Barony

Settings Recommendations

For Barony, the measured data across three resolutions and four quality presets reveals a clear pattern: Medium settings deliver the most balanced experience. At 1920x1080, Medium produces an average of 388 FPS with a minimum of 330 FPS and maximum of 446 FPS, which represents a substantial 62% uplift over Ultra’s 239 FPS average while maintaining frame pacing far above any display refresh rate. The High preset at 1080p reaches 333 FPS average, still comfortably playable, but Medium’s tighter minimum-to-maximum spread (330–446) indicates more consistent frame delivery than High, which lacks recorded floor data.

Moving to 2560x1440, Medium again stands out with 245 FPS average, 208 FPS minimum, and 282 FPS maximum. This is 62% faster than Ultra’s 151 FPS average at the same resolution. The gap between Medium and High narrows here—245 versus 210 FPS—but Medium’s documented minimum of 208 FPS ensures no perceptible stutter even during dense roguelike encounters with multiple enemies and particle effects. At 3840x2160, Medium delivers 128 FPS average with 109 FPS minimum and 147 FPS maximum, which remains above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay on standard displays. Ultra at 4K drops to 79 FPS average, which approaches the boundary where frame-time variance becomes noticeable.

Low presets across all resolutions produce the highest raw averages—522 FPS at 1080p, 329 FPS at 1440p, and 172 FPS at 4K—but these come at the cost of visual fidelity that the measured data cannot quantify. The recommendation is Medium for all resolutions: it provides the best combination of playable frame rates, documented minimums above critical thresholds, and the visual quality uplift over Low that the settings hierarchy implies. For users with 240 Hz or higher refresh-rate displays at 1080p, High at 333 FPS average still exceeds most monitor capabilities, making Medium the sensible default unless competitive play demands maximum frame throughput.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K pairs 16 cores and 24 threads with a 3.40 GHz base clock and 5.40 GHz boost clock. This processor sits in the 89th percentile against all tested CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 46881. Its nearest rivals in aggregate performance are the AMD Ryzen 9 5900 (46971 average, 0.2% ahead), AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375 (47022 average, 0.3% ahead), AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX (46654 average, 0.5% behind), and Intel Xeon w3-2535 (46653 average, 0.5% behind). The sub-1% deltas across all four rivals indicate that this CPU sits in an extremely tight performance cluster where no meaningful single-thread or multi-thread advantage exists.

For Barony, a roguelike title, the CPU’s role is primarily about maintaining high frame throughput without becoming the bottleneck. The 3dmark single-thread score of 1136 and 2-thread score of 2262 suggest strong per-core performance, which matters for game logic, pathfinding, and procedural generation—all typically single- or dual-threaded workloads in this genre. The 3dmark 16-thread score of 10717 and max-thread score of 12412 indicate that the 16-core configuration scales well when the engine can utilize additional threads for AI updates or physics simulation across multiple dungeon rooms simultaneously.

The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low, the system reaches 522 FPS average. At such extreme frame rates, CPU-bound scenarios become likely, as the GPU has ample headroom. The i7-13700K’s 30 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache help maintain low latency for game state queries. The 125 W TDP with unlocked multiplier allows sustained boost behavior, though the benchmark data does not include power-limited scenarios. The 3dmark 8-thread score of 8193 versus 16-thread 10717 shows a 31% scaling increase from 8 to 16 threads, suggesting that Barony can leverage additional cores if the engine parallelizes its update loop, but the game’s 2015 release date and roguelike nature likely limit such scaling.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER carries 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 504.2 GB/s bandwidth. Its base clock runs at 1980 MHz with a boost up to 2475 MHz, and memory operates at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). The GPU’s 7168 shading units, 224 TMUs, and 80 ROPs provide the raw throughput needed for high-refresh-rate rendering. This card sits in the 83rd percentile against all tested GPUs with an average benchmark score of 43223. Its nearest rivals—NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB (43262, 0.1% ahead), RTX 5050 Mobile (43268, 0.1% ahead), Quadro M6000 (43301, 0.2% ahead), and RTX 4090 Mobile (43667, 1% ahead)—all fall within a narrow 1% band, indicating that this desktop card performs comparably to high-end mobile and older workstation parts.

In Barony, the GPU’s role scales directly with resolution and quality presets. The measured data shows a clear GPU-bound progression: at 1080p, the GPU can push beyond 500 FPS on Low settings, but at 4K Ultra, it drops to 79 FPS. The 12 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for the game’s texture and geometry loads, as evidenced by the absence of memory-related performance cliffs in the data. The 35.48 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 554.4 GTexel/s texture rate provide ample fill for the game’s voxel-based (or tile-based) rendering, which likely relies heavily on texture sampling and pixel shading rather than complex geometry.

The RTX 4070 SUPER’s 56 RT cores and 224 tensor cores are present but unlikely to be heavily utilized in Barony, given the game’s art style and release date predating widespread ray tracing adoption. The 220 W TDP with 550 W suggested PSU indicates the card can sustain boost clocks without thermal throttling in typical cases. At 4K Medium, the GPU delivers 128 FPS average, demonstrating that even at maximum resolution, the card has sufficient headroom for comfortable play. The delta between 1080p Low (522 FPS) and 1080p Ultra (239 FPS)—a 54% reduction—shows that Ultra settings impose substantial shading and fill-rate demands that this GPU can still meet at high frame rates.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of Intel Core i7-13700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER ranks 650th out of 3717 tested combinations in Barony, placing it in the top 17.5% of all systems evaluated. This ranking reflects the hardware’s absolute performance capability, but the measured FPS data shows that this position undersells its practical performance for this game. At 1080p across all settings, the combo delivers between 239 FPS (Ultra) and 522 FPS (Low), which places it far above the threshold where most displays can show the difference.

The rank of 650 indicates that there are 649 combinations capable of higher average FPS in Barony, likely including multi-GPU setups or newer flagship parts with higher memory bandwidth and more shading units. However, the data shows that this combo’s 1080p Medium result of 388 FPS average exceeds the requirements of any current consumer display, making the rank less meaningful for real-world usage. At 1440p, the combo still achieves 245 FPS average on Medium, and at 4K, 128 FPS average—all well above the 60 FPS standard.

The delta between the CPU’s 89th percentile and GPU’s 83rd percentile suggests a slight CPU-favored balance, but the measured game data indicates that neither component is a consistent bottleneck. The combo’s ranking among 3717 systems benefits from the CPU’s strong single-thread performance (3dmark single-thread score of 1136) which helps maintain high minimum FPS in CPU-bound scenes, while the GPU’s 504.2 GB/s bandwidth prevents texture streaming stalls. The 650th position also reflects that the measured data includes many lower-end combinations, placing this config in the upper quartile of tested systems.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain 144 FPS average or higher?

A: At 2560x1440, all settings except Ultra deliver 144 FPS or higher—Low averages 329 FPS, Medium 245 FPS, and High 210 FPS. At 3840x2160, only Low (172 FPS) and Medium (128 FPS) exceed 120 FPS, with Medium falling below 144 FPS.

Q: How much FPS does Ultra settings cost compared to Medium across resolutions?

A: At 1080p, Ultra (239 FPS) is 149 FPS lower than Medium (388 FPS), a 38% reduction. At 1440p, Ultra (151 FPS) is 94 FPS lower than Medium (245 FPS), a 38% reduction. At 4K, Ultra (79 FPS) is 49 FPS lower than Medium (128 FPS), also a 38% reduction.

Q: Is this combo CPU-bound or GPU-bound in Barony?

A: The data shows GPU-bound behavior at higher resolutions: 4K Ultra drops to 79 FPS while 1080p Low reaches 522 FPS, indicating the GPU limits at 4K. At 1080p Low, the 522 FPS average suggests the CPU (with 3dmark max-thread score of 12412) may become the limiting factor, as the GPU would likely push higher if unconstrained.

Q: What are the minimum FPS values for Medium settings at each resolution?

A: The measured data records minimum FPS only for Medium presets: 330 FPS at 1080p, 208 FPS at 1440p, and 109 FPS at 4K. These minimums indicate reliable frame pacing without severe dips.

Q: How does this combo compare to the RTX 4090 Mobile in GPU benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 4070 SUPER scores 43223 on average, while the RTX 4090 Mobile scores 43667, putting the 4070 SUPER 1% behind. This delta is within measurement noise, suggesting comparable raw GPU performance for this game’s workloads.

Q: Does the CPU’s 16-core configuration provide scaling benefits in Barony?

A: The 3dmark scores show 10717 for 16 threads versus 8193 for 8 threads, a 31% improvement. However, Barony’s roguelike nature likely limits multi-threaded scaling, so the single-thread score of 1136 may be more relevant for game logic, while the multi-thread capability helps with background tasks and procedural generation.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The dataset contains 12 measured combinations of resolution and settings, all reporting average FPS, with only Medium presets including minimum and maximum values.

1920x1080: Low averages 522 FPS. Medium averages 388 FPS with a minimum of 330 and maximum of 446. High averages 333 FPS. Ultra averages 239 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a steady degradation: Low to Medium is a 26% drop (522 to 388), Medium to High is a 14% drop (388 to 333), and High to Ultra is a 28% drop (333 to 239). The Medium preset’s recorded minimum of 330 FPS is higher than Ultra’s average of 239 FPS, illustrating the substantial headroom available even at lower quality settings.

2560x1440: Low averages 329 FPS. Medium averages 245 FPS with a minimum of 208 and maximum of 282. High averages 210 FPS. Ultra averages 151 FPS. The resolution increase from 1080p to 1440p reduces FPS by approximately 37% across all settings: Low drops from 522 to 329 (37% reduction), Medium from 388 to 245 (37%), High from 333 to 210 (37%), and Ultra from 239 to 151 (37%). This consistent scaling indicates that the GPU’s fill rate and bandwidth scale linearly with pixel count in this game.

3840x2160: Low averages 172 FPS. Medium averages 128 FPS with a minimum of 109 and maximum of 147. High averages 110 FPS. Ultra averages 79 FPS. The jump from 1440p to 4K (2.25x pixel count) reduces FPS by approximately 48% across settings: Low drops from 329 to 172 (48%), Medium from 245 to 128 (48%), High from 210 to 110 (48%), and Ultra from 151 to 79 (48%). This larger-than-pixel-count reduction suggests that additional overhead, such as memory bandwidth saturation or texture cache pressure, begins to manifest at 4K.

The Medium preset is the only one with full min/max data, providing insight into frame consistency. At 1080p, the spread between minimum and maximum is 116 FPS (330–446), at 1440p it is 74 FPS (208–282), and at 4K it is 38 FPS (109–147). This tightening spread at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU becomes more consistently utilized, reducing variance.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K follows a clear pattern. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 (a 1.78x pixel count increase) reduces average FPS by 37% across all four settings. Moving from 2560x1440 to 3840x2160 (a 2.25x pixel count increase) reduces average FPS by 48%. The combined 1080p-to-4K transition (4x pixel count) results in FPS reductions of 67% for Low (522 to 172), 67% for Medium (388 to 128), 67% for High (333 to 110), and 67% for Ultra (239 to 79).

This consistent 67% reduction across all settings is remarkable. It indicates that resolution scaling is uniform regardless of quality preset, which typically suggests that the limiting factor is pixel throughput—either fragment shading or memory bandwidth—rather than geometry or texture complexity. The RTX 4070 SUPER’s 504.2 GB/s bandwidth and 198.0 GPixel/s pixel rate are the likely constraints at higher resolutions.

The fact that the percentage drop is identical across Low, Medium, High, and Ultra (67% from 1080p to 4K) implies that the GPU’s shading units are fully saturated at 4K even on Low settings. At 1080p Low, the 522 FPS average suggests the CPU (with its 3dmark single-thread score of 1136) may be limiting, as the GPU would likely exceed 600 FPS if purely pixel-bound. At 4K Low, the 172 FPS average aligns with the pixel-rate expectation: 198.0 GPixel/s divided by 8.3 million pixels per frame yields approximately 24 frames per millisecond, which scales to 172 FPS when accounting for efficiency losses.

The data also reveals that the Medium preset at 4K (128 FPS) provides a 62% improvement over Ultra (79 FPS), while the visual difference between Medium and Ultra in a roguelike may be minimal due to the game’s stylized graphics. The 109 FPS minimum at 4K Medium remains above the 60 FPS threshold, making this the recommended configuration for 4K displays. The resolution scaling analysis confirms that this combo is GPU-limited at 4K, CPU-limited at 1080p Low, and balanced at 1440p Medium, where both components operate near their efficient ranges.