Barony

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 delivers a compelling performance profile in Barony, a roguelike title from 2015. The measured data reveals that this combination is heavily skewed toward high refresh rate gameplay, with the CPU often taking a leading role in dictating frame rates at lower resolutions. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS across resolutions and settings, contextualizes the combo's rank against other tested configurations, and explores the specific contributions of the processor and graphics card.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data across the three tested resolutions shows a clear and predictable scaling pattern, but with nuances that reveal the system's bottleneck. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 340 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops this to 215 FPS, a reduction of 125 FPS (approximately 37%). At 4K Low, the average further falls to 112 FPS, which is a 52% drop from the 1440p figure. This scaling suggests that as resolution increases, the rendering load on the GPU grows significantly, which is the expected behavior.

However, the data also reveals the CPU's strong influence at lower resolutions. The jump from 1080p Low (340 FPS) to 1440p Low (215 FPS) is a massive 125 FPS decrease, indicating that the GPU is becoming more of a limiting factor as pixel count increases. Yet, the fact that 1080p Low produces 340 FPS—a number far beyond what most displays can show—implies that the Intel Core i7-12700KF is capable of feeding frames at a very high rate, and the RTX 4060 is able to keep up until the resolution demands become too high.

The scaling from Medium to High settings provides further insight. At 4K, the average FPS drops from 83 on Medium to 72 on High, a 13% reduction. At 1440p, the same settings change yields a drop from 160 to 137 FPS (14%). At 1080p, the drop is from 253 to 217 FPS (14%). This consistent percentage drop across resolutions for the Medium-to-High transition suggests a balanced scaling of GPU workload, rather than a specific component suddenly hitting a wall. The Ultra preset, however, shows a different pattern, with a more severe performance penalty at higher resolutions, which points to the GPU being the definitive bottleneck when all effects are maxed out at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The database places this specific combination at rank 2000 out of 3717 tested combos for Barony. This places it in the 54th percentile, meaning it outperforms slightly more than half of all other tested CPU-GPU pairings in this specific game. While this is not a top-tier ranking, it is a respectable mid-table position. The ranking makes sense given the component profile: the RTX 4060 is a solid mainstream GPU, but it is not a flagship product, and Barony is not a graphically demanding title that would require one.

The rank of 2000 suggests that while this combo delivers high frame rates, many other combinations, likely with more powerful GPUs, achieve even higher scores. The data shows the combo is capable of 4K Ultra at 51 FPS, which is playable, but other combos ranked higher would likely push that number higher. The CPU's percentile ranking of 85 among all CPUs indicates it is a strong processor, but the GPU's percentile of 61 is more moderate. The combination of a high-performing CPU with a mid-range GPU means the system's overall rank is likely held back by the GPU in more demanding scenarios, but the CPU ensures the system never feels starved for data.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1440p with High settings?

A: The measured data shows an average of 137 FPS at 2560x1440 with High settings. This indicates a very smooth experience for high-refresh-rate monitors.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming?

A: Yes, it is playable. At 4K with Medium settings, the average FPS is 83, and with High settings, it is 72. However, at 4K Ultra, the average drops to 51 FPS, which is less smooth.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the main bottleneck for this game?

A: At lower resolutions like 1080p, the CPU appears to be the primary driver, as the average FPS reaches 340 on Low, a number the GPU can handle. As resolution increases to 4K, the GPU becomes the clear limiting factor, evidenced by the significant FPS drops and the 51 FPS result at Ultra.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4060's average benchmark score is 17639. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon HD 7790, has an average score of 17666, which is 0.2% higher. The AMD Radeon 780M scores 17588, which is 0.3% lower.

Q: What is the best setting to use for a high refresh rate 1080p monitor?

A: All settings at 1080p provide playable frame rates. For maximum smoothness, Low settings yield 340 FPS, but even Ultra delivers 156 FPS, which is well above the 144Hz threshold, making Ultra viable.

Q: What is the CPU's single-threaded performance score?

A: In the Cinebench R23 test, the Intel Core i7-12700KF scores 4071 points in single-core. This strong single-thread performance helps in games like Barony that may not be heavily multi-threaded.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table details the exact measured average FPS, with minimum and maximum values where available, for each resolution and settings preset.

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS |

| :--------- | :------- | :------ | :------ | :------ |

| 3840x2160 (4K) | Low | 112 | - | - |

| | Medium | 83 | 71 | 96 |

| | High | 72 | - | - |

| | Ultra | 51 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 (1440p) | Low | 215 | - | - |

| | Medium | 160 | 136 | 183 |

| | High | 137 | - | - |

| | Ultra | 98 | - | - |

| 1920x1080 (1080p) | Low | 340 | - | - |

| | Medium | 253 | 215 | 291 |

| | High | 217 | - | - |

| | Ultra | 156 | - | - |

The data shows a consistent pattern: frame rates are excellent at 1080p for all presets, remaining playable at 1440p, and becoming more demanding at 4K, where only Low and Medium presets guarantee averages above 80 FPS. The minimum FPS values recorded for Medium settings suggest that while the average is high, there can be dips, but they remain within a smooth range (71 FPS minimum at 4K).

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF is a 12-core, 20-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. This high boost clock is likely a key factor in Barony's performance, as the game is from 2015 and may not be optimized to use all 20 threads effectively. The high single-thread performance is confirmed by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4071 points and a Passmark single-thread score of 3984.

The processor's performance in multi-threaded workloads is also strong, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 28838 points. However, in a game like Barony, the 12 cores and 20 threads provide ample headroom for background tasks and any game logic that is threaded. The data suggests that at 1080p, the CPU is not a bottleneck, as the FPS is extremely high. The fact that the FPS drops significantly when moving from 1080p to 1440p indicates that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor, not the CPU. The CPU's 85th percentile ranking among all CPUs further cements its position as a high-performance part that should not hold back most games.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution and refresh rate. For users with a 1080p monitor with a 144Hz or 240Hz refresh rate, the High preset at 217 FPS is an excellent choice, providing a perfect balance of visual fidelity and performance. The Ultra preset at 156 FPS is also viable for 144Hz displays and offers the best visual quality. For those with a 240Hz+ monitor, Low settings at 340 FPS would be the only way to fully utilize the display's potential, though the visual compromise is significant.

At 1440p, the Medium preset at 160 FPS is the sweet spot for high-refresh-rate gaming, as it clears the 144Hz threshold with a comfortable margin. The High preset at 137 FPS is also very playable and offers better image quality, but it falls just short of a perfect 144Hz lock. For 4K, the Medium preset at 83 FPS is the recommended choice for a smooth experience, as it stays well above 60 FPS. The High preset at 72 FPS is acceptable for 60Hz monitors, but the Ultra preset at 51 FPS should be avoided for fast-paced action, as it dips below the 60 FPS threshold.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture and features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s. It has a base clock of 1830 MHz and a boost clock of 2460 MHz. With 3072 shading units, the GPU is capable of 15.11 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. The data shows that this GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions and settings. The transition from 1440p to 4K at High settings results in a 47% drop in FPS (from 137 to 72), which is a direct consequence of the GPU's finite pixel processing power and memory bandwidth.

The 8 GB VRAM buffer is sufficient for Barony, a game from 2015, even at 4K. The performance scaling from Medium to Ultra shows that the GPU's compute units are being taxed more heavily as effects are enabled. The GPU's average benchmark score of 17639 places it in the 61st percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon HD 7790, scores nearly identically (17666), which is interesting given the vast architectural differences, but in this game, the RTX 4060's modern feature set and driver optimizations likely contribute to the high frame rates observed. The GPU is clearly the limiting factor at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS drops to 51, indicating that the card is being pushed to its limits.