Barony

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows for Barony with this Intel Core i9-14900K and AMD Radeon RX 580 combination reveal a clear hierarchy across the four quality presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 152.9 FPS, which is the highest measured result for this combo at any resolution. Medium follows at 111.3 FPS, High at 99.9 FPS, and Ultra drops to 69.5 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is substantial — a 41.6 FPS difference — while the step from Medium to High is a more modest 11.4 FPS. This suggests diminishing returns in visual fidelity for the performance cost as you move up the preset ladder.

At 2560x1440, the pattern shifts. Low produces 97.2 FPS, Medium 73.1 FPS, and High 60.5 FPS. Ultra falls to 42.1 FPS. The delta between Low and Medium here is 24.1 FPS, and between Medium and High it is 12.6 FPS. At 3840x2160, the numbers compress significantly: Low averages 50.2 FPS, Medium 37.4 FPS, High 32.1 FPS, and Ultra 24.7 FPS. None of the 4K presets reach the 60 FPS threshold that many displays target.

For the best experience per the measured rows, the Medium preset at 1920x1080 stands out as the sweet spot. It provides 111.3 FPS, which is well above playability thresholds, while retaining more visual quality than Low. The High preset at the same resolution is also viable at 99.9 FPS, but the extra 11.4 FPS from dropping to Medium is more valuable for a fast-paced roguelike where smooth motion aids tactical decisions. At 2560x1440, Medium at 73.1 FPS is the recommended choice; High at 60.5 FPS is borderline but acceptable if visual detail takes priority. At 3840x2160, no preset delivers a comfortable margin above 60 FPS, with the best option being Low at 50.2 FPS — playable but not ideal for competitive scenarios.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank in Barony places this configuration at 1594 out of 1702 tested combinations. That is the 6th percentile, meaning 93.7% of tested combos outperform it. This is a striking result given the component lineup. The Intel Core i9-14900K is a 24-core, 32-thread processor with a boost clock of 6.00 GHz and a 97th percentile ranking among all CPUs in the database. Its average benchmark score is 79824, putting it 0.3% behind the AMD EPYC 7413, 0.7% ahead of both the Intel Core i9-14900KF and the Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF, and 0.9% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K. This is elite-level CPU performance.

The AMD Radeon RX 580, however, is a different story. It sits at the 53rd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 13559. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 at a 0% delta, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950 at 0.1%, the AMD Radeon Pro 455 at 1.1%, and the NVIDIA P106-090 at -1.1%. The GPU is essentially mid-pack in the broader database, but in this specific game, the combination lands near the bottom. The data implies that Barony's rendering demands are heavily weighted toward the GPU, and the RX 580's 8 GB of GDDR5 memory and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient to boost the combo beyond the low percentile. The CPU's strength is largely untapped here; the bottleneck is clearly on the graphics side.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 580 features 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock is 1257 MHz with a boost of 1340 MHz, and memory runs at 2000 MHz (8 Gbps effective). The chip is built on the 14 nm GCN 4.0 architecture with 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die. It has 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 32 raster output units. Pixel rate is 42.88 GPixel/s, texture rate is 193.0 GTexel/s, and FP32 performance is 6.175 TFLOPS.

In Barony, the GPU's influence is evident in the scaling of FPS with resolution. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset achieves 69.5 FPS, while at 2560x1440 it drops to 42.1 FPS, and at 3840x2160 it falls to 24.7 FPS. This is a direct consequence of the RX 580's fillrate and memory bandwidth being challenged as pixel count rises. The GPU's percentile rank of 53 indicates it is not a high-end part, and the measured FPS data confirms that it struggles to maintain high frame rates at elevated resolutions. The 8 GB VRAM is adequate for this game at 1080p, but the effective throughput limits headroom.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured results are: Low 152.9 FPS, Medium 111.3 FPS, High 99.9 FPS, Ultra 69.5 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 83.4 FPS, showing that the GPU has enough headroom at this resolution to benefit from lower settings. The step from Low to Medium costs 41.6 FPS, which is the largest single drop in this resolution band.

At 2560x1440, Low delivers 97.2 FPS, Medium 73.1 FPS, High 60.5 FPS, and Ultra 42.1 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra here is 55.1 FPS. Notably, the Low preset at 1440p (97.2 FPS) is barely below the High preset at 1080p (99.9 FPS), indicating that resolution scaling and preset scaling interact in a predictable manner.

At 3840x2160, Low averages 50.2 FPS, Medium 37.4 FPS, High 32.1 FPS, and Ultra 24.7 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra spread is 25.5 FPS, which is the narrowest of all resolutions. This compression suggests that at 4K, the GPU is saturated even at Low settings, and raising quality presets has a proportionally smaller impact because the rendering pipeline is already maxed out.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic. At the Low preset, 152.9 FPS at 1080p falls to 97.2 FPS at 1440p and then to 50.2 FPS at 4K. That is a 67.2% reduction from 1080p to 4K. At the Medium preset, 111.3 FPS drops to 73.1 FPS and then 37.4 FPS, a 66.4% decline. At High, 99.9 FPS goes to 60.5 FPS and 32.1 FPS, a 67.9% drop. At Ultra, 69.5 FPS falls to 42.1 FPS and 24.7 FPS, a 64.5% reduction.

These percentages are remarkably consistent across presets, hovering around 64-68% decline from 1080p to 4K. This consistency indicates that the limiting component scales in a uniform manner with pixel count. The RX 580's fillrate and bandwidth are the primary constraints, as the CPU's 24 cores and 32 threads are far more than Barony would require. The data implies that the GPU is the bottleneck at every resolution, and the CPU has significant idle headroom. The fact that the 4K numbers are so low, even at Low preset, reinforces that this GPU is not suited for 4K gaming in this title.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K is a 24-core, 32-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, fabricated on a 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.20 GHz and a boost clock of 6.00 GHz. Cache consists of 80 KB L1 per core, 2 MB L2 per core, and 36 MB of shared L3. It supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration. The processor's average benchmark score is 79824, and it ranks in the 97th percentile among all CPUs.

In Barony, the CPU's contribution is difficult to isolate from the measured FPS data alone, but the combo rank of 1594 out of 1702 suggests the GPU dominates the performance equation. The CPU's nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 7413 at -0.3%, the Intel Core i9-14900KF at 0.7%, the Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF at 0.7%, and the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K at 0.9%. These deltas are tiny, indicating that the 14900K is at the top of the CPU hierarchy. Yet this combo still ranks in the bottom 6% for Barony. The logical inference is that Barony is not CPU-bound; otherwise, this processor would boost the combo's standing. The data suggests that the game's rendering pipeline is heavily reliant on GPU throughput, and the RX 580's mid-pack performance (53rd percentile) is the decisive factor.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset for 1080p gaming with this combo?

A: The Medium preset at 1920x1080 delivers 111.3 FPS, which is the highest frame rate above the 100 FPS mark while retaining more visual detail than Low. High is close at 99.9 FPS, but Medium offers an 11.4 FPS advantage.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested Barony configurations?

A: It ranks 1594 out of 1702 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 6.3% of all tested combos.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in Barony?

A: The data points to the GPU. The CPU ranks in the 97th percentile among all processors, while the GPU ranks in the 53rd percentile. The consistent FPS drop across resolutions indicates GPU-bound behavior.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low averages 97.2 FPS and Ultra averages 42.1 FPS, a difference of 55.1 FPS.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Barony?

A: The highest 4K result is 50.2 FPS at Low settings. Medium is 37.4 FPS, High is 32.1 FPS, and Ultra is 24.7 FPS. None reach 60 FPS.

Q: How does the RX 580 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RX 580 has an average score of 13559. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 is at 0% delta, the GTX 950 is at 0.1%, the AMD Radeon Pro 455 is at 1.1%, and the NVIDIA P106-090 is at -1.1%.