Barony

Barony, a roguelike from 2015, presents an interesting case study in hardware scaling due to its stylized, procedurally generated environments. Based on the measured data for the Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti combination, the game’s performance profile reveals a system that is heavily influenced by both resolution and graphics settings. The data indicates that this configuration is capable of delivering extremely high frame rates, but the distribution of those frames across different presets provides a clear picture of where the bottlenecks lie.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is significant and non-linear, indicating a shift in the primary performance limiter. At 1080p with Low settings, the system produces a staggering 405.5 FPS average. Moving to 1440p at the same Low preset, the average falls to 258.7 FPS, a reduction of approximately 36%. When pushing to 4K, the average drops further to 134.4 FPS, which is another 48% decline from the 1440p figure. This steep decline as resolution increases is a classic sign that the workload is becoming more dependent on the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth.

The scaling pattern changes when higher graphical presets are applied, however. At the High preset, the 1080p average is 257.3 FPS, and the 1440p average is 162.9 FPS, which is a 37% reduction. The jump to 4K High yields 85.1 FPS, a 48% drop from 1440p. This proportional scaling suggests that even at High settings, the GPU is the dominant constraint at higher resolutions. The story is different at Ultra settings, where the 1080p average is 187.8 FPS, the 1440p average is 119 FPS, and the 4K average is 58.9 FPS. The percentage drops are consistent (37% and 50% respectively), reinforcing that the RTX 3070 Ti is the limiting component as pixel count increases, regardless of the quality preset.

Interestingly, the gap between 1080p and 1440p is smaller in absolute FPS terms than the gap between 1440p and 4K for all settings. For instance, at Medium settings, the difference between 1080p and 1440p is 113.5 FPS, while the difference between 1440p and 4K is 88.5 FPS. This suggests that the CPU is still able to feed the GPU adequately at 1440p, but the sheer pixel count at 4K overwhelms the graphics card. The data shows that this combo is most balanced at 1440p, where the high refresh rate potential is still achievable without the severe performance penalty seen at 4K.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti is the central figure in this performance story, and its specifications align with the observed scaling. The GPU features 8 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 608.3 GB/s. This memory configuration is likely sufficient for Barony’s art style, but the 4K results suggest that the raw compute throughput is the limiting factor. The card’s boost clock of 1770 MHz and its FP32 performance of 21.75 TFLOPS are the core drivers of the pixel-crunching workload, and the data shows that these resources are saturated at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS drops to 58.9.

The GPU’s performance class is further contextualized by its benchmark scores. It holds a 74th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 30849. Its nearest rivals in the database include the AMD Radeon RX 6700, which scores 31112 (a -0.8% delta), and the AMD Radeon RX 590 GME, which scores 30755 (a 0.3% delta). This places the RTX 3070 Ti in a competitive mid-to-high tier, which is consistent with its ability to deliver over 85 FPS at 4K High in this specific title. The fact that it achieves 134.4 FPS at 4K Low further indicates that the card has substantial headroom when the visual load is reduced.

The GPU’s role becomes more pronounced as settings increase. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 405.5 FPS, a figure that is likely beyond the refresh rate of most displays, indicating that the CPU is not the limiting factor there. However, at 1080p Ultra, the average drops to 187.8 FPS. This 54% reduction from Low to Ultra at the same resolution is almost entirely attributable to the increased GPU work from more complex shading and effects. The data points to a graphics card that is powerful enough for high-refresh 1440p gaming but will struggle to maintain 60 FPS at 4K with maximum settings in this title.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F serves as the system’s central processor, and its specifications suggest it is well-suited to avoid bottlenecking the GPU in most scenarios. With 10 cores and 16 threads, a base clock of 2.50 GHz, and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, the CPU provides ample multi-threaded and single-threaded performance for a roguelike. Its L3 cache of 20 MB (shared) is also a healthy amount for game logic and entity management. The CPU’s benchmark scores reinforce its capability, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21914 and a single-core score of 3093. It holds an 88th percentile ranking among all CPUs.

The CPU’s influence is most visible at lower resolutions where the GPU is less taxed. At 1080p Low, the system produces 405.5 FPS, which confirms the CPU’s ability to process the game’s logic and draw calls quickly. However, the fact that the FPS does not scale perfectly with resolution at lower settings suggests that the CPU is still a factor. For instance, the drop from 405.5 FPS at 1080p Low to 258.7 FPS at 1440p Low is a 37% decrease, which could indicate that the CPU is starting to reach its limits in terms of frame generation, even if the GPU has headroom. The 4K Low result of 134.4 FPS shows that the GPU eventually takes over as the primary limiter.

When comparing the CPU to its nearest rivals, the data shows it is closely matched with the Intel Core i7-12800H, which has an average score of 32513 (0% delta), and the AMD Ryzen 7 250, which scores 32584 (-0.2% delta). This indicates that the i5-14400F is a solid performer that will not hold back the RTX 3070 Ti in most situations. In Barony, the CPU’s role is to maintain a stable frame delivery, and the high FPS at 1080p and 1440p across all settings confirms that it does so effectively, leaving the GPU as the decisive factor in visual quality scaling.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive look at the combo’s capabilities across all presets. At 1920x1080, the system is exceptionally fast: Low settings yield an average of 405.5 FPS, Medium yields 303.3 FPS, High yields 257.3 FPS, and Ultra yields 187.8 FPS. This shows a clear and predictable degradation as settings increase, with each step up in quality costing roughly 50-70 FPS. At this resolution, the combo is more than capable of driving high refresh rate monitors, even at the most demanding settings.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are still very high. Low settings produce 258.7 FPS, Medium produces 189.8 FPS, High produces 162.9 FPS, and Ultra produces 119 FPS. The relative performance drop from 1080p is consistent, with the Ultra preset remaining above the 100 FPS threshold, which is ideal for competitive play. The 1440p results indicate that this is the sweet spot for the RTX 3070 Ti, balancing visual fidelity with high frame rates.

At 3840x2160, the performance becomes more moderate. Low settings average 134.4 FPS, Medium averages 101.3 FPS, High averages 85.1 FPS, and Ultra drops to 58.9 FPS. The Ultra result is the only one that falls below the 60 FPS mark, suggesting that 4K gaming with maximum settings is not viable for a consistently smooth experience. However, the High preset at 85.1 FPS is still very playable, and the Low preset at 134.4 FPS is excellent for a 4K display. The data clearly shows that the GPU’s limits are reached at 4K Ultra, while the CPU maintains stable frame delivery throughout.

How This Combo Ranks

In the broader context of all tested hardware combinations for Barony, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti holds a rank of 685 out of 1702 total combos. This places it in the upper-middle tier of performance, which is a reasonable reflection of its measured capabilities. While it does not reach the top echelons of the ranking, it outpaces a significant majority of systems, indicating that it is a well-balanced configuration for this game.

The combo’s rank is more impressive when considering the specific hardware involved. The GPU’s 74th percentile ranking among all GPUs and the CPU’s 88th percentile ranking among all CPUs suggest that both components are above average. The fact that the combo ranks in the 40th percentile (685/1702) in this game implies that Barony is not particularly sensitive to the high-end capabilities of these parts, or that other combinations with more powerful GPUs or CPUs dominate the top spots. The data shows that this combo delivers excellent frame rates in most scenarios, but its rank reflects that there are many other tested systems that can push even higher FPS, particularly at 1080p and 1440p.

The ranking also suggests that the bottleneck is often the GPU, as the CPU is powerful enough to support higher frame rates if the graphics card allowed it. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (405.5) is close to what a top-tier system might achieve, but the Ultra preset at 4K (58.9) shows the limits of the RTX 3070 Ti. In summary, this combo is a strong performer for Barony, offering high refresh rates at 1080p and 1440p, and solid 4K performance at medium presets, but it is not among the elite configurations in the database.