Barony

Barony is not a typical GPU stress test; it is a roguelike where frame pacing and responsiveness can matter more than raw visual fidelity. The measured data for this specific combination of an Intel Core i5-9400 and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti reveals a configuration that is heavily skewed toward GPU dominance, with the CPU appearing to be a secondary factor across all tested settings. The FPS figures are exceptionally high, even at 4K, suggesting that the rendering workload is well within the RTX 5070 Ti's capabilities, while the six-core i5-9400 provides a stable foundation that does not bottleneck the frame rate in the measured scenarios.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a predictable but steep decline in average FPS as resolution increases, which is the classic signature of a GPU-limited workload. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces an average of 451 FPS. Scaling to 1440p drops that figure to 356 FPS, a reduction of 95 FPS (or roughly 21%). Moving to 4K yields 186 FPS, which is another significant drop of 170 FPS from the 1440p result. This pattern holds across all settings presets, indicating that the GPU is the primary scaling component; the CPU's performance remains constant, and the frame rate is dictated by the pixel count and shading load.

The jump from 1080p to 1440p is less severe in percentage terms than the jump from 1440p to 4K. For instance, at High settings, the average FPS falls from 361 at 1080p to 228 at 1440p (a 37% reduction), and then to 119 at 4K (a 48% reduction from the 1440p figure). This non-linear scaling suggests that the RTX 5070 Ti's memory bandwidth of 896.0 GB/s and 16 GB of GDDR7 memory are sufficient for 1440p, but the 4K resolution begins to tax the GPU's compute and memory subsystems more heavily. The fact that 4K High still delivers 119 FPS average indicates that this is not a demanding title for the GPU, and the limiting factor at lower resolutions is likely the game engine's frame rate ceiling or the CPU's ability to feed draw calls, though the data does not show a hard CPU cap.

The most telling comparison is between the Low and Ultra presets at each resolution. At 4K, the difference between Low (186 FPS) and Ultra (85 FPS) is a 101 FPS gap, showing that the Ultra preset nearly doubles the render workload. This gap narrows at 1440p (356 FPS to 163 FPS) and 1080p (451 FPS to 258 FPS), but the relative performance hit from Ultra remains consistent. This indicates that the Ultra preset introduces effects that scale with resolution, such as higher-quality shadows and post-processing, which are not CPU-bound. The i5-9400's 4.10 GHz boost clock appears adequate to maintain these high frame rates, as there is no measured scenario where the FPS stalls or becomes erratic (e.g., min FPS data is only provided for Medium settings, and those values are still very high).

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of 3,717 tested combos for Barony, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti holds a rank of 609. This places it in the top 16.4% of all configurations tested for this game. The percentileVsAllGpus for the RTX 5070 Ti is 86, and the percentileVsAllCpus for the i5-9400 is 47, which suggests that the GPU is doing the heavy lifting in this ranking. The combo rank reflects the synergy between the two, but the data implies that the CPU is not a limiting factor; if it were, the rank would likely be lower.

The GPU's nearest rivals in the database include the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, which has an average score of 50,951 and a deltaPct of -2 (meaning the RTX 5070 Ti is 2% slower in that aggregate benchmark). The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is 3.1% slower (deltaPct of 3.1), and the Intel Arc A550M is 0.4% faster. These comparisons are based on aggregate benchmark scores, not Barony-specific FPS, but they contextualize the GPU's raw power. The CPU's nearest rivals (Intel Core i7-1068NG7, AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500) have nearly identical average scores, with deltas of -0.2% and 0.4%, respectively, indicating that the i5-9400 is a mid-pack processor in terms of general compute.

For Barony specifically, the combo rank of 609 out of 3717 is strong, but it is not at the very top. This is likely because the game is not heavily multithreaded, and the i5-9400's 6 cores and 6 threads are adequate but not exceptional. The RTX 5070 Ti is overkill for this title, as evidenced by the 4K Ultra average of 85 FPS, which is still well above playable thresholds. The data suggests that a weaker GPU would still achieve high frame rates, and the bottleneck is more likely the game engine's single-threaded performance, which the i5-9400 handles with its 2.90 GHz base and 4.10 GHz boost clocks.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS, the Medium preset offers the best balance between visual quality and performance headroom. At 1080p, Medium delivers 405 FPS average with a minimum of 344 FPS and a maximum of 465 FPS, which is exceptionally smooth. Moving to 1440p, Medium still holds 265 FPS average with a minimum of 225 FPS, ensuring no perceptible stutter. At 4K, Medium drops to 139 FPS average with a minimum of 118 FPS, which is still well above the 60 FPS threshold for most displays. The High preset at 4K (119 FPS) is also viable, but Medium provides a 20 FPS advantage over High at 4K (139 vs. 119) with presumably minor visual differences.

The Ultra preset is the only option that pushes the GPU to its limits in this title, with 85 FPS at 4K and 163 FPS at 1440p. These numbers are still playable, but they represent a significant performance cost. For users with high-refresh-rate 1080p or 1440p monitors (e.g., 240 Hz or 360 Hz), the Low preset at 1080p (451 FPS) or 1440p (356 FPS) would be the choice to maximize frame rates, but the visual quality trade-off is substantial. The data indicates that Medium is the "sweet spot" because it maintains a minimum FPS above 100 at 4K, which is rare for many titles, and it does so without the CPU becoming a bottleneck.

The lack of min/max FPS data for Low, High, and Ultra presets means we only have the average to judge. However, the Medium preset's min FPS at 1080p (344) and 1440p (225) suggests that frame pacing is consistent, which is crucial for a roguelike where reaction time matters. The High preset at 4K (119 FPS) is also a reasonable choice, but the 4K Medium result of 139 FPS average with a 118 FPS minimum is a safer bet for maintaining a locked frame rate. Ultimately, the recommendation is to use Medium for 4K, High for 1440p if you prefer visuals, and Low or Medium for 1080p if you are chasing maximum refresh rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear matrix of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset yields an average of 451 FPS, Medium yields 405 FPS (min 344, max 465), High yields 361 FPS, and Ultra yields 258 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p is a 193 FPS reduction, which is a 43% drop. This indicates that the Ultra preset is the most demanding, but even the lowest result (258 FPS) is far beyond what most displays can show.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 356 FPS (Low), 265 FPS (Medium, min 225, max 305), 228 FPS (High), and 163 FPS (Ultra). The drop from Low to Ultra is 193 FPS, identical to the 1080p delta, which is interesting because it suggests the relative cost of Ultra settings is consistent regardless of resolution. The Medium preset's min FPS at 1440p (225) is higher than the Ultra preset's average at 1080p (258), showing that resolution scaling has a more significant impact than settings changes.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 186 FPS (Low), 139 FPS (Medium, min 118, max 159), 119 FPS (High), and 85 FPS (Ultra). The gap between Low and Ultra is 101 FPS, which is smaller in absolute terms than at lower resolutions, but the percentage drop (55%) is larger. This is because the GPU is already heavily loaded at 4K, so the additional cost of Ultra settings has a proportionally bigger impact. The 4K Ultra result of 85 FPS is the only measured scenario that falls below 100 FPS, showing that this combo can handle 4K with ease in Barony.

The Medium preset is the only one with min/max data, which is likely a deliberate measurement choice to show frame consistency. At 1080p, the min FPS of 344 is 85% of the average, and at 1440p, the min of 225 is also 85% of the average. At 4K, the min of 118 is also 85% of the average (139). This consistency suggests that the i5-9400 is providing stable frame pacing, and the RTX 5070 Ti is not experiencing any thermal or power throttling that would cause dips.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is the dominant component in this configuration, and its specifications explain the high FPS. The GPU has 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 896.0 GB/s. For a roguelike like Barony, which likely has modest texture and geometry requirements, this bandwidth is more than sufficient, even at 4K with Ultra settings. The 45,600 million transistors on a 5 nm TSMC process (die size of 378 mm²) provide a massive compute foundation, with 8,960 shading units and 280 TMUs. The FP32 performance of 43.94 TFLOPS is what drives the raw pixel throughput, and the measured pixel rate of 235.4 GPixel/s and texture rate of 686.6 GTexel/s align with the observed FPS.

The GPU's boost clock of 2452 MHz (base 2295 MHz) is the key to its performance in lightly-threaded games like Barony. Since the game does not appear to be limited by the CPU, the GPU can maintain its boost clock consistently, resulting in the high frame rates. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6,604 and the Geekbench Vulkan score of 225,122 are indicative of its overall power, but the Barony results are more telling. The fact that the GPU's percentileVsAllGpus is 86 suggests it is a top-tier part, and this is reflected in the 4K High average of 119 FPS, which would be a challenge for many lower-tier GPUs.

The nearest rivals for the RTX 5070 Ti include the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (2% faster in aggregate) and the RX 6800 XT (3.1% slower). These deltas are small, meaning that in Barony, the choice between these GPUs would likely result in similar FPS, unless the game is particularly sensitive to NVIDIA-specific features like ray tracing (which is not indicated in the data). The GPU's 86th percentile ranking also means it outperforms 86% of all GPUs in the database, so the i5-9400 is holding it back in some other games, but not in Barony. The data suggests that the GPU is not the bottleneck here; the game simply does not push it hard enough.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 4K with High settings for this combo?

A: The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with High settings is 119 FPS. This is a very playable frame rate for a roguelike, and it indicates that the RTX 5070 Ti has ample headroom at this resolution.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-9400 bottlenecking the RTX 5070 Ti in Barony?

A: The data does not show a CPU bottleneck. The FPS scales predictably with resolution and settings, which is a sign of GPU limitation, not CPU limitation. The i5-9400's 6 cores and 6 threads, with a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, are sufficient to keep up with the GPU's output in this game, as evidenced by the consistent min FPS values on the Medium preset.

Q: What is the difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset delivers an average of 356 FPS, while the Ultra preset delivers an average of 163 FPS. This is a 193 FPS difference, showing that the Ultra preset nearly halves the performance. The Medium preset sits in between at 265 FPS.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested configurations?

A: This specific Intel Core i5-9400 + RTX 5070 Ti combo ranks 609th out of 3,717 tested combos in Barony. This places it in the top 16.4% of all configurations, which is a strong result, but not the absolute best, likely due to the CPU's mid-range standing (47th percentile) compared to the GPU's high standing (86th percentile).

Q: Can this combo handle 4K Ultra settings in Barony?

A: Yes, the measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 85 FPS. While this is lower than other presets, it is still above 60 FPS, making it a viable option for players who prioritize visual fidelity over maximum frame rates.

Q: What is the best preset for a 1440p 240Hz monitor?

A: For a 1440p 240Hz display, the Low preset (356 FPS) or Medium preset (265 FPS) would be the best choices to fully utilize the refresh rate. The High preset (228 FPS) is also close to the 240Hz target, but the Medium preset's min FPS of 225 ensures more consistent frame pacing.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture, built on a 14 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, with a TDP of 65 W. Its L3 cache is 9 MB shared, and it supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with a bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s. In the context of Barony, this CPU is adequate, but not outstanding. Its percentileVsAllCpus is 47, meaning it is roughly average in the database, and its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 6,629 and single-core score of 935 reflect its mid-range performance.

The CPU's role in this game appears to be minimal, as the FPS is primarily determined by the GPU. However, the i5-9400's single-core performance (boost clock of 4.10 GHz) is crucial for the game's logic and physics, which are often single-threaded in roguelikes. The benchmark results show that the CPU is not a limiting factor, as the frame rates are extremely high even at 1080p Low (451 FPS). If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see a plateau in FPS regardless of resolution, but the data shows a clear scaling with resolution, which is a GPU-bound behavior.

The nearest rivals for the i5-9400 (Intel Core i7-1068NG7, AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500) have nearly identical average benchmark scores, with deltas of -0.2% to 0.4%. This means that swapping in any of these CPUs would likely result in similar Barony performance, as the game is not sensitive to core count or thread count beyond 6. The CPU's 9 MB of L3 cache is sufficient for the game's data, and the 42.7 GB/s memory bandwidth is not a bottleneck given the GPU's high frame rates. The data suggests that the i5-9400 is a "good enough" partner for the RTX 5070 Ti in this title, but it would be the weaker link in more CPU-intensive games. For Barony, the CPU's stable boost clock ensures that the GPU is fed with enough draw calls to maintain the high FPS, but it is not the hero of the story.