Barony

The Intel Core i7-14700F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 delivers a robust performance profile in Barony, a roguelike title where frame rates remain consistently high across all tested configurations. The measured data shows a clear scaling pattern from 1080p through 4K, with the most demanding Ultra preset at 4K still producing an average of 54 FPS. This combination ranks in the 54th percentile of all tested system combos for this game, indicating a balanced mid-to-high tier setup that handles the game’s procedural environments without significant bottlenecks.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data reveals a predictable yet informative scaling curve across the three tested resolutions. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves an average of 360 FPS, which drops to 119 FPS at 4K with the same settings — a reduction of approximately 67%. This steep decline when moving from 1080p to 4K strongly suggests the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor at higher pixel counts, as the CPU is capable of feeding frames far faster than the Radeon RX 7700 can render at 4K.

Looking at the Medium preset, the progression is equally telling: 268 FPS at 1080p, 169 FPS at 1440p, and 88 FPS at 4K. The gap between 1080p and 1440p is 99 FPS, while the gap between 1440p and 4K is 81 FPS. This non-linear drop indicates that while resolution scaling affects performance, the GPU’s memory bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s and 16 GB of VRAM provide enough headroom to keep the decline relatively gradual compared to what might be expected from a lower-memory card.

The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling, with 165 FPS at 1080p, 104 FPS at 1440p, and 54 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is the only configuration that dips below 60 FPS, suggesting that this is the point where the GPU’s compute resources (25.18 TFLOPS FP32) are fully saturated. The difference between 1080p Ultra and 4K Ultra is 111 FPS, a 67% drop that mirrors the Low preset’s scaling pattern, reinforcing that the RX 7700’s rendering pipeline is the constraining element at 4K regardless of quality settings.

Interestingly, the scaling from 1080p to 1440p is less punishing than from 1440p to 4K across all presets. For High settings, 1080p produces 230 FPS and 1440p produces 145 FPS (a 37% drop), while moving from 1440p to 4K (76 FPS) represents a 48% reduction. This suggests that the GPU handles the intermediate resolution comfortably but begins to struggle with the sheer pixel count at 3840x2160, where the pixel rate of 236.1 GPixel/s becomes a notable factor.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate recorded for this combo in Barony?

A: The highest average frame rate is 360 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is followed by 268 FPS at the same resolution with Medium settings, and 230 FPS with High settings.

Q: Does the system maintain 60 FPS at 4K across all quality presets?

A: No. At 4K, the Ultra preset averages 54 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS threshold. The Medium preset averages 88 FPS, High averages 76 FPS, and Low averages 119 FPS, all of which exceed 60 FPS.

Q: What is the performance difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 227 FPS while the Ultra preset averages 104 FPS. This represents a 123 FPS difference, meaning Ultra delivers approximately 54% of the Low preset’s frame rate.

Q: Are there any frame time consistency data points in the measurements?

A: Yes, the Medium preset includes minimum and maximum frame data. At 1080p Medium, the range is 228 to 308 FPS; at 1440p Medium, it is 144 to 194 FPS; and at 4K Medium, it is 75 to 102 FPS. The spread becomes proportionally tighter at higher resolutions, suggesting smoother frame pacing under heavier GPU load.

Q: How does the GPU’s VRAM capacity factor into the 4K results?

A: The RX 7700 has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus. The 4K results — even at Ultra settings — do not show catastrophic frame drops, which indicates that the 16 GB capacity is sufficient for Barony’s texture and geometry requirements at this resolution. The lowest 4K average is 54 FPS, not a single-digit stutter-fest.

Q: What is the combo’s overall rank among all tested systems for this game?

A: The Intel Core i7-14700F + AMD Radeon RX 7700 combination ranks 1336 out of 2935 total tested combos for Barony. This places it just above the median, which is consistent with its 58th percentile GPU ranking and 91st percentile CPU ranking.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 is the decisive component in this pairing for determining frame rates in Barony, particularly as resolution increases. Its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth, which is ample for the game’s roguelike environments that often feature dense particle effects and dynamic lighting during dungeon exploration. The measured results show no evidence of VRAM capacity limits, as even the 4K Ultra preset maintains playable averages.

Clock speeds play a notable role in the scaling behavior. The GPU has a base clock of 1900 MHz, a game clock of 2041 MHz, and a boost clock of 2459 MHz. The relatively small gap between game and boost clocks suggests sustained performance under load, which aligns with the frame rates that do not exhibit sudden drops between the Medium and High presets at each resolution. For instance, at 1440p, High averages 145 FPS while Medium averages 169 FPS — a 24 FPS difference that reflects the clock speed’s ability to handle incremental shading work.

The GPU’s 2560 shading units and 160 texture mapping units are directly relevant to Barony’s visual style. The game’s blocky voxel-like aesthetics still require significant texture filtering, and the 393.4 GTexel/s texture rate appears sufficient to avoid bottlenecks, given that the CPU can push 360 FPS at 1080p Low without the GPU becoming a constraint. The 96 ROPs, combined with a pixel rate of 236.1 GPixel/s, explain why 4K performance degrades more sharply than 1440p — the fill rate requirement quadruples from 1080p to 4K, and the data shows this is where the GPU begins to show its limits.

The GPU’s benchmark percentile of 58% against all GPUs places it in the mid-range, and its nearest rival in average score is the AMD Radeon RX 9060 with a delta of -1%, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is 1.7% higher. In practical terms for Barony, this means the RX 7700 sits in a competitive tier where the difference between similar cards would be a handful of FPS, not a transformative jump. The measured 4K Ultra average of 54 FPS is consistent with a GPU that is decently above entry-level but below high-end enthusiast territory.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers exceptional performance across all presets. Low settings produce an average of 360 FPS, which represents the absolute ceiling of what this configuration can achieve in Barony. Medium settings yield 268 FPS with a minimum of 228 and maximum of 308. High settings average 230 FPS, while Ultra settings drop to 165 FPS. The 1080p results demonstrate that this resolution is entirely CPU-bound or game-engine-bound, as the GPU has ample headroom to render frames far faster than the display pipeline can deliver.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages remain high but show increased GPU involvement. Low settings achieve 227 FPS, a drop of 133 FPS from 1080p Low. Medium settings average 169 FPS with a 144 to 194 FPS range. High settings produce 145 FPS, and Ultra settings average 104 FPS. The 1440p data indicates that the GPU is now the limiting factor, as the gap between Low and Ultra (123 FPS) is smaller than at 1080p (195 FPS), suggesting that pixel throughput is beginning to constrain overall performance.

At 3840x2160, the GPU’s workload becomes dominant. Low settings average 119 FPS, which is still very playable but represents a 67% reduction from 1080p Low. Medium settings average 88 FPS with a minimum of 75 and maximum of 102. High settings drop to 76 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 54 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the only measured configuration below 60 FPS, and even this is a respectable average for a roguelike title that does not require twitch-reflex frame rates. The Medium preset’s minimum of 75 FPS at 4K indicates that frame pacing remains stable even under load.

The data across all 12 measured configurations shows a consistent hierarchy: Low > Medium > High > Ultra at every resolution. The ratio between Low and Ultra averages is roughly 2.18x at 1080p (360 vs 165), 2.18x at 1440p (227 vs 104), and 2.20x at 4K (119 vs 54). This near-constant ratio suggests that the visual quality presets scale linearly in computational cost, with Ultra approximately doubling the GPU workload of Low regardless of resolution.

Settings Recommendations

For players prioritizing maximum frame rates, the Low preset at any resolution delivers exceptional headroom. At 1080p, 360 FPS is far beyond the refresh rate of most monitors, while 4K Low at 119 FPS remains above 100 FPS for smooth gameplay. However, Low settings likely sacrifice visual fidelity in a game where environmental readability matters for spotting traps and enemies.

The Medium preset offers the best balance of performance and visual quality across all resolutions. At 1080p, 268 FPS with a minimum of 228 ensures no perceptible stutter. At 1440p, 169 FPS with a 144 FPS minimum aligns perfectly with 144Hz displays. At 4K, 88 FPS with an 75 FPS minimum provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS for consistent frame pacing. The Medium preset’s minimum frame data is the only preset that includes such details, indicating reliable performance under stress.

The High preset is a viable choice for 1080p and 1440p, delivering 230 FPS and 145 FPS respectively, but at 4K it drops to 76 FPS. This is still playable, but the jump from High to Ultra at 4K (76 to 54 FPS) represents a 29% performance loss for what is likely marginal visual improvement in a roguelike’s procedural generation. The Ultra preset should be reserved for 1080p use, where 165 FPS remains fluid, or for players who do not mind 54 FPS at 4K in exchange for maximum graphical detail.

The measured data supports Medium as the recommended preset for this combo, particularly for 1440p and 4K usage. It maintains frame rates that exceed the refresh rate of most mid-range monitors at 1440p and stays well above 60 FPS at 4K, while the availability of min/max data suggests the engine’s frame pacing is most consistent in this mode.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F provides a formidable foundation for Barony’s CPU-bound workloads. With 20 cores and 28 threads, this processor offers substantial parallel processing capability, and its boost clock of 5.40 GHz ensures strong single-thread performance — a critical factor for a roguelike where game logic and enemy AI updates often run on a single thread. The base clock of 2.10 GHz is conservative, but the boost clock is what matters during actual gameplay.

Benchmark results confirm the CPU’s strength. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4958 and multi-core score of 35122 place it in the 91st percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X, has an average score that is 0.6% higher, while the Intel Xeon 6505P is 0.2% higher. This places the i7-14700F in elite company, and the data shows that the CPU does not become a bottleneck in Barony until frame rates exceed 360 FPS at 1080p Low.

The CPU’s 33 MB of shared L3 cache is particularly relevant for Barony’s procedural generation, which often requires frequent access to game state data. The 80 KB L1 cache per core and 2 MB L2 cache per core help reduce memory latency, which is beneficial for maintaining consistent frame times in complex dungeon layouts. The dual-channel DDR4/DDR5 memory support means the system can utilize faster memory kits to further reduce latency, though the fact pack does not specify which memory type was used in testing.

In the measured results, the CPU’s influence is most evident at 1080p, where the GPU is underutilized. The 360 FPS Low average is a clear indicator that the CPU can sustain extremely high frame rates without stalling. Even at 4K, where the GPU is the primary constraint, the CPU’s single-thread performance ensures that game logic updates do not cause frame hitches — the 4K Medium minimum of 75 FPS suggests stable frame pacing. The CPU’s TDP of 65 W, combined with its 10 nm process node, means thermal throttling is unlikely to impact performance in a typical desktop chassis.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-14700F + AMD Radeon RX 7700 combination ranks 1336 out of 2935 tested combos for Barony, placing it in the 54.5th percentile overall. This rank positions it just above the median, which is a reasonable outcome given the GPU’s 58th percentile ranking and the CPU’s 91st percentile ranking. The discrepancy between CPU and GPU percentiles means the combo is effectively held back by the graphics card, as the processor is capable of supporting a much faster GPU in this game.

In context, the GPU’s nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 9060, has an average benchmark score that is 1% higher, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is 1.7% higher. These small deltas suggest that swapping the RX 7700 for either of these cards would result in only a marginal change in Barony’s frame rates — likely a few FPS at 4K Ultra. Conversely, the CPU’s nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X, is 0.6% faster, which would have negligible impact on this game’s performance given that the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

The combo’s rank of 1336 out of 2935 means that approximately 1600 other system configurations deliver higher frame rates in Barony. This is not a top-tier ranking, but the measured FPS data shows that the actual gameplay experience is excellent — 4K High at 76 FPS and 1440p Ultra at 104 FPS are both strong results. The rank likely reflects the GPU’s mid-range positioning relative to higher-end cards like the RX 7900 series or RTX 4080, which would push the combo higher in the rankings.

For this specific game, the combo’s rank is arguably more favorable than the raw percentile suggests, because Barony’s roguelike gameplay does not demand extreme frame rates. The 54 FPS 4K Ultra result is entirely playable, and the 119 FPS 4K Low result is excellent. The data indicates that this combo is well-suited for Barony at 1440p with High or Ultra settings, and at 4K with Medium or High settings, making the 1336 rank a conservative estimate of its real-world suitability.