Barony

The Intel Core i5-14400F is a 10-core, 16-thread desktop processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, running on the Intel Socket 1700 platform. Its base clock sits at 2.50 GHz with a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, and it carries 20 MB of shared L3 cache alongside 1.25 MB of L2 per core. In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU delivers a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21914 and a single-core score of 3093, placing it in the 88th percentile of all tested CPUs. Its average benchmark score of 32508 puts it in a tight cluster with rivals: it is effectively tied with the Intel Core i7-12800H (0% delta), sits 0.2% behind the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645, and is 0.2% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 7 250 and Intel Core i7-13705H. For a game like Barony, which is a roguelike genre title, this CPU’s strong single-thread performance matters more than its multi-core muscle. The boost clock of 4.70 GHz ensures that the game’s logic, procedural generation, and AI routines execute with minimal latency. The data shows that at lower resolutions and settings, where the GPU is less burdened, this CPU’s headroom is sufficient to push frame rates well beyond what the graphics card can sustain, meaning the processor is rarely the bottleneck in this pairing. Its 65 W TDP and active production status indicate a practical, efficient choice for a system, though the benchmark results here focus purely on measured output.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The i5-14400F’s core configuration—10 cores and 16 threads—is more than adequate for Barony’s roguelike mechanics, which typically rely on a few heavily loaded threads for game state updates and entity logic. The 2.50 GHz base clock and 4.70 GHz boost clock provide the rapid instruction throughput needed for turn-based or real-time dungeon crawling. In the measured FPS data, the CPU’s influence is most apparent at 1080p Low settings, where the average frame rate reaches 136.6 FPS. That figure is nearly double the 4K Low result of 46.4 FPS, showing that at low resolutions, the CPU can feed frames quickly, but the GPU then becomes the limiting factor. The single-core Cinebench R23 score of 3093 is competitive with the CPU’s nearest rivals, all of which fall within a 0.2% delta of its average score, so no surprise that the game’s frame pacing at high settings remains consistent. The 20 MB shared L3 cache helps reduce memory latency for frequently accessed game data, which is critical for maintaining stable frame times in a procedural dungeon crawler. However, because the GTX 1650 is a modest GPU, the CPU’s full potential is never fully utilized; the bottleneck shifts to the graphics card at every resolution above 1080p Low. For this game, the CPU’s role is to ensure that frame rates do not dip due to processor stalls, and the data confirms it succeeds, as the lowest measured average FPS (22.2 at 4K Ultra) is clearly a GPU limit, not a CPU one.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 is an end-of-life GPU from the GeForce 10-series, built on the TU117 chip with a 12 nm process. It features 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 128.1 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock is 1485 MHz with a boost of 1665 MHz, and memory runs at 2001 MHz (8 Gbps effective). The GPU’s FP32 performance is 2.984 TFLOPS, and it has 896 shading units, 56 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. In the benchmark database, this GPU sits in the 43rd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 8713. Its closest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile (0.4% ahead), AMD Radeon 550X (0.4% ahead), NVIDIA Quadro P2200 (0.5% behind), and AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 (0.5% behind). For Barony, the 4 GB VRAM is a critical constraint. At 4K resolution, the High preset yields 30.4 FPS, but dropping to Low raises it to 46.4 FPS—a 52.6% improvement—because the lower texture and shader demands reduce memory pressure and fill-rate load. The 128.1 GB/s bandwidth is modest, which explains why Ultra settings at 1440p produce only 42 FPS compared to 87 FPS at Low. The GPU’s pixel rate of 53.28 GPixel/s and texture rate of 93.24 GTexel/s are the physical limits here; the data shows that at 1080p Medium, the card can manage 104.4 FPS, but at 4K Ultra it falls to 22.2 FPS. The GTX 1650 is the primary limiter in this combo, as evidenced by the steep FPS drops when resolution and settings scale up, while the CPU’s performance remains relatively flat in its benchmark scores.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data across resolutions reveals a classic GPU-bound scenario. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 136.6 FPS, which drops to 87 FPS at 1440p Low (−36.3%) and further to 46.4 FPS at 4K Low (−66% from 1080p). This scaling pattern indicates that the GTX 1650’s fill rate and memory bandwidth are being saturated as pixel count increases. Moving to High settings, the 1080p result is 85.5 FPS, 1440p is 52.6 FPS, and 4K is 30.4 FPS—a steady decline that tracks with the GPU’s compute limits. The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic drop: 61.3 FPS at 1080p, 42 FPS at 1440p, and 22.2 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K at Ultra is 63.8%, while at Low it is 66%, suggesting that the GPU is consistently the bottleneck regardless of settings. If the CPU were the limiter, the FPS would plateau at higher resolutions, but instead it falls monotonically. At 1080p Low, the 136.6 FPS figure approaches what a 10-core CPU can feed without stalling, but the GTX 1650’s 2.984 TFLOPS cannot sustain that rate at higher resolutions. The data confirms that the i5-14400F is not the constraint; the GPU’s 4 GB VRAM and 128.1 GB/s bandwidth are what cap performance, making this a textbook case of resolution scaling governed by graphics hardware.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

For this combo, the measured rows suggest that the Medium preset at 1080p offers the best balance of visual quality and frame rate. At 1080p Medium, the average FPS is 104.4, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, while High drops to 85.5 FPS and Ultra to 61.3 FPS. The jump from Medium to High costs roughly 18% of frame rate (104.4 to 85.5), while the jump from High to Ultra costs another 28% (85.5 to 61.3). Given that Barony is a roguelike where readability of the dungeon and quick reaction times matter, the Medium preset at 1080p provides a comfortable margin. At 1440p, the Medium preset delivers 64.3 FPS, which is playable but with less headroom; dropping to Low raises it to 87 FPS, but the visual trade-off may not be worth it. At 4K, no preset is ideal—even Low only reaches 46.4 FPS, which is below smooth playability. Therefore, the recommendation is to stay at 1080p with Medium settings, as it yields the highest FPS per visual quality increment. The Ultra preset at 1080p (61.3 FPS) is borderline but not recommended because the GPU is already at its limits, and any complex scene could cause dips below 60 FPS. The data strongly favors 1080p Medium as the sweet spot.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 ranks 1659 out of 1702 tested combos in Barony, placing it in the bottom 2.5% of all configurations. This low rank is driven almost entirely by the GPU, which sits in the 43rd percentile of all GPUs, while the CPU is in the 88th percentile. The disparity is stark: the CPU is a high-end performer relative to its peers, but the GPU is a low-end part that drags the overall combo down. In the context of Barony, which is not a graphically demanding game by modern standards, this rank suggests that the GTX 1650 is the weak link. Many other combos with weaker CPUs but faster GPUs would outperform this pairing. The combo’s rank reflects the measured FPS data, which shows playable results only at 1080p Medium or lower. For a builder, this means that if you already own the i5-14400F, upgrading the GPU would yield a massive performance boost in this game, whereas swapping the CPU would do little. The data indicates that the CPU is overkill for the GPU, and the combo’s low rank is a direct consequence of that imbalance.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The following are the exact measured average FPS values for this combo in Barony, organized by resolution and settings preset.

1920x1080:

• Low: 136.6 FPS
• Medium: 104.4 FPS
• High: 85.5 FPS
• Ultra: 61.3 FPS

2560x1440:

• Low: 87 FPS
• Medium: 64.3 FPS
• High: 52.6 FPS
• Ultra: 42 FPS

3840x2160:

• Low: 46.4 FPS
• Medium: 31.8 FPS
• High: 30.4 FPS
• Ultra: 22.2 FPS

At 1080p, the spread from Low to Ultra is 75.3 FPS (136.6 to 61.3), showing that the GPU has enough headroom at this resolution to benefit from lower settings. At 1440p, the spread narrows to 45 FPS (87 to 42), and at 4K it narrows to 24.2 FPS (46.4 to 22.2). This compression at higher resolutions confirms that the GPU is saturated, as reducing settings has diminishing returns. The 1080p Low result of 136.6 FPS is the highest measured value, while 4K Ultra at 22.2 FPS is the lowest. For a roguelike, the playable range is roughly 60 FPS and above, which is achievable at 1080p across all presets and at 1440p Low and Medium. At 4K, no preset reaches 60 FPS, making it unsuitable for this GPU. The data is measured, not estimated, so these numbers represent actual performance for this exact CPU-GPU pairing.