Barony

Barony, a roguelike title from 2015, proves remarkably forgiving to high-end hardware. The Intel Core i9-14900K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 delivers frame rates that far exceed display refresh rate capabilities at every tested resolution. The data shows a combination that is almost entirely GPU-bound at higher resolutions, while the CPU's substantial headroom becomes apparent only at 1080p, where the frame rate ceiling is reached.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and clearly demonstrates the transition from a CPU-limited scenario to a GPU-limited one. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 600 FPS at 1920x1080 to 379 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 221 FPS. Pushing further to 3840x2160 yields 198 FPS, which is a 402 FPS drop from the 1080p figure. This indicates that at 1080p, the game is hitting a hard ceiling imposed by the CPU's single-thread performance or the game engine's draw call throughput, as the GPU is capable of far more.

The scaling pattern is consistent across all settings presets. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 383 at 1080p to 242 at 1440p (a 141 FPS decrease) and then to 126 at 4K (a 257 FPS decrease from 1080p). The Medium preset shows a similar trend: 446 FPS at 1080p, 281 FPS at 1440p, and 147 FPS at 4K. Even at the most demanding Ultra preset, the frame rate remains exceptionally high, with 274 FPS at 1080p, 173 FPS at 1440p, and 91 FPS at 4K.

The frame time data available for the Medium preset reinforces the scaling analysis. At 1080p Medium, the minimum FPS is 379 and the maximum is 513, showing a wide variance and suggesting that the CPU is struggling to maintain a consistent frame pacing. At 1440p Medium, the minimum is 239 and the maximum is 324, while at 4K Medium, the minimum is 125 and the maximum is 169. The narrowing gap between minimum and maximum FPS as resolution increases supports the conclusion that the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck, smoothing out the frame delivery.

This data reveals a system that is massively over-provisioned for Barony. The resolution scaling is not linear, with the most significant absolute drops occurring between 1080p and 1440p, indicating that the CPU headroom is exhausted quickly when the resolution increases. The game is clearly limited by the GPU at 4K, but the GPU is so powerful that even the 4K Ultra preset, which yields 91 FPS, remains perfectly playable on high-refresh-rate displays.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the dominant component in determining performance at resolutions above 1080p. Its specifications, including 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus with 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth, are far beyond what a game like Barony requires. The data shows that the GPU's role is primarily to render the scene at the target resolution, and its immense compute power is the reason for the high frame rates.

The GPU’s clock speeds are also a factor. With a base clock of 2205 MHz and a boost clock of 2505 MHz, the RTX 4080 can sustain high throughput. The memory clock of 1400 MHz, or 22.4 Gbps effective, provides the necessary bandwidth for the 16 GB frame buffer, though a game with simple textures like Barony likely does not stress this resource. The 48.74 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power is overkill for the game's shader complexity.

The benchmark results for the RTX 4080 place it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54247. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER, has an average score of 54209, which is a 0.1% delta, indicating near-identical performance. The data suggests that the GPU is not the limiting factor at 1080p, as evidenced by the 600 FPS result on Low settings, a figure that is more likely capped by the CPU or the game engine's internal limits rather than the GPU's pixel throughput.

The 4K Ultra result of 91 FPS is the only scenario where the GPU’s workload appears significant. This represents a substantial drop from the 126 FPS at 4K High, showing that the Ultra preset likely introduces effects and draw distances that heavily tax the GPU’s shading units and ROPs. However, even this lowest measured result is far above the 60 FPS target that most games aim for, confirming that the RTX 4080 has ample headroom for this title.

How This Combo Ranks

In the comprehensive database of tested combinations, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i9-14900K and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 holds a rank of 244 out of 3717 total combos. This places it in the top 6.6% of all systems tested for Barony. This high ranking is expected, given the caliber of both components.

The ranking reflects the system's ability to maintain high frame rates across all settings, but it is particularly notable for its 1080p performance, where it achieves a maximum of 600 FPS. The i9-14900K's single-thread performance is a key contributor here, as Barony is a game that likely benefits from high clock speeds. The CPU's 6.00 GHz boost clock is among the highest available, ensuring that the GPU is fed with data as fast as possible.

While the combo rank is high, it is not at the very top, which is reserved for systems with even more powerful GPUs like the RTX 4090 or those with specialized CPUs that might have better memory latency characteristics for this specific game engine. The data indicates that the bottleneck at 4K is the GPU, so a system with a slightly less powerful CPU but a more powerful GPU would likely rank higher at that resolution. Conversely, this combo excels at 1080p, where the CPU's strength is fully utilized, making it one of the best configurations for esports-style play or for users with 540Hz monitors.

The deltaPct values for the CPU's nearest rivals show a tight cluster of performance. The i9-14900K is 0.3% behind the i9-14900KF, 0.6% behind the Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus, and 1.2% behind the AMD EPYC 7413. This indicates that the CPU choice has a negligible impact on the overall combo rank, as the differences are within the margin of error. The GPU is the primary differentiator in the ranking.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of how each preset scales. For users with a 4K display, the High preset at 126 FPS is the optimal balance, providing a significant boost over the 91 FPS of the Ultra preset while still maintaining a very high frame rate. The jump from High to Ultra costs 35 FPS, which is a 27.8% performance penalty, a steep price for what are likely subtle visual improvements in a roguelike game with a pixel-art aesthetic.

At 2560x1440, the High preset delivers 242 FPS, which is an excellent result for high-refresh-rate gaming. The Medium preset at 281 FPS is also viable, but the 39 FPS gain may not justify the visual downgrade. The Ultra preset at 173 FPS is still exceptionally smooth and can be chosen for maximum visual fidelity without any concern for playability.

For 1920x1080, the limiting factor is no longer the GPU but the CPU. The Low preset achieves 600 FPS, while the High preset achieves 383 FPS. The Ultra preset at 274 FPS is the most demanding setting and still provides a frame rate that exceeds the refresh rate of all but the most extreme gaming monitors. The data suggests that at 1080p, users should select the Ultra preset to get the best visuals, as the performance is already so high that lower presets offer diminishing returns.

The Medium preset provides the only min/max FPS data, which shows frame pacing. At 4K, the range is 125-169 FPS, at 1440p it is 239-324 FPS, and at 1080p it is 379-513 FPS. These ranges are wide, indicating frame time variance, but the average FPS is high enough that this variance is unlikely to be perceptible to the user.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average frame rate achieved by this combo?

A: The highest recorded average FPS is 600, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: How does the frame rate drop between 1440p and 4K at High settings?

A: The average FPS drops from 242 at 2560x1440 to 126 at 3840x2160, a reduction of 116 FPS.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested systems?

A: The Intel Core i9-14900K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combo ranks 244th out of 3717 tested combinations.

Q: Is the system more CPU-limited or GPU-limited at 4K?

A: At 4K, the system is GPU-limited, as evidenced by the significant FPS drops when increasing resolution and settings, such as the drop from 126 FPS at High to 91 FPS at Ultra.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The lowest average FPS is 91, recorded at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings.

Q: Which setting preset provides the highest FPS at 1440p?

A: The Low preset provides the highest FPS at 2560x1440, achieving an average of 379 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K plays a critical role in ensuring the GPU is not starved of data, especially at 1080p. With 24 cores and 32 threads, the CPU has immense parallel processing power, but for a game like Barony, the single-thread performance is more relevant. The CPU's boost clock of 6.00 GHz is exceptionally high, and the benchmark data shows strong single-core performance, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2262.5 and a Geekbench single-core score of 2655.

The CPU's 36 MB of shared L3 cache is also likely beneficial for game logic and AI calculations, which are common in roguelike games. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system hits 600 FPS, which is likely a cap imposed by the game engine or the CPU's ability to process game state updates. The fact that the FPS does not scale linearly with resolution at this setting suggests that the CPU is the bottleneck.

The CPU's memory support for DDR4 and DDR5, with a dual-channel bus, provides ample bandwidth for the game. The architecture, Raptor Lake, is known for its high clock speeds and strong IPC (instructions per clock), which are ideal for gaming workloads. The CPU's percentile ranking of 95 against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 79097, confirms its position as a top-tier gaming processor.

The benchmark scores for the CPU, such as the Passmark single-thread score of 4697 and the Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 39399.5, demonstrate that it has both the single-thread agility and the multi-core muscle for any workload. However, in Barony, the single-thread capabilities are what allow the 600 FPS result at 1080p, as the game's logic likely runs on one or two threads. The CPU's high clock speed is the primary driver of this performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table details the exact average FPS measured for each resolution and settings preset combination:

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS |

| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |

| 3840x2160 | High | 126 | - | - |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 198 | - | - |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 147 | 125 | 169 |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 91 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | High | 242 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 379 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 281 | 239 | 324 |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 173 | - | - |

| 1920x1080 | High | 383 | - | - |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 600 | - | - |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 446 | 379 | 513 |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 274 | - | - |

The data shows a clear hierarchy. At 4K, the Ultra preset is the most demanding, yielding 91 FPS, while the Low preset is the least demanding, yielding 198 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra at 4K is 35 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset includes significantly more demanding effects.

At 1440p, the spread is wider, with the Low preset at 379 FPS and the Ultra preset at 173 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum FPS of 239 suggests that even at this resolution, there can be occasional frame drops, though the average of 281 FPS is still excellent.

At 1080p, the results are exceptional across the board. Even the Ultra preset achieves 274 FPS, which is more than enough for any current display. The Low preset's 600 FPS result is likely a hard cap, either from the engine or the measurement tool, and demonstrates that the CPU and GPU combo is not stressed at this resolution. The min FPS values for the Medium preset at 1080p (379 FPS) are higher than the average FPS for the High preset at 1440p (242 FPS), illustrating the dramatic impact of resolution on performance.