Barony

# How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-14600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 lands at rank 1367 out of 1702 tested combos in Barony. This places the pairing in the bottom 20% of all configurations benchmarked, a position driven primarily by the GPU's modest standing rather than the processor's strength. The data shows a system that is capable of playable frame rates across most settings, but it sits well behind the upper echelon of tested hardware. The CPU itself ranks in the 93rd percentile among all processors, while the GPU sits in the 58th percentile, creating a notable imbalance where the processor is clearly the stronger component. This ranking reflects the bottleneck imposed by the graphics card in a game that scales heavily with resolution and visual fidelity. For context, the CPU's average benchmark score of 49367 places it within 0.4% of the Intel Core i5-14600K, 0.5% ahead of the AMD EPYC 4345P, and 0.6% behind the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, showing that the processor is competitive with much more expensive options. The GPU, by contrast, sits within 0.5% of the AMD Radeon RX 7600S and 1.8% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W5500, but trails the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M and AMD Radeon Pro 5700 by 1.7%. This combination's overall position is a direct consequence of the RTX 2060's mid-pack performance profile.

# GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is built on the Turing architecture and the TU106 chip, fabricated on a 12 nm process at TSMC. It comes with 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory clock runs at 1750 MHz, which translates to 14 Gbps effective. The GPU's base clock is 1365 MHz with a boost clock of 1680 MHz, and it houses 1920 shading units, 120 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units. For ray tracing and AI workloads, it includes 30 RT cores and 240 tensor cores. The card's raw compute capabilities are rated at 6.451 TFLOPS for FP32 and 12.90 TFLOPS for FP16 with a 2:1 ratio. These specifications directly influence Barony's performance: the 6 GB VRAM is sufficient for the game's demands at all tested resolutions, but the GPU's limited memory bandwidth and compute throughput become the limiting factor as settings increase. The benchmark results show that at 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 263.7 FPS, but this drops dramatically to 36.9 FPS at 4K with Ultra settings. This range demonstrates that the RTX 2060 can handle the game's lighter loads easily but struggles when pushed to higher resolutions and graphical presets. The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 14111 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1242 place it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs, confirming its mid-range position. The pixel rate of 80.64 GPixel/s and texture rate of 201.6 GTexel/s are adequate for Barony's roguelike visuals, but they do not provide headroom for demanding settings at 4K.

# Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals how the system's performance scales across resolutions. Moving from 1080p to 1440p to 4K produces consistent drops that indicate the GPU is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 168.9 at 1080p to 107.1 at 1440p, a reduction of 61.8 FPS, and then to 56.9 at 4K, another 50.2 FPS drop. This pattern shows that each resolution step roughly halves the frame rate, a classic sign of GPU-bound performance. At Low settings, the scaling is even more pronounced: 263.7 FPS at 1080p drops to 163.1 FPS at 1440p and then to 88.1 FPS at 4K. The fact that Low settings at 4K still achieves 88.1 FPS while Ultra at 1080p only reaches 119.5 FPS suggests that the CPU is not the primary constraint in most scenarios. The 1080p Low result of 263.7 FPS is the highest measured value in the entire dataset, indicating that the CPU can push very high frame rates when the GPU is not heavily loaded. However, the GPU's limitations become evident at 4K Ultra, where the system drops to 36.9 FPS, below the 60 FPS threshold considered smooth for most players. The data indicates that the RTX 2060's 6 GB VRAM and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for 4K Ultra in this title, while the CPU's 14 cores and 20 threads provide ample headroom.

# Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its best performance. The Low preset produces an average of 263.7 FPS, which is the highest score across all configurations. Medium settings yield 194.9 FPS, High settings produce 168.9 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 119.5 FPS. All of these values are well above the 60 FPS threshold, making 1080p a comfortable experience regardless of settings. Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain strong but show the GPU's growing workload. Low settings achieve 163.1 FPS, Medium settings reach 126 FPS, High settings hit 107.1 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 75.6 FPS. The 1440p Ultra result is still above 60 FPS, indicating that this resolution is playable with the highest preset. At 3840x2160, the system's limitations become apparent. Low settings deliver 88.1 FPS, which is still smooth, but Medium settings drop to 65.2 FPS, High settings fall to 56.9 FPS, and Ultra settings plummet to 36.9 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 51.2 FPS, showing the significant performance cost of higher visual fidelity. Across all resolutions, the difference between Low and Ultra settings ranges from 144.2 FPS at 1080p to 51.2 FPS at 4K, indicating that settings have a greater impact at lower resolutions where the CPU can keep up with the GPU's output.

# CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600KF is a 14-core, 20-thread processor from the Core 14th Gen series, built on the Raptor Lake architecture with a 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, with a TDP of 125 W. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache. The processor supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration and offers PCIe Gen 5 with 16 lanes. Its benchmark scores are impressive: Cinebench R23 multicore reaches 32889, single-core hits 4643, and Geekbench multicore scores 15636. The CPU's PassMark multithread score of 38697 and single-thread score of 4273 place it in the 93rd percentile of all processors. In Barony, the CPU's role is evident in the high frame rates achieved at 1080p Low, where the system reaches 263.7 FPS. This suggests that the processor can feed the GPU with enough data to exceed 260 FPS in less demanding scenarios. However, the CPU's performance advantage is not fully utilized because the GPU becomes the bottleneck at higher resolutions and settings. The processor's 14 cores and 20 threads are more than sufficient for Barony's single-threaded roguelike gameplay, but the data shows that the GPU's Turing architecture and 6 GB VRAM limit the overall system performance. The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-14600K with a 0.4% delta, the AMD EPYC 4345P with a -0.5% delta, and the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X with a 0.6% delta, all of which show the processor performing near the top of its class.

# Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal experience depends heavily on the target resolution. At 1080p, all settings presets deliver playable frame rates, with Ultra achieving 119.5 FPS and Low reaching 263.7 FPS. For players prioritizing smoothness, the Medium preset at 194.9 FPS offers a balanced experience with better visuals than Low while maintaining a high frame rate. At 1440p, the Medium preset at 126 FPS is the recommended choice, as it provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS while delivering good visual quality. The Ultra preset at 75.6 FPS is also viable for those who prefer maximum fidelity, but it leaves less headroom for demanding scenes. At 4K, the options are more constrained. The Low preset at 88.1 FPS is the best choice for maintaining a smooth experience, while Medium at 65.2 FPS is acceptable for players who can tolerate occasional dips. The High preset at 56.9 FPS falls below the 60 FPS threshold, and Ultra at 36.9 FPS is not recommended for competitive or fast-paced play. The data indicates that the RTX 2060's 6 GB VRAM and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth are best utilized at 1080p or 1440p with Medium or High settings, where the system can sustain frame rates above 100 FPS. For 4K, only Low settings provide a consistently smooth experience, while Medium is borderline.

# FAQ

Q: What is the overall rank of this CPU and GPU combination in Barony?

A: The Intel Core i5-14600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 combination ranks 1367 out of 1702 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 20% of all configurations.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The CPU has an average benchmark score of 49367, which is 0.4% higher than the Intel Core i5-14600K, 0.5% lower than the AMD EPYC 4345P, and 0.6% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X.

Q: What is the best frame rate achieved by this combo at 1080p?

A: At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 263.7 FPS, which is the highest measured frame rate across all resolutions and settings.

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with this combination?

A: At 4K, only Low settings achieve a smooth experience at 88.1 FPS. Medium settings drop to 65.2 FPS, High settings fall to 56.9 FPS, and Ultra settings are not viable at 36.9 FPS.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The GPU has an average benchmark score of 16074, which is 0.5% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 7600S, 1.7% lower than the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M and AMD Radeon Pro 5700, and 1.8% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro W5500.

Q: What is the recommended settings preset for the best experience?

A: At 1080p and 1440p, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and frame rate, achieving 194.9 FPS and 126 FPS respectively. At 4K, the Low preset is recommended at 88.1 FPS for a smooth experience.