Barony

Resolution Scaling

Barony is not a demanding title by modern standards, and the data confirms this with a wide spread of frame rates across the three tested resolutions. The GTX 1070 delivers a 1080p High average of 150 FPS, which is already well above the threshold for smooth play on most displays. Moving to 1440p High drops the average to 95 FPS, a 37% reduction from the 1080p figure, which is a typical scaling curve for a GPU of this class when pixel count increases by roughly 78%. At 4K High, the average falls further to 50 FPS, meaning the card loses two-thirds of its 1080p performance when pushed to four times the pixel count.

The pattern across settings tells a clear story about the limiting component. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 235 FPS, while 1080p Ultra manages 108 FPS. That is a 54% drop from Low to Ultra, which is a larger relative swing than the 4K Low-to-Ultra change (from 78 FPS down to 36 FPS, a 54% drop as well, but the absolute numbers are lower). The takeaway: at lower resolutions, the GPU has enough headroom that settings matter enormously, and the CPU is rarely the bottleneck. At 4K, the GPU is so heavily loaded by pixel throughput that even dropping to Low only recovers 78 FPS, which is still below the 1080p High result of 150 FPS. So while the Core i5-14400F is clearly capable of feeding the GTX 1070 at high frame rates, the 4K numbers show the GPU running out of steam first.

The scaling from 1440p to 4K is particularly steep. At Medium settings, 1440p yields 110 FPS, but 4K drops to 58 FPS — a 47% reduction. At Ultra, the drop is from 68 FPS to 36 FPS, a 47% reduction again. This consistency across settings suggests that the 4K bottleneck is purely pixel-fill and memory bandwidth related, not a driver or API overhead issue. The GTX 1070's 256.3 GB/s of bandwidth and 64 ROPs are simply not enough to maintain playable frame rates at 4K Ultra, where the combo averages just 36 FPS. For a roguelike where quick reactions matter, that is borderline, but dropping to High or Medium makes 4K more viable at 50 FPS and 58 FPS respectively.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 is a Pascal-generation card built on a 16 nm process from TSMC, with a chip containing 7,200 million transistors on a 314 mm² die. Its base clock is 1506 MHz with a boost clock of 1683 MHz, and it pairs 1920 shading units with 120 texture mapping units and 64 ROPs. Memory is 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 256.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The card's pixel rate is listed at 107.7 GPixel/s and its texture rate at 202.0 GTexel/s, which are the raw throughput figures that determine how quickly it can fill pixels and apply textures.

In Barony, the GPU's role is almost entirely about resolution scaling, as the game's geometry and draw calls are modest. The 1080p results show that the card can produce 150 FPS at High and 175 FPS at Medium, meaning it has plenty of compute headroom for the game's shader work. The limiting factor at higher resolutions is the memory bandwidth and ROP throughput, which is why 4K Ultra falls to 36 FPS. The 8 GB VRAM is not a concern here, as Barony's texture sizes are unlikely to exceed that capacity even at 4K, but the GDDR5's effective 8 Gbps speed and 256-bit bus are what cap the pixel fill rate.

The card's benchmark scores place it in the 47th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 9780. Its nearest rivals in synthetic tests are the AMD FirePro W5000 (9803, deltaPct -0.2), the NVIDIA Quadro M2000M (9832, deltaPct -0.5), the NVIDIA Tesla M10 (9724, deltaPct 0.6), and the NVIDIA Tesla C2070 (9716, deltaPct 0.7). These are not gaming-class cards, which underscores that the GTX 1070's real-world gaming performance is better than its percentile suggests, since the benchmark pool includes professional and mobile parts. In Barony specifically, the card's age shows at 4K Ultra (36 FPS) but is negligible at 1080p, where it delivers over 100 FPS at every tested setting.

How This Combo Ranks

This particular combination of an Intel Core i5-14400F and a GeForce GTX 1070 ranks 3063 out of 3717 tested combos in Barony. That places it in the bottom 18% of all configurations, which might sound alarming until you consider the context. The database includes modern flagship GPUs and CPUs, so a mid-range 2016 GPU paired with a 2024 CPU will naturally sit low in the overall ranking. The rank is a measure of absolute performance, not playability, and the FPS data shows this combo is perfectly capable of running Barony smoothly at most settings.

What the rank does not tell you is how well this pairing balances. The CPU is far more capable than the GPU, which is clear from the synthetic benchmarks: the i5-14400F has an average benchmark score of 32279 and sits in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU sits in the 47th percentile. In Barony, this imbalance means the CPU is almost never the bottleneck, except possibly at 1080p Low where 235 FPS is achieved. The rank of 3063 out of 3717 is heavily influenced by the GPU's age, but the combo's actual frame rates show it outperforms many newer budget pairings in this specific game.

For perspective on the CPU's standing, its nearest rivals in synthetic testing are the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U (32233, deltaPct 0.1), the Intel Core i9-11900 (32226, deltaPct 0.2), the AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS (32354, deltaPct -0.2), and the Intel Core i7-12800H (32121, deltaPct 0.5). These are all laptop or older desktop parts with similar multi-threaded performance, which shows the i5-14400F is a strong desktop value. In Barony, that CPU strength translates to high minimum frame rates at 1080p, where the game is less likely to stutter due to CPU hiccups.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best results. Low settings produce an average of 235 FPS, which is likely CPU-limited given the game's simplicity. Medium averages 175 FPS with a minimum of 149 FPS and a maximum of 201 FPS. High averages 150 FPS, and Ultra drops to 108 FPS. Even at Ultra, the frame rate is well above the typical 60 FPS target, so 1080p is a non-issue for this pairing. The 67 FPS difference between Low and Ultra (235 vs 108) shows that the GPU's shading units and ROPs are the primary differentiators at this resolution, but both ends are perfectly playable.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains strong. Low averages 149 FPS, which is still above most high-refresh monitors' capabilities. Medium averages 110 FPS with a minimum of 94 FPS and a maximum of 127 FPS, making it a solid choice for 1440p gaming. High averages 95 FPS, which is smooth for most players. Ultra drops to 68 FPS, which is still above 60 FPS but shows the GPU starting to strain. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at High (150 to 95 FPS) is a 37% drop, which is expected given the 78% increase in pixel count.

At 3840x2160, the picture changes. Low averages 78 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action. Medium averages 58 FPS with a minimum of 49 FPS and a maximum of 66 FPS, meaning occasional dips below 60 FPS. High averages 50 FPS, which is borderline for a roguelike where timing matters. Ultra averages 36 FPS, which is not smooth enough for most players. The jump from 1440p to 4K at Medium (110 to 58 FPS) is a 47% drop, and at Ultra (68 to 36 FPS) it is also a 47% drop. This consistency suggests the GPU hits a hard memory bandwidth wall at 4K, regardless of settings.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Barony at 4K smoothly?

A: At 4K Medium, the average FPS is 58 with a minimum of 49, which is borderline. At 4K High, the average drops to 50 FPS, and at Ultra it falls to 36 FPS. For smooth 4K play, you would need to use Low settings, which average 78 FPS.

Q: What is the best resolution and settings for this pairing?

A: The data shows 1440p High at 95 FPS or 1440p Medium at 110 FPS are the sweet spots, offering high frame rates without the steep 4K penalty. At 1080p, even Ultra delivers 108 FPS, so any setting is viable.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in Barony?

A: At 1080p Low, the combo hits 235 FPS, which indicates the CPU is likely the limiting factor at that extreme. At 4K, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, as the frame rates drop to 36-78 FPS depending on settings, while the CPU has plenty of headroom.

Q: How does the GTX 1070 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GTX 1070 scores 9780 on average, which is 0.2% lower than the AMD FirePro W5000 (9803), 0.5% lower than the NVIDIA Quadro M2000M (9832), 0.6% higher than the NVIDIA Tesla M10 (9724), and 0.7% higher than the NVIDIA Tesla C2070 (9716).

Q: What is the CPU's multi-threaded performance relative to its rivals?

A: The Core i5-14400F scores 32279 on average, which is 0.1% higher than the Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U (32233), 0.2% higher than the Core i9-11900 (32226), 0.2% lower than the Ryzen 7 6800HS (32354), and 0.5% higher than the Core i7-12800H (32121).

Q: Is the GTX 1070's 8 GB VRAM enough for Barony?

A: The data shows the card delivers playable frame rates at up to 1440p Ultra (68 FPS) and 4K High (50 FPS), so VRAM is not a limiting factor in this game. The bottleneck at 4K appears to be memory bandwidth (256.3 GB/s) rather than capacity.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F is a Raptor Lake Refresh part built on Intel's 10 nm process, with 10 cores and 16 threads. Its base clock is 2.50 GHz and boost clock is 4.70 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The cache configuration includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 20 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory on a dual-channel bus, and it has 16 PCIe Gen 5 lanes. The launch MSRP is $196, and it sits in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 32279.

In Barony, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic, and the data shows it does this effortlessly. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 235 FPS, which is likely near the game's engine limit or the CPU's single-thread ceiling. The PassMark single-thread score is 3701, and the Geekbench single-core score is 2058, which are strong numbers that explain why the game never stutters at high frame rates. The multi-threaded scores are equally robust: Cinebench R23 multi-core hits 21645, and PassMark multi-thread is 25470, but Barony is unlikely to use all 16 threads given its roguelike nature.

The CPU's 10 cores and 16 threads provide ample headroom for background tasks and streaming while gaming, but they are not the differentiator in this game. The real evidence is the FPS scaling: from 1080p to 1440p at High, the drop is 150 to 95 FPS, which tracks the GPU's pixel throughput. If the CPU were the bottleneck, you would see similar frame rates across resolutions at the same settings, but the data shows a clear resolution dependence. The only scenario where the CPU appears to limit is 1080p Low, where 235 FPS exceeds what the GTX 1070 can produce at higher settings, suggesting the game's CPU-bound path caps out around that figure. For practical purposes, this CPU is overkill for Barony, but that is not a bad thing — it ensures consistent frame pacing and no CPU-induced dips, even in chaotic rooms with many enemies.