Barony

The Intel Core i5-14400F is a 10-core, 16-thread desktop processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process node. It operates with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, and it carries a 20 MB shared L3 cache alongside per-core L1 and L2 caches. For a roguelike title like Barony, which relies heavily on single-threaded game logic and procedural generation, the CPU's strong single-core performance is critical. In Cinebench R23, the chip scores 3093 points in the single-core test and 21914 points in the multi-core test, while Geekbench shows 2333 single-core and 11209 multi-core. These scores place the CPU in the 88th percentile among all tested processors, indicating that it is a high-tier part for handling the game's simulation and AI workloads. The 16 threads provide ample headroom for background tasks and the engine's auxiliary threads, but the measured frame rates in Barony suggest that even at lower resolutions, the GPU is the primary bottleneck, as the CPU's single-core throughput is more than sufficient to feed the graphics card.

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

The i5-14400F's hybrid configuration of 10 cores and 16 threads is well-suited for a game that must maintain consistent turn-based logic and real-time rendering. The processor's 4.70 GHz boost clock ensures that the main game thread receives the highest possible frequency, which directly translates to faster decision-making in the procedural dungeon generation and enemy AI routines. In Passmark's single-thread test, the CPU achieves a score of 3723, and in the integer math test it scores 81964, both of which are strong indicators of its ability to handle the rapid calculations required by Barony's tile-based combat and item interactions. Compared to its nearest rivals, the i5-14400F is essentially tied with the Intel Core i7-12800H (0% delta) and AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 (0.2% ahead), while it trails the AMD Ryzen 7 250 and Intel Core i7-13705H by 0.2%. This tight grouping means that the CPU is not a differentiating factor in frame rates; instead, the data shows that the GPU is the limiting component across all tested settings and resolutions.

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

Examining the measured frame rates at 1080p, the Low preset delivers an average of 553.2 FPS, which is far beyond the refresh rate of any mainstream monitor. The Medium preset drops to 408.9 FPS, while High yields 351.2 FPS, and Ultra still produces a very playable 254.4 FPS. At 1440p, the pattern continues: Low averages 350.7 FPS, Medium 257.7 FPS, High 220.7 FPS, and Ultra 157.4 FPS. Even at 4K, the Ultra preset maintains an average of 83.9 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. Given these numbers, the High preset offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, as it provides a 351.2 FPS average at 1080p and 220.7 FPS at 1440p, both of which are comfortably high. The Ultra preset is also viable, but the jump from High to Ultra causes a frame rate drop of roughly 28% at 1080p (from 351.2 to 254.4 FPS) and 29% at 1440p (from 220.7 to 157.4 FPS), which may not justify the marginal visual improvements in a roguelike where readability of the game board is paramount. For players with high-refresh-rate displays, the Medium preset at 1440p (257.7 FPS) is the sweet spot, as it stays above 240 Hz while offering better shadows and effects than Low.

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

The measured data reveals a clear scaling pattern that identifies the GPU as the performance ceiling. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 351.2 FPS at 1080p to 220.7 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 37%, and then to 117.4 FPS at 4K, another 47% drop from 1440p. This steep decline as resolution increases is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario, where the rendering workload grows with pixel count. The same trend is visible at Low settings: 553.2 FPS at 1080p falls to 350.7 FPS at 1440p (37% drop) and then to 179.7 FPS at 4K (49% drop). The consistency of these percentage drops across different presets indicates that the CPU is not introduce any variable bottleneck; if the CPU were the limiting factor, the frame rates would plateau or drop less sharply at higher resolutions. The RTX 4070 Ti's 504.2 GB/s memory bandwidth and 12 GB of GDDR6X VRAM are sufficient to handle the texture and geometry loads at 4K, but the raw compute throughput (40.09 TFLOPS FP32) is what ultimately caps performance. In contrast, the CPU's performance remains constant regardless of resolution, as evidenced by its stable benchmark scores, confirming that the GPU is the sole limiter in Barony.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is ranked 231st out of 1702 tested combos in Barony, placing it in the top 14% of all systems. This ranking is heavily influenced by the GPU, which sits in the 85th percentile among all graphics cards with an average benchmark score of 44900. The GPU's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile (0.6% higher score), Intel Arc A730M (1.5% higher), AMD Radeon Pro 580 (1.6% lower), and AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT (1.6% lower). The fact that the RTX 4070 Ti is nearly matched by a mobile-class GPU and a mid-range Intel Arc part in synthetic benchmarks, yet still achieves a top-14% combo ranking, suggests that Barony is not particularly demanding on GPU architecture and that the CPU's strong single-core performance helps push the combo higher. The i5-14400F's 88th percentile CPU ranking (with an average score of 32508) ensures that no CPU-side stalls occur, allowing the GPU to reach its full potential. This synergy is why the combo outperforms many systems with more powerful GPUs but weaker CPUs, as the game's roguelike nature favors fast, consistent frame delivery over raw multi-threaded throughput.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using TSMC's 5 nm process, featuring 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die. It operates with a base clock of 2310 MHz and a boost clock of 2610 MHz, with memory running at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective) across a 192-bit bus, yielding 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The 12 GB of GDDR6X VRAM is more than adequate for Barony's modest texture requirements, even at 4K Ultra settings, as evidenced by the 83.9 FPS average at that configuration. The GPU's 7680 shading units and 240 TMUs provide substantial fill rate (208.8 GPixel/s pixel rate and 626.4 GTexel/s texture rate), which explains why the frame rates remain high even when resolution scales. However, the data shows that the GPU is the performance bottleneck: at 1080p Low, the system reaches 553.2 FPS, which is likely near the engine's internal frame rate cap, but at 4K Ultra, the average drops to 83.9 FPS, a 85% reduction. This sensitivity to resolution is typical of a GPU-bound scenario, where the 40.09 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is the limiting factor. The GPU's 85th percentile ranking and its proximity to the RTX 5090 Mobile in synthetic scores (only 0.6% difference) indicate that it is a high-end part, but Barony's relatively simple visuals mean that even a mid-range GPU could achieve playable frame rates. The RTX 4070 Ti's advantage lies in its ability to maintain very high frame rates at 1440p and 4K, making it an excellent choice for players who want to use high refresh rate monitors without compromising on graphical settings.