Barony

The Intel Core i7-13700K paired with the Intel Arc B570 delivers a broad performance envelope in Barony, scaling from highly playable frame rates at 1080p to more demanding conditions at 4K. The measured data shows a clear progression where higher resolutions place increasing strain on the graphics subsystem, while the processor maintains sufficient headroom across all tested settings. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS results, the roles of the CPU and GPU, and how this combination ranks against other tested configurations.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 is substantial, revealing the expected shift in bottleneck from the CPU to the GPU as pixel count rises. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 156 at 1080p to 99 at 1440p, a reduction of 57 FPS, and then further to 52 at 4K, a total drop of 104 FPS from the starting point. This pattern indicates that the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions, with the performance penalty growing as the pixel workload quadruples from 1080p to 4K.

Looking at the Low preset, the scaling is more aggressive: 245 FPS at 1080p drops to 154 FPS at 1440p and then to 81 FPS at 4K. The percentage decline from 1080p to 4K is steeper at Low settings compared to High, which suggests that at lower graphical loads the system is still capable of high output but the absolute FPS loss is larger because the starting frame rate is much higher. At 4K Low, the 81 FPS average remains playable, but the gap between Low and High at 4K (81 vs 52 FPS) is narrower than at 1080p (245 vs 156 FPS), underscoring the GPU's dominance at higher resolutions.

The Medium preset provides a middle ground, with 182 FPS at 1080p, 115 FPS at 1440p, and 60 FPS at 4K, including measured minimums of 155, 98, and 51 FPS respectively. The Ultra preset shows the heaviest load, dropping from 112 FPS at 1080p to 71 FPS at 1440p and 37 FPS at 4K. This scaling data indicates that at 1080p and 1440p, the Core i7-13700K has ample compute headroom, but at 4K Ultra, the Arc B570 is clearly the constraining component, with the 37 FPS average falling below smooth gameplay thresholds.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K is a 16-core, 24-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. Its benchmark results show strong multi-threaded capabilities, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 30745 and a Geekbench multicore score of 19429. The single-thread performance is also solid, reflected in a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2116 and a Passmark single-thread score of 4333. These figures indicate that the CPU can handle both lightly-threaded game logic and heavily-threaded background tasks without becoming a bottleneck in Barony.

In the measured FPS data, the CPU's role is evident when comparing resolutions at the same settings. For instance, at Low settings, the jump from 245 FPS at 1080p to 154 FPS at 1440p suggests that even with minimal graphical load, the CPU is not the primary limiter, as the GPU still has to process more pixels. However, at 1080p Low, the 245 FPS average is notably higher than at 1080p Ultra (112 FPS), showing that the GPU is already the limiting factor even at the lowest resolution when settings are increased. The CPU's 3dmark scores, such as 10717 for 16 threads and 12412 for max threads, demonstrate that it has the raw compute to feed the GPU adequately, but the data shows the GPU's workload dominates the frame rate outcomes.

The processor's 30 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache provide fast access to game assets, which is beneficial for a roguelike title with procedural generation. The 10 nm process node and 125 W TDP indicate a power-efficient design, though the benchmark results are what matter for performance. With a percentile ranking of 89 against all CPUs, the i7-13700K sits well above average, and its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 5900 with a delta of -0.2% and the AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX with a delta of 0.5%, showing it is competitive with top-tier processors.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570, based on the Xe2-HPG architecture and codenamed Battlemage, features 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 380.0 GB/s. With a base and boost clock of 2500 MHz, the GPU delivers 11.52 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. Its benchmark results include a Passmark G3D score of 14195 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 96844, placing it in the 65th percentile of all GPUs. The nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile with a delta of 0.1% and the Intel Arc A750 with a delta of -0.1%, indicating similar overall performance.

In Barony, the GPU's role is most apparent at higher resolutions and settings. At 4K Ultra, the 37 FPS average shows the GPU is struggling with the combined load of high pixel count and demanding settings. The 10 GB VRAM and 380.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for this game, as the data does not indicate any memory-related stutters, but the raw compute power is limited. At 4K Medium, the 60 FPS average with a 51 FPS minimum suggests the GPU is near its limit, while at 1440p High, the 99 FPS average shows more comfortable headroom.

The GPU's 18 ray tracing cores and 2304 shading units provide modern features, but in this roguelike title, the traditional rasterization performance is what drives the measured results. The pixel rate of 200.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 360.0 GTexel/s are moderate, and the data shows that at 1080p, the GPU can exceed 200 FPS on Low settings but falls to 112 FPS on Ultra. This indicates that the GPU, while not a top-tier performer, is capable of smooth gameplay at 1080p and 1440p with appropriate settings, but 4K requires compromises.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-13700K and Intel Arc B570 ranks 2344 out of 2935 tested combos in Barony, placing it in the lower half of the database. This ranking reflects the GPU's mid-range performance rather than the CPU's strength, as the i7-13700K is a high-end processor. The benchmark results indicate that the GPU is the primary limiter in this pairing, as seen in the FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K.

Compared to other tested combos, this setup's ranking suggests that many configurations with stronger GPUs achieve higher frame rates, even if their CPUs are less powerful. The CPU's percentile of 89 and the GPU's percentile of 65 highlight the imbalance, with the CPU being significantly stronger relative to its peers than the GPU. This means that in CPU-bound scenarios, the i7-13700K would excel, but in Barony, which appears to be GPU-bound at higher settings, the Arc B570 holds the combo back.

The data shows that at 1080p and 1440p, the combo delivers competitive frame rates, with 245 FPS at 1080p Low and 156 FPS at 1080p High, which are solid results. However, at 4K, the performance drops to 52 FPS on High and 37 FPS on Ultra, which are below the average for many other combos. This ranking indicates that the combo is best suited for 1080p or 1440p gaming, where the GPU can keep up with the CPU's output, rather than 4K, where the GPU becomes a bottleneck.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings is 156.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K Ultra?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 37, which is the lowest measured result in the data.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be the bottleneck at 1440p?

A: Based on the FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, as the pixel workload increases and the CPU has ample headroom with its strong multi-threaded scores.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded at 1080p Medium?

A: The minimum FPS at 1920x1080 with Medium settings is 155.

Q: How does the Arc B570 compare to its nearest rival in benchmarks?

A: The Arc B570 has an average benchmark score of 20556, with the Intel Arc A750 having a delta of -0.1%, meaning the two are nearly identical in performance.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested combinations?

A: The combo ranks 2344 out of 2935 tested combos in Barony.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the ideal settings depend on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers 112 FPS average, which is smooth for most players, while the High preset provides 156 FPS for even higher refresh rates. For players with 144Hz monitors, the High preset at 1080p is a strong choice, as it stays above 144 FPS. The Medium preset at 1080p offers 182 FPS, which is also excellent, but High provides a better visual experience with only a 26 FPS penalty.

At 2560x1440, the High preset achieves 99 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for high-refresh displays. The Medium preset at 115 FPS is a better balance, offering a 16 FPS improvement over High while still maintaining good visual quality. The Low preset at 154 FPS is the best for competitive play, but it sacrifices visual fidelity. For 1440p, the Medium preset is recommended as the sweet spot, as it keeps frame rates above 100 FPS with a minimum of 98 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the options are more limited. The Low preset provides 81 FPS, which is the only setting that consistently exceeds 60 FPS. The Medium preset at 60 FPS is borderline, with a minimum of 51 FPS, which may cause noticeable dips. The High preset at 52 FPS and Ultra at 37 FPS are not recommended for smooth gameplay. For 4K, the Low preset is the only viable choice for a stable experience, while Medium can be acceptable for players who prioritize visuals over frame rate stability.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides exact frame rates for each resolution and settings combination. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 245 FPS, the Medium preset 182 FPS with a minimum of 155 and maximum of 209, the High preset 156 FPS, and the Ultra preset 112 FPS. These results show a clear hierarchy, with Low being the fastest and Ultra the slowest.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 154 FPS for Low, 115 FPS for Medium (with a minimum of 98 and maximum of 132), 99 FPS for High, and 71 FPS for Ultra. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across settings, with the Medium preset showing a 67 FPS reduction, High a 57 FPS reduction, and Ultra a 41 FPS reduction. This indicates that the GPU's workload increases proportionally with resolution.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 81 FPS, the Medium preset 60 FPS (with a minimum of 51 and maximum of 69), the High preset 52 FPS, and the Ultra preset 37 FPS. The 4K results show the steepest declines, with the Ultra preset falling to 37 FPS, a 75 FPS drop from the 1440p Ultra result. The data confirms that 4K is the most demanding scenario, and the Arc B570's limitations are most pronounced at this resolution, particularly at higher settings.