMD EPYC 9474F (25103) and AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO 340 (25099).

Q: What is the highest average FPS achieved by this combo in Barony?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 521.4, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded, and under what conditions?

A: The lowest average FPS is 81.4, recorded at 3840x2160 resolution with Ultra settings.

Q: How does the GPU's synthetic performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 4070 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 42576, which is 0.2% behind the NVIDIA RTX A6000 (42653), 0.3% behind the AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE (42723), and 1.4% and 1.6% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro 580X (41991) and NVIDIA Tesla M40 (41897), respectively.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested CPU-GPU pairings in Barony?

A: The combo ranks 304th out of 1702 tested combinations.

Q: Does the CPU's multi-threaded performance correlate with Barony's frame rates?

A: The data shows no clear correlation; for example, the CPU's 3DMark 16-thread score is 7314, but frame rates at 1080p Low (521.4 FPS) and 1440p Low (329 FPS) are more strongly tied to resolution and GPU load than to CPU thread scaling.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce 521.4 FPS, Medium yields 390.2 FPS, High reaches 332.8 FPS, and Ultra drops to 238.5 FPS. This progression shows a steady decline of roughly 30% from Low to Medium, 15% from Medium to High, and 28% from High to Ultra. The absolute numbers are exceptionally high, indicating that at 1080p the RTX 4070 SUPER is rarely stressed, and the i5-13400F's 10 cores are more than sufficient to feed frames.

Moving to 2560x1440, the same settings pattern emerges but with proportionally lower numbers. Low settings average 329 FPS, Medium hits 244.7 FPS, High achieves 211 FPS, and Ultra settles at 149 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is significant: Low falls by 36.9%, Medium by 37.3%, High by 36.6%, and Ultra by 37.5%. This consistent reduction across all settings indicates that the GPU's rendering workload scales predictably with pixel count, not with the CPU's capabilities.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates become more demanding. Low settings still manage 175.2 FPS, Medium drops to 130.6 FPS, High reaches 112.3 FPS, and Ultra falls to 81.4 FPS. The transition from 1440p to 4K sees Low decrease by 46.8%, Medium by 46.6%, High by 46.8%, and Ultra by 45.4%. These near-uniform percentage drops confirm that Barony's performance at 4K is entirely GPU-bound, with the CPU contributing negligible overhead. The Ultra setting at 4K, at 81.4 FPS, remains playable but is the only configuration tested that approaches the lower bounds of high-refresh displays.

The data shows a clear linear relationship between resolution and frame rate when settings are held constant. For instance, at High settings, the FPS values are 332.8 (1080p), 211 (1440p), and 112.3 (2160p). The ratio from 1080p to 1440p is 0.634, and from 1440p to 4K is 0.532, which roughly aligns with the increase in pixel count (2.25x and 2.25x, respectively). This indicates that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are the limiting factors at higher resolutions, not the CPU's clock speeds or core count.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with 7168 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 80 raster operation pipelines. It features 56 ray tracing cores and 224 tensor cores, with a base clock of 1980 MHz and a boost clock of 2475 MHz. Memory consists of 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 192-bit bus, providing 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's 5 nm process from TSMC packs 35,800 million transistors into a 294 mm² die.

In synthetic benchmarks, the GPU scores 29995 in Passmark G3D, 4627 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, and 192684 in Geekbench OpenCL. It ranks in the 84th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 42576. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA RTX A6000 (42653, -0.2%), AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE (42723, -0.3%), AMD Radeon Pro 580X (41991, +1.4%), and NVIDIA Tesla M40 (41897, +1.6%). The RTX 4070 SUPER sits within a tight performance cluster, differing from its rivals by less than 2% in either direction.

In Barony, the GPU's role becomes dominant as resolution increases. At 1080p, the frame rates exceed 500 FPS at Low settings, which far outpaces the CPU's ability to issue draw calls — yet the combo still achieves these numbers, indicating that the CPU is not a bottleneck even at extreme frame rates. At 4K Ultra, the GPU's 12 GB VRAM and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth handle the rendering load, but the 81.4 FPS result suggests that the card's raw compute (35.48 TFLOPS FP32) is the limiting factor. The GPU's pixel rate of 198.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 554.4 GTexel/s align with the measured performance: at 4K (8.3 million pixels), the theoretical fill rate could support over 200 FPS, but actual results are lower due to the game's shader complexity and memory access patterns.

The measured FPS at 4K Low (175.2) versus 4K Ultra (81.4) shows a 53.5% reduction, which is consistent with the GPU's TMU and ROP utilization. The RTX 4070 SUPER's 80 ROPs and 224 TMUs are well-suited for Barony's relatively simple geometry, but the higher settings likely introduce additional lighting and particle effects that stress the tensor cores and RT cores, even if the game does not explicitly use ray tracing. The GPU's 84th percentile rank indicates it outperforms most cards, and the combo rank of 304 out of 1702 reflects that only a minority of systems exceed this performance level.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the most balanced experience is achieved at 2560x1440 with High settings, producing 211 FPS. This configuration offers a significant visual upgrade over Medium (244.7 FPS) while maintaining frame rates that exceed any standard display's refresh rate. The drop from Medium to High is only 13.8%, which is a small cost for improved visuals. At 4K, High settings at 112.3 FPS are also viable, but the 1440p High setting provides a smoother experience with a 46.8% higher frame rate than 4K High.

For players prioritizing maximum visual fidelity, 1920x1080 Ultra at 238.5 FPS is the best choice, as it delivers the highest frame rate among Ultra presets while still exceeding 240 Hz displays. The 1440p Ultra at 149 FPS is also excellent, but the 1080p Ultra offers a 60% higher frame rate with identical settings. At 4K, Ultra drops to 81.4 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for competitive or fast-paced gameplay.

For maximum performance, 1080p Low at 521.4 FPS is the fastest configuration, but the jump to Medium (390.2 FPS) costs only 25.2% in frame rate while likely providing substantially better visuals. The data suggests that Medium settings at 1080p offer the best compromise between speed and quality, as the 390.2 FPS result is still far above any practical refresh rate. At 1440p, Low at 329 FPS is similarly overkill for most displays, making Medium at 244.7 FPS the recommended starting point.

The 4K resolution is the only area where settings meaningfully impact playability. At 4K Low (175.2 FPS), the experience is smooth, but at Ultra (81.4 FPS), the frame rate drops below 90 FPS. For 4K users, High settings at 112.3 FPS provide a good balance, offering a 37.9% improvement over Ultra while retaining most visual features. The data indicates that this combo can handle 4K comfortably at any preset, but for consistent 100+ FPS gameplay, High settings at 4K or Ultra at 1440p are the optimal choices based on the measured rows.