Barony

# Barony — Intel Core i7-13700K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060

This combination of the Intel Core i7-13700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 delivers a broad performance envelope in Barony, ranging from 55 FPS at 4K Ultra to 363 FPS at 1080p Low. The measured data places this pairing at rank 1637 out of 3717 tested combos, which is the 44th percentile — a mid-pack result that reflects the game's modest demands and the hardware's balanced capabilities. The RTX 5060's 8 GB of GDDR7 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth, paired with the i7-13700K's 16 cores and 24 threads, produce framerates that scale predictably with resolution and settings, though the scaling pattern reveals where the bottleneck shifts between CPU and GPU.

Resolution Scaling

The framerate drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial but not uniform across all settings presets. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 363 at 1920x1080 to 120 at 3840x2160 — a 67% reduction. At High settings, the drop is from 231 FPS to 76 FPS, a 67% decline as well. Medium settings show a similar pattern: 270 FPS at 1080p down to 89 FPS at 4K, a 67% decrease. Ultra settings produce the steepest relative decline, going from 166 FPS at 1080p to 55 FPS at 4K, which is a 67% reduction.

This consistent 67% scaling across all four presets indicates that the performance ceiling at 1080p is high enough that resolution scaling acts as the dominant variable. At 1080p Low, the combination produces 363 FPS, which suggests the CPU has ample headroom to feed the GPU even at high frame rates. The data shows that moving from 1080p to 1440p reduces FPS by roughly 37% on average across presets — from 363 to 229 at Low, 270 to 170 at Medium, 231 to 146 at High, and 166 to 105 at Ultra. The 1440p to 4K transition then cuts performance by another 48% on average: 229 to 120 at Low, 170 to 89 at Medium, 146 to 76 at High, and 105 to 55 at Ultra.

The fact that the percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is nearly identical (67%) at every preset suggests that neither the CPU nor the GPU becomes disproportionately stressed at any particular settings level. Rather, the scaling is driven by the raw pixel count increase. The RTX 5060's 19.18 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 119.9 GPixel/s pixel rate provide the rendering throughput, and the data shows the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K Ultra where the 55 FPS average falls below the 60 FPS threshold commonly associated with smooth gameplay. At 4K Low, the 120 FPS average indicates the GPU still has considerable headroom when visual effects are minimized, but the 76 FPS at 4K High and 89 FPS at 4K Medium show that moderate settings quickly consume the available performance.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with the GB206 chip manufactured on a 5 nm process by TSMC. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2280 MHz and boosts to 2497 MHz, with memory clocked at 1750 MHz for 28 Gbps effective. The 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is a critical factor for Barony's texture streaming and scene complexity. The GPU's 3840 shading units, 120 texture mapping units, and 48 render output units deliver a texture rate of 299.6 GTexel/s and a pixel rate of 119.9 GPixel/s.

In the measured results, the GPU's role becomes more pronounced at higher resolutions. At 1080p Low, the 363 FPS average is likely near the CPU's frame delivery limit, but at 4K Ultra, the 55 FPS average shows the GPU is fully saturated. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for Barony at all tested settings, as evidenced by the consistent frame times at each preset — there are no anomalies suggesting memory swapping or bandwidth starvation. The 30 RT cores and 120 tensor cores support advanced rendering features if the game utilizes them, though Barony's roguelike genre typically does not emphasize ray-traced effects.

The GPU's benchmark scores place it at the 72nd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 26331. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon 860M at 26401 (0.3% higher), the NVIDIA GeForce MX550 at 26421 (0.3% higher), the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary at 26553 (0.8% higher), and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT at 26011 (1.2% lower). The RTX 5060's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3628 and PassMark G3D score of 20891 indicate solid mainstream performance, which aligns with the measured FPS in Barony. The GPU's 145 W TDP and dual-slot design suggest it operates within a moderate power envelope, and the PCIe 5.0 x8 interface provides ample bandwidth for data transfer.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K is a 16-core, 24-thread processor from the Raptor Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 10 nm process with a die size of 257 mm². It runs at a base clock of 3.40 GHz and boosts to 5.40 GHz, with 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 2 MB of L2 cache per core, and 30 MB of shared L3 cache. The processor supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration and connects via PCIe Gen 5 with 20 CPU lanes. Its 3DMark scores show strong multi-threaded performance: 10717 in the 16-thread test, 12412 at max threads, and 1136 in single-thread. Cinebench R23 results are 30745 multi-core and 2116 single-core, while Geekbench scores are 19429 multi-core and 2529 single-core.

In Barony, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions where the GPU is less stressed. At 1080p Low, the 363 FPS average indicates the i7-13700K's single-thread performance — evidenced by the 4333 PassMark single-thread score and 1136 3DMark single-thread score — is sufficient to drive high frame rates. The 24 threads provide ample parallel processing for game logic, AI, and physics calculations in Barony's roguelike environment, where entity management and procedural generation can be computationally intensive. The processor's 89th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 46881, places it close to the AMD Ryzen 9 5900 at 46971 (0.2% higher) and the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375 at 47022 (0.3% higher), while outperforming the AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX at 46654 (0.5% lower) and Intel Xeon w3-2535 at 46653 (0.5% lower).

The CPU's 125 W TDP and unlocked multiplier allow for overclocking headroom, though the measured data reflects stock performance. The 4.5 GHz boost clock advantage over the base clock provides the single-thread speed necessary for Barony's frame pacing. At 1440p and 4K, the CPU's influence diminishes as the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck — the FPS differences between presets at these resolutions are driven more by GPU load than CPU capability. However, the 363 FPS ceiling at 1080p Low suggests the CPU can sustain very high frame rates without becoming a limiting factor, which is a positive indicator for this pairing's overall balance.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination ranks 1637 out of 3717 tested combos, placing it at the 44th percentile of all tested configurations. This mid-pack ranking reflects the balance between the i7-13700K's high CPU performance (89th percentile) and the RTX 5060's more modest GPU standing (72nd percentile). The combination is not top-tier because the GPU is the weaker component in the pairing, but it is far from bottom-tier given the CPU's strength.

The measured FPS data supports this ranking. At 1080p, the combo delivers playable-to-excellent framerates across all presets: 363 FPS at Low, 270 FPS at Medium, 231 FPS at High, and 166 FPS at Ultra. At 1440p, the results remain strong: 229 FPS at Low, 170 FPS at Medium, 146 FPS at High, and 105 FPS at Ultra. At 4K, the combo becomes more marginal: 120 FPS at Low, 89 FPS at Medium, 76 FPS at High, and 55 FPS at Ultra. The 55 FPS at 4K Ultra is the only preset where the average dips below 60 FPS, which is the typical threshold for smooth gameplay.

Compared to the GPU's nearest rivals, the RTX 5060's performance is tightly clustered — the delta percentages are within 1.2% of the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT and 0.8% of the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary. This indicates that the GPU performs in line with its peer group, and the combo's rank is likely influenced more by the CPU's contribution. The i7-13700K's nearest rivals show a similar tight clustering, with all deltas within 0.5% — the AMD Ryzen 9 5900, AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375, AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX, and Intel Xeon w3-2535 all perform within a fraction of a percent. This suggests the combo's rank is representative of a balanced mid-range-to-upper-mid-range system, rather than a lopsided pairing where one component severely limits the other.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance for optimal settings based on resolution and desired frame rate. At 1080p, all presets deliver well above 60 FPS, with even Ultra achieving 166 FPS. For high-refresh-rate displays at 1080p, Medium or High settings are recommended: Medium provides 270 FPS with a minimum of 229 FPS and maximum of 310 FPS, while High delivers 231 FPS. These settings offer the best balance of visual quality and frame rate headroom, as the 363 FPS at Low may exceed display refresh rates without providing additional visual benefit.

At 1440p, Medium and High are the sweet spots. Medium delivers 170 FPS with a minimum of 145 FPS and maximum of 196 FPS, while High provides 146 FPS. Both comfortably exceed 60 FPS and approach the refresh rate of many 1440p monitors. Ultra at 105 FPS remains playable but offers diminishing returns over High given the 41 FPS difference. Low at 229 FPS is unnecessary unless the user prioritizes maximum frame rate over visual fidelity.

At 4K, the recommendations shift. Low at 120 FPS provides the smoothest experience, while Medium at 89 FPS (with a minimum of 76 FPS and maximum of 102 FPS) offers a better visual experience while maintaining a comfortable margin above 60 FPS. High at 76 FPS is still playable but closer to the 60 FPS threshold. Ultra at 55 FPS falls below this threshold and is only suitable for users who prioritize visual quality over smoothness and do not mind occasional frame drops. For most 4K users, Medium provides the best combination of visual quality and performance, with High as an option for those who prefer more detail and accept lower frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the average FPS across presets is as follows: Low produces 363 FPS (no min/max recorded), Medium produces 270 FPS with a minimum of 229 FPS and maximum of 310 FPS, High produces 231 FPS (no min/max recorded), and Ultra produces 166 FPS (no min/max recorded). The 1080p results show a clear progression where each step up in settings reduces performance by a significant margin — from Low to Medium is a 93 FPS drop, Medium to High is a 39 FPS drop, and High to Ultra is a 65 FPS drop.

At 2560x1440, the results are: Low produces 229 FPS, Medium produces 170 FPS with a minimum of 145 FPS and maximum of 196 FPS, High produces 146 FPS, and Ultra produces 105 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at each preset is as follows: Low falls from 363 to 229 FPS (134 FPS difference), Medium from 270 to 170 FPS (100 FPS difference), High from 231 to 146 FPS (85 FPS difference), and Ultra from 166 to 105 FPS (61 FPS difference). The absolute FPS loss decreases as settings increase, but the percentage loss is consistent at approximately 37%.

At 3840x2160, the results are: Low produces 120 FPS, Medium produces 89 FPS with a minimum of 76 FPS and maximum of 102 FPS, High produces 76 FPS, and Ultra produces 55 FPS. The 1440p to 4K transition shows: Low falls from 229 to 120 FPS (109 FPS difference), Medium from 170 to 89 FPS (81 FPS difference), High from 146 to 76 FPS (70 FPS difference), and Ultra from 105 to 55 FPS (50 FPS difference). The percentage loss is consistent at approximately 48% across all presets.

The Medium preset is the only one that records min and max FPS values, providing additional insight into frame pacing. At 1080p Medium, the range is 229 to 310 FPS, a spread of 81 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the range is 145 to 196 FPS, a spread of 51 FPS. At 4K Medium, the range is 76 to 102 FPS, a spread of 26 FPS. This narrowing range at higher resolutions suggests that frame pacing becomes more consistent as the GPU becomes the limiting factor, reducing the likelihood of CPU-induced frame hitches.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1440p provides the best balance of visual quality and performance, with all presets exceeding 105 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average is 170 FPS with a minimum of 145 FPS, which comfortably exceeds the 60 FPS threshold while maintaining high visual fidelity.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Barony?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K Low, the average is 120 FPS, at Medium it is 89 FPS, and at High it is 76 FPS — all above 60 FPS. However, at 4K Ultra, the average drops to 55 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS smoothness threshold.

Q: How does the RTX 5060 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RTX 5060's average benchmark score is 26331, which is within 1.2% of its nearest rivals. It is 0.3% lower than the AMD Radeon 860M at 26401 and the NVIDIA GeForce MX550 at 26421, 0.8% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary at 26553, and 1.2% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT at 26011.

Q: Is the Core i7-13700K a strong match for this game?

A: Yes. The CPU's 16 cores and 24 threads, combined with a 5.40 GHz boost clock, deliver a PassMark multithread score of 45887 and a single-thread score of 4333. The 363 FPS at 1080p Low indicates the CPU is not a bottleneck at lower resolutions.

Q: What settings should I use for a 60 FPS target at 4K?

A: Based on the measured data, Low (120 FPS), Medium (89 FPS), and High (76 FPS) all achieve above 60 FPS at 4K. Medium is recommended as it provides a 76 FPS minimum, offering a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold while maintaining better visual quality than Low.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations?

A: This pairing ranks 1637 out of 3717 tested combos, placing it at the 44th percentile. The CPU's 89th percentile ranking and GPU's 72nd percentile ranking combine to produce a mid-pack result that is neither top-tier nor bottom-tier.