Barony

Barony, a roguelike from 2015, presents an interesting case for modern hardware. The data for the Intel Core i5-14600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 reveals a combination that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions but exhibits a significant CPU ceiling at 1080p. The measured FPS across the resolution and settings matrix shows a title that is far from demanding by contemporary standards, yet the scaling patterns offer clear insight into where the bottleneck shifts. This analysis will break down the measured frames, the role of each component, and what the numbers imply for a smooth experience.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K produces a dramatic and predictable drop in frame rates, but the magnitude of that drop is highly telling. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 300.3 at 1920x1080 to 189.7 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 110.6 frames. Pushing further to 3840x2160 yields an average of 100.7 FPS, which is exactly one-third of the 1080p score. This steep decline from 1080p to 4K—a drop of roughly 66%—strongly indicates that the rendering load is shifting almost entirely onto the GPU as pixel count quadruples.

The scaling pattern is consistent across all presets. With Low settings, the average FPS at 1080p is a staggering 467.2, which drops to 295.9 at 1440p and then to 153.5 at 4K. The 4K result is still immensely playable, but the percentage loss from 1080p to 4K (about 67%) is nearly identical to the High preset. This consistency suggests that the game’s engine scales its workload linearly with resolution, and that the RTX 4070’s compute units are the primary constraint at 4K, regardless of the visual complexity defined by the preset.

At 1080p, the data reveals a different story. The gap between Low (467.2 FPS) and Ultra (214.3 FPS) is a massive 252.9 frames. This spread is far wider than what is seen at 4K, where the difference between Low (153.5) and Ultra (74) is only 79.5 frames. The fact that lowering settings at 1080p yields such enormous gains suggests that at this resolution, the CPU is capable of feeding frames far faster than the GPU can render them, even at Low settings. The i5-14600KF, with its 14 cores and 20 threads, is clearly not the limiting factor here; instead, the data implies a pure GPU limit at 4K and a scenario at 1080p where the GPU is still the bottleneck, but the engine’s draw calls and physics calculations start to matter more relative to the lower pixel count.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is the dominant force in this pairing, particularly at higher resolutions. Its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s, which is ample for a game like Barony that does not feature vast, texture-heavy open worlds. The benchmark data shows that at 4K Ultra, the card still manages an average of 74 FPS, proving that its 5888 shading units are sufficient to handle the pixel throughput at that demanding setting. The boost clock of 2475 MHz helps sustain performance, and the card’s 29.15 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power is evidently well-utilized.

The GPU’s role becomes clearer when examining the scaling from High to Ultra. At 4K, the jump from High (100.7 FPS) to Ultra (74 FPS) is a 26.5% performance hit. This is a significant penalty for what is likely a marginal visual improvement in a roguelike’s interface and lighting. The RTX 4070’s position in the market, sitting at the 81st percentile of all GPUs according to its average benchmark score, is reflected here; it is a capable card, but not one that can brute-force Ultra settings at 4K without concessions. The measured data suggests that the card’s 64 ROPs are a potential limiting factor at 4K, as the fill-rate demand increases exponentially.

Interestingly, the GPU’s memory subsystem does not appear to be a constraint. The 12 GB frame buffer is never mentioned as a limitation in the data, and the bandwidth appears sufficient for the frame rates observed. The performance delta between the RTX 4070 and its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, is a negligible -0.6% in average benchmark score, but in this specific game, the 4070’s newer architecture likely provides better efficiency. The data shows that the GPU is the clear bottleneck at 4K across all presets, as reducing CPU load by lowering settings does not proportionally increase FPS at that resolution.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal experience for this combination is a balance between visual fidelity and frame rate stability. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 300.3 FPS, which is far beyond the refresh rate of any standard monitor. Even Ultra at 1080p provides 214.3 FPS, making it a viable choice for high-refresh displays without any perceptible compromise. The data suggests that at 1080p, users should select Ultra without hesitation, as the GPU headroom is massive.

Moving to 2560x1440, the High preset at 189.7 FPS is the sweet spot. It offers a substantial improvement in clarity over 1080p while maintaining frame rates well above 144 Hz. The Ultra preset at 1440p drops to 133.8 FPS, which is still smooth on a 120 Hz or 144 Hz monitor, but the 55.9 FPS loss from High is steep. For competitive play or maximum smoothness, High is the recommended preset. The Medium preset at 222.1 FPS offers an intermediate option, but the visual downgrade from High is not worth the extra 32.4 FPS when the High preset already clears 180 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the High preset’s 100.7 FPS is the clear recommendation. It provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS and is perfectly playable on a 4K display. The Ultra preset at 74 FPS is technically playable, but the 26.7 FPS drop from High makes it a less desirable choice. The Medium preset at 117.1 FPS offers a slight boost, but the jump from Medium to High is only a 16.4 FPS penalty, which is a small price for better textures and effects. Therefore, High at 4K is the most balanced option, delivering 100.7 FPS with most visual features enabled.

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-14600KF a bottleneck for the RTX 4070 in Barony?

A: The data shows that the CPU is not a significant bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the combination achieves 467.2 FPS, indicating the CPU can feed frames extremely quickly. The CPU’s high single-thread performance (a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4643) ensures that game logic and draw calls are handled efficiently.

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

A: Yes, it can. The measured data shows an average of 100.7 FPS at 4K High settings and 74 FPS at 4K Ultra. Both are above the standard 60 FPS threshold, making the game fully playable at 4K.

Q: What is the best setting for a 144 Hz monitor at 1440p?

A: The High preset at 2560x1440 yields 189.7 FPS, which is comfortably above 144 Hz. The Ultra preset at 133.8 FPS would also be usable but would not fully saturate a 144 Hz display.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 compare to its nearest rival in terms of raw GPU score?

A: The RTX 4070’s average benchmark score is 37283. Its closest rival, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, scores 37507, which puts the 4070 at a 0.6% disadvantage in that specific metric.

Q: Does lowering settings from High to Low have a bigger impact at 1080p or 4K?

A: The impact is far larger at 1080p. At 1080p, the difference between Low (467.2 FPS) and High (300.3 FPS) is 166.9 FPS. At 4K, the difference between Low (153.5 FPS) and High (100.7 FPS) is only 52.8 FPS.

Q: Is the 14-core processor’s multicore performance relevant for this game?

A: Barony is not a heavily threaded title, but the i5-14600KF’s multicore strength (a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32889) ensures that background tasks and any auxiliary game systems do not interfere with frame pacing.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600KF’s role in this benchmark is to provide a stable, high-frequency platform that never holds back the GPU. Its boost clock of 5.30 GHz is critical for a game like Barony, which likely relies on a single primary thread for game logic. The CPU’s Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4643 places it in a strong position, and the measured FPS at 1080p Low (467.2) confirms that the processor can push frame rates far beyond what the GPU can render. The 20 threads and 24 MB of shared L3 cache are more than sufficient for the roguelike’s simulation, which is not computationally complex.

The data suggests that the CPU’s performance ceiling is not reached in this game. The percentile ranking of 93 for the CPU versus all other processors indicates it is a top-tier part, and its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-14600K, is only 0.4% faster in average benchmark score. This negligible difference means that the non-K variant would perform identically in Barony. The CPU’s 125 W TDP and 10 nm process node are irrelevant to the game’s performance, but its high clock speeds and efficient architecture ensure that the RTX 4070 is always fed with data. Even at 1080p, where CPU load is typically highest relative to GPU load, the measured FPS is consistently above 200, indicating no CPU bottleneck.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the average FPS across settings is consistently high. Low settings produce 467.2 FPS, Medium yields 348.1 FPS, High drops to 300.3 FPS, and Ultra settles at 214.3 FPS. The scaling is not linear; the jump from Low to Medium is a 119.1 FPS loss, while the jump from High to Ultra is an 86 FPS loss. This indicates that the Ultra preset introduces effects that are disproportionately expensive at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low at 295.9 FPS, Medium at 222.1 FPS, High at 189.7 FPS, and Ultra at 133.8 FPS. The relative gaps are smaller than at 1080p, with the difference between Low and Ultra being 162.1 FPS. This shows that the GPU is starting to become the limiting factor, as the pixel count increases.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low at 153.5 FPS, Medium at 117.1 FPS, High at 100.7 FPS, and Ultra at 74 FPS. The scaling here shows a clear GPU bottleneck; the difference between Low and Ultra is only 79.5 FPS, a much smaller margin than at lower resolutions. The data demonstrates that 4K Ultra is the only configuration that tests the RTX 4070’s limits, while all other combinations provide ample headroom.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-14600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is ranked 424th out of 1702 tested combos in Barony, placing it in the top 25% of all systems. This rank reflects the GPU’s strong performance, as the CPU is clearly not a limiting factor. The rank is respectable but not top-tier, which aligns with the RTX 4070’s position as a high-end mainstream card rather than a flagship. The GPU’s percentile rank of 81 versus all GPUs is a more accurate indicator of its performance in this game, as the CPU’s percentile of 93 is largely irrelevant given the lack of a CPU bottleneck.

The combo’s rank of 424 suggests that there are 423 other combinations that achieve higher average FPS in Barony. These would presumably include systems with higher-end GPUs like the RTX 4080 or 4090, which would push the 4K Ultra average beyond the 74 FPS recorded here. However, the data shows that this particular combo is exceptionally well-balanced for 1440p and 1080p gaming, where it delivers frame rates that are competitive with far more expensive setups. The measured data confirms that the pairing is more than sufficient for a smooth experience at all but the most demanding 4K Ultra settings, and its ranking reflects a system that is optimized for high-refresh-rate gaming rather than absolute 4K fidelity.