Barony

Barony is a roguelike that leans surprisingly hard on GPU throughput, and this pairing of an Intel Core i5-14600KF with an AMD Radeon RX 580 lands in the lower tier of tested configurations, ranked 3393 out of 3717 combos. The data shows a system where the graphics card is the decisive bottleneck at higher resolutions, while the processor’s strong single-thread performance ensures playable frame rates at 1080p.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS reveals a steep performance cliff as resolution climbs, a clear sign that the Radeon RX 580’s 256.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth and 6.175 TFLOPS of compute are being saturated. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo produces an average of 153 FPS, which drops to 97 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 51 FPS at 3840x2160. That represents a 67% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K at the lowest settings, indicating that the GPU is the primary limiter even when graphical load is minimized.

The scaling pattern becomes more pronounced at higher quality presets. With High settings, the average FPS falls from 98 at 1080p to 62 at 1440p (a 37% drop) and then to 32 at 4K (a 48% drop from 1440p). This nonlinear decline suggests that the RX 580’s 8 GB of GDDR5 memory and 32 ROPs are being overwhelmed by the pixel count, particularly at 4K where the 42.88 GPixel/s pixel rate becomes a hard ceiling. The Medium preset shows a similar trajectory: 114 FPS at 1080p, 72 FPS at 1440p, and 38 FPS at 4K, with the 4K result including a min FPS of 32 and max of 43, showing notable variance under load.

Ultra settings exacerbate the problem dramatically. The 1080p Ultra average of 70 FPS is already 54% lower than Low at the same resolution, but the 4K Ultra average of 23 FPS is barely playable. The gap between 1440p Ultra (44 FPS) and 4K Ultra (23 FPS) is a 48% reduction, confirming that the GPU’s compute resources are exhausted before the resolution reaches 2160p. Interestingly, the 1440p Medium result (72 FPS) closely matches the 1080p Ultra result (70 FPS), suggesting that the RX 580’s performance is more sensitive to pixel count than to specific settings within these ranges.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 580, built on the Polaris 20 chip with GCN 4.0 architecture and a 14 nm process, is the clear limiting component in this configuration. Its base clock of 1257 MHz and boost clock of 1340 MHz, combined with 2304 shading units, produce a measured 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1005, which places it at the 53rd percentile of all GPUs. This is a mid-pack result, and the data shows why: at 4K Ultra, the combo only manages 23 FPS, a figure that aligns with the GPU’s 32 ROPs and 193.0 GTexel/s texture rate being insufficient for high-resolution rendering.

The GPU’s 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is adequate for 1080p but becomes strained at 1440p and 4K. The 4K Medium result (38 FPS) with a min of 32 FPS indicates that memory bandwidth is a bottleneck, as the frame time variance increases with resolution. The RX 580’s nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER, has an average benchmark score of 12986, a 0.4% delta, showing that this card is within a hair of that competitor’s overall performance. However, in Barony, the RX 580’s DirectX 12 score of 43 (from Passmark) suggests that API-level optimizations are not particularly favorable, potentially explaining why the 4K Ultra result dips below 30 FPS.

The GPU’s 6.175 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is the theoretical peak, but the measured results show that real-world performance is far lower at high resolutions. The pixel rate of 42.88 GPixel/s means that at 4K (approximately 8.3 million pixels), the theoretical maximum fill rate is about 5,160 frames per second, but the actual 23 FPS at Ultra indicates that shading and texturing operations are the real constraint. The 144 TMUs on the card are tasked with texture filtering, and the 193.0 GTexel/s rate is evidently insufficient for Ultra settings at 1440p and above, as evidenced by the 44 FPS average at 1440p Ultra.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600KF is a formidable processor that is not the bottleneck in this pairing. With 14 cores and 20 threads, a base clock of 3.50 GHz and boost clock of 5.30 GHz, this Raptor Lake Refresh chip delivers a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32544 and a single-core score of 4594. The single-thread performance is particularly relevant for Barony, a roguelike where game logic and AI calculations often run on a single thread. The CPU’s 24 MB of shared L3 cache provides low-latency access to frequently used data, which supports the high frame rates seen at 1080p.

The CPU’s percentile rank of 90 among all processors indicates that it outperforms 90% of CPUs, and its nearest rivals in benchmark scores include the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 (0.3% delta) and the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 (0.8% delta). In Barony, the CPU’s capability is evident when comparing 1080p Low (153 FPS) to 1440p Low (97 FPS) — the 37% drop is attributable to GPU load, not CPU limitations, since the CPU’s 20 threads can easily handle the game’s logic. The fact that 1080p High (98 FPS) outperforms 1440p Medium (72 FPS) further confirms that the CPU is not limiting; if it were, both resolutions would show similar frame rates regardless of settings.

The CPU’s boost clock of 5.30 GHz is critical for maintaining high average FPS in scenarios where the GPU is not saturated. At 1080p Low, the 153 FPS average demonstrates that the CPU can feed the GPU fast enough to avoid a CPU-side bottleneck. However, the data suggests that even a high-end CPU like this cannot compensate for the GPU’s weakness at higher resolutions. The 4K Low result of 51 FPS, while higher than 4K Ultra’s 23 FPS, still shows a significant drop from 1440p Low (97 FPS), indicating that the GPU’s fill rate and bandwidth are the limiting factors once resolution increases. The CPU’s memory support for both DDR4 and DDR5, with dual-channel capability, provides flexibility, but the measured results do not show any CPU-induced frame pacing issues, as the Medium presets at 1080p and 1440p show consistent min FPS values (97 and 61 respectively) relative to their averages.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain 60+ FPS?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 is the only resolution where all settings except Ultra achieve above 60 FPS. High averages 98 FPS, Medium 114 FPS, and Low 153 FPS. At 2560x1440, only Low (97 FPS) and Medium (72 FPS) exceed 60 FPS, while Ultra falls to 44 FPS.

Q: How does the RX 580 compare to its closest rival in this game's context?

A: The RX 580’s average benchmark score of 12928 is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER’s 12986, a 0.4% difference. However, in Barony, the RX 580’s DirectX 12 performance (Passmark score of 43) suggests it may underperform relative to its overall benchmarks, as seen in the 4K Ultra result of 23 FPS.

Q: Is the i5-14600KF or the RX 580 the bottleneck at 4K?

A: The GPU is the bottleneck at 4K. Evidence includes the 4K Low result of 51 FPS versus 4K Ultra at 23 FPS, showing that settings changes impact performance, which would not happen if the CPU were limiting. The CPU’s single-core score of 4594 in Cinebench R23 indicates ample headroom for game logic.

Q: What settings preset provides the most stable frame rate at 1440p?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 offers the best balance, with an average of 72 FPS and a min FPS of 61, ensuring no drops below 60. Low averages 97 FPS but has no recorded min FPS, while High averages 62 FPS, leaving less margin.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: It ranks 3393 out of 3717 combos, placing it in the bottom 9% of all tested systems. This low rank is driven by the GPU’s mid-pack percentile (53) and the CPU’s high percentile (90), indicating that the graphics card holds back the overall performance.

Q: Does the CPU’s 14-core configuration benefit Barony specifically?

A: Barony is a roguelike that likely relies more on single-thread performance than multi-core scaling. The CPU’s single-core Cinebench R23 score of 4594 supports high frame rates at 1080p, but the 20 threads provide no benefit at 4K where the GPU is saturated, as shown by the 23 FPS Ultra result.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-14600KF and AMD Radeon RX 580 achieves a rank of 3393 out of 3717 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 9% of all configurations. This low ranking is a direct result of the GPU’s limitations, as the CPU is a top-tier performer. The i5-14600KF sits at the 90th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 49394, while the RX 580 is at the 53rd percentile with an average score of 12928. The disparity between these two components is stark: the CPU’s nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 7900, has a delta of only 0.3%, whereas the GPU’s nearest rival, the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile, has a delta of -0.1%, meaning the GPU is effectively average.

In context, this combo’s rank reflects a system where the processor is overqualified for the graphics hardware. The 1080p Low result of 153 FPS is competitive, but the 4K Ultra result of 23 FPS drags the overall ranking down. The data shows that the CPU could support a much faster GPU, as evidenced by the fact that the 1080p results do not show any CPU bottleneck; the 153 FPS at Low settings is likely near the GPU’s maximum at that resolution. Compared to other combos in the database, this pairing is typical of a mid-range GPU from 2017 (release date April 2017) paired with a high-end CPU from 2023 (release date October 2023), resulting in a mismatch that limits the system’s overall capability. The rank of 3393 indicates that the vast majority of tested configurations achieve better performance, likely due to more balanced pairings or newer GPUs.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance for optimizing the experience with this combo. For the highest frame rates, the Low preset at 1920x1080 delivers an average of 153 FPS, which is ideal for competitive or fast-paced play, though it sacrifices visual quality. The Medium preset at 1080p is the best overall choice, with an average of 114 FPS and a min FPS of 97, ensuring smooth gameplay with only a minor visual downgrade from High. High at 1080p still maintains an average of 98 FPS, making it suitable for users who prioritize visuals over a few extra frames.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset is the recommended setting, as it provides an average of 72 FPS with a min of 61 FPS, which keeps gameplay above the 60 FPS threshold. The Low preset at 1440p averages 97 FPS and is a viable alternative for users with high-refresh-rate monitors, but the Medium preset offers a better balance of visual fidelity and performance. High at 1440p averages 62 FPS, which is playable but leaves little margin for demanding scenes, while Ultra at 1440p (44 FPS) is not recommended for consistent play.

At 3840x2160, the data indicates that only the Low preset (51 FPS) approaches playability, but it still falls short of 60 FPS. Medium at 4K (38 FPS) and High at 4K (32 FPS) are borderline, while Ultra at 4K (23 FPS) should be avoided. Given the GPU’s limitations, users should either stick to 1080p Medium or High for the best experience, or drop to 1440p Low if they require higher resolution. The min FPS data from the Medium presets shows that the RX 580 can maintain frame pacing (1080p min 97, 1440p min 61), but the 4K Medium min of 32 FPS indicates instability at that resolution. Overall, the sweet spot is 1080p Medium, offering 114 FPS average with minimal variance, making it the recommended preset for this hardware combination.