Barony

# Barony with Intel Core i5-14600K + Intel Arc B570

The Intel Core i5-14600K paired with the Intel Arc B570 is a mid-range desktop combination that delivers playable performance across most settings in Barony, a roguelike title that is not particularly demanding by modern standards. The measured data shows this combo achieving 245 FPS at 1080p Low settings, which indicates the system has substantial headroom in less stressful scenarios. However, the combo ranks in the 79th percentile (rank 2344 out of 2935 tested configurations), meaning roughly 20% of tested combinations deliver higher frame rates in this game. The CPU, with its 14 cores and 20 threads, is a strong performer in the 90th percentile among all processors, while the GPU sits in the 65th percentile among all graphics cards, suggesting the graphics card is the more limiting factor in this pairing.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600K is a Raptor Lake Refresh desktop processor built on Intel's 10 nm process, featuring 14 cores and 20 threads with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 2 MB of L2 cache per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache. This processor supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory through a dual-channel memory bus, and it includes integrated UHD Graphics 770, though the discrete Arc B570 handles the rendering in this configuration.

In synthetic benchmarks, the i5-14600K shows strong single-thread and multi-thread capabilities. It scores 2064 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 24491 in multi-core, while Geekbench results show 2491 single-core and 16673 multi-core. The PassMark multithread score of 38682 and single-thread score of 4270 reinforce this pattern. Compared to its nearest rivals in the database, the i5-14600K's average benchmark score of 48618 places it within a tight cluster: it trails the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H by just 0.2% (48698), sits ahead of the AMD EPYC 4345P by 0.3% (48470), and outperforms the Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX by 0.7% (48287). It also beats the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 by 0.8% (48995 is that rival's score, meaning the i5 trails it by 0.8%). The processor's 90th percentile ranking among all CPUs indicates it is a highly capable component for general computing tasks.

For Barony specifically, the CPU's role is likely modest given the game's roguelike nature, which typically involves procedural level generation and game logic that can benefit from single-thread performance. The i5-14600K's boost clock of 5.30 GHz and strong single-core scores (297 in Cinebench R15, 1935 in Cinebench R20, 2064 in R23, 2491 in Geekbench) suggest it can handle any CPU-bound scenarios the game presents. The 14-core configuration with 20 threads provides ample parallel processing capability, though Barony likely does not scale to use all cores. The data shows that at 1080p Low settings, the combo achieves 245 FPS, which is likely near or above the display refresh rate of most monitors, indicating the CPU is not a bottleneck at this resolution and settings level.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 is a Battlemage generation graphics card built on TSMC's 5 nm process, featuring the BMG-G21 chip with 19,600 million transistors on a 272 mm² die. It comes with 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus, providing 380.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The GPU operates at a fixed 2500 MHz base and boost clock, with memory running at 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective). The card has 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, 80 raster operation units, and 18 ray tracing cores. Its compute capabilities include 11.52 TFLOPS FP32 and 23.04 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1 ratio), with pixel rate of 200.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 360.0 GTexel/s.

In synthetic benchmarks, the Arc B570 achieves a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2649, Geekbench OpenCL score of 83514, and Geekbench Vulkan score of 96844. PassMark results show a G3D score of 14195 and GPU compute score of 7281. The GPU's average benchmark score of 20556 places it in the 65th percentile among all graphics cards. Its nearest rivals show very tight competition: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile scores 20534 (0.1% behind the Arc B570), the Intel Arc A750 scores 20582 (0.1% ahead), the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M scores 20480 (0.4% behind), and the AMD Radeon R9 M390X scores 20662 (0.5% ahead). This indicates the Arc B570 performs essentially on par with these competitors in aggregate benchmarks.

For Barony, the GPU's 10 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for a roguelike title, and the 380.0 GB/s memory bandwidth provides adequate data throughput. The fixed 2500 MHz clock speed ensures consistent performance without boost variability. The measured FPS data shows the GPU handling 1080p High at 156 FPS and 4K High at 52 FPS, indicating the card scales predictably with resolution. The GPU's 65th percentile ranking suggests it is a competent mid-range card, and in Barony's relatively light graphical workload, it performs admirably at 1080p and 1440p, with 4K Ultra being the only setting where frame rates dip below 40 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance for optimal settings at each resolution. At 1920x1080, all four settings presets deliver playable frame rates: Low averages 245 FPS, Medium averages 182 FPS (with a range of 155-209 FPS), High averages 156 FPS, and Ultra averages 112 FPS. Given that Medium provides a 27% reduction in frame rate compared to Low (245 to 182 FPS) while presumably offering better visual quality, and High is only 14% slower than Medium (182 to 156 FPS), the High preset at 1080p appears to offer the best balance—maintaining 156 FPS which is well above typical 144 Hz refresh rates.

At 2560x1440, the data shows Low at 154 FPS, Medium at 115 FPS (range 98-132 FPS), High at 99 FPS, and Ultra at 71 FPS. The Medium preset here provides 115 FPS, which is suitable for high-refresh-rate gaming, while High drops to 99 FPS and Ultra falls to 71 FPS. For 1440p, Medium is the recommended choice, as it represents a 25% improvement over High (115 vs 99 FPS) and is nearly 62% faster than Ultra (115 vs 71 FPS), while still maintaining a smooth experience. The minimum FPS of 98 at Medium (from the 98-132 FPS range) ensures that even in demanding moments, the frame rate stays above 90 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes significantly. Low averages 81 FPS, Medium averages 60 FPS (range 51-69 FPS), High averages 52 FPS, and Ultra averages 37 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K provides a playable 60 FPS average, though the 51 FPS minimum indicates occasional dips below 60. For a roguelike game where precise timing may not be critical, the High preset at 52 FPS is still playable, but Medium is the safer recommendation for consistent performance. Ultra at 37 FPS is not recommended for smooth gameplay. The data suggests that 4K gaming is feasible with this combo, but users should stick to Medium or lower settings to maintain reasonable frame rates.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of Intel Core i5-14600K and Intel Arc B570 ranks 2344 out of 2935 tested configurations in Barony, placing it in the 79.8th percentile of all combos. This means approximately 20% of tested systems perform better, while 80% perform worse. The ranking is somewhat surprising given the CPU's strong 90th percentile position among processors, but the GPU's 65th percentile ranking among graphics cards drags the overall combination down. This suggests that in Barony, the Arc B570 is the limiting factor, and systems with higher-performing GPUs achieve better frame rates even if their CPUs are less capable.

The delta between the CPU and GPU percentiles (90th vs 65th) indicates a potential imbalance in this pairing for gaming workloads. The i5-14600K is clearly capable of feeding the Arc B570 with data, as evidenced by the high frame rates at 1080p Low (245 FPS), where the CPU could be expected to become a bottleneck if it were weak. Since the GPU's benchmark percentile is 25 points lower than the CPU's, the graphics card is the component holding back the system's overall ranking in Barony. Users considering this combo for other games should expect similar dynamics—the CPU will rarely be the limiting factor, while the GPU will determine performance at higher resolutions and settings.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals how the system responds to increasing pixel count. At High settings, the progression is 156 FPS at 1080p, 99 FPS at 1440p, and 52 FPS at 4K. This represents a 37% drop from 1080p to 1440p (156 to 99 FPS) and a 67% drop from 1080p to 4K (156 to 52 FPS). At Low settings, the progression is 245 FPS at 1080p, 154 FPS at 1440p, and 81 FPS at 4K—a 37% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 67% drop from 1080p to 4K. The consistency of these percentage drops across settings presets strongly indicates GPU-bound performance, as the CPU workload remains constant while pixel count scales.

The scaling behavior at Medium settings follows a similar pattern: 182 FPS at 1080p, 115 FPS at 1440p, and 60 FPS at 4K. This represents a 37% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 67% drop from 1080p to 4K, matching the Low and High presets exactly. Ultra settings show 112 FPS at 1080p, 71 FPS at 1440p, and 37 FPS at 4K—a 37% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 67% drop from 1080p to 4K. The uniform percentage drops across all four settings presets confirm that the Arc B570's pixel throughput is the limiting factor, with no evidence of CPU bottlenecking at any resolution. If the CPU were the constraint, the scaling from 1080p to 4K would show smaller frame rate drops at higher settings, but the data shows identical scaling behavior regardless of settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings average 245 FPS with no minimum or maximum recorded. Medium settings average 182 FPS with a range of 155 FPS minimum to 209 FPS maximum. High settings average 156 FPS with no range data. Ultra settings average 112 FPS with no range data. All four presets at 1080p exceed 100 FPS, making this resolution ideal for high-refresh-rate displays. The 245 FPS at Low suggests the game is not heavily taxing the GPU at this resolution, and the 156 FPS at High indicates that even with increased visual fidelity, the system maintains excellent performance.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain strong but show expected decreases. Low settings average 154 FPS with no range data. Medium settings average 115 FPS with a range of 98 FPS minimum to 132 FPS maximum. High settings average 99 FPS with no range data. Ultra settings average 71 FPS with no range data. The Medium preset's 98 FPS minimum is noteworthy—it means even in the worst-case moments, frame rates stay above 90 FPS, providing a smooth experience. The High preset at 99 FPS is marginally below 100 FPS, which may matter for 100 Hz displays, while Ultra at 71 FPS remains playable but not ideal for competitive play.

At 3840x2160, the system shows its limits. Low settings average 81 FPS with no range data. Medium settings average 60 FPS with a range of 51 FPS minimum to 69 FPS maximum. High settings average 52 FPS with no range data. Ultra settings average 37 FPS with no range data. The Medium preset's 60 FPS average is exactly at the standard 60 Hz refresh rate threshold, though the 51 FPS minimum means occasional drops below 60. The High preset at 52 FPS is noticeably less smooth, and Ultra at 37 FPS would likely feel sluggish for most players. The 4K data suggests that this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K reserved for less demanding settings or games.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Barony?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 provides the highest frame rates, with all settings presets exceeding 100 FPS (Low: 245 FPS, Medium: 182 FPS, High: 156 FPS, Ultra: 112 FPS). At 1440p, frame rates remain playable with Medium at 115 FPS and High at 99 FPS, while 4K drops to 60 FPS at Medium and 52 FPS at High.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B570 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Arc B570's average benchmark score of 20556 places it in the 65th percentile. It trails the Intel Arc A750 by 0.1% (20582), leads the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile by 0.1% (20534), leads the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M by 0.4% (20480), and trails the AMD Radeon R9 M390X by 0.5% (20662).

Q: Which settings preset provides the most consistent frame rates at 1440p?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 shows a range of 98 to 132 FPS with an average of 115 FPS. The 98 FPS minimum ensures smooth performance even during demanding scenes, making it the most reliable choice for consistent frame rates at this resolution.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this configuration?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU ranks in the 90th percentile among processors, while the GPU ranks in the 65th percentile among graphics cards. Additionally, resolution scaling shows consistent 37% FPS drops from 1080p to 1440p and 67% drops from 1080p to 4K across all settings, which is characteristic of GPU-bound performance.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Barony?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K, Low settings average 81 FPS, Medium averages 60 FPS (with a 51 FPS minimum), High averages 52 FPS, and Ultra averages 37 FPS. Medium settings provide the most balanced experience at 4K, while Ultra is not recommended due to sub-40 FPS performance.

Q: How does the i5-14600K's benchmark performance compare to similar processors?

A: The i5-14600K's average benchmark score of 48618 is nearly identical to its nearest rivals. It trails the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H by 0.2% (48698), leads the AMD EPYC 4345P by 0.3% (48470), leads the Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX by 0.7% (48287), and trails the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 by 0.8% (48995).