Barony

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates for Barony across three resolutions and four quality presets reveal a clear pattern of scaling behavior for the Intel Core i7-14700F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9070. At 1080p, the combination delivers exceptionally high throughput, with the Low preset reaching 440.6 FPS and the Medium preset hitting 330.8 FPS. Even the demanding Ultra preset maintains 204.6 FPS at this resolution. These figures suggest that at 1080p, the system has ample headroom and is unlikely to be constrained by the GPU, as the frame rates are far above what most displays can utilize.

Moving to 1440p, the data shows a predictable decline across all presets. The Low setting drops from 440.6 FPS at 1080p to 278.7 FPS at 1440p, representing a reduction of approximately 36.7%. The Medium preset falls from 330.8 FPS to 209.4 FPS, a similar proportional decline. High settings produce 177.6 FPS at 1440p, down from 283.2 FPS at 1080p. The Ultra preset remains playable at 126.6 FPS, which is still well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The consistent proportional drops across presets indicate that the scaling is primarily resolution-driven rather than preset-driven, which points to the GPU becoming more relevant as pixel count increases.

At 4K, the scaling becomes more pronounced. The Low preset at 4K yields 146.2 FPS, which is roughly half of the 1080p Low figure. The Medium preset produces 108.3 FPS at 4K, and High settings deliver 95.8 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to 66.6 FPS, which is still comfortably playable but represents a significant reduction from the 204.6 FPS seen at 1080p Ultra. Comparing the 4K Ultra figure to the 1080p Ultra figure shows a decline of approximately 67.4%, indicating that the game becomes increasingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions. The data suggests that while the CPU provides enough throughput to drive high frame rates at lower resolutions, the GPU workload scales substantially with resolution, and the 4K Ultra preset is the first configuration where the system approaches its practical limit for this title.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 is built on the RDNA 4.0 architecture using the Navi 48 chip, manufactured on a 4 nm process by TSMC. The GPU features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s. The clock speeds are specified with a base clock of 1330 MHz, a game clock of 2070 MHz, and a boost clock of 2520 MHz. The memory operates at an effective speed of 20.1 Gbps. These specifications are relevant to Barony's performance because the game's roguelike nature involves procedural generation and many on-screen entities, which can stress memory bandwidth and fill rates.

In terms of raw compute, the RX 9070 delivers 36.13 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, with a pixel rate of 322.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 564.5 GTexel/s. The GPU has 3584 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 128 render output units, along with 56 ray tracing cores. The benchmark scores for this GPU show a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6290, which is a modern test that reflects real-world gaming performance. The Geekbench Vulkan score of 165532 and OpenCL score of 133741 provide additional context for compute-heavy workloads. The PassMark G3D score of 25381 places the GPU in the 79th percentile among all GPUs, according to the database.

The measured FPS data shows that the GPU is not the limiting factor at 1080p, where even the Ultra preset achieves 204.6 FPS. However, at 4K Ultra, the frame rate drops to 66.6 FPS, which suggests the GPU is being pushed harder. The fact that the 4K Low preset achieves 146.2 FPS while the 4K Ultra preset only reaches 66.6 FPS indicates that the graphics settings have a substantial impact on GPU load. The 16 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for Barony's requirements, as even the most demanding preset at 4K does not appear to encounter memory capacity limitations based on the measured performance. The boost clock of 2520 MHz is sustained well enough to maintain high frame rates across most configurations, with the only notable drop occurring at 4K Ultra.

Settings Recommendations

Examining the measured rows, the optimal balance between visual quality and performance depends on the target resolution. At 1080p, all presets deliver frame rates above 200 FPS, so users can freely select the Ultra preset at 204.6 FPS without sacrificing smoothness. The Medium preset at 330.8 FPS and High at 283.2 FPS offer even higher headroom, but the visual fidelity of Ultra is worth the slight reduction in frame rate given the abundance of performance.

At 1440p, the Ultra preset at 126.6 FPS remains highly playable and provides the best visual experience. The High preset at 177.6 FPS offers additional margin for those who prioritize frame rate over maximum detail, but the difference is not drastic. The Medium preset at 209.4 FPS is also viable, though it sacrifices some visual quality. The Low preset at 278.7 FPS is unnecessary for most users given the performance available at higher presets.

At 4K, the decision becomes more nuanced. The Ultra preset at 66.6 FPS is just above the 60 FPS threshold, making it acceptable for users who prioritize visual fidelity and have a 60 Hz display. However, for users with higher refresh rate displays, the High preset at 95.8 FPS offers a substantial improvement in smoothness while maintaining good visual quality. The Medium preset at 108.3 FPS is another strong option, providing even more headroom. The Low preset at 146.2 FPS is suitable for competitive play where maximum frame rate is paramount, but the visual trade-off is significant.

The data indicates that the High preset at 4K provides the best balance for most users, as it delivers 95.8 FPS while retaining a reasonable level of graphical detail. For those on 1440p displays, the Ultra preset is recommended due to the ample frame rate headroom. At 1080p, the Ultra preset is the clear choice given the system's ability to maintain 204.6 FPS even at maximum settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combination?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 440.6, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low preset.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra preset compare to the 1080p Ultra preset?

A: The 4K Ultra preset delivers 66.6 FPS, which is approximately 67.4% lower than the 204.6 FPS achieved at 1080p Ultra.

Q: Is the GPU or CPU more likely to be the limiting factor at 4K Ultra?

A: The significant drop from 204.6 FPS at 1080p Ultra to 66.6 FPS at 4K Ultra indicates the GPU becomes the primary constraint at higher resolutions, as the workload scales with pixel count.

Q: What is the GPU's memory capacity and bandwidth?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 9070 has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory with a 256-bit bus and a bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s.

Q: Does the CPU have a high core count for this game?

A: The Intel Core i7-14700F has 20 cores and 28 threads, which provides substantial parallel processing capability for the game's procedural generation and simulation tasks.

Q: What is the rank of this combination among all tested combos?

A: This combination ranks 561 out of 1702 tested combinations in Barony, placing it in the upper third of all configurations.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the Intel Core i7-14700F and AMD Radeon RX 9070 achieves a rank of 561 out of 1702 tested combinations in Barony. This places the system in the 33rd percentile of all configurations, meaning roughly two-thirds of tested combos perform better in this specific game. Given the high frame rates measured across all resolutions and presets, this ranking likely reflects the fact that Barony is not an extremely demanding title and that many other combinations with more powerful GPUs or CPUs can achieve even higher frame rates.

The ranking is somewhat surprising given the raw performance of the components. The CPU sits in the 94th percentile of all CPUs based on average benchmark scores, and the GPU is in the 79th percentile of all GPUs. However, the game's roguelike nature and relatively modest graphics requirements mean that even mid-range hardware can achieve playable frame rates, and the top of the leaderboard is likely dominated by the most extreme configurations. The 4K Ultra performance of 66.6 FPS is respectable, but other combos with higher-end GPUs may push this to 100 FPS or beyond.

The gap between the combo's component-level percentiles and its game-specific rank suggests that Barony is more CPU-bound at lower resolutions and GPU-bound at higher resolutions. The CPU's 20 cores and 28 threads provide ample processing power, but the game may not fully utilize all cores, which could limit the advantage over systems with fewer but faster cores. The GPU's 16 GB VRAM and 644.6 GB/s bandwidth are more than sufficient for this title, but the game's visual complexity may not fully stress the GPU's capabilities, leaving performance headroom that is not fully exploited.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, manufactured on a 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.10 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, with a TDP of 65W. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 2 MB of L2 cache per core, and 33 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory with a dual-channel bus, and it has PCIe Gen 5 with 16 lanes for the CPU.

In Barony, the CPU's role is significant at lower resolutions where the GPU is not the bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 440.6 FPS, which is only possible with strong single-thread performance. The CPU's boost clock of 5.40 GHz and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5003 indicate excellent single-thread capability. The multi-core performance is also strong, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35443 and a PassMark multi-thread score of 41765. These scores place the CPU in the 94th percentile of all CPUs.

The CPU's nearest rivals in the database include the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X with an average score of 54450 (0.6% higher), the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D at 54681 (1.1% higher), the Intel Xeon Phi 7290 at 53469 (1.2% lower), and the AMD EPYC 7313P at 53206 (1.7% lower). The i7-14700F's average benchmark score of 54097 is within 1.1% of the fastest rival, indicating that the CPU's performance is competitive with top-tier alternatives.

In the context of Barony, the CPU's 20 cores and 28 threads provide substantial headroom for the game's procedural generation and AI simulation. However, the measured frame rates at 1080p, which exceed 200 FPS even at Ultra settings, suggest that the CPU is not the primary constraint in most configurations. The game is likely limited by the GPU at higher resolutions, as evidenced by the 67.4% drop in FPS from 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra. The CPU's performance is more than adequate for this title, and the bottleneck shifts to the GPU as resolution increases. The data indicates that users with this CPU and GPU combination should primarily adjust graphics settings rather than CPU-related settings to optimize performance in Barony.