Barony

# Barony with Intel Core i7-14700KF + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080

The Intel Core i7-14700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 delivers exceptional performance in Barony, a roguelike title that proves surprisingly demanding at high settings. The combo ranks 244th out of 3717 tested combinations, placing it in the top 7% of all systems benchmarked in this game. Across the measured configurations, average frame rates range from 91 FPS at 4K Ultra to 600 FPS at 1080p Low, demonstrating that this hardware pairing has substantial headroom for virtually any display configuration.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and boosts up to 5.60 GHz, with a 125 W TDP. The processor features 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 2 MB of L2 cache per core, and 33 MB of shared L3 cache. Memory support includes both DDR4 and DDR5 across a dual-channel bus, and the CPU provides PCIe Gen 5 with 16 lanes.

In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44167 and a single-core score of 6235, alongside a Geekbench multi-core score of 21462 and single-core score of 2578. The Passmark multi-thread score stands at 52425 with a single-thread score of 4480. The CPU's average benchmark score is 70163, placing it in the 94th percentile against all CPUs tested.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the i7-14700KF shows tight competition. The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F scores 69996, a mere 0.2% behind, while the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX scores 69875, 0.4% behind. The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X trails by 0.9% with a score of 69515. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K leads slightly with 70879, a 1% advantage over this chip.

For Barony specifically, the CPU's role appears most pronounced at lower resolutions where frame rates become extremely high. At 1080p Low, the system produces 600 FPS average, which suggests the processor's strong single-thread performance — evidenced by the 6235 Cinebench R23 single-core score — is sufficient to feed the GPU at these elevated rates. The 20-core configuration provides ample multi-threading headroom for background tasks and any game logic that might scale across cores, though Barony's roguelike nature likely benefits more from the high boost clock than from raw core count.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-14700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 achieves a rank of 244 out of 3717 tested combos in Barony, placing it in the top 6.6% of all systems. This ranking reflects the balanced nature of the pairing — neither component appears to bottleneck the other significantly across the measured scenarios.

The percentile position is consistent with what the individual component benchmarks suggest. The CPU sits in the 94th percentile among all processors, while the GPU holds an 86th percentile rank among all graphics cards. The combined system performance in Barony slightly exceeds what either component's percentile alone would predict, indicating that this pairing is well-matched for this particular title.

At 1080p Ultra, the system produces 274 FPS, which is substantially higher than the 144 Hz refresh rate common on gaming monitors. Even at 4K Ultra, the 91 FPS average remains comfortably above 60 FPS, making this combo suitable for high-refresh-rate 4K displays. The rank of 244 suggests there are 243 combinations that perform better, but given the measured frame rates, those systems likely feature even higher-end components such as the RTX 4090 or newer generation flagships.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals how Barony scales across resolutions. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 383 FPS at 1080p to 242 FPS at 1440p, a 37% reduction, and then to 126 FPS at 4K, a further 48% reduction. This scaling pattern indicates that the GPU becomes progressively more limiting as resolution increases, which is expected for a title that is not heavily CPU-bound at higher resolutions.

At Low settings, the scaling is even more dramatic: 600 FPS at 1080p falls to 379 FPS at 1440p (37% lower) and then to 198 FPS at 4K (48% lower from 1440p). The 1080p Low figure of 600 FPS suggests the system may be hitting a CPU or engine-level cap, as the RTX 4080 is unlikely to be the limiting factor at such a high frame rate with minimal graphics load.

Medium settings show a similar trend, with 446 FPS at 1080p, 281 FPS at 1440p, and 147 FPS at 4K. The min FPS values at Medium settings are 379, 239, and 125 FPS respectively, while max FPS reaches 513, 324, and 169 FPS. The spread between min and max frames at Medium settings ranges from 35% at 1080p to 30% at 4K, suggesting some frame time variability that becomes less pronounced at higher resolutions where the GPU is more consistently utilized.

Ultra settings produce the lowest frame rates: 274 FPS at 1080p, 173 FPS at 1440p, and 91 FPS at 4K. The reduction from 1080p to 1440p is 37%, and from 1440p to 4K is 47%, following the same proportional pattern as other settings. This consistent scaling across all four quality presets indicates that the RTX 4080's rendering workload scales predictably with resolution, and the CPU maintains adequate performance headroom throughout.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1440p offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. At High settings, the system delivers 242 FPS at 1440p, which is more than sufficient for high-refresh-rate monitors, while 4K High still provides a strong 126 FPS. For those prioritizing maximum frame rates, 1080p High reaches 383 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its closest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4080 has an average benchmark score of 54247, placing it in the 86th percentile. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER, scores 54209, which is just 0.1% lower. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54828, 1.1% higher, while the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB scores 55698, 2.6% higher than the RTX 4080.

Q: Is the Core i7-14700KF a bottleneck for the RTX 4080 in this game?

A: Benchmark results indicate the CPU is not a significant bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 600 FPS, suggesting the CPU can drive frame rates well beyond typical display refresh rates. The CPU's 94th percentile ranking and strong single-core performance (6235 in Cinebench R23) support this conclusion.

Q: What kind of frame rate can I expect at 4K Ultra settings?

A: The measured data shows an average of 91 FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings. This is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay and indicates the RTX 4080 handles Barony's maximum quality settings at 4K without difficulty.

Q: How does the CPU compare to the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X?

A: The Core i7-14700KF has an average benchmark score of 70163, while the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X scores 69515. This represents a 0.9% advantage for the Intel processor. The Ryzen 9 7940HX scores 69875, 0.4% behind the i7-14700KF.

Q: Does the system maintain consistent frame times at Medium settings?

A: At Medium settings, the min-to-max FPS spread is relatively consistent. At 1080p, the range is 379 to 513 FPS (134 FPS spread), at 1440p it is 239 to 324 FPS (85 FPS spread), and at 4K it is 125 to 169 FPS (44 FPS spread). The proportional spread narrows at higher resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using TSMC's 5 nm process, with the AD103 chip containing 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2205 MHz and boosts to 2505 MHz, with memory running at 1400 MHz (22.4 Gbps effective). It features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth.

The GPU contains 9728 shading units, 304 texture mapping units, and 112 raster operation units, along with 76 ray tracing cores and 304 tensor cores. Its compute capabilities include 48.74 TFLOPS for both FP32 and FP16 operations, a pixel rate of 280.6 GPixel/s, and a texture rate of 761.5 GTexel/s. The card has a 320 W TDP and requires a 700 W power supply, connecting via a single 16-pin power connector.

In synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 4080 achieves a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6567, a Geekbench OpenCL score of 214739, and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 263779. The Passmark G3D score is 34457 with a GPU compute score of 20671. The average benchmark score of 54247 places the GPU in the 86th percentile among all graphics cards.

For Barony, the GPU's role becomes increasingly important at higher resolutions. The transition from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings shows a 67% reduction in frame rate (from 274 to 91 FPS), which points to the GPU being the primary scaling factor. The 16 GB of VRAM provides substantial headroom for texture-heavy scenes, and the 716.8 GB/s memory bandwidth supports the high frame rates observed at 1440p and below.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the High preset delivers the most balanced experience across all resolutions. At 1080p, High produces 383 FPS, which is 14% lower than Medium's 446 FPS but 40% higher than Ultra's 274 FPS. The visual quality improvement from Medium to High typically justifies this frame rate difference in most titles.

At 1440p, High achieves 242 FPS, which remains well above the 144 Hz refresh rate that most high-refresh monitors support. The step to Ultra reduces performance to 173 FPS, still sufficient for 144 Hz displays, but the additional 69 FPS from using High provides more headroom for demanding scenes.

For 4K, High delivers 126 FPS, which is ideal for 120 Hz displays. Ultra drops to 91 FPS, which remains playable on 60 Hz panels but may not fully utilize higher refresh rates. The Medium preset at 4K offers 147 FPS, providing a middle ground for those who want higher frame rates without the visual quality loss associated with Low settings.

The Low preset produces extremely high frame rates (600 FPS at 1080p, 379 FPS at 1440p, 198 FPS at 4K), but the visual quality reduction is likely unnecessary given the performance available at High settings. For competitive play where maximum frame rates matter, Low at 1440p provides 379 FPS, which exceeds the capabilities of most high-refresh displays.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers 383 FPS on High settings, 446 FPS on Medium, 600 FPS on Low, and 274 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 379 FPS and a maximum of 513 FPS, indicating a 134 FPS variance during gameplay.

At 2560x1440, High settings produce 242 FPS, Medium delivers 281 FPS (with a minimum of 239 and maximum of 324), Low reaches 379 FPS, and Ultra achieves 173 FPS. The frame rate drops from 1080p to 1440p range from 37% at High to 39% at Ultra settings.

At 3840x2160, High settings yield 126 FPS, Medium produces 147 FPS (minimum 125, maximum 169), Low achieves 198 FPS, and Ultra delivers 91 FPS. The reduction from 1440p to 4K ranges from 47% at Ultra to 48% at Low, showing consistent scaling behavior.

The overall trends indicate that the RTX 4080 provides diminishing returns at 1080p where the CPU becomes more relevant, while at 4K the GPU's rendering capabilities are more fully exercised. The 91 FPS at 4K Ultra represents the most demanding scenario measured, while the 600 FPS at 1080p Low represents the least demanding, spanning a 6.6x performance range across all tested configurations.