Barony

# How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-13700K paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6600 lands at rank 2885 out of 3717 tested combos in Barony. That places this configuration in the lower portion of the field, roughly in the 22nd percentile of all tested CPU-GPU pairings for this game. The data shows a combo that sits below the median, which is noteworthy given how strong the CPU is on its own.

The i7-13700K holds an 89th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 46881. Its nearest rivals in synthetic testing include the AMD Ryzen 9 5900 (46971, delta -0.2%), the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375 (47022, delta -0.3%), the AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX (46654, delta 0.5%), and the Intel Xeon w3-2535 (46653, delta 0.5%). These deltas are all within a fraction of a percent, indicating the CPU sits in a tightly contested performance band.

The GPU, however, tells a different story. The Radeon RX 6600 sits at the 63rd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19036. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA Quadro K6000 (19030, delta 0%), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile (19049, delta -0.1%), the NVIDIA Tesla K20m (19089, delta -0.3%), and the NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation (18954, delta 0.4%). The RX 6600 is essentially level with these cards in aggregate performance.

The gap between CPU and GPU percentile rankings explains the combo's overall position. A top-tier CPU driving a mid-range GPU creates a scenario where the graphics card becomes the primary constraint in most gaming scenarios. The combination rank reflects this imbalance, as the pairing cannot fully leverage the CPU's compute headroom when the GPU limits frame output.

# GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 provides 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory clock runs at 1750 MHz with 14 Gbps effective transfer rate. The GPU's base clock is 1626 MHz, with a game clock of 2044 MHz and a boost clock of 2491 MHz. These specifications place the card firmly in the mid-range segment of the RX 6000 series.

In Barony, the GPU's role is decisive across all tested resolutions. The measured frame rates show a clear ceiling imposed by the graphics card, particularly at higher settings. At 1080p Ultra, the combo produces 120 FPS average, which is respectable but far from the CPU's potential ceiling. The GPU's 1792 shading units and 64 ROPs handle the game's rendering tasks, but the card's 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory interface become limiting factors as resolution increases.

The RX 6600's RDNA 2.0 architecture supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The card has 28 ray tracing cores, though Barony's roguelike presentation likely does not stress these heavily. The texture rate of 279.0 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 159.4 GPixel/s provide adequate throughput for the game's visual style, but the data indicates that frame rates scale more with resolution and settings than with any CPU-side factor.

The GPU's FP32 performance of 8.928 TFLOPS, with FP16 at 17.86 TFLOPS (2:1), gives some insight into its compute capabilities. The measured results show that at Ultra settings, the GPU becomes the bottleneck well before the CPU would be taxed. This is evident from the steep FPS drops as settings increase at each resolution.

# Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a consistent pattern of performance scaling across 1080p, 1440p, and 4K resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 262 FPS average. Moving to 2560x1440 Low drops that to 166 FPS, a 36.6% reduction. At 3840x2160 Low, the average falls to 87 FPS, another 47.6% drop from 1440p. This scaling suggests that even at Low settings, the GPU is the limiting factor as resolution climbs.

The Medium settings tell a similar story. At 1080p Medium, the average is 195 FPS with a minimum of 166 and maximum of 224. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 123 FPS (minimum 105, maximum 142), a 36.9% reduction. At 4K Medium, the average falls to 64 FPS (minimum 55, maximum 74), another 48.0% drop. The consistent percentage reductions across resolutions indicate that the GPU's rendering pipeline is the primary constraint.

High settings show the same trend. The 1080p High average is 168 FPS, dropping to 106 FPS at 1440p (36.9% reduction) and further to 55 FPS at 4K (48.1% reduction). Ultra settings follow suit: 120 FPS at 1080p, 76 FPS at 1440p (36.7% reduction), and 40 FPS at 4K (47.4% reduction).

The uniformity of these percentage drops across all settings levels is telling. Regardless of whether the game runs at Low or Ultra, the resolution scaling penalty remains nearly constant. This points to a GPU-bound scenario where the CPU has ample headroom to feed frames, but the RX 6600's rendering capacity diminishes predictably as pixel count increases. The CPU's 16 cores and 24 threads are not the constraint here.

# Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce 262 FPS average. Medium settings yield 195 FPS average, with a minimum of 166 FPS and maximum of 224 FPS. High settings produce 168 FPS average. Ultra settings drop to 120 FPS average. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 142 FPS, showing that settings have a substantial impact even at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain playable but show clear GPU limitations. Low settings average 166 FPS. Medium settings average 123 FPS, with a minimum of 105 FPS and maximum of 142 FPS. High settings average 106 FPS. Ultra settings average 76 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1440p is 90 FPS, narrower than at 1080p but still significant.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles to maintain high frame rates at demanding settings. Low settings average 87 FPS. Medium settings average 64 FPS, with a minimum of 55 FPS and maximum of 74 FPS. High settings average 55 FPS. Ultra settings average 40 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra at 4K is 47 FPS, the narrowest of the three resolutions.

The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the combo falls below the 60 FPS threshold that many users consider the minimum for smooth gameplay. At 4K High, it sits at 55 FPS, also below that mark. Only Low and Medium settings at 4K exceed 60 FPS average. At 1440p, all settings exceed 60 FPS, with Ultra still managing 76 FPS. At 1080p, even Ultra stays well above 100 FPS.

# FAQ

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

A: Based on the measured data, 2560x1440 offers the best balance. All settings at this resolution maintain at least 76 FPS average, with High settings at 106 FPS and Medium at 123 FPS. At 4K, Ultra drops to 40 FPS and High to 55 FPS, which may be too low for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the RX 6600 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RX 6600 has an average benchmark score of 19036, placing it in the 63rd percentile. Its nearest rival is the NVIDIA Quadro K6000 at 19030 (0% delta), followed by the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile at 19049 (-0.1% delta) and the NVIDIA Tesla K20m at 19089 (-0.3% delta). These are essentially equivalent performance levels.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in Barony?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor. The i7-13700K ranks in the 89th percentile among CPUs, while the RX 6600 ranks in the 63rd percentile among GPUs. The resolution scaling shows consistent FPS drops as pixel count increases, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound workload rather than a CPU-bound one.

Q: What FPS can I expect at 1080p with this combo?

A: At 1920x1080, the measured averages range from 262 FPS at Low settings to 120 FPS at Ultra settings. Medium settings produce 195 FPS (minimum 166, maximum 224), and High settings produce 168 FPS. All settings at 1080p deliver well above typical refresh rates.

Q: Does the CPU's 16 cores and 24 threads benefit this game?

A: The i7-13700K's specifications include 16 cores, 24 threads, and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. However, the measured FPS scaling across resolutions suggests that Barony's performance is primarily limited by the GPU. The CPU's strong benchmark scores (Cinebench R23 multicore at 30745) indicate it has ample capacity, but the RX 6600 cannot fully utilize it at higher settings.

Q: How does this combo perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 Ultra, the combo averages 40 FPS. This is the lowest measured result in the dataset. For comparison, 4K High averages 55 FPS, 4K Medium averages 64 FPS (minimum 55, maximum 74), and 4K Low averages 87 FPS.

# Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance for optimal settings at each resolution. At 1920x1080, Ultra settings at 120 FPS average are entirely playable, and the high frame rates at all settings mean users can prioritize visual quality without sacrificing smoothness. The 1080p Medium preset offers a particularly strong experience with 195 FPS average and a minimum of 166 FPS, ensuring consistent performance even in demanding scenes.

At 2560x1440, Ultra settings at 76 FPS average remain playable, but High settings at 106 FPS provide more headroom. Medium settings at 123 FPS average, with a minimum of 105 FPS, offer an excellent balance for users who want both visual fidelity and high frame rates. The 1440p Medium preset appears to be the sweet spot for this combo, as it maintains frame rates well above 100 FPS while still providing moderate visual quality.

At 3840x2160, the recommendations change significantly. Ultra settings at 40 FPS average are likely too low for smooth gameplay. High settings at 55 FPS are borderline, sitting just below the 60 FPS threshold. Medium settings at 64 FPS average, with a minimum of 55 FPS, provide a playable experience, though the minimum may dip during intense moments. Low settings at 87 FPS average offer the smoothest 4K experience but require substantial visual quality sacrifices.

The data suggests that the best overall experience depends on the user's resolution preference. For 1080p, Ultra is viable. For 1440p, High or Medium is preferable. For 4K, Medium is the highest playable setting, with Low recommended for users who prioritize frame rate consistency. The 1440p Medium row, with its 123 FPS average and 105 FPS minimum, stands out as the most balanced configuration in the entire dataset.

# CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K is a 16-core, 24-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, fabricated on Intel's 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, with a TDP of 125 W. The CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, and it features 30 MB of shared L3 cache, 2 MB of L2 cache per core, and 80 KB of L1 cache per core.

The CPU's benchmark results show strong performance across multiple tests. In Cinebench R23, it scores 30745 multicore and 2116 singlecore. In Geekbench, it scores 19429 multicore and 2529 singlecore. The 3DMark tests show scaling from 1136 single-thread to 12412 max-threads, with 10717 for 16 threads. PassMark multithread score is 45887, with a single-thread score of 4333.

These scores place the i7-13700K in the 89th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 46881. Its nearest rivals in aggregate performance are the AMD Ryzen 9 5900 (46971, delta -0.2%), the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375 (47022, delta -0.3%), the AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX (46654, delta 0.5%), and the Intel Xeon w3-2535 (46653, delta 0.5%). The deltas are small, indicating the CPU competes closely with these alternatives.

In Barony, however, the CPU's role is secondary. The measured FPS data shows that frame rates scale consistently with resolution and settings, which is the hallmark of GPU-bound performance. The CPU's 5.40 GHz boost clock and 16 cores provide more than enough processing power for this roguelike title. The game's genre typically does not demand extreme CPU throughput, and the data confirms that the RX 6600 is the limiting component in this pairing.

The CPU's memory support for DDR4 and DDR5, along with its PCIe Gen 5 interface (20 lanes CPU-only), gives it platform flexibility. The integrated UHD Graphics 770 provides a fallback display output, though the discrete GPU handles all rendering in the measured scenarios. The CPU's launch MSRP is $409, and it supports ECC memory, which is unusual for a desktop part.