Barony

The Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 delivers a performance profile in Barony that is heavily skewed by resolution and settings, with the CPU proving to be a formidable partner that allows the GPU to stretch its legs at lower resolutions. The data shows a clear and consistent scaling pattern from 1080p to 4K, revealing where the bottleneck shifts between the two primary components.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS drop from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 is substantial, but the magnitude of that drop is highly dependent on the quality preset. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 505.1 FPS at 1080p to 167.2 FPS at 4K, representing a reduction to roughly 33% of the original performance. This is a stark contrast to the High preset, which sees the average drop from 320.7 FPS at 1080p to 105.9 FPS at 4K, settling at about 33% as well, though the absolute numbers are lower.

The Ultra preset tells a similar story, with the average dropping from 231.8 FPS at 1080p to 75.4 FPS at 4K. The pattern is consistent: the jump from 1080p to 1440p incurs a significant penalty, but the leap from 1440p to 4K is even more punishing. For instance, at High settings, moving from 1080p to 1440p reduces the average from 320.7 FPS to 204.5 FPS, a loss of 116.2 FPS. The subsequent move to 4K reduces the average further to 105.9 FPS, a loss of 98.6 FPS.

This scaling behavior indicates that Barony is not particularly demanding on the GPU at lower resolutions, allowing the CPU to push extremely high frame rates. At 1080p Low, the 505.1 FPS average suggests the game is almost entirely CPU-bound at that point, as the RTX 5070 is capable of far more than what is being asked of it. As resolution increases, the pixel fill rate and shading demands grow, shifting the workload firmly onto the GPU. The 4K results, particularly the 75.4 FPS average on Ultra, demonstrate that at the highest fidelity, the RTX 5070 becomes the limiting factor, though the frame rate remains perfectly playable.

The data also shows that the gap between settings narrows as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 273.3 FPS, while at 4K that difference shrinks to 91.8 FPS. This is a classic sign of the GPU becoming the primary constraint, as the performance ceiling at higher resolutions is dictated more by the graphics card's compute capabilities than by the CPU's ability to feed it frames.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070, built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process, brings a substantial amount of hardware to bear on Barony. Its 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus provides a memory bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s, which is more than sufficient for the textures and geometry typically found in a roguelike of this scope. The core configuration includes 6144 shading units, 192 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output units, alongside 48 ray tracing cores and 192 tensor cores.

The clock speeds are notable, with a base clock of 2325 MHz and a boost clock of 2512 MHz. These frequencies, combined with the high core count, allow the GPU to maintain high throughput even when the resolution and settings scale up. In the context of Barony, the GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as the resolution rises. At 1080p, the GPU is often idle relative to its potential, as evidenced by the 505.1 FPS average on Low settings. However, at 4K Ultra, the GPU is working much harder, delivering a 75.4 FPS average that reflects the increased pixel workload.

The GPU's raw compute performance, as measured by its 30.87 TFLOPS of FP32 throughput, is a key factor in its ability to handle the 4K Ultra preset. The texture rate of 482.3 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 201.0 GPixel/s also play a role in maintaining those frame rates. The RTX 5070's performance in broader benchmarks, such as a Passmark G3D score of 29137, places it in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs, confirming its position as a high-end part. Its nearest rivals, according to the data, include the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, with very small deltaPct values indicating they are closely matched in aggregate performance.

The VRAM capacity of 12 GB is not likely to be a limiting factor in Barony, as the game's art style and asset complexity do not typically demand large frame buffers. The data suggests that the GPU's compute and memory bandwidth are the more relevant attributes, particularly when pushing 4K resolution.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K is a 20-core, 28-thread processor from the Raptor Lake Refresh generation, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. This configuration provides significant single-threaded and multi-threaded capability, which is crucial for a game that appears to scale well with CPU performance at lower resolutions. The processor's 33 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB L2 cache per core help reduce memory latency, which can be beneficial for game logic and physics.

The CPU's benchmark results are impressive, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44534 and a single-core score of 6287. Its average benchmark score of 70074 places it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, indicating it is one of the top-performing processors available. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-14700KF, which has a nearly identical average score with a 0% deltaPct, and the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X, which is 0.5% ahead.

In Barony, the CPU's role is most apparent at 1080p resolution, where the frame rates are exceptionally high. The 505.1 FPS average on Low settings suggests that the i7-14700K is able to feed the GPU with more than enough data to keep it busy, and the bottleneck is likely the game engine's draw call processing or other CPU-bound logic. As the resolution increases, the CPU's influence wanes, but it still provides a solid foundation to ensure that frame rates do not dip due to stutters or frame time inconsistencies. The processor's high boost clock of 5.60 GHz is particularly valuable for the single-threaded performance that many game engines rely on for main thread execution.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, the combination of the Intel Core i7-14700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 ranks 383rd out of 1702 tested combos for Barony. This places the combo in the top 22.5% of all systems tested, which is a strong showing given the vast number of potential component pairings. The rank reflects the balanced nature of the pair, where the CPU's high percentile standing (96th) is complemented by the GPU's solid 83rd percentile performance.

The ranking suggests that while this combo is not at the absolute top of the charts—which would likely be dominated by the most extreme CPUs and GPUs—it is well above the median. The data indicates that the combo is capable of delivering high frame rates across all resolutions and settings, with the only potential limitation being the GPU at 4K Ultra. The fact that the combo achieves a 75.4 FPS average at 4K Ultra means it can handle the most demanding settings in Barony, even if it is not the fastest possible configuration.

The ranking also implies that there are many other combos that perform better, but the i7-14700K and RTX 5070 pairing offers a level of performance that is likely sufficient for most users seeking a high refresh rate experience at 1440p or a solid 4K experience. The delta between this combo and the very top performers is not quantified in the data, but the rank of 383 out of 1702 indicates a comfortable position in the upper echelon.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across all resolution and settings combinations. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are exceptionally high, starting at 505.1 FPS on Low, dropping to 379.8 FPS on Medium, 320.7 FPS on High, and 231.8 FPS on Ultra. These numbers indicate that at 1080p, the system is almost never constrained by the GPU, and the CPU is the primary driver of performance.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average frame rates remain very high, with 320.6 FPS on Low, 238.3 FPS on Medium, 204.5 FPS on High, and 144.3 FPS on Ultra. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is noticeable but not severe, suggesting that the RTX 5070 is still able to handle the increased pixel count with relative ease. The 1440p Ultra result of 144.3 FPS is particularly strong, indicating that the combo can easily drive high refresh rate monitors at this resolution with maximum settings.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates are lower but still robust. The average is 167.2 FPS on Low, 122.1 FPS on Medium, 105.9 FPS on High, and 75.4 FPS on Ultra. The 4K Ultra result is the most demanding scenario, and while it is below the 100 FPS threshold, it remains a playable experience. The data shows a clear progression: as settings increase at a fixed resolution, the frame rate decreases, and as resolution increases at fixed settings, the frame rate also decreases. The combination of 4K and Ultra settings represents the most demanding configuration, yielding a 75.4 FPS average.

FAQ

*Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved by this combo in Barony?*

A: The highest average frame rate is 505.1 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the combo achieves an average frame rate of 75.4 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more of a limiting factor at 1080p?

A: The data suggests the CPU is the primary limiting factor at 1080p, as the frame rates are extremely high (e.g., 505.1 FPS on Low), indicating the GPU is not fully utilized.

Q: What is the difference in average FPS between 1080p High and 1440p High?

A: The average frame rate drops from 320.7 FPS at 1920x1080 High to 204.5 FPS at 2560x1440 High, a difference of 116.2 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 5070's benchmark score compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 5070 has an average benchmark score of 41687, with its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon Pro 5300, scoring 41610, a deltaPct of 0.2%. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 scores 41441, a deltaPct of 0.6%.

*Q: What is the rank of this combo among all tested combos in Barony?*

A: The combo ranks 383rd out of 1702 tested combos, placing it in the top 22.5% of all systems.