Barony

# Barony with Intel Core i7-12700K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER

The Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER delivers a combination that ranks 1246 out of 1702 tested combos in Barony, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database. This percentile positioning—roughly the 27th percentile—might seem underwhelming for a CPU that sits in the 89th percentile of all processors and a GPU in the 63rd percentile, but the measured frame rates tell a more complex story. The data suggests that this roguelike title is far more demanding at higher settings than its genre might imply, and the bottleneck shifts dramatically depending on resolution and quality preset.

How This Combo Ranks

With a combo rank of 1246 out of 1702 tested configurations, this pairing sits closer to the bottom third of the leaderboard. That ranking likely reflects the GPU's mid-range position rather than the CPU's strength, since Barony appears to scale heavily with graphics load based on the measured FPS spread. The RTX 2060 SUPER's average benchmark score of 19774 places it just 0.3% behind the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN (19706) and 0.5% behind the RTX 2070 (19680), while the CPU's average score of 35684 lands it within a narrow band of rivals—0.3% behind the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 (35802) and 0.6% ahead of the Intel Core i7-13700T (35468). These tight deltas suggest that neither component is dramatically over- or under-performing relative to its direct competitors, yet the combo ranking remains low because Barony's optimized presets at 4K Ultra can drop to 41.8 FPS, which drags the overall position down.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Barony?

A: The measured data shows 2560x1440 offers the most balanced experience, with High settings hitting 114.6 FPS and Ultra still maintaining 84 FPS, whereas 3840x2160 at Ultra drops to 41.8 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i7-12700K scores 35684 on average, which is 0.3% lower than the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 (35802) and 0.7% lower than the Intel Core i5-14500HX (35940), but 0.6% higher than the Intel Core i7-13700T (35468) and 0.8% higher than the Intel Core i7-13800H (35416).

Q: Does the GPU bottleneck the system at 1080p?

A: No—at 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo reaches 286.3 FPS, which likely exceeds the refresh rate of most displays, indicating the CPU or game engine becomes the limiting factor at lower resolutions.

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

A: At 2560x1440, Low averages 179.4 FPS while Ultra averages 84 FPS, representing a drop of 95.4 FPS—over half the Low preset's performance—when moving to the highest quality settings.

Q: How does the GPU's synthetic score compare to the RTX 2070?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER's average benchmark score of 19774 is 0.5% higher than the RTX 2070's 19680, making them nearly identical in raw compute performance despite the different model names.

Q: Is the 8 GB VRAM sufficient for 4K gameplay?

A: The data shows 4K High achieves 58.6 FPS, which is playable, but 4K Ultra drops to 41.8 FPS—the VRAM capacity appears adequate, but the GPU's compute power limits ultra settings at this resolution.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS reveals a clear pattern of resolution scaling that points to the GPU as the primary constraint at higher pixel counts. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at High settings, average FPS drops from 184.6 to 114.6—a 37.9% reduction. Pushing further to 3840x2160 at High, the frame rate plummets to 58.6 FPS, representing a 68.3% drop from the 1080p baseline. This scaling behavior is typical of GPU-bound scenarios, where the number of pixels rendered directly impacts performance. At Low settings, the pattern is even more pronounced: 286.3 FPS at 1080p falls to 179.4 at 1440p (37.3% drop) and then to 97 at 4K (66.1% drop from 1080p). The fact that even Low settings cannot maintain 100 FPS at 4K suggests the GPU's 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 7.181 TFLOPS of FP32 compute are working near their limits at this resolution.

Settings Recommendations

The optimal preset depends heavily on the target resolution, but the data suggests Medium settings provide the best balance of visual quality and performance for most users. At 2560x1440, Medium achieves 132.6 FPS, which is only 14.4% lower than High (114.6→132.6 is actually higher—Medium outperforms High, likely due to specific rendering features). This anomaly aside, Medium at 1440p keeps frame rates well above 120 FPS, making it ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors. At 1920x1080, even Ultra maintains 130.1 FPS, so users with 1080p displays can safely max out settings. For 4K displays, High settings at 58.6 FPS represent the best compromise, as Ultra drops to 41.8 FPS—likely below the threshold for smooth gameplay—while Low at 97 FPS sacrifices too much visual fidelity for a 38.4 FPS gain over High.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 286.3 FPS on Low, 216.2 FPS on Medium, 184.6 FPS on High, and 130.1 FPS on Ultra. The step from Low to Medium costs 70.1 FPS, while Medium to High costs 31.6 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 54.5 FPS—indicating that High is the most efficient preset in terms of FPS retained per quality increment. Moving to 2560x1440, the numbers become 179.4 FPS (Low), 132.6 FPS (Medium), 114.6 FPS (High), and 84 FPS (Ultra). The gap between Medium and High narrows to 18 FPS, while Low to Medium still costs 46.8 FPS. At 3840x2160, performance drops significantly: 97 FPS (Low), 69.1 FPS (Medium), 58.6 FPS (High), and 41.8 FPS (Ultra). The Ultra preset at 4K produces less than half the FPS of Low, demonstrating that the RTX 2060 SUPER's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 256-bit bus are stretched thin by the 8.3 million pixels in 4K.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K brings 12 cores and 20 threads from its Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost up to 5.00 GHz. Its 25 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support for both DDR4 and DDR5 provide ample headroom for modern gaming. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU achieves a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 29241 and a single-core score of 4128, with a PassMark multithread score of 34404. These numbers place it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, yet the combo's low rank in Barony suggests the processor is rarely the limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the 286.3 FPS result likely reflects the CPU's strong single-thread performance—the 3dmark single-thread score of 1043 and PassMark single-thread score of 4013 point to excellent per-core speed. The 20 threads also help maintain consistent frame times in a roguelike where procedural generation could create variable CPU loads, though the game's modest system requirements mean the i7-12700K is never stressed to its limits.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER, built on the Turing architecture with a TU106 chip, features 2176 shading units, 136 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, with 34 RT cores and 272 tensor cores. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, while the base clock of 1470 MHz boosts to 1650 MHz. The GPU's 7.181 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 105.6 GPixel/s pixel rate directly influence Barony's performance at higher resolutions. The PassMark G3D score of 16462 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2011 show the card's mid-range standing—it ranks in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs. The measured FPS data confirms this: at 4K Ultra, the 41.8 FPS result is likely GPU-bound, as the card's 64 ROPs and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth struggle with the combination of high resolution and intensive effects. The 175 W TDP and dual-slot cooler suggest the card can sustain its boost clock under load, but the 450 W suggested PSU indicates power delivery is adequate for the system. Compared to its nearest rivals, the 0.3% lead over the GTX TITAN and 0.5% lead over the RTX 2070 in average benchmark score show that the 2060 SUPER is competitively positioned, yet Barony's 4K Ultra demands exceed what this GPU can comfortably deliver.