Barony

The Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination delivers exceptional performance in Barony, a roguelike that clearly favors high-refresh-rate displays. The data shows this pairing is capable of pushing frame rates well beyond the standard 60 FPS target, even at demanding 4K resolutions, positioning it as a top-tier setup for this title.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate recorded for this combo?

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 596.6 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the combo rank among other tested systems in Barony?

A: The combo ranks 124th out of 1702 tested combinations, placing it in the top 7.3% of all systems tested for this game.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the Low preset delivers 199.3 FPS, while the Ultra preset delivers 90.2 FPS, representing a 121% performance increase for Low settings.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU act as the primary bottleneck at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the frame rates scale dramatically with settings (596.6 FPS Low vs 273.3 FPS Ultra), indicating the GPU is still the primary limiting factor, though the CPU's performance ceiling is high.

Q: What is the average benchmark score for the RTX 4080 SUPER, and how does it compare to its closest rival?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 53610, which is 0.2% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT's score of 53489.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between 1440p and 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the system achieves 241.5 FPS at 2560x1440 and 125.2 FPS at 3840x2160, showing a 93% performance drop when moving to 4K.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the dominant component in this pairing for Barony, as the game's results scale heavily with graphics settings. The GPU's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus provides 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which proves ample for this roguelike's asset streaming. With a boost clock of 2550 MHz and 10240 shading units, the card can process geometry and lighting calculations rapidly.

The GPU's 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores are present, though Barony is not a title that heavily utilizes ray tracing or DLSS features based on the measured data. The FP32 performance of 52.22 TFLOPS indicates raw compute power that allows the card to handle the game's procedural generation and particle effects with ease. The pixel rate of 285.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 816.0 GTexel/s suggest the card can fill the screen with detailed textures at high resolutions without becoming a bottleneck.

The GPU's benchmark scores reinforce its capability. The Passmark G3D score of 34245 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6600 place it in the 88th percentile of all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 53610 is 0.2% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT and 2.9% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, confirming its position as a high-end performer. The data shows that in Barony, the GPU's performance headroom is such that even at 4K Ultra, it maintains 90.2 FPS, suggesting the card is never truly stressed by this title.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions. At Low settings, the system drops from 596.6 FPS at 1920x1080 to 199.3 FPS at 3840x2160, a 66.6% reduction in performance. This steep decline indicates that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth become increasingly important as pixel count rises.

At Medium settings, the scaling shows a similar pattern: 446 FPS at 1080p drops to 145 FPS at 4K, a 67.5% reduction. The High preset follows suit with 383.1 FPS at 1080p falling to 125.2 FPS at 4K, a 67.3% drop. The Ultra preset demonstrates the most significant scaling, going from 273.3 FPS at 1080p to 90.2 FPS at 4K, a 67% reduction.

These consistent percentage drops across all settings suggest that the resolution scaling is purely GPU-limited, with the CPU maintaining sufficient headroom. The RTX 4080 SUPER's 736.3 GB/s memory bandwidth and 285.6 GPixel/s pixel rate are the key factors in maintaining playable frame rates at 4K, though the data indicates that 1080p and 1440p are where this combo truly excels, with frame rates exceeding 240 FPS at High settings in both resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system demonstrates extraordinary performance. The Low preset achieves 596.6 FPS, while Medium reaches 446 FPS, High delivers 383.1 FPS, and Ultra still maintains 273.3 FPS. These numbers indicate that at 1080p, the RTX 4080 SUPER is operating well below its maximum capacity, with even Ultra settings not fully utilizing the GPU's compute power.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain exceptionally high. Low settings produce 375 FPS, Medium hits 281.8 FPS, High reaches 241.5 FPS, and Ultra manages 172.6 FPS. The reduction from 1080p is notable but still leaves the system far above any refresh rate threshold, suggesting that 1440p is the sweet spot for this combo in Barony.

At 3840x2160, the system finally begins to show some strain. Low settings deliver 199.3 FPS, Medium drops to 145 FPS, High achieves 125.2 FPS, and Ultra falls to 90.2 FPS. While these numbers are still high for 4K gaming, the Ultra preset at 90.2 FPS indicates that this is the first resolution where the GPU's performance ceiling becomes visible. The data shows a clear progression: 1080p is CPU-limited, 1440p is balanced, and 4K is GPU-limited.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 124 out of 1702 tested combinations places it in the top 7.3% of all systems tested for Barony. This high ranking is consistent with the component-level benchmarks, where the CPU sits in the 88th percentile and the GPU also sits in the 88th percentile of their respective categories.

The CPU's nearest rivals show minimal performance differences. The Intel Core i7-12800H has an average score of 32513, which is 0% different from the i5-14400F's score of 32508. The AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 is 0.2% higher at 32446, while the AMD Ryzen 7 250 is 0.2% lower at 32584. These minuscule deltas indicate that the CPU is not a differentiating factor in this combo's ranking.

For the GPU, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT trails by only 0.2% with a score of 53489, while the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M is 0.4% behind. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is 2.9% behind at 52086. These close margins suggest that the RTX 4080 SUPER's performance in Barony is competitive with other high-end options, though the measured frame rates show this specific combo excels due to the balanced pairing.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the High preset at 2560x1440 offers the best balance of visual quality and performance, delivering 241.5 FPS. This setting provides a 40% performance increase over Ultra while maintaining most of the visual fidelity, making it ideal for high-refresh-rate displays.

For 1080p users, the Ultra preset at 273.3 FPS is the recommended choice, as it provides the best visual experience while still delivering frame rates far above any monitor's refresh rate. The Medium preset at 446 FPS offers minimal visual benefit over Ultra for competitive play, but the data shows Ultra is still well within playable ranges.

At 4K, the High preset at 125.2 FPS represents the best compromise, offering smooth gameplay while maintaining visual quality. The Ultra preset at 90.2 FPS is also viable for immersive play, but the 28% performance gain from High makes it the more practical choice. The Low preset at 199.3 FPS is only recommended for players seeking maximum frame rates on high-refresh 4K monitors, as the visual quality trade-off is significant.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F provides a solid foundation for this combo, with 10 cores and 16 threads running at a base clock of 2.50 GHz and boost clock of 4.70 GHz. The 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB L2 cache per core ensure that game logic and entity processing have sufficient fast memory available.

The CPU's benchmark scores demonstrate its capability for gaming workloads. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 21914 and single-core score of 3093 indicate strong single-threaded performance, which is crucial for Barony's game logic. The Geekbench multicore score of 11209 and single-core score of 2333 further validate this, while the Passmark multithread score of 25783 shows the CPU can handle concurrent tasks without bottlenecking the GPU.

The CPU's 88th percentile ranking and average benchmark score of 32508 place it in capable company. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-12800H, scores 32513, a negligible 0% difference, confirming that the i5-14400F is not a limiting factor in this system. The data supports that at 1080p, where frame rates reach 596.6 FPS, the CPU is still able to feed the GPU adequately, though the dramatic scaling with resolution and settings suggests the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck as workload increases.