Barony

Barony is a CPU-bound roguelike at heart, but this pairing of the Intel Core i7-14700K with the Intel Arc B570 reveals a surprisingly balanced profile, where the GPU exerts increasing influence as resolution climbs. The benchmark data shows that at 1080p, the processor dominates, delivering high frame rates that exceed 200 FPS on low settings. However, the scaling curve to 4K is steep, indicating that the Arc B570 becomes the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions and settings, even with a top-tier CPU installed.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and clearly illustrates the shift in bottleneck. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces an average of 245 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 154 FPS, a reduction of 91 FPS. At 4K Low, the average falls to 81 FPS. This scaling pattern—a 67% reduction from 1080p to 4K on Low settings—demonstrates that while the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU at lower resolutions, the graphics card's rendering load becomes the hard ceiling as pixel count increases.

The trend is consistent across all quality presets. At High settings, the averages are 156 FPS at 1080p, 99 FPS at 1440p, and 52 FPS at 4K. This represents a 104 FPS difference between the lowest and highest resolutions tested. For Ultra settings, the numbers are 112 FPS, 71 FPS, and 37 FPS respectively. The data indicates that the performance curve is not linear; the gap between 1440p and 4K is proportionally larger than the gap between 1080p and 1440p, suggesting the GPU's memory bandwidth and compute resources are increasingly saturated.

Specifically, the 4K Ultra result of 37 FPS is particularly telling. This is a playable frame rate for a turn-based roguelike, but it shows that the Arc B570 is working near its limit. The difference between 4K Low (81 FPS) and 4K Ultra (37 FPS) is a 44 FPS swing, highlighting that visual fidelity settings have a massive impact on this GPU at high resolutions. In contrast, the swing at 1080p between Low (245 FPS) and Ultra (112 FPS) is 133 FPS, showing that the CPU has enough headroom to let the GPU scale with settings, though it still cannot maintain the low-setting pace.

The data suggests that for this game, the optimal experience for high refresh rate monitors would be at 1080p or 1440p, where the combo can push well above 144 FPS on medium settings. At 4K, the user must accept a compromise between resolution and frame rate, as even the Medium preset at 4K only yields 60 FPS average, with the recorded minimum of 51 FPS indicating potential stutter in demanding scenes.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570's specifications directly explain the observed 4K performance ceiling. With 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus, the card delivers 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This is a constrained configuration for 4K gaming, where large texture sets and high-resolution buffers consume memory and bandwidth rapidly. The 4K Medium average of 60 FPS with a minimum of 51 FPS suggests that the GPU is not only compute-limited but also potentially memory-bandwidth-limited.

The GPU's clock behavior is straightforward, with a base and boost clock both locked at 2500 MHz. This fixed clock rate means the card does not dynamically overclock under load, relying instead on its 2304 shading units and 144 texture mapping units to handle the work. The 80 render output units are responsible for the final pixel output, and at 4K, these units are pushed hard, as evidenced by the significant frame rate drop.

The Arc B570’s position in the market is reflected in its benchmark scores. Its average benchmark score of 20556 places it in the 65th percentile of all GPUs, with its nearest rival being the Intel Arc A750, which has an average score of 20582 and a deltaPct of -0.1. This means the B570 is effectively a wash in raw compute performance with the previous generation’s A750. The data shows that the B570's DirectX 12 score of 72 and DirectX 11 score of 118 are moderate, indicating that its API efficiency is not a standout feature, which could explain why frame rates drop so sharply when moving from Medium to Ultra settings, where more complex draw calls and effects are introduced.

For a game like Barony, which features procedural generation and simple geometry, the GPU's role is less about raw polygon pushing and more about maintaining consistent frame pacing at high resolutions. The 4K results show that while the card can technically handle the resolution, it cannot do so at high refresh rates. The 1080p results are more flattering, showing that with a capable CPU, the B570 can deliver excellent performance.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo achieve 60 FPS at 4K in Barony?

A: Yes, but only on Medium settings. The measured average at 4K Medium is 60 FPS, with a minimum of 51 FPS. High and Ultra settings fall below 60 FPS, averaging 52 FPS and 37 FPS respectively.

Q: What is the best resolution for high refresh rate gaming with this setup?

A: At 1080p, the combo reaches an average of 182 FPS on Medium settings and 245 FPS on Low. At 1440p, the Medium preset averages 115 FPS, which is also above the 100 FPS threshold, making either resolution suitable for fast-paced play.

Q: How does the Arc B570 compare to the previous generation Intel Arc A750?

A: The benchmark data shows a negligible difference. The Arc B570 has an average benchmark score of 20556, while the Arc A750 scores 20582, resulting in a deltaPct of -0.1, meaning the A750 is slightly faster in aggregate benchmarks.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 1080p Ultra?

A: The data shows a 112 FPS average at 1080p Ultra. Given that the CPU is a top-tier Intel Core i7-14700K with a passmark multithread score of 52392, it is unlikely to be the limiting factor. The GPU is more likely the bottleneck at this setting, as evidenced by the significant frame rate drop compared to 1080p Low.

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

A: The average frame rate drops from 154 FPS on Low to 71 FPS on Ultra at 1440p. This is a 83 FPS decrease, showing that the Ultra preset nearly halves the performance compared to Low settings.

Q: Is there a risk of stuttering at 4K Medium?

A: Yes, the data records a minimum FPS of 51 at 4K Medium, which is 9 FPS below the 60 FPS average. This indicates that frame times may vary, potentially leading to noticeable hitches during intense gameplay moments.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured results show a wide range of performance across settings. The Low preset produces an average of 245 FPS, which is the highest score recorded for this combo. Medium settings average 182 FPS, with a minimum of 155 FPS and a maximum of 209 FPS. High settings average 156 FPS, while Ultra drops to an average of 112 FPS. This data illustrates that the CPU has ample headroom at this resolution, as even the most demanding setting maintains a frame rate well above 100 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down predictably. Low settings average 154 FPS, Medium averages 115 FPS with a minimum of 98 FPS and a maximum of 132 FPS. High settings produce an average of 99 FPS, and Ultra drops to 71 FPS. The transition from High to Ultra at this resolution represents a 28 FPS loss, which is more significant than the 44 FPS loss seen at 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the clear limiting factor. Low settings average 81 FPS, making it the only 4K preset to break the 60 FPS barrier. Medium settings average exactly 60 FPS, with the aforementioned minimum of 51 FPS. High settings drop to 52 FPS, and Ultra falls to 37 FPS. The difference between 4K Low and 4K Ultra is 44 FPS, showing that the GPU's performance is heavily influenced by quality settings at this resolution.

The full dataset shows a consistent pattern: the spread between Low and Ultra settings narrows as resolution increases. At 1080p, the spread is 133 FPS. At 1440p, it narrows to 83 FPS. At 4K, it is just 44 FPS. This narrowing indicates that at higher resolutions, the GPU's fixed compute and memory resources are saturated, reducing the relative impact of settings changes.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-14700K and Intel Arc B570 combination ranks 2344 out of 2935 tested combos in Barony. This places it in the lower 20th percentile of all hardware pairings tested for this game, which is a surprisingly low rank given the individual components' strengths. The CPU alone sits in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 69355, and its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, scores 69515, a deltaPct of -0.2. The GPU, however, sits in the 65th percentile of all GPUs, with an average score of 20556.

The low combo rank relative to the component percentiles suggests that the pairing is not optimized for Barony's specific workload. The game might favor NVIDIA or AMD GPUs due to driver optimizations or specific API paths. The rank indicates that many other combos, likely with different GPU choices, achieve higher frame rates. This is not to say the combo is inadequate—the measured FPS shows it is quite capable—but it is not a top-tier performer in this specific game environment.

The data shows that the CPU's performance is close to its rivals, with a deltaPct of only 0.1 compared to the AMD EPYC 9115. This means the CPU is not the source of the low rank. The GPU's performance, while competitive with the Arc A750, does not push the combo into the upper echelons of the rankings. The rank of 2344 suggests that for users prioritizing Barony performance, alternative GPU choices might yield better results.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. Its passmark multithread score is 52392, and its single-thread score is 4472. These scores indicate a processor with immense parallel and single-core capabilities. In Barony, a roguelike that relies heavily on game logic, procedural generation, and AI pathfinding, the single-thread performance is often more critical than raw multi-core throughput.

The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 245 FPS, which is a clear indicator that the CPU is not a bottleneck at this resolution. The CPU's cinebench r23 multicore score of 33440.5 and single-core score of 2160 further confirm its strength. However, the game's engine may not utilize all 20 cores efficiently, meaning the boost clock of 5.60 GHz on a few cores is likely the most important factor for maintaining high frame rates.

The CPU's memory support for both DDR4 and DDR5, with a dual-channel bus, allows for flexible system configurations. The L3 cache of 33 MB shared is substantial, which helps with the random access patterns common in procedurally generated levels. The CPU's performance percentile of 94% versus all CPUs suggests it is a top-tier choice for any game, and the measured FPS at lower resolutions confirms that it can push the Arc B570 to its limits.

However, the CPU's role diminishes at 4K, where the GPU takes over as the primary bottleneck. At 4K Ultra, the frame rate is 37 FPS, regardless of the CPU's power. This shows that while the CPU is necessary to achieve high frame rates at 1080p, it is not sufficient to overcome the GPU's limitations at higher resolutions. The data indicates that for this combo, the CPU provides a solid foundation, but the GPU ultimately dictates the performance ceiling. The launch MSRP of the CPU is $409.