Barony

Barony is a roguelike that rarely pushes hardware to its limits, yet the combination of the Intel Core i7-13700K and Intel Arc B580 produces a specific performance profile that is worth dissecting. This pairing ranks at 1326 out of 1702 tested combos for this game, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database. That ranking is heavily influenced by the GPU's position rather than the CPU's headroom; the 16-core, 24-thread Raptor Lake processor sits in the 93rd percentile among all CPUs, while the Arc B580 lands in the 66th percentile among GPUs. The data suggests a system where the processor is effectively waiting on the graphics card in most scenarios, but the measured frame rates show that this specific bottleneck is rarely a problem for playability.

How This Combo Ranks

The overall rank of 1326 out of 1702 combos looks unimpressive at first glance, but context matters. Barony is not a demanding title, so many older or weaker CPUs paired with high-end GPUs can top the charts because the CPU never becomes a limiting factor. This combo’s ranking is dragged down by the Arc B580's moderate standing—its average benchmark score of 23021 is nearly identical to the AMD Radeon 760M (0.1% faster) and the NVIDIA P106-100 (0.3% faster), while it trails the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 by just 0.7%. The CPU, by contrast, is a powerhouse: its average benchmark score of 47282 is essentially tied with the Intel Core i7-13700KF (0.1% lower) and the AMD EPYC 4364P (0.3% higher), and it beats the Intel Core i9-12900F by 0.4%. In practical terms, this means the i7-13700K is never the reason for a low rank in Barony; the Arc B580's position as a mid-range GPU dictates where this combo lands in the aggregate list.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580 brings 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 456.0 GB/s. Its base and boost clocks are both locked at 2670 MHz, which is a modest clock speed for a discrete GPU, but the architecture compensates through raw throughput: 2560 shading units and 80 ROPs deliver a pixel rate of 213.6 GPixel/s. In Barony, which relies on simple geometry and 2D sprite-like visuals, the GPU's job is mostly about fill rate and memory bandwidth rather than complex shader work. The 12 GB VRAM is overkill for this game, but it ensures that texture loading never causes hitches, even at 4K with High settings. The card's FP32 performance of 13.67 TFLOPS is more than adequate for the pixel-driven workloads of a roguelike, and the measured results confirm that the GPU scales predictably with resolution changes—a sign that the memory subsystem and ROPs are doing the heavy lifting.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals where the bottleneck shifts. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo hits 278.1 FPS, which indicates the CPU is still feeding frames efficiently. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 174 FPS (a 37.4% reduction), and 4K Low falls to 89.9 FPS (a 48.3% reduction from 1440p). This pattern—where each resolution step costs roughly half the previous frame rate—points to a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions. The CPU, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 39000, is not the constraint; the Arc B580's fill rate limits 4K output. At Ultra settings, the scaling is even more pronounced: 128.4 FPS at 1080p, 78.1 FPS at 1440p, and 41 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result drops below the 60 FPS threshold, confirming that the GPU is the sole limiting factor at that extreme. At 1080p and 1440p, the system has enough headroom that the CPU's 16 cores and 24 threads are never taxed, even with the game's single-threaded logic running alongside background tasks.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the frame rates are universally high. Low settings produce 278.1 FPS, Medium drops to 206.1 FPS, High reaches 178.7 FPS, and Ultra falls to 128.4 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 149.7 FPS, meaning the settings slider has a massive impact on GPU load but the absolute minimum is still far above any refresh rate. Moving to 2560x1440, Low delivers 174 FPS, Medium hits 127.2 FPS, High runs at 111.7 FPS, and Ultra drops to 78.1 FPS. The scaling here is consistent: each settings tier costs roughly 20-25% performance, which is typical for a GPU-bound workload. At 3840x2160, the numbers compress significantly. Low yields 89.9 FPS, Medium drops to 66.8 FPS, High manages 56.1 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 41 FPS. The 4K data shows a clear inflection point—High and Ultra both fall below the 60 FPS line, while Low and Medium remain playable. The lack of min/max FPS records means the data only captures averages, but the average values suggest no severe stuttering is present, given the consistent scaling across settings.

Settings Recommendations

For a 1080p display, the Ultra preset at 128.4 FPS is the obvious choice—there is no reason to sacrifice visual quality when the frame rate is nearly triple the 60 FPS standard. At 1440p, Ultra at 78.1 FPS remains smooth and is the best experience per the measured rows; High at 111.7 FPS is a fallback if you prefer extra headroom for fast-paced action, but the data shows Ultra is still comfortably playable. At 4K, the decision hinges on your refresh rate. If you have a 60 Hz monitor, High at 56.1 FPS is just short of ideal, so dropping to Medium at 66.8 FPS is the smarter move—it stays above 60 FPS and only costs a modest visual step. Ultra at 41 FPS is not recommended for 4K, as the frame rate dips into a range where roguelike reaction times suffer. The measured rows show that Medium is the sweet spot for 4K, balancing the 66.8 FPS average against the settings' visual fidelity. For any resolution below 4K, the system has enough headroom that the highest preset is always the best value in terms of frames per second.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo capable of running Barony at 4K with High settings at 60 FPS?

A: No. The measured data shows 56.1 FPS average at 3840x2160 with High settings, which is below the 60 FPS threshold. You would need to drop to Medium settings, which yields 66.8 FPS, to stay above 60 FPS.

Q: Why is the combo rank so low (1326 out of 1702) despite high frame rates?

A: The rank reflects the combined position of both components. The Intel Core i7-13700K is in the 93rd CPU percentile, but the Intel Arc B580 is only in the 66th GPU percentile. Since Barony is not CPU-intensive, the GPU's moderate standing pulls the overall combo rank down.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B580 compare to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060?

A: The Arc B580's average benchmark score is 23021, which is 0.7% lower than the RTX 4060's score of 23181. In practical terms for Barony, the two are statistically tied, and the measured FPS differences would be negligible.

Q: What is the biggest FPS drop when moving from 1080p to 4K?

A: The largest absolute drop occurs on Low settings, where 1080p runs at 278.1 FPS and 4K drops to 89.9 FPS—a difference of 188.2 FPS. The largest percentage drop is on Ultra, which falls from 128.4 FPS to 41 FPS (a 68.1% reduction).

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU in this game?

A: No. The i7-13700K has a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 39000 and a PassMark multithread score of 45887, which are far beyond Barony's requirements. The FPS scaling with resolution and settings confirms the Arc B580 is the limiting component.

Q: Should I play at 1440p Ultra or 4K Medium?

A: The data shows 1440p Ultra at 78.1 FPS is smoother than 4K Medium at 66.8 FPS. The 1440p setting also delivers higher visual fidelity in terms of resolution, while 4K Medium only offers a resolution advantage. For most players, the higher frame rate and sharper pixel density at 1440p Ultra will be the better experience.