Barony

The Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 delivers extraordinary performance in Barony, a roguelike title that clearly favors high frame rates over visual fidelity. The measured data reveals that this combination is capable of pushing well beyond the refresh rates of most displays, making the choice of settings less about achieving playability and more about balancing visual quality against unnecessary frame overhead. The benchmark results indicate that the most balanced experience is found at the Medium preset, which provides a substantial improvement in visual detail over Low settings while still maintaining frame rates that are effectively capped by most monitors.

Settings Recommendations

The data presents a clear hierarchy across the four tested presets, with the differences between them being substantial enough to warrant careful selection. At 1080p, the Low preset achieves an average of 600 FPS, while Medium drops to 446 FPS, High to 383 FPS, and Ultra to 274 FPS. The Medium preset represents the sweet spot, as it offers a significant visual upgrade over Low—which typically includes basic textures and minimal effects—while still delivering an average frame rate nearly double that of the Ultra preset. The measured minimum FPS for Medium at 1080p is 379, which still exceeds the maximum refresh rate of the vast majority of gaming monitors.

Moving to 1440p, the same pattern holds. Low settings deliver 379 FPS on average, Medium produces 281 FPS, High achieves 242 FPS, and Ultra drops to 173 FPS. The Medium preset again stands out as the optimal choice, as its average frame rate remains far above the 144Hz to 165Hz range common among high-refresh-rate displays, while its visual fidelity will be noticeably richer than Low. The min FPS recorded for Medium at 1440p is 239, ensuring that even the most demanding scenes will not cause perceptible stutter or frame drops.

At 4K, the situation becomes more nuanced. Low settings yield 198 FPS, Medium drops to 147 FPS, High to 126 FPS, and Ultra to 91 FPS. While the Medium preset remains an excellent choice, the High preset also becomes viable here, as its 126 FPS average is still well above the 60Hz baseline and approaches the 120Hz tier of premium displays. The Ultra preset, however, dips to 91 FPS, which is still playable but begins to approach the threshold where frame pacing can become noticeable. For the best overall experience across all resolutions, the data strongly favors the Medium preset, as it consistently maintains frame rates that are multiples of standard refresh rates while providing a meaningful visual step up from Low settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K serves as the foundation of this system, and its specifications are well-suited to Barony's gameplay mechanics. This processor features 12 cores and 20 threads, a configuration that allows for efficient multitasking and handling of background processes while gaming. Its base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 5.00 GHz provide the raw single-thread performance that roguelike games often depend on for game logic, procedural generation, and AI pathfinding. The Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process, combines performance and efficiency cores to balance workload distribution.

The benchmark scores for this CPU demonstrate its capability in both single-threaded and multi-threaded scenarios. In Cinebench R23, the processor scores 19,784 points in multicore and 1,850.5 points in singlecore. The Geekbench results show 15,790 for multicore and 2,308 for singlecore. These numbers indicate that the CPU has substantial headroom for the type of computational tasks Barony presents. The 3DMark tests further illustrate this, with the 16-thread test scoring 9,276 and the single-thread test scoring 1,043, suggesting that the processor maintains strong performance even when fewer threads are active.

The nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score include the Intel Core i5-13600T with a deltaPct of -0.1, the Intel Core i7-12700KF at -0.2, the Intel Core i7-13700T at -0.3, and the Intel Core 5 213PE at -0.4. This means the i7-12700K essentially trades blows with these processors, with differences of less than half a percent in overall benchmark averages. For Barony, the CPU's 25 MB of shared L3 cache likely contributes to smooth performance in the game's procedurally generated dungeons, where data locality and quick access to game state are critical. The L1 cache is 80 KB per core and L2 is 1.25 MB per core, providing ample on-die storage for frequently accessed data.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the primary driver of frame rates in this combination, and its specifications explain the exceptional numbers observed in the measured data. This GPU features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s. The memory clock runs at 1400 MHz, which translates to 22.4 Gbps effective. This memory configuration ensures that texture streaming and asset loading at high resolutions pose no bottleneck, even in the most demanding roguelike environments.

The GPU's compute capabilities are substantial, with 9,728 shading units, 304 texture mapping units, and 112 raster output units. The Ada Lovelace architecture, built on TSMC's 5 nm process, includes 76 ray tracing cores and 304 tensor cores, though these are less relevant for a game like Barony that does not heavily utilize ray tracing. The base clock of 2205 MHz and boost clock of 2505 MHz allow the GPU to maintain high throughput, while the FP32 performance of 48.74 TFLOPS ensures that even complex shader effects are handled effortlessly. The pixel rate of 280.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 761.5 GTexel/s mean that fill-rate limitations are essentially non-existent at the resolutions tested.

The RTX 4080's benchmark scores confirm its high-end status. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it scores 6,567, and in Geekbench Vulkan it achieves 263,779 points. The PassMark G3D score of 34,457 places it well within the top tier of GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the RTX 4080 SUPER with a deltaPct of 0.1, the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X at -1.1, the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB at -2.6, and the AMD Radeon 8060S at -2.7. These comparisons show that the RTX 4080 is essentially equivalent to the 4080 SUPER and significantly ahead of the other listed contenders. For Barony, the GPU's role is to render the game's stylized graphics at extremely high frame rates, and the data shows it accomplishes this with considerable margin.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-12700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 holds a rank of 244 out of 3,717 tested combos for Barony. This places it in the top 6.6 percent of all configurations tested, a strong showing that reflects the high-end nature of both components. The percentile scores for the individual parts support this positioning: the CPU ranks at the 84th percentile against all CPUs, and the GPU ranks at the 86th percentile against all GPUs. When combined, these components produce a system that is well above average for this game.

The rank of 244 means there are 243 other combinations that achieve higher performance in Barony. These are likely to include newer or more expensive components, such as the RTX 4090 or top-tier 14th-generation processors. However, the delta between this combo and those above it may be small in absolute frame terms, especially given that the frame rates already exceed 100 FPS at 4K Ultra. The data suggests that this combo is not merely adequate but genuinely high-performing, with the CPU and GPU working in concert to avoid any significant bottleneck. The fact that this rank is out of 3,717 combos indicates that the testing database is comprehensive, and landing in the top 244 reflects the hardware's capability.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K provides insight into how the workload shifts between the CPU and GPU. At 1080p, the Low preset achieves 600 FPS, which likely represents a CPU-bound scenario where the GPU is not the limiting factor. The RTX 4080 is so powerful at this resolution that the processor's single-thread performance becomes the constraint. This is supported by the fact that at 1080p Low, the frame rate is 600 FPS, a number that is likely capped by the CPU's ability to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic updates.

As resolution increases, the GPU becomes more heavily utilized. From 1080p to 1440p, the Low preset drops from 600 to 379 FPS, a reduction of approximately 37 percent. From 1440p to 4K, it drops from 379 to 198 FPS, another reduction of about 48 percent. This pattern indicates that the GPU is taking on more of the rendering load at higher resolutions, as the number of pixels increases dramatically. The Medium preset shows a similar trend: 446 FPS at 1080p, 281 FPS at 1440p, and 147 FPS at 4K. The High preset goes from 383 to 242 to 126, and Ultra goes from 274 to 173 to 91.

These scaling factors reveal that the limiting component shifts with resolution. At 1080p, the CPU is the primary bottleneck, as evidenced by the high frame rates that approach the limits of what a processor can manage. At 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, with the frame rates dropping to levels that are still high but increasingly dependent on the GPU's rendering throughput. The fact that even at 4K Ultra the frame rate remains above 90 FPS demonstrates that this combo has no weak links, but the data clearly shows that the GPU is the component that determines performance at higher resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a comprehensive view of performance across all tested configurations. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 600 FPS, with no reported minimum or maximum values. The Medium preset averages 446 FPS, with a minimum of 379 and maximum of 513. High settings produce 383 FPS on average, and Ultra yields 274 FPS. These numbers indicate that even at the most demanding 1080p preset, the frame rate is more than double what most displays can show.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 379 FPS, while Medium averages 281 FPS with a minimum of 239 and maximum of 324. High settings deliver 242 FPS, and Ultra drops to 173 FPS. The minimum FPS of 239 for Medium is notable, as it ensures that even in the most intense moments, the frame rate never falls below what is required for a smooth 144Hz experience.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 198 FPS, Medium averages 147 FPS with a minimum of 125 and maximum of 169, High averages 126 FPS, and Ultra drops to 91 FPS. The minimum FPS of 125 for Medium at 4K is particularly relevant, as it means that even the lowest frame in this configuration is above the 120Hz threshold, making it an excellent choice for high-refresh-rate 4K displays. The Ultra preset at 91 FPS is the only configuration that dips below the 100 FPS mark, but it remains well above the 60Hz baseline, ensuring a playable experience for those who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate.

FAQ

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

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 delivers an average of 281 FPS with a minimum of 239 FPS. This provides a visually rich experience while maintaining frame rates that far exceed the 144Hz refresh rate of most gaming monitors.

Q: Does this combo hit 4K 120 FPS?

A: Yes, at 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the average FPS is 147 with a minimum of 125. This comfortably exceeds the 120 FPS target, even accounting for the lowest recorded frame.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to the RTX 4080 SUPER?

A: The RTX 4080 has an average benchmark score of 54,247, while the RTX 4080 SUPER has a score of 54,209. The deltaPct is 0.1 percent, meaning the standard 4080 is effectively identical in performance to the SUPER variant.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 600, which is likely a CPU limit. The GPU has so much headroom at this resolution that the processor's ability to issue draw calls becomes the bottleneck, not the GPU's rendering speed.

Q: What is the lowest frame rate recorded in any configuration?

A: The lowest minimum FPS recorded is 125 at 3840x2160 with Medium settings. All other configurations either have no reported minimum or have higher values, indicating that performance never becomes unplayable.

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

A: This combo ranks 244th out of 3,717 tested combinations for Barony, placing it in the top 6.6 percent of all systems tested for this game.