Barony

Barony is a roguelike title that, despite its genre origins, exercises the CPU and GPU in ways that scale predictably with resolution and settings. The tested configuration pairs an Intel Core i7-14700F with an AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT, producing a dataset that reveals a clear performance hierarchy across the three tested resolutions. The data indicates a system that is exceptionally capable at 1080p and 1440p, with 4K performance that varies significantly based on the quality preset selected.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i7-14700F is a 20-core, 28-thread processor built on the Raptor Lake architecture and manufactured on Intel's 10 nm process node. It operates with a base clock of 2.10 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, with a thermal design power of 65 W. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 33 MB of shared L3 cache, configured for a dual-channel memory bus supporting both DDR4 and DDR5 memory.

In the context of Barony, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and simulation data. The benchmark results show that at 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 298.6 FPS, which is the highest measured frame rate in the entire dataset. This figure strongly suggests that the i7-14700F is not a limiting factor at this resolution and settings combination, as the frame rate is high enough to be constrained by the GPU or game engine's render thread rather than the processor's computational throughput.

The processor's benchmark scores reinforce its position as a high-end part. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 35443, and its single-core score is 5003. In Geekbench, it scores 16571 multi-core and 2711 single-core. The PassMark multi-thread score is 41765. When compared to its nearest rivals, the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X has an average score of 54450, which is 0.6% higher than the i7-14700F's average of 54097. The Intel Xeon Phi 7290 is 1.2% behind, and the AMD EPYC 7313P is 1.7% behind. This places the i7-14700F in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, indicating it is a top-tier performer that should handle any game logic or physics load Barony presents without becoming a bottleneck.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the Intel Core i7-14700F and AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT achieves a rank of 1128 out of 1702 tested combos in Barony. This places the combo in the lower half of the overall ranking, which is a surprising result given the individual strength of the CPU and the GPU's mid-range positioning. The data shows that while the CPU is near the top of its class, the GPU's performance ceiling keeps the overall combo from reaching the upper echelons of the ranking table.

The rank of 1128 suggests that there are 574 other CPU/GPU combinations that produce higher average frame rates in this game. This is not entirely unexpected, as the RX 6650 XT is a mid-range graphics card, and many combos in the database will feature more powerful GPUs. However, the rank also indicates that the combo is not a poor performer; it sits in the 66th percentile of all tested combos, meaning it outperforms roughly two-thirds of the systems tested. The specific placement is driven by the GPU's 72nd percentile ranking among all GPUs, while the CPU's 94th percentile ranking does not fully compensate for the graphics card's lower standing.

The delta between the CPU's and GPU's percentile rankings highlights an imbalance. The i7-14700F is clearly overqualified for the RX 6650 XT in a game like Barony, where the frame rates at lower resolutions and settings are high enough that the CPU's extra headroom is not fully utilized. The combo's rank is therefore a reflection of the GPU's limits rather than the CPU's capabilities.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data shows a clear and consistent scaling pattern as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 298.6 FPS. Dropping the resolution to 1440p with the same settings yields 189.6 FPS, a reduction of 36.5% from the 1080p figure. Moving to 4K with Low settings results in 98.1 FPS, which is 48.3% lower than the 1440p result and 67.1% lower than the 1080p result.

This scaling behavior is indicative of a GPU-bound system at higher resolutions. The frame rate drops are proportionally larger when moving from 1440p to 4K than from 1080p to 1440p, which is a classic sign that the GPU is reaching its fill-rate and memory bandwidth limits. The RX 6650 XT has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with a bandwidth of 280.3 GB/s, which is adequate for 1080p and 1440p but becomes strained at 4K.

At 4K with Ultra settings, the average FPS falls to 42.5, which is a 68.7% drop from the 1080p Ultra result of 134.8 FPS. This steep decline suggests that the GPU is the primary limiting component at 4K, as the CPU's performance headroom is not the constraining factor. The data indicates that the combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where it can maintain high frame rates, while 4K is only playable at lower settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The full dataset provides a detailed look at the combo's performance across all tested settings and resolutions. At 1920x1080, the frame rates are consistently high. With Low settings, the combo averages 298.6 FPS. Medium settings produce 223.7 FPS, High settings yield 188.7 FPS, and Ultra settings deliver 134.8 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra shows a 54.8% reduction in frame rate, which is a normal trade-off for increased visual fidelity.

At 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but shows a noticeable step down. Low settings average 189.6 FPS, Medium settings produce 142.1 FPS, High settings yield 121.1 FPS, and Ultra settings deliver 85.3 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at the same settings is consistent, with a 36.5% reduction at Low, a 36.5% reduction at Medium, a 35.8% reduction at High, and a 36.7% reduction at Ultra. This uniform scaling confirms that the GPU is the limiting factor, as the CPU's performance does not change with resolution.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates drop significantly. Low settings average 98.1 FPS, Medium settings produce 73 FPS, High settings yield 62 FPS, and Ultra settings deliver 42.5 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 56.7%, which is slightly larger than the 1080p difference. The data shows that the combo can handle 4K at Low settings with a playable frame rate, but Ultra settings push the GPU to its limits, resulting in a sub-60 FPS experience.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture using TSMC's 7 nm process node, with a die size of 237 mm² and 11,060 million transistors. The GPU has a base clock of 2055 MHz, a game clock of 2410 MHz, and a boost clock of 2635 MHz. Its memory operates at 2190 MHz, which translates to 17.5 Gbps effective, providing a total bandwidth of 280.3 GB/s across a 128-bit bus. The card is equipped with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, which is sufficient for the tested settings but could become a constraint at 4K with high-resolution textures.

The GPU's compute capabilities include 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation units, with 32 ray tracing cores. The texture rate is 337.3 GTexel/s, and the pixel rate is 168.6 GPixel/s, delivering a peak FP32 performance of 10.79 TFLOPS. The card draws up to 176 W and requires a 450 W power supply, connecting via a single 8-pin power connector.

In Barony, the GPU's role is dominant at higher resolutions and settings. The benchmark results show that the RX 6650 XT's performance scales as expected with the workload. Its PassMark G3D score is 17166, which places it in the 72nd percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6800M with an average score of 29011 (0% delta), the AMD Radeon RX 470 with a score of 28996 (0.1% delta), and the Intel Arc A370M with a score of 29175 (-0.5% delta). This indicates that the RX 6650 XT is a solid mid-range performer, but it is not designed for extreme 4K gaming.

The 8 GB VRAM capacity is a key factor at 4K. While the game does not appear to exceed this limit based on the playable frame rates at Low and Medium settings, the significant FPS drop at Ultra settings suggests that the memory bandwidth and capacity are being stressed. The GPU's 128-bit bus is a limiting factor, as higher resolutions require more memory bandwidth to maintain frame rates. The data confirms that the RX 6650 XT is best utilized at 1080p and 1440p, where it can deliver high frame rates, while 4K is only viable at lower quality presets.