Barony

The Intel Core i5-14600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination delivers exceptional performance in Barony, a roguelike title from 2015. The measured frame rates across all resolutions and settings presets are remarkably high, with the lowest average recorded at 81.4 FPS under 4K Ultra settings. This pairing demonstrates that the game is effectively maxed out at 1080p, where even the most demanding preset yields an average of 238.6 FPS. The data suggests a system with substantial headroom, indicating that the limiting factor shifts from the CPU to the GPU as resolution increases, a pattern consistent with the component specifications.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear and predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At 1080p with Low settings, the combination produces an average of 521.8 FPS, which drops to 332.2 FPS at 1440p and further to 172.7 FPS at 4K. This represents a 66.9% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, indicating that the GPU becomes progressively more stressed as pixel count increases. The scaling is even more pronounced at Ultra settings, where the average FPS falls from 238.6 at 1080p to 151.3 at 1440p, and finally to 81.4 at 4K — a 65.9% decrease overall.

The pattern suggests that at 1080p, the system is heavily CPU-bound, given the exceptionally high frame rates exceeding 500 FPS. The Intel Core i5-14600KF, with its 14 cores and 20 threads, provides ample processing power to feed the RTX 4070 SUPER at lower resolutions. As resolution climbs to 1440p and 4K, the GPU's role becomes dominant, evidenced by the more substantial percentage drops between settings presets at higher resolutions. The transition from High to Ultra at 4K costs 29.6 FPS (from 111 to 81.4), while the same transition at 1080p costs 93.2 FPS (from 331.8 to 238.6), highlighting how the CPU's headroom diminishes at lower resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

Analyzing the measured presets, Medium settings at 1440p delivers an average of 247.9 FPS, which represents an excellent balance between visual fidelity and performance headroom. This preset is only 84.3 FPS lower than Low at the same resolution, yet it likely provides significantly better visual quality. For 4K gaming, High settings at 111 FPS is the recommended choice, as it maintains a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold while offering better visuals than Medium's 126.5 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K, producing 81.4 FPS, remains playable but offers diminishing returns given the performance cost.

At 1080p, the choice is less critical since even Ultra settings achieve 238.6 FPS. However, the data suggests that High settings at 331.8 FPS might be preferable for competitive play, as the extra frames from dropping to Medium (390.7 FPS) or Low (521.8 FPS) provide marginal benefits for a game like Barony with its roguelike mechanics. The most balanced experience across the board appears to be 1440p with High settings, yielding 207.3 FPS — a figure that exceeds the refresh rate of most high-end monitors while maintaining substantial visual quality improvements over lower presets.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination ranks 309th out of 1702 tested combos in Barony, placing it in the top 18.2% of all configurations. This ranking is impressive given the game's age and the relatively modern components involved. The RTX 4070 SUPER, which holds the 84th percentile among all GPUs, contributes significantly to this performance level. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA RTX A6000 with a deltaPct of -0.2% and the AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE at -0.3%, indicating that the GPU is closely matched with professional-grade hardware.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 93 places it well above the GPU's percentile, suggesting that the processor is not a bottleneck in this configuration. The i5-14600KF's nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-14600K, scores nearly identically with a deltaPct of 0.4%, while the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X trails slightly at 0.6%. This strong CPU performance ensures that the combo's 309th rank is primarily determined by GPU capabilities rather than processor limitations.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset of measured average FPS provides a comprehensive view of the system's capabilities. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 521.8 at Low to 238.6 at Ultra, with Medium at 390.7 and High at 331.8. Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are 332.2, 247.9, 207.3, and 151.3 for Low, Medium, High, and Ultra respectively. At 3840x2160, the figures drop to 172.7, 126.5, 111, and 81.4 for the same preset order.

The gaps between presets widen at lower resolutions, indicating a CPU-bound scenario. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 283.2 FPS, while at 4K it narrows to 91.3 FPS. This pattern confirms that the RTX 4070 SUPER's rendering capabilities become the limiting factor at higher resolutions, whereas the i5-14600KF's processing power dominates at 1080p. The smooth progression across all settings and resolutions suggests no unexpected bottlenecks or thermal throttling issues.

FAQ

Q: Can this combination maintain 60 FPS at 4K with maximum settings?

A: Yes, the Ultra preset at 3840x2160 achieves an average of 81.4 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 SUPER compare to its closest competitor in this game?

A: The GPU ranks in the 84th percentile overall, with its nearest rival, the NVIDIA RTX A6000, scoring 0.2% lower in average benchmarks.

Q: What is the largest performance gap between settings at any resolution?

A: At 1080p, the difference between Low (521.8 FPS) and Ultra (238.6 FPS) is 283.2 FPS, the largest gap across all resolutions.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more important for achieving high frame rates at 1440p?

A: At 1440p, the GPU becomes more significant, as shown by the 332.2 FPS at Low dropping to 151.3 FPS at Ultra, a 180.9 FPS reduction.

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

A: High settings at 207.3 FPS exceeds the 144Hz refresh rate, while Medium at 247.9 FPS offers even more headroom.

Q: How does the i5-14600KF perform relative to other CPUs in synthetic benchmarks?

A: It scores 32889 in Cinebench R23 multicore and ranks in the 93rd percentile, with its closest rival being the i5-14600K at 0.4% difference.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600KF features 14 cores and 20 threads, a configuration that proves highly effective for Barony's roguelike gameplay. Its base clock of 3.50 GHz and boost clock of 5.30 GHz provide substantial single-thread performance, critical for a game that may rely on a main game logic thread. The CPU's Cinebench R23 scores of 32889 multicore and 4643 single-core demonstrate strong processing capability, with the multicore result being particularly relevant for any background tasks or physics calculations.

The processor's 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache help reduce memory latency, which is beneficial for procedural generation common in roguelikes. With a 93rd percentile ranking among all CPUs, the i5-14600KF outperforms its nearest rivals like the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X by 0.6% in average benchmark scores. The CPU's 125 TDP and support for DDR4/DDR5 memory provide flexibility for system builders, though the measured FPS data suggests that even at 1080p, the processor is not a limiting factor, as evidenced by the 521.8 FPS average at Low settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER, based on the AD104 chip and Ada Lovelace architecture, provides the rendering power for this combination. Its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory across a 192-bit bus delivers 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, which appears sufficient for Barony's requirements even at 4K Ultra settings. The GPU's boost clock of 2475 MHz and 35.48 TFLOPS of FP32 performance contribute to its strong showing, though the game's low system requirements mean the card operates well below its maximum potential.

The GPU's 84th percentile ranking places it below the CPU's 93rd percentile, indicating that the graphics card is the more limiting component in this pairing. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA RTX A6000, scores 0.2% higher in average benchmarks, while the AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE trails by 0.3%. The 220 W TDP and dual-slot design make it a manageable addition to most systems, and its 12 GB VRAM capacity ensures no memory-related bottlenecks at any tested resolution or preset. The measured FPS data confirms that the GPU's performance scales predictably with resolution, with the 4K Ultra result of 81.4 FPS representing the most demanding scenario in this dataset.