Barony

The Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 delivers extraordinary performance in Barony, a roguelike title that is clearly not demanding by modern standards. The measured frame rates are exceptionally high across all tested configurations, often exceeding the refresh rates of even the best high-end monitors. This combination ranks 72nd out of 1,702 tested combos, placing it in the top 4.2% of all systems evaluated for this game. The data shows a platform that is massively overqualified for the task, delivering playable performance at every setting and resolution tested.

Settings Recommendations

For this specific CPU and GPU pairing, the choice of settings is less about achieving playability and more about maximizing visual fidelity or frame rate headroom. At 1080p, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 290.5 FPS, which is already far beyond the capability of most displays. The High preset at the same resolution yields 404.8 FPS, while Medium reaches 474.8 FPS and Low hits a staggering 634.2 FPS.

Given the immense performance on tap, the recommended preset is Ultra at 1080p or 1440p. The step from Ultra to High at 1440p provides a significant frame rate increase from 187.2 FPS to 256.0 FPS, but the visual compromise may not be worth it on a roguelike with relatively simple graphics. At 4K, the Ultra preset drops to 98.5 FPS, which is still perfectly smooth for the genre, but the High preset at 135.8 FPS offers a better balance for those seeking higher refresh rates. The data suggests that High is the sweet spot for 4K, while Ultra is the best choice for 1440p and below, as the performance penalty is minimal in absolute terms and the visual upgrade is guaranteed.

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. It features 33 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory. In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU shows strong multi-threaded performance with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44,534 and a single-core score of 6,287. Its average benchmark score of 70,074 places it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs.

The role of the CPU in Barony is largely peripheral, given the game's nature. The measured frame rates, even at Low settings, are so high that the processor is never a bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the system produces 634.2 FPS, and even at 4K Ultra, the frame rate remains above 98 FPS. The data indicates that the i7-14700K’s high single-core performance, evidenced by its Geekbench single-core score of 2,932, is more than sufficient to feed the GPU. Its multi-core capabilities, shown in the Cinebench R20 multi-core score of 18,704, are largely irrelevant for this title, but they do not hurt. Compared to its nearest rivals, the i7-14700K is statistically tied with the Intel Core i7-14700KF (0% delta) and the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X (-0.5% delta), showing that its processing power is competitive with the best available, even if this game does not exploit it.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is a Blackwell 2.0 architecture GPU with 10,752 shading units and 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s. Its boost clock is 2,617 MHz, and it delivers a formidable FP32 performance of 56.28 TFLOPS. The GPU’s average benchmark score of 59,188 places it in the 89th percentile of all GPUs. In the Passmark G3D test, it scores 36,565, and in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it achieves 8,637.

In Barony, the GPU is the primary driver of performance differences across resolutions and settings, but its headroom is immense. The measured data shows that the RTX 5080 can handle the game’s rendering demands with ease. At 4K, the transition from Low to Ultra settings shows a clear scaling pattern: 209.8 FPS at Low, 158.3 FPS at Medium, 135.8 FPS at High, and 98.5 FPS at Ultra. This indicates that the GPU is doing the heavy lifting when visual complexity increases. The 16 GB of VRAM is more than adequate for the title, and the high memory bandwidth ensures that texture streaming is not an issue. The GPU’s performance is so high that it is likely the limiting factor only at 4K Ultra, where the frame rate drops to just under 100 FPS. Compared to its nearest rivals, the RTX 5080 is 1.6% ahead of the Intel Arc A570M and 2.5% ahead of the Intel Arc A580, but it trails the Intel Arc Pro A60 by 1.9%.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-14700K and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 achieves a rank of 72 out of 1,702 tested combos for Barony. This places the system in the top 4.2% of all configurations, which is an exceptional result. The high rank is primarily due to the sheer horsepower of both components, even though the game does not heavily stress either one. The data indicates that this combo outperforms the vast majority of systems, with only 71 other combinations producing higher average frame rates. This ranking confirms the balance of the pairing, as the CPU’s strong single-thread performance and the GPU’s massive rasterization power complement each other well, ensuring no single component drags down the overall result. The fact that this combo ranks so highly suggests that it is overkill for Barony, but it also guarantees that users will have a flawless experience with no frame rate dips, regardless of the in-game action.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows how the system scales from 1080p to 4K, revealing the nature of the bottleneck at different settings. At 1080p Low, the system produces 634.2 FPS, which drops to 400.8 FPS at 1440p and further to 209.8 FPS at 4K. This represents a 33.8% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 47.7% drop from 1440p to 4K. Similarly, at Ultra settings, the frame rate goes from 290.5 FPS at 1080p to 187.2 FPS at 1440p (a 35.6% drop) and then to 98.5 FPS at 4K (a 47.4% drop from 1440p).

The pattern of percentage drops is consistent across all settings, indicating that the scaling is resolution-bound rather than settings-bound. This suggests that the GPU is the primary limiting factor as resolution increases, which is expected given the massive pixel count at 4K. However, even at 4K Ultra, the system maintains an average of 98.5 FPS, showing that the RTX 5080 has enough headroom to handle the resolution without dropping below playable levels. The data implies that the CPU is not a limiting factor at any resolution, as the frame rates remain high even at 1080p where CPU load is typically highest. The consistent scaling pattern across settings confirms that the GPU is the main driver of performance changes with resolution, while the CPU’s role remains static and sufficient.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers exceptional performance across all settings. The Low preset achieves an average of 634.2 FPS, which is the highest measured frame rate in the entire dataset. The Medium preset produces 474.8 FPS, while High yields 404.8 FPS. The Ultra preset, which is the most demanding, still manages an average of 290.5 FPS. These numbers indicate that at 1080p, the system is heavily CPU-bound at lower settings, as the frame rates are so high that the GPU has ample time to render each frame.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains extremely high but shows the expected drop from 1080p. The Low preset averages 400.8 FPS, which is a significant decrease from 1080p but still far beyond any display’s refresh rate. Medium achieves 299.9 FPS, High reaches 256.0 FPS, and Ultra produces 187.2 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at this resolution shows a 53.3% reduction in frame rate, indicating that the GPU is becoming more involved as settings increase.

At 3840x2160, the performance is still impressive but begins to show the limits of the GPU. The Low preset averages 209.8 FPS, which is more than enough for smooth gameplay. Medium drops to 158.3 FPS, High to 135.8 FPS, and Ultra to 98.5 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is a 53.1% reduction, similar to the scaling seen at 1440p. This consistency suggests that the GPU is scaling predictably with settings, and the system remains highly playable even at the most demanding configuration. Overall, the measured FPS breakdown shows a system that is capable of running Barony at maximum settings with high frame rates at any resolution, with the only caveat being that 4K Ultra dips below 100 FPS, which is still well within the playable range for this genre.