Barony

The Intel Core i5-14600K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is a high-end combination that ranks 244th out of 3717 tested combos in Barony, placing it in the top 7% of all configurations analyzed. This is a formidable setup for a roguelike title, where the sheer frame rates achieved indicate that neither component becomes a bottleneck in typical gameplay scenarios, though the data reveals interesting scaling behavior at higher resolutions and settings that merit close examination.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 244 out of 3717 places this pairing in the upper echelon of tested systems, outperforming roughly 93% of all combinations in the database for Barony. This is a strong result, but it is not at the absolute top—there are 243 other combos that deliver higher average frame rates in this specific title. The ranking reflects the balance between the Core i5-14600K's strong single-threaded performance and the RTX 4080's substantial graphics throughput, which together produce frame rates that are exceptionally high even at demanding resolutions.

Looking at the CPU's position among its nearest rivals, the i5-14600K has an average benchmark score of 48618, which is nearly identical to the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H at 48698 (a delta of -0.2%) and the AMD EPYC 4345P at 48470 (a delta of 0.3%). The Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX sits at 48287 (0.7% slower), while the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 is at 48995 (0.8% faster). These differences are within 1%, meaning the CPU's raw computational power is essentially on par with these alternatives, yet the combo ranking in Barony is influenced heavily by how the RTX 4080 interacts with the CPU's architecture.

For the GPU, the RTX 4080's average benchmark score of 54247 places it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, scores 54209 (a delta of 0.1%), making them effectively indistinguishable in synthetic tests. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X is 1.1% faster, while the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB and AMD Radeon 8060S are 2.6% and 2.7% faster respectively in average benchmark terms, though these differences are unlikely to translate into perceptible frame rate gaps in Barony given the already high FPS levels.

GPU Role

The RTX 4080 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD103 chip, fabricated on a 5 nm process by TSMC. It features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory clock runs at 1400 MHz, which translates to 22.4 Gbps effective. The GPU has a base clock of 2205 MHz and a boost clock of 2505 MHz, with shading units numbering 9728, texture mapping units at 304, and render output units at 112. The pixel rate is 280.6 GPixel/s, and the texture rate reaches 761.5 GTexel/s.

In Barony, the GPU's memory capacity and bandwidth play a significant role at higher resolutions. The 16 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for this game, which is a 2015 roguelike with relatively modest texture requirements compared to modern AAA titles. The measured results show that at 4K Ultra, the combo still achieves 91 FPS, indicating that the GPU's raw compute power is the limiting factor at that setting rather than memory capacity. The RTX 4080's FP32 performance of 48.74 TFLOPS allows it to handle the game's rendering workload efficiently, even at 4K resolution where pixel throughput demands are highest.

The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4 compatibility ensure it can fully utilize the game's rendering paths. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6567 reflects strong modern API performance, which aligns with the high frame rates observed in Barony. The GPU compute score of 20671 in Passmark indicates solid compute capability, though Barony is primarily rasterization-bound rather than compute-heavy, which is why the frame rates scale predictably with resolution and settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows how the balance between CPU and GPU shifts as resolution increases. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 600 FPS, which is essentially CPU-bound—the GPU has so much headroom that the frame rate is capped by the CPU's ability to feed it draw calls. Moving to 1440p Low drops this to 379 FPS, and 4K Low further reduces it to 198 FPS. This scaling pattern indicates that at Low settings, the GPU begins to take over as the limiting factor only when resolution reaches 4K.

At Medium settings, the frame rates are 446 FPS at 1080p, 281 FPS at 1440p, and 147 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 37%, and from 1440p to 4K is 48%. This steep decline at the highest resolution shows that the GPU is becoming the primary bottleneck as pixel count increases. At High settings, the pattern continues: 383 FPS at 1080p, 242 FPS at 1440p, and 126 FPS at 4K, representing a 37% drop to 1440p and a 48% drop to 4K. This consistent scaling suggests that the CPU is still providing sufficient headroom at 1440p, but the RTX 4080's rendering workload at 4K is what dictates the final frame rate.

The Ultra settings reveal the most dramatic scaling: 274 FPS at 1080p, 173 FPS at 1440p, and 91 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 37%, and from 1440p to 4K is 47%. These percentages are nearly identical to the other settings, indicating that the limiting component remains the same across quality presets—the GPU at higher resolutions and the CPU at lower ones. The fact that the 1080p Ultra frame rate of 274 FPS is still far above typical monitor refresh rates means that even at the highest quality settings, the CPU is not holding back performance at that resolution.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the target resolution and refresh rate. For 1080p displays, the Ultra preset delivers 274 FPS, which is more than enough for any current high-refresh monitor, including 240Hz panels. The Medium preset at 446 FPS offers diminishing returns, as the jump from Ultra to Medium provides a 63% FPS increase but at a noticeable visual quality cost. The High preset at 383 FPS sits between the two, offering a reasonable balance for competitive play where every frame counts.

At 1440p, the Ultra preset at 173 FPS is still excellent for high-refresh gaming, comfortably exceeding 144Hz displays. The High preset at 242 FPS is ideal for 240Hz monitors, while Medium at 281 FPS provides even more headroom for esports-style play. The Low preset at 379 FPS is excessive for most practical purposes and would only be necessary for extremely high refresh rate displays (360Hz+), but the visual degradation in a roguelike where reading item details matters makes it a poor trade-off.

For 4K resolution, the Ultra preset at 91 FPS is playable but falls short of 120Hz displays. The High preset at 126 FPS is the sweet spot, providing smooth gameplay on 120Hz panels while maintaining good visual fidelity. The Medium preset at 147 FPS offers additional headroom for 144Hz displays, though the visual difference from High is noticeable. The Low preset at 198 FPS is overkill for most 4K monitors and sacrifices too much visual quality for a game where atmospheric details contribute to the experience. The recommendation is to use High at 4K, Ultra at 1440p, and Ultra or High at 1080p depending on refresh rate preferences.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo produces exceptional frame rates across all settings. The Low preset achieves 600 FPS average, which is the highest measured value in the entire dataset. Medium settings deliver 446 FPS with a minimum of 379 FPS and a maximum of 513 FPS, showing that the frame rate is stable even during complex scenes. High settings reach 383 FPS, while Ultra drops to 274 FPS, still far beyond the refresh rate of most monitors. The gap between Low and Ultra is 326 FPS, a 54% reduction that reflects the increased GPU workload from higher quality textures and effects.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain extremely high. Low settings produce 379 FPS, Medium hits 281 FPS with a minimum of 239 FPS and a maximum of 324 FPS, High reaches 242 FPS, and Ultra settles at 173 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows a consistent reduction of approximately 37-38% across all settings, indicating that the GPU is handling the additional pixels without introducing any CPU-bound limitations. The Medium preset's minimum of 239 FPS demonstrates that even in demanding moments, the frame rate stays above 240Hz thresholds.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the clear limiting factor. Low settings achieve 198 FPS, Medium drops to 147 FPS with a minimum of 125 FPS and a maximum of 169 FPS, High reaches 126 FPS, and Ultra falls to 91 FPS. The drop from 1440p to 4K is more pronounced at 47-48%, reflecting the doubling of pixel count that requires significantly more GPU compute. The Medium preset's minimum of 125 FPS is still above 120Hz, making it viable for high-refresh 4K displays, while Ultra's 91 FPS is below 100Hz but remains smooth for most gameplay scenarios. The data shows a clear pattern: at 1080p and 1440p, the CPU provides enough headroom for the GPU to stretch its legs, but at 4K, the RTX 4080's limits become apparent.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600K is a 14-core processor with 20 threads, featuring a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. It is built on the Raptor Lake architecture with a 10 nm process node and has a die size of 257 mm². The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache. This configuration provides strong single-threaded performance, which is critical for Barony's game logic and draw call processing.

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU scores 2064 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 24491 in multi-core, with Geekbench scores of 2491 single-core and 16673 multi-core. The Passmark single-thread score of 4270 and multithread score of 38682 further confirm its balanced performance profile. The CPU sits in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 48618, placing it just 0.2% behind the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H and 0.3% ahead of the AMD EPYC 4345P.

In Barony, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions and settings where the GPU is not fully utilized. At 1080p Low, the 600 FPS cap suggests the CPU is processing the game's logic as fast as possible, with the boost clock of 5.30 GHz enabling rapid single-threaded execution. The 14 cores and 20 threads provide ample headroom for background tasks and any physics or AI calculations the game requires, though roguelikes typically do not stress multi-core performance heavily. The L3 cache of 24 MB helps with data locality, reducing memory latency that could otherwise bottleneck frame delivery. The CPU's memory support for DDR4 and DDR5 on a dual-channel bus, along with PCIe Gen 5 support for 16 lanes, ensures it can feed the RTX 4080 without bandwidth constraints. At 1440p and above, the CPU's influence diminishes as the GPU becomes the primary driver of frame rates, but the high single-core performance ensures that even at 4K Ultra, the CPU never becomes the limiting factor—the 91 FPS result is purely a GPU limitation, not a CPU one.