Barony

The data for Barony, captured with an Intel Core i7-14700K and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, presents a clear picture of a system that is heavily optimized for high refresh rates. Across all tested resolutions and settings, the measured average frame rates are exceptionally high, indicating that this combination is far more powerful than the game's requirements demand. The analysis below walks through the measured rows to determine optimal settings, isolate the bottleneck, and contextualize the system's performance within the broader database.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data provides four settings presets—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—across three resolutions. The optimal choice depends entirely on the target display refresh rate, as every preset delivers a playable experience. For users with a 60 Hz display, even the most demanding preset at the highest resolution, 4K Ultra at 56.6 FPS, is sufficient. However, for those with high-refresh monitors, the data suggests a more nuanced approach.

At 1080p, the gap between the Low preset at 388.2 FPS and the Ultra preset at 176.3 FPS is substantial. The High preset, at 249.1 FPS, offers a strong balance, providing a significant visual upgrade over Medium (284.5 FPS) while still maintaining a frame rate that exceeds the refresh rate of all but the most extreme 240 Hz panels. The Ultra preset, while visually superior, still delivers 176.3 FPS, which is more than adequate for any 144 Hz display.

Moving to 1440p, the pattern holds. The High preset at 158.5 FPS is the sweet spot for 144 Hz monitors, while the Ultra preset at 109.9 FPS is still viable for 100 Hz displays. The Medium preset at 179.3 FPS offers little performance benefit over High and would only be recommended if the user prefers to prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity. The Low preset at 241.9 FPS is excessive for most displays and is not recommended for general play.

At 4K, the situation changes slightly. The High preset at 83.6 FPS is ideal for 60 Hz displays with some headroom, while the Medium preset at 95.3 FPS offers a better experience for 90 Hz panels. The Ultra preset at 56.6 FPS is playable but falls below the 60 FPS threshold, which may be noticeable on a standard refresh rate monitor. The Low preset at 129.2 FPS is the only option that supports 120 Hz displays at this resolution. Given the data, the High preset represents the best overall experience, providing a strong balance between visual quality and performance across all three resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 is the primary driver of the frame rates seen in these benchmarks. The GPU’s specifications, including its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth, and its boost clock of 1725 MHz, are more than sufficient for a roguelike title like Barony. The GPU’s architecture, Ampere, on an 8 nm process, delivers 20.31 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, which explains the high frame rates observed.

The GPU’s performance percentile is 72, placing it in the upper tier of all tested GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 28238 is closely matched by its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT, which scores 27985, a delta of 0.9%. This indicates that the RTX 3070 is a competitive mid-to-high-range card. The data shows that the GPU is not the limiting factor in this game, as even the most demanding preset at 1080p (Ultra) achieves 176.3 FPS. The VRAM capacity of 8 GB is not a constraint at these settings, as the game’s memory footprint is clearly well within the available capacity, given the consistent frame rates across presets.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases. At 1080p, High settings produce 249.1 FPS. Moving to 1440p, the same High preset drops to 158.5 FPS, a reduction of approximately 36%. At 4K, the High preset falls to 83.6 FPS, a further reduction of about 47% from 1440p. This indicates that the workload scales significantly with pixel count, which is expected.

The scaling pattern is consistent across all settings presets. For Low settings, the drop from 1080p (388.2 FPS) to 1440p (241.9 FPS) is a 37% reduction, and then to 4K (129.2 FPS) is a 46% reduction from 1440p. The Ultra preset follows a similar curve, with 176.3 FPS at 1080p, 109.9 FPS at 1440p (a 38% drop), and 56.6 FPS at 4K (a 48% drop from 1440p).

This scaling behavior suggests that the system is not CPU-bound at any resolution. The frame rates are so high that even at 4K Ultra, the system maintains over 50 FPS. The consistent percentage drops between resolutions indicate that the GPU is the primary component handling the increased pixel load, and it does so without a disproportionate collapse in performance. The data shows a system that has ample headroom, with the CPU (Intel Core i7-14700K) providing enough processing power to feed the GPU at all tested settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset of measured average FPS is as follows:

• 1920x1080 (1080p): Low 388.2, Medium 284.5, High 249.1, Ultra 176.3.
• 2560x1440 (1440p): Low 241.9, Medium 179.3, High 158.5, Ultra 109.9.
• 3840x2160 (4K): Low 129.2, Medium 95.3, High 83.6, Ultra 56.6.

At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 211.9 FPS, showing a wide performance range that allows for significant visual customization. The jump from Medium to High is relatively small (35.4 FPS), while the jump from High to Ultra is larger (72.8 FPS), indicating that the Ultra preset introduces a more demanding set of effects.

At 1440p, the spread narrows to 132 FPS between Low and Ultra. The High preset at 158.5 FPS is the clear standout for high-refresh gaming. The Medium preset at 179.3 FPS offers a marginal performance gain over High but at a likely visual cost.

At 4K, the spread is 72.6 FPS between Low and Ultra. The Ultra preset at 56.6 FPS is the only setting that dips below 60 FPS, making it the only questionable choice for smooth gameplay on a standard 60 Hz monitor. The Medium preset at 95.3 FPS provides a good balance, while High at 83.6 FPS is also a solid option. Low at 129.2 FPS is the only preset that unlocks high refresh rates at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-14700K and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 ranks 787 out of 1702 tested combinations in the database for Barony. This places the combo in the 54th percentile, meaning it outperforms a slight majority of other tested systems. This ranking is notable because the individual components have high benchmark scores: the CPU is in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, and the GPU is in the 72nd percentile of all GPUs.

The CPU’s average benchmark score is 70074, with its nearest rival being the Intel Core i7-14700KF, which scores 70104, a negligible delta of 0%. This indicates the CPU is performing as expected. The GPU’s average score of 28238 is similarly well-matched to its rivals. The ranking of 787 out of 1702 suggests that while the hardware is powerful, the game’s engine is not particularly demanding, and the frame rates are likely capped by the GPU’s capabilities at the highest settings. The data shows that the combo is more than adequate for Barony, and the ranking reflects a system that delivers high performance without being in the top tier of combinations, likely due to the GPU being a mid-range part relative to others in the database.

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core i7-14700K a bottleneck for the RTX 3070 in Barony?

A: No. The measured FPS at 1080p Low is 388.2 FPS, which is extremely high. If the CPU were a bottleneck, the frame rates would be much lower and would not scale as significantly with resolution changes. The data shows consistent scaling from 1080p to 4K, indicating the GPU is the limiting factor.

Q: What is the best preset for a 144 Hz monitor at 1440p?

A: The High preset at 1440p delivers 158.5 FPS, which is above the 144 Hz refresh rate. The Medium preset at 179.3 FPS also works, but High offers better visual quality for a minimal performance loss.

Q: Can this system run Barony at 4K with a 60 Hz display?

A: Yes. The High preset at 4K achieves 83.6 FPS, which is well above 60 FPS. The Ultra preset at 56.6 FPS is the only setting that falls below 60 FPS, so users should avoid Ultra for a locked 60 FPS experience.

Q: How does the RTX 3070 compare to its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT?

A: The RTX 3070 has an average benchmark score of 28238, which is 0.9% higher than the RX 6600 XT’s score of 27985. This indicates the RTX 3070 is slightly faster in general compute tasks.

Q: Is the 8 GB of VRAM on the RTX 3070 sufficient for Barony?

A: Yes. The benchmark data shows consistent frame rates across all presets, with no evidence of a performance cliff or texture streaming issues that would indicate VRAM limitations. The game is not demanding on memory.

Q: What is the performance difference between the High and Ultra presets at 1080p?

A: The High preset at 1080p produces 249.1 FPS, while the Ultra preset produces 176.3 FPS. This is a difference of 72.8 FPS, indicating that Ultra demands significantly more from the GPU for its visual enhancements.