Barony

Barony is a roguelike that presents an interesting test case for the Intel Core i5-14600K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination. The benchmark data shows this pairing achieving a combo rank of 412 out of 1702 tested configurations, placing it in the top 24% of all tested combos. This position is driven by the CPU's strong multi-threaded performance and the GPU's high-bandwidth memory, which together produce frame rates that range from a demanding 74 FPS at 4K Ultra to a staggering 469.4 FPS at 1080p Low.

FAQ

Q: What is the overall performance ranking of this CPU and GPU combo in Barony?

A: The combo ranks 412th out of 1702 tested combos in this game, meaning it outperforms approximately 75% of all other tested system configurations.

Q: How does the Intel Core i5-14600K compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i5-14600K has an average benchmark score of 49166, which is 0.2% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X (score 49062) and 1% ahead of the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (score 48698).

Q: What is the maximum average FPS achievable with this combo at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 469.4 FPS. This drops to 216.7 FPS at Ultra settings, which is still exceptionally high.

Q: How much performance difference is there between High and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, High settings produce 188.1 FPS average, while Ultra settings yield 133.9 FPS. This represents a 54.2 FPS gap, or a 28.8% reduction in frame rate when moving from High to Ultra.

Q: Does the GPU's memory bandwidth play a significant role in this game's performance?

A: The RTX 4070's 504.2 GB/s memory bandwidth appears sufficient for Barony, as the data shows no bottlenecks at lower resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the frame rate drops to 74 FPS, suggesting the GPU's 12 GB VRAM and processing power are the limiting factors rather than memory throughput.

Q: What is the CPU's single-core performance relative to its multi-core score?

A: The i5-14600K achieves a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4642 and a multi-core score of 32881, indicating a ratio of approximately 7:1 in favor of multi-threaded workloads. This strong single-thread performance is beneficial for Barony's game logic.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 412 out of 1702 places it in the upper quartile of all tested configurations for Barony. This position is notably strong given that the RTX 4070 sits at the 81st percentile among all GPUs, while the i5-14600K ranks at the 93rd percentile among all CPUs. The disparity between these two percentile scores suggests that the CPU is providing a solid foundation, but the GPU is the more limiting component in this pairing for this particular game.

Benchmark results indicate that the combo's ranking is more dependent on GPU performance than CPU capabilities. The RTX 4070's average benchmark score of 37283 places it 0.6% behind the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (score 37507) and 2.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 5300M (score 36371). However, in Barony's specific workload, the combo achieves frame rates that are far higher than what these synthetic scores might suggest, particularly at lower resolutions where the CPU's 14 cores and 20 threads can fully feed the GPU.

The measured FPS data shows that this combo excels at high-refresh-rate gaming. At 1080p, even Ultra settings produce 216.7 FPS average, which exceeds the refresh rate of most monitors. The rank of 412 reflects a system that can handle Barony's roguelike gameplay with massive headroom, though it is not the absolute top performer among the 1702 tested combos.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 brings 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. With a base clock of 1920 MHz and a boost clock of 2475 MHz, this GPU is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using a 5 nm process from TSMC. The memory clock runs at 1313 MHz, translating to 21 Gbps effective, which is a critical factor for high-resolution rendering.

In Barony, the GPU's role becomes increasingly important as resolution increases. At 3840x2160, the frame rate drops from 153.3 FPS at Low settings to 74 FPS at Ultra settings, a 79.3 FPS reduction. This 51.7% performance loss when moving from Low to Ultra at 4K demonstrates that the GPU is the primary constraint at this resolution. The 12 GB VRAM capacity is not exceeded, as the game's data footprint appears manageable, but the processing power required for Ultra settings at 4K pushes the GPU to its limits.

At lower resolutions, the GPU has more headroom. At 1920x1080, the difference between Low (469.4 FPS) and Ultra (216.7 FPS) is 252.7 FPS, but even the Ultra number is far above what most displays can show. The GPU's 184 texture mapping units and 64 render output units contribute to these high fill rates, and the 29.15 TFLOPS of FP32 performance ensures that Barony's visual effects are processed without issue.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern: resolution has a greater impact on performance than settings changes. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates range from 469.4 FPS at Low to 216.7 FPS at Ultra. The Medium setting produces 351.9 FPS, and High yields 301.5 FPS. This shows that each step from Low to Ultra reduces the frame rate by roughly 20-25%, with the largest single drop occurring between Medium (351.9) and High (301.5), a 50.4 FPS difference.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain exceptionally high. Low settings produce 298.8 FPS, which drops to 217.5 at Medium and 188.1 at High. Ultra at 1440p yields 133.9 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra at this resolution is 54.2 FPS, which is larger than the 41.4 FPS gap between Medium and High. This suggests that Ultra settings introduce a significant computational load at 1440p.

At 3840x2160, the performance curve steepens considerably. Low settings produce 153.3 FPS, Medium drops to 113.8, and High further reduces to 101.3. Ultra at 4K yields only 74 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 79.3 FPS, which is the largest absolute drop across any resolution. The step from High (101.3) to Ultra (74) represents a 27.3 FPS loss, indicating that Ultra settings at 4K are particularly demanding.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600K is a 14-core, 20-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, manufactured on a 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, with 24 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU's 125 W TDP and dual-channel memory support for DDR4 and DDR5 provide a capable foundation for gaming workloads.

In Barony, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions where the GPU is not the bottleneck. At 1080p Low settings, the combo achieves 469.4 FPS, which requires the CPU to process game logic, AI, and physics at a very high rate. The i5-14600K's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32881 and single-core score of 4642 indicate that it has both the multi-threaded throughput and single-thread responsiveness needed for this task.

The CPU's performance relative to its rivals is noteworthy. Its average benchmark score of 49166 is 0.2% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X (49062) and 0.4% lower than the Intel Core i5-14600KF (49367). This places the i5-14600K in a competitive position, though the differences are minimal. The CPU's 93rd percentile ranking among all CPUs confirms that it is a top-tier processor for this game.

Settings Recommendations

For players using a 1920x1080 display, Ultra settings are recommended as they still produce 216.7 FPS average, which is well above any refresh rate. The data shows that even at Ultra, the combo has significant headroom, so there is no need to reduce settings for performance reasons. However, if a player prefers maximum visual fidelity without regard to frame rate, the Ultra preset is the clear choice.

At 2560x1440, the High preset offers the best balance, producing 188.1 FPS average. Ultra at this resolution drops to 133.9 FPS, which is still high but represents a 28.8% reduction. For players with 144 Hz monitors, High settings are sufficient, while those with 165 Hz or higher displays might consider Medium (217.5 FPS) to ensure they hit their target. The data shows that Ultra at 1440p is not necessary for smooth gameplay.

For 3840x2160 displays, the Medium preset (113.8 FPS) is the recommended starting point, as it provides a good balance between visual quality and performance. High (101.3 FPS) is also viable for 100 Hz monitors, while Ultra (74 FPS) is only suitable for 60 Hz displays. Players prioritizing frame rate should use Low (153.3 FPS) or Medium, as the jump from Low to Medium costs only 39.5 FPS, while the jump from Medium to Ultra costs 39.8 FPS. The data clearly indicates that Medium is the sweet spot at 4K for this combo.