Barony

Barony is an older roguelike that barely stresses modern hardware, and the measured data for the Intel Core i7-14700K with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti confirms this. The combination produces extraordinarily high frame rates across all tested settings and resolutions, making the choice of settings more about chasing refresh-rate maximums or maximizing visual fidelity than about avoiding stutter. The data shows a system with immense headroom, where even the most demanding preset at 4K remains comfortably playable.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark results for this pairing indicate that the Ultra preset is the only one that presents any meaningful challenge to the hardware, while the lower presets produce frame rates that are likely beyond the refresh rate of most displays. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset averages 213 FPS, which is still exceptionally high, but it is the lowest average in that resolution. The High preset at 1080p jumps to 298 FPS, a 40% increase over Ultra, while Medium and Low reach 347 FPS and 466 FPS, respectively. These numbers suggest that on a standard 144Hz or even 240Hz monitor, the Ultra preset is the optimal choice for 1080p, as it delivers the best visual quality while still vastly exceeding typical refresh rates.

Moving to 2560x1440, the pattern holds. Ultra averages 135 FPS, which is still above the threshold for high-refresh-rate gaming and is perfectly smooth. High averages 188 FPS, a 39% improvement over Ultra, while Medium and Low reach 219 FPS and 294 FPS. For a 1440p monitor with a 144Hz refresh rate, the Ultra preset is the clear recommendation, as its average FPS of 135 is just below the 144Hz ceiling, but the High preset at 188 FPS provides a substantial buffer and is also an excellent choice. The data suggests that users with 165Hz or 240Hz 1440p panels should consider the High preset to fully utilize the display's capabilities.

At 3840x2160, the situation becomes more nuanced. The Ultra preset drops to an average of 70 FPS, which is the only measured configuration that falls below the 100 FPS mark. This is still a playable frame rate, but it is noticeably lower than the other presets. The High preset at 4K averages 98 FPS, which is a 40% improvement over Ultra and is ideal for a 4K 120Hz display. The Medium preset averages 114 FPS, and the Low preset averages 154 FPS. For 4K gaming, the High preset appears to be the sweet spot, offering a significant visual upgrade over Medium and Low while maintaining a frame rate that is only 14% below the Medium preset's 114 FPS. The data clearly indicates that the Ultra preset is the most demanding, and for a smoother experience, the High preset is recommended for 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The measured data places this specific combination of components at rank 987 out of 3717 tested combos for Barony. This ranking puts the system in the top 26.5% of all tested configurations, which is a strong showing, but it is not in the top tier. Given the extreme frame rates measured, this ranking likely reflects that many other high-end combinations also achieve very high FPS in this undemanding game, making the differences between them small and the ranking less about raw playability and more about minor margins in average FPS.

The data shows that the system is not being pushed to its limits, as even the lowest average FPS measured (70 FPS at 4K Ultra) is far from unplayable. The ranking of 987 suggests that while this combo performs admirably, there are many other configurations that achieve higher average frame rates, likely due to the game's reliance on single-threaded performance and the fact that the RTX 3080 Ti is not a bottleneck at most settings. The percentile data for the individual components supports this: the CPU is in the 94th percentile versus all CPUs, and the GPU is in the 83rd percentile versus all GPUs, indicating both are high-end parts whose combined performance is limited by the game's own engine rather than their own capabilities.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, with its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, provides a memory bandwidth of 912.4 GB/s. This is a substantial amount of bandwidth, and the data suggests it is more than sufficient for Barony. The game's measured frame rates at 4K Ultra (70 FPS) compared to 4K Low (154 FPS) show a 120% increase in performance when settings are lowered, which points to a GPU-bound scenario at the highest settings. The GPU's boost clock of 1665 MHz and its 10240 shading units are capable of handling the game's load, but the large drop from Low to Ultra settings indicates that the GPU is working harder at higher presets.

The GPU's VRAM capacity of 12 GB is unlikely to be a limiting factor in Barony, as the game's release date in 2015 suggests it was designed for much older hardware with far less memory. The data does not show any anomalies that would suggest VRAM limitations, such as severe frame rate drops or texture pop-in. The GPU's role in this combination is primarily to push higher resolutions and settings. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (466 FPS) versus 4K Low (154 FPS) shows a 202% drop in performance, which is a clear indication of the GPU being the scaling factor as resolution increases. The GPU is the component that determines the ceiling for frame rates at higher resolutions, while the CPU's strong single-threaded performance ensures that it does not become a bottleneck at lower resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are 466 FPS for Low, 347 FPS for Medium, 298 FPS for High, and 213 FPS for Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum FPS of 295 and a maximum of 399, indicating a stable frame time distribution. The jump from Ultra to High is a 40% improvement, while the jump from High to Medium is a 16% improvement, and the jump from Medium to Low is a 34% improvement. These percentages show that the Low preset is significantly faster than Medium, suggesting that the Medium preset may be introducing effects that are disproportionately costly on the GPU.

At 2560x1440, the average frame rates are 294 FPS for Low, 219 FPS for Medium, 188 FPS for High, and 135 FPS for Ultra. The Medium preset at this resolution shows a minimum of 186 FPS and a maximum of 252 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows an average decrease of 37% across all settings, with the Low preset dropping from 466 FPS to 294 FPS, which is a 37% reduction. The Ultra preset drops from 213 FPS to 135 FPS, which is a 37% reduction as well, indicating a consistent scaling factor based on the pixel count increase.

At 3840x2160, the average frame rates are 154 FPS for Low, 114 FPS for Medium, 98 FPS for High, and 70 FPS for Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 97 FPS and a maximum of 132 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 4K shows an average decrease of 46% across all settings. The Low preset drops from 294 FPS to 154 FPS, a 48% reduction, while the Ultra preset drops from 135 FPS to 70 FPS, a 48% reduction. The fact that the percentage decrease is nearly identical for Low and Ultra settings suggests that the scaling is primarily driven by the resolution and not by the complexity of the settings, which points to the GPU being the limiting component at all settings.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows that the FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial, with the average frame rates across all settings decreasing by roughly 67% when moving from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. For example, the High preset averages 298 FPS at 1080p, 188 FPS at 1440p, and 98 FPS at 4K. This represents a 37% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 48% drop from 1440p to 4K. The consistent percentage drops across different settings presets are a strong indicator that the GPU is the primary limiting factor when resolution increases.

The scaling behavior suggests that the CPU, with its 20 cores and 28 threads, is more than capable of feeding the GPU at all tested resolutions. Even at 1080p Low, where the average FPS is 466, the CPU does not appear to be a bottleneck, as the frame rates scale predictably with resolution. The GPU's workload increases with the number of pixels, and the measured data shows a clear correlation between pixel count and frame rate. The drop from 1080p to 4K is roughly in line with the 4x increase in pixel count, but not perfectly linear, which is expected due to other factors like memory bandwidth and shading complexity. This analysis indicates that for users looking to maximize frame rates, lowering the resolution is the most effective strategy, as the CPU can handle the additional load without issue.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 1440p monitor with a 144Hz refresh rate?

A: The Ultra preset at 2560x1440 averages 135 FPS, which is just below the 144Hz threshold. The High preset averages 188 FPS, providing a comfortable buffer. The data suggests that High is the better choice to fully utilize a 144Hz display, while Ultra is acceptable if you prefer maximum visual fidelity.

Q: Is the RTX 3080 Ti's 12 GB VRAM sufficient for Barony?

A: Yes, the data shows no evidence of VRAM limitations. Barony was released in 2015 and is not a VRAM-heavy game. The measured frame rates are consistently high across all settings, indicating that the 12 GB of GDDR6X memory is more than enough.

Q: How does the system perform at 4K resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, the average frame rates range from 70 FPS on Ultra to 154 FPS on Low. The High preset averages 98 FPS, which is a good balance for 4K gaming. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, but all presets are playable.

Q: Why is the Ultra preset so much slower than High?

A: The data shows that the Ultra preset is significantly more demanding. At 1080p, Ultra averages 213 FPS while High averages 298 FPS, a 40% difference. This indicates that the Ultra preset likely enables effects that are disproportionately costly for the GPU.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The data indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. The FPS drops consistently as resolution increases, while the CPU's strong performance is evidenced by the high frame rates at 1080p Low (466 FPS), which would not be possible if the CPU were a bottleneck.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other systems tested?

A: This combination ranks 987 out of 3717 tested combos for Barony. This places it in the top 26.5% of all configurations, which is a strong result given the game's low system requirements and the high frame rates achieved.