Barony

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the Intel Arc B370 lands at rank 2701 out of 2935 tested combos in Barony. That places this configuration in the bottom 8% of all recorded system pairings, a position that reflects the GPU's severe limitations rather than the CPU's capabilities. The combo sits well below the median, and benchmark results indicate that this is not a combination built for high-refresh or high-detail play in this roguelike title.

The ranking gap is stark when you consider the individual components. The i7-12700K holds an 84th percentile ranking among all CPUs tested, meaning it outperforms roughly five out of six processors in the database. The Arc B370, by contrast, sits at the 5th percentile among all GPUs, placing it in the bottom tier of graphics hardware. This pairing creates a massive imbalance—a top-tier mid-range CPU shackled to an entry-level integrated-class GPU. In Barony's measured results, the GPU is the clear bottleneck at every resolution and settings level, which explains why the combo ranks so poorly despite the CPU's strength.

The data shows that this combo's rank is driven almost entirely by GPU-bound frame rates. At 1080p Ultra, the system manages 66 FPS, which is playable but far from the 144 FPS ceiling that the CPU could theoretically feed in lighter titles. At 4K Ultra, the frame rate collapses to 22 FPS, a figure that would make any action in Barony feel sluggish. These results confirm that the Arc B370 is the limiting factor, and the i7-12700K's 12 cores and 20 threads are largely idle in this scenario.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is the decisive component in this combo's Barony performance, and the data makes its limitations clear. This GPU operates with System Shared memory, meaning it has no dedicated VRAM pool—it borrows from system RAM, and its bandwidth is listed as System Dependent. This architecture is typical of integrated graphics, and the performance ceiling reflects that. The GPU's boost clock runs at 2400 MHz with a base clock of 300 MHz, and its thermal design power is just 25 W, confirming it is not a discrete gaming card.

In terms of raw compute, the Arc B370 offers 6.144 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, with 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 raster output units. It also includes 10 ray tracing cores, though Barony is not a ray-traced title, so those cores play no role in these results. The GPU's only recorded benchmark—3DMark Steel Nomad DX12—shows a score of 1184, placing it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in that benchmark include the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 at 1186 (a delta of -0.2%), the ATI Radeon HD 5770 at 1190 (-0.5%), and the AMD Radeon HD 7650M at 1192 (-0.7%). These are legacy parts from over a decade ago, which underscores how far behind modern discrete GPUs this chip is.

The measured Barony frame rates align with this weak standing. At 1080p Low, the Arc B370 produces 144 FPS, which is the best result in this dataset and suggests the game is lightly threaded and not demanding at low settings. However, as settings increase, the GPU's lack of dedicated memory and limited pixel throughput become apparent. At 1080p Ultra, the average drops to 66 FPS, a 54% reduction from Low. At 4K Ultra, the GPU can only muster 22 FPS, which is borderline unplayable for a game that requires quick reactions. The pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s are simply insufficient for high-resolution, high-detail rendering.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo capable of running Barony at 1080p?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 1080p Low, the system averages 144 FPS, which is excellent. At 1080p Medium, it drops to 107 FPS, and at 1080p High, it's 92 FPS. Even at 1080p Ultra, the average is 66 FPS, which is playable. The data shows that 1080p is the only resolution where this combo provides consistently smooth performance across all settings.

Q: How does the Arc B370 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in the database?

A: The Arc B370's 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1184 is nearly identical to the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570's 1186 (0.2% faster) and the ATI Radeon HD 5770's 1190 (0.5% faster). It trails the AMD Radeon HD 7650M's 1192 by 0.7%. These are all legacy parts, indicating the B370's performance class is that of a decade-old entry-level GPU.

Q: What is the best settings/resolution combination for this system?

A: The data suggests 1080p Medium or High as the sweet spot. At 1080p Medium, the average is 107 FPS with a minimum of 91 FPS and maximum of 123 FPS. At 1080p High, the average is 92 FPS. Both provide smooth gameplay, while stepping to 1440p High drops the average to 58 FPS, which is noticeably less fluid.

Q: Is the CPU holding back the GPU in Barony?

A: No. The i7-12700K is far more capable than the Arc B370 in this title. The CPU holds an 84th percentile ranking among all processors, while the GPU sits at the 5th percentile. Frame rates scale predictably with resolution and settings, which indicates the GPU is the bottleneck. The CPU's 12 cores and 20 threads are not limiting these results.

Q: Can this system handle 4K in Barony?

A: Only at low settings, and even then, marginally. At 4K Low, the average is 47 FPS. At 4K Medium, it drops to 35 FPS (with a minimum of 30 FPS), and at 4K High, it's 30 FPS. At 4K Ultra, the average is 22 FPS, which is not a comfortable experience for a roguelike that demands timely input.

Q: How does the i7-12700K compare to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The i7-12700K's average benchmark score of 35287 is nearly identical to the Intel Core i5-13600T's 35305 (0.1% slower), the Intel Core i7-12700KF's 35365 (0.2% slower), and the Intel Core i7-13700T's 35403 (0.3% slower). The Core 5 213PE's 35428 is 0.4% faster. These are all within a rounding error, so the 12700K performs essentially at par with its closest rivals.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates for this combo in Barony show a clear pattern: performance scales inversely with both resolution and settings, and the drops are consistent and predictable. At 1080p, the system is capable of smooth play across all settings. At 1440p, it begins to struggle at higher presets. At 4K, it falls below playable thresholds except for Low settings.

At 1920x1080, the results are: Low averages 144 FPS, Medium averages 107 FPS with a minimum of 91 FPS and maximum of 123 FPS, High averages 92 FPS, and Ultra averages 66 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 78 FPS, a 54% reduction. This shows that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are the primary constraints as settings push higher.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates drop significantly: Low averages 91 FPS, Medium averages 67 FPS (minimum 57 FPS, maximum 78 FPS), High averages 58 FPS, and Ultra averages 42 FPS. The jump from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 30-40% of performance at every settings level. At 1440p Ultra, the 42 FPS average is borderline for a game that benefits from responsive controls, though it is technically playable.

At 3840x2160, the results are: Low averages 47 FPS, Medium averages 35 FPS (minimum 30 FPS, maximum 41 FPS), High averages 30 FPS, and Ultra averages 22 FPS. The 4K Low result is the only one above 30 FPS, and it is still below the 60 FPS target most players prefer. The 4K Ultra figure of 22 FPS makes the game feel stuttery and unresponsive, which is a serious problem for a roguelike where positioning and timing matter.

The data also shows that the minimum FPS figures, where available, are close to the averages. At 1080p Medium, the minimum is 91 FPS against an average of 107 FPS, indicating reasonable frame time consistency. At 1440p Medium, the minimum is 57 FPS versus an average of 67 FPS, and at 4K Medium, the minimum is 30 FPS against 35 FPS average. This suggests the Arc B370 does not experience severe frametime spikes, but rather a steady, low ceiling.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling behavior of this combo reveals the GPU as the dominant limiting factor. Moving from 1080p to 1440p at High settings drops the average from 92 FPS to 58 FPS, a 37% reduction. Moving from 1440p to 4K at High settings drops the average from 58 FPS to 30 FPS, a 48% reduction. The cumulative drop from 1080p High to 4K High is from 92 FPS to 30 FPS, a 67% decrease.

This pattern is consistent across all settings. At Low, 1080p yields 144 FPS, 1440p yields 91 FPS, and 4K yields 47 FPS—a 67% total drop. At Medium, the figures are 107 FPS, 67 FPS, and 35 FPS respectively, a 67% drop. At Ultra, they are 66 FPS, 42 FPS, and 22 FPS, a 67% drop. The uniformity of these percentage drops indicates that the GPU's performance is scaling linearly with pixel count, which is classic behavior for a chip that is fill-rate limited rather than geometry or driver limited.

The implications are clear: the Arc B370's memory being System Shared means it has no dedicated VRAM to buffer high-resolution textures, and its bandwidth being System Dependent means it is competing with the CPU for memory access. This explains why 4K performance is so poor—the GPU is choking on memory bandwidth rather than compute. The i7-12700K, with its DDR4/DDR5 support and dual-channel memory bus, is not the issue here; the GPU simply cannot handle the data throughput required at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K plays a supporting role in this combo, and in Barony, its job is easy. This processor features 12 cores and 20 threads based on the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. It has 25 MB of shared L3 cache, with 1.25 MB of L2 per core and 80 KB of L1 per core. The CPU's thermal design power is 125 W, and it supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory, though the measured results do not specify which was used.

Benchmark data shows the i7-12700K is a strong performer. In Cinebench R23, it scores 19784 in multicore and 1850.5 in single-core. In Geekbench, it scores 15790 multicore and 2308 single-core. Its Passmark multithread score is 34404, and its single-thread score is 4013. The CPU's average benchmark score of 35287 places it at the 84th percentile of all CPUs, with its nearest rivals—the i5-13600T, i7-12700KF, i7-13700T, and Core 5 213PE—all within 0.4% of its score.

In Barony, the CPU's role is minimal because the GPU is the bottleneck at every resolution and settings level. The fact that 1080p Low hits 144 FPS suggests the game is not heavily threaded and that even a modest CPU could hit that cap. The i7-12700K's 12 cores and 20 threads are far more than Barony needs, and the data shows no evidence of CPU limiting—frame rates drop consistently with resolution and settings, which is a GPU-bound signature. If the CPU were the constraint, we would see frame rates plateau or drop less steeply as resolution increases, but that is not the case here.

The CPU's single-thread performance is also more than adequate. Barony, as a roguelike, likely relies on a single main thread for game logic, and the i7-12700K's Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1850.5 and Geekbench single-core score of 2308 are strong enough to handle that workload without issue. The takeaway is that this combo's poor ranking is not the CPU's fault—it is a mismatch where a high-end processor is paired with an entry-level GPU, and in Barony, the GPU dictates the experience.