Barony

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 delivers a robust 1080p experience in Barony, but the data reveals a distinct shift in system bottleneck as resolution climbs. At 1920x1080, the combination produces extremely high frame rates that outpace most display refresh rates, indicating a CPU-bound scenario where the processor's single-thread performance dictates the ceiling. Moving to 2560x1440, the GPU begins to take on a more significant role, with frame rates remaining highly playable but showing a clear scaling pattern that continues into 3840x2160. The transition from 1080p to 4K shows a dramatic drop in average FPS across all settings, with the gap between Low and Ultra presets widening considerably, which points to the Radeon RX 7700 becoming the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Barony shows a predictable but steep decline as resolution increases, which is typical for a game that relies heavily on pixel throughput. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 360 FPS, which drops to 230 FPS at High settings—a 36% reduction. When moving to Ultra at 1080p, the average falls to 165 FPS, showing that even at the lowest resolution, the preset choice has a substantial impact on performance. This pattern suggests the CPU is keeping up well with the GPU at 1080p, as the frame rates are high enough that the graphics card is unlikely to be the sole bottleneck.

At 2560x1440, the scaling becomes more pronounced. Low settings produce an average of 227 FPS, which is only a 37% drop from the 1080p Low result, indicating that the GPU is still able to push high frame counts. However, the gap between Low and Ultra narrows slightly in percentage terms: Ultra at 1440p yields 104 FPS, representing a 54% reduction from Low, compared to a 54% reduction at 1080p as well. This consistency implies that the RX 7700's 16 GB of memory and 256-bit bus are sufficient to handle the increased pixel load without a disproportionate penalty. The 1440p Medium preset, with an average of 169 FPS and a minimum of 144 FPS, shows that the system can maintain a stable experience above the 144 Hz threshold for most displays.

The jump to 3840x2160 reveals the true character of this pairing. At 4K Low, the average FPS drops to 119, which is a 67% reduction from 1080p Low. High settings at 4K fall to 76 FPS, and Ultra drops to 54 FPS. This steep decline indicates that the RX 7700 is now the primary limiting component, as the pixel count quadruples and the GPU's 624.1 GB/s memory bandwidth and 25.18 TFLOPS of FP32 performance are stretched thin. The Medium preset at 4K, with an average of 88 FPS and a minimum of 75 FPS, still provides a playable experience, but the gap between Low and Ultra at 4K (119 vs 54 FPS) highlights how much headroom the GPU has when visual effects are reduced. Benchmark results indicate that for 4K gaming, the CPU's 12 cores and 20 threads are not the constraint; rather, the GPU's raw rasterization throughput determines the outcome.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU-GPU combo in Barony?*

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 offers the best balance, with High settings delivering an average of 145 FPS and Medium hitting 169 FPS with a minimum of 144 FPS. At 1920x1080, the frame rates exceed 230 FPS on High, which may be unnecessary unless using a very high refresh rate monitor.

Q: How does the Intel Core i7-12700KF compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i7-12700KF has an average benchmark score of 35365, placing it 0.1% behind the Intel Core i7-13700T and 0.2% ahead of both the Intel Core i5-13600T and the Intel Core i7-12700K. This puts it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, indicating near-identical performance to its direct competitors.

Q: Is the AMD Radeon RX 7700 a strong performer relative to other GPUs?

A: The RX 7700 sits in the 58th percentile of all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 15852. It performs within 1.7% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti and within 1% of the AMD Radeon RX 9060, while being 1.1% faster than the AMD Radeon Pro W5500.

Q: Which settings preset provides the highest minimum frame rate at 1440p?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 is the only one with reported minimum and maximum values, showing a minimum of 144 FPS and a maximum of 194 FPS. This suggests a stable frame pacing that avoids dips below the 144 Hz refresh rate.

*Q: Does the CPU or GPU limit performance at 4K in Barony?*

A: The measured data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor at 3840x2160. The average FPS scales with preset quality (119 Low, 88 Medium, 76 High, 54 Ultra), and the CPU's high single-thread score of 4071 in Cinebench R23 suggests it is not the bottleneck at this resolution.

Q: What is the combo's ranking among all tested configurations for this game?

A: This particular pairing ranks 1336 out of 2935 tested combos in Barony, placing it in the upper-middle portion of the database. This rank reflects the balance between the i7-12700KF's strong multi-threaded performance and the RX 7700's mid-range GPU capabilities.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF brings a substantial amount of processing power to Barony, with 12 cores and 20 threads running on the Alder Lake architecture. Its base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 5.00 GHz provide strong single-thread performance, which is critical for a roguelike game where game logic, AI, and procedural generation often run on a few threads. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4071 and multi-core score of 28838 indicate that the CPU can handle both lightly-threaded and heavily-threaded workloads without issue. In the context of Barony's measured FPS, the CPU's role becomes apparent at 1080p, where the average frame rates of 230 FPS at High and 360 FPS at Low suggest that the processor is keeping the GPU well-fed.

The 20 threads and 25 MB of shared L3 cache allow for efficient handling of background tasks and game engine overhead, which is reflected in the Passmark multithread score of 34092. However, the data shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor at higher resolutions. At 4K, the average FPS drops to 54 at Ultra settings, and the gap between Low and Ultra is 65 FPS, which is a GPU-side effect. The i7-12700KF's 85th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35365, places it in a performance tier where it can easily support mid-range GPUs like the RX 7700 without creating a bottleneck. The nearest rivals, including the Intel Core i7-13700T with a deltaPct of -0.1% and the Intel Core i5-13600T with a deltaPct of 0.2%, show that this CPU is firmly in a performance class where differences are negligible.

For Barony specifically, the CPU's 3dmark scores provide insight into scaling. The 3dmark_16_threads score of 9282 and 3dmark_max_threads score of 9983 indicate that the CPU scales well with thread count, but the single-thread score of 1043 shows that individual core performance is the key driver for frame rates in this game. The data suggests that even with a more powerful GPU, the i7-12700KF would not hold back performance at 1080p, but at 4K, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck, making the CPU's role secondary in determining the final frame rate.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for Barony provides a comprehensive view of how the i7-12700KF and RX 7700 perform across different resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 360 FPS, which is the highest recorded across all configurations. The Medium preset at 1080p yields an average of 268 FPS with a minimum of 228 FPS and a maximum of 308 FPS, showing excellent frame consistency. High settings at 1080p reduce the average to 230 FPS, while Ultra drops to 165 FPS. These numbers indicate that at 1080p, the system is capable of running the game at extremely high frame rates, making it suitable for high refresh rate monitors up to 240 Hz or beyond.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset produces an average of 227 FPS, which is still very high and suitable for competitive play. Medium at 1440p shows an average of 169 FPS with a minimum of 144 FPS and a maximum of 194 FPS, which is the only preset at this resolution with reported min/max values. High settings at 1440p average 145 FPS, and Ultra drops to 104 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1440p shows a 54% reduction in average FPS, which is consistent with the 1080p scaling pattern, indicating that the GPU is handling the increased resolution without any unexpected performance cliffs.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops significantly. Low settings average 119 FPS, which is still playable, but Medium reduces the average to 88 FPS with a minimum of 75 FPS and a maximum of 102 FPS. High settings at 4K average 76 FPS, and Ultra falls to 54 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 65 FPS, which is a larger absolute gap than at lower resolutions, confirming that the RX 7700's pixel throughput is the limiting factor. The Medium preset at 4K, with its minimum of 75 FPS, is the most balanced option for maintaining a stable experience above the 60 FPS threshold, while Ultra at 54 FPS may be acceptable for slower-paced gameplay.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-12700KF and AMD Radeon RX 7700 combination ranks 1336 out of 2935 tested combos in Barony, placing it in the 45th percentile of all configurations. This ranking reflects a middle-of-the-road position, which is consistent with the component specifications: the CPU is in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU is only in the 58th percentile of all GPUs. The combo's overall rank is dragged down by the GPU's relatively modest performance, as the CPU alone would rank much higher if paired with a more powerful graphics card. The data shows that the i7-12700KF's nearest rivals, such as the Core i7-13700T and Core i5-13600T, would likely produce similar results when paired with the same GPU, given their near-identical average benchmark scores.

Compared to the RX 7700's nearest GPU rivals, the combo's ranking is competitive. The RX 7700's average benchmark score of 15852 is within 1.7% of the RTX 3060 Ti, and within 1% of the RX 9060, suggesting that swapping the GPU for either of these would result in minimal FPS differences in Barony. The combo's rank of 1336 out of 2935 indicates that it outperforms roughly 54% of all tested configurations, which is a solid result for a mid-range pairing. However, the data also implies that the GPU is the primary constraint, as the CPU's high percentile ranking does not translate to a top-tier combo rank. For users considering upgrades, the benchmark results suggest that improving the GPU would yield a more significant boost in Barony performance than upgrading the CPU.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the target resolution and refresh rate. For 1920x1080, the High preset at 230 FPS is recommended for most users, as it provides a balance between visual quality and performance that exceeds the refresh rate of most monitors. The Medium preset at 268 FPS offers an even higher frame rate with only a slight reduction in visual fidelity, making it a good choice for competitive play where frame rate is paramount. The Ultra preset at 165 FPS is also viable, but the 28% reduction from High may not be worth the visual gains unless using a 165 Hz monitor.

At 2560x1440, the High preset at 145 FPS is the best choice for users with 144 Hz displays, as it matches the refresh rate and provides excellent visual quality. The Medium preset at 169 FPS with a minimum of 144 FPS offers a slight safety margin against frame drops, making it the recommended option for those who prioritize frame stability. The Ultra preset at 104 FPS is playable but may feel less smooth on high refresh rate displays; users with 60 Hz monitors could still use it, but the High preset is preferable for most.

For 3840x2160, the Medium preset at 88 FPS is the recommended choice for a balanced experience, as it maintains a minimum of 75 FPS and avoids the significant performance hit of High (76 FPS) and Ultra (54 FPS). The Low preset at 119 FPS is viable for users who prioritize frame rate over visual quality, but it sacrifices too much detail for a roguelike game where readability matters. The Ultra preset at 54 FPS is only suitable for users with 60 Hz displays who are willing to accept lower frame rates for maximum visual fidelity. In all cases, the data shows that the Medium preset provides the best trade-off between performance and quality across every resolution tested.