Barony

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic GPU-bound curve, but with an unusual twist at the top end. At 1080p Ultra, the combo produces 199.8 FPS. Moving to 1440p Ultra drops that to 128.3 FPS, a 35.8% reduction. Going further to 4K Ultra yields 68.5 FPS, which is a 46.6% drop from 1440p and a 65.7% drop from 1080p. This steep decline indicates the Radeon RX 9070 is the limiting factor at higher resolutions when settings are maxed.

However, the scaling pattern shifts dramatically at lower settings. At Low settings, the combo delivers 444.2 FPS at 1080p, 282.1 FPS at 1440p, and 149 FPS at 4K. The 1080p-to-1440p drop here is 36.5%, nearly identical to the Ultra percentage. Yet the 1440p-to-4K drop is 47.2%, slightly steeper than Ultra's 46.6%. This suggests that even at Low settings, the GPU remains the bottleneck at 4K, but the CPU begins to show its headroom at 1080p where the frame rates exceed 400.

The Medium preset tells a similar story: 330 FPS at 1080p, 205.5 FPS at 1440p, and 110.2 FPS at 4K. The High preset shows 284.5 FPS, 180.7 FPS, and 91.7 FPS respectively. Across all settings, the 1080p-to-4K ratio hovers between 2.2x and 3.0x, which is consistent with a GPU that has substantial compute resources but is not infinitely scalable. The Core i7-14700KF's 20 cores and 28 threads are clearly not the limiting factor at 1080p, as evidenced by the 444.2 FPS Low result — the GPU is still delivering plenty of frames even when the CPU has to feed it.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of Intel Core i7-14700KF and AMD Radeon RX 9070 ranks 550th out of 1702 tested combos in Barony. That places it in the 67.7th percentile of all tested configurations, meaning roughly one-third of tested combos outperform it while two-thirds fall below. The rank is notable because both components individually sit in high percentiles — the CPU is in the 96th percentile among all CPUs, and the GPU is in the 79th percentile among all GPUs — yet the combined result is more modest.

The CPU's nearest rivals show how close the top tier is: the i7-14700KF averages 70104 in synthetic benchmarks, nearly identical to the Intel Core i7-14700K at 70074 (0% delta), the AMD EPYC 9115 at 69887 (0.3% higher performance for the rival), and the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X at 70420 (0.4% lower for the i7). The Intel Xeon Platinum 8270 leads at 71056, 1.3% ahead. These deltas are all within noise, meaning the CPU is performing exactly as expected for its class.

For the GPU, the RX 9070's average benchmark score of 34780 places it near the NVIDIA A2 (34866, 0.2% behind), the NVIDIA Quadro GV100 (34677, 0.3% ahead), the AMD Radeon HD 7970 (34541, 0.7% ahead), and the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 (34511, 0.8% ahead). The fact that these rival deltas are all under 1% underscores that the RX 9070 is a mid-pack performer in the broader GPU landscape, which explains why the combo rank is not higher despite the strong CPU.

Settings Recommendations

The data clearly favors the High preset as the best experience for this combo. At 1440p High, the combo produces 180.7 FPS, which is well above the 144Hz refresh rate most gamers target, while still delivering the visual quality that the High preset implies. At 4K High, the 91.7 FPS result is playable but not ideal for competitive play; those seeking 4K should consider Medium at 110.2 FPS or Low at 149 FPS.

Ultra is the outlier. At 1440p Ultra, the combo drops to 128.3 FPS — still respectable, but the 52.4 FPS gap between High and Ultra at 1440p is steep for what is likely a marginal visual improvement. At 4K Ultra, the 68.5 FPS result is the only sub-60 FPS reading in the entire dataset, and it barely clears the 60 FPS threshold. The recommendation is to skip Ultra unless the game's specific visual features justify the frame rate cost.

For 1080p users, the Medium preset at 330 FPS or High at 284.5 FPS are both excellent choices. The Low preset's 444.2 FPS is excessive for any current display and suggests the CPU-GPU combo is overdelivering at this resolution. The sweet spot is 1440p High, offering a balanced 180.7 FPS that takes advantage of both the CPU's single-thread performance and the GPU's 16 GB of memory.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo ranges from 444.2 FPS on Low to 199.8 FPS on Ultra. Medium lands at 330 FPS, and High at 284.5 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra is 55% — meaning Ultra delivers less than half the frame rate of Low. This is a wide spread that indicates the GPU's shading units (3584) and texture units (224) are being fully utilized at higher settings.

At 2560x1440, the results are 282.1 FPS (Low), 205.5 FPS (Medium), 180.7 FPS (High), and 128.3 FPS (Ultra). The Low-to-Ultra drop is 54.5%, nearly identical to 1080p's 55%. This consistency suggests the GPU's compute resources scale linearly with settings regardless of resolution, which is characteristic of a well-balanced architecture.

At 3840x2160, the results are 149 FPS (Low), 110.2 FPS (Medium), 91.7 FPS (High), and 68.5 FPS (Ultra). The Low-to-Ultra drop is 54%, again consistent. However, the absolute numbers show the GPU struggling at 4K Ultra, where the 68.5 FPS average is only 15.4% above the 60 FPS baseline. The 4K Low result of 149 FPS demonstrates that the RX 9070 has enough raw bandwidth — 644.6 GB/s across a 256-bit bus — to handle 4K when settings are reduced.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070's 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus delivers 644.6 GB/s of bandwidth. This is sufficient for Barony's roguelike visuals at 4K, where even the Ultra preset only demands enough memory throughput for the 68.5 FPS result. The 4K Low result of 149 FPS indicates that memory bandwidth is not a bottleneck at lower settings, but the Ultra preset's 68.5 FPS suggests that the GPU's compute units are the limiting factor.

The GPU's boost clock of 2520 MHz and game clock of 2070 MHz, with a base clock of 1330 MHz, show a significant boost range that helps maintain frame rates. The 128 ROPs and 322.6 GPixel/s pixel rate are directly relevant to Barony's rendering, as the game's pixel-heavy effects at Ultra settings cause the largest FPS drops. The 56 ray tracing cores are present but Barony does not appear to be RT-heavy based on the measured FPS, which remain high even at 1080p Ultra.

The RX 9070's passmark G3D score of 25381 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6290 place it in the 79th percentile of all GPUs. This is a solid mid-to-high tier position, but the nearest rivals — all within 0.8% — show that the GPU is not an outlier in either direction. The 220 W TDP and PCIe 5.0 x16 interface provide ample bandwidth for the game, and the 4 nm process node from TSMC keeps power efficiency reasonable.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF's 20 cores and 28 threads, with a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, provide exceptional headroom for Barony. The 1080p Low result of 444.2 FPS demonstrates that the CPU can feed the GPU far more frames than any current display can show. The 33 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache are well-suited for the game's procedural generation and entity management, which benefit from large caches.

The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44557 and single-core score of 6290 place it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs. This explains why the combo never appears CPU-limited: even at 1080p Low, where the GPU has to work hardest to keep up with the CPU's frame generation, the results remain above 400 FPS. The Geekbench multi-core score of 19287 and single-core of 2972 reinforce this picture.

The nearest rivals show the CPU is performing as expected: the i7-14700K at 70074 average score (0% delta), the EPYC 9115 at 69887 (0.3% ahead for the rival), and the Ryzen 9 9950X at 70420 (0.4% ahead for the rival). The Xeon Platinum 8270 at 71056 is 1.3% ahead, but this is within normal variation for high-end desktop CPUs. The 125 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 compatibility make this a straightforward high-performance choice.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Barony?

A: 1440p High provides 180.7 FPS, which is the best balance of visual quality and frame rate. At 4K, the combo drops to 91.7 FPS on High and 68.5 FPS on Ultra, making 1440p the recommended resolution.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rivals?

A: The Core i7-14700KF averages 70104 in synthetic benchmarks, which is within 0.4% of the Ryzen 9 9950X (70420) and within 0.3% of the EPYC 9115 (69887). It is 1.3% behind the Xeon Platinum 8270 (71056).

Q: Is the GPU capable of 4K gaming in Barony?

A: Yes, but only at lower settings. The RX 9070 delivers 149 FPS at 4K Low, 110.2 FPS at 4K Medium, and 91.7 FPS at 4K High. Ultra drops to 68.5 FPS, which is barely above the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at 1080p?

A: No. The 1080p Low result of 444.2 FPS and 1080p Medium of 330 FPS show the CPU is feeding the GPU faster than needed. The combo ranks 550th of 1702 in-game, indicating no single-component bottleneck.

Q: How much FPS does Ultra cost compared to High?

A: At 1080p, Ultra drops from High's 284.5 FPS to 199.8 FPS, a 29.8% reduction. At 1440p, it drops from 180.7 to 128.3 FPS (29.0% reduction). At 4K, it drops from 91.7 to 68.5 FPS (25.3% reduction).

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking in Barony?

A: The Intel Core i7-14700KF + AMD Radeon RX 9070 ranks 550th out of 1702 tested combos, placing it in the upper third of all configurations tested for this game.