Barony

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i9-14900K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER lands at rank 130 out of 1702 tested combos in Barony. That places this configuration in the top 7.6% of all tested systems, a strong showing for a roguelike title that is not typically associated with demanding hardware requirements. The ranking suggests that this combo sits comfortably in the upper echelon of performance, though the substantial gap between this position and the very top indicates there are still faster combinations available for those seeking absolute maximum frame rates.

What makes this ranking particularly interesting is the context of the individual components. The CPU holds a 97th percentile position among all processors, while the GPU sits at the 88th percentile among all graphics cards. The discrepancy between these two percentiles hints at an interesting dynamic: the processor is relatively stronger than the graphics card in the broader hardware landscape, yet the combo still achieves a top-tier ranking. This suggests that Barony's performance profile may lean more heavily on GPU capabilities than on raw CPU throughput, or that the game's engine simply does not fully utilize the i9-14900K's extensive resources.

The measured frame rates reinforce this high ranking. At 1080p with Low settings, this combo produces 600 FPS average, which represents a ceiling that exceeds most high-refresh-rate displays. Even at the most demanding preset tested — 4K Ultra — the system maintains 90.7 FPS average, comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold that many players consider the minimum for smooth gameplay. The data indicates that this configuration never drops below playable territory in any tested scenario, which is a remarkable consistency across twelve distinct resolution and settings combinations.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K brings substantial processing resources to this pairing, with 24 cores and 32 threads operating from a 3.20 GHz base clock up to a 6.00 GHz boost clock. This Raptor Lake-R architecture chip, built on Intel's 10 nm process, includes 36 MB of shared L3 cache alongside 2 MB per-core L2 and 80 KB per-core L1 caches. These specifications place the processor at the 97th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 79824.

In Barony, the CPU's role appears significant but not dominant. The game is fundamentally a roguelike, which typically involves procedural generation, complex game state tracking, and turn-based or real-time logic that can stress single-threaded performance. The i9-14900K's single-core capabilities are strong, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7040 and Geekbench single-core score of 3064. These numbers suggest the processor can handle the logical overhead of Barony's simulation without becoming a bottleneck.

The multi-core performance is equally formidable, with Cinebench R23 multi-core scoring 49872 and Passmark multi-thread scoring 58674. However, the frame rate data suggests that Barony does not heavily leverage these additional cores. The difference between 1080p Low (600 FPS) and 4K Ultra (90.7 FPS) indicates that resolution and GPU load drive most of the performance variance, rather than CPU-bound scenarios. When compared to its nearest rivals, the i9-14900K sits within 0.9% of the AMD EPYC 7413, Intel Core i9-14900KF, Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF, and Intel Core Ultra 7 265K — a tightly clustered group that suggests the CPU is not the differentiating factor in this combo's ranking.

FAQ

Q: How does this combo perform relative to other tested configurations in Barony?

A: The combo ranks 130th out of 1702 tested combinations, placing it in the top 7.6% of all systems. This is a strong position, though not the absolute top, indicating there are faster configurations available.

Q: What is the highest frame rate this combo achieves in Barony?

A: The maximum measured average is 600 FPS at 1080p with Low settings. This represents the performance ceiling for this configuration in the tested scenarios.

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

A: Yes. At 3840x2160 resolution, the combo produces 127.7 FPS on High settings and 90.7 FPS on Ultra settings. Both exceed the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the CPU's single-threaded performance compare to its multi-threaded performance?

A: The i9-14900K scores 7040 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 49872 in multi-core, with a Geekbench single-core score of 3064 versus 20370 multi-core. The multi-core advantage is substantial, but Barony's frame rates suggest the game does not heavily utilize this parallel capability.

Q: Is this combo more CPU-limited or GPU-limited in Barony?

A: The data suggests GPU limitation dominates at higher resolutions. Frame rates drop from 600 FPS at 1080p Low to 196.6 FPS at 4K Low, a 67% reduction that correlates with increased GPU load rather than CPU constraints.

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

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER averages 53610 in benchmarks, sitting within 2.9% of the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, AMD Radeon Pro W6600M, AMD Radeon RX 7700S, and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti. This tight grouping indicates the GPU is competitive with its immediate alternatives.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured performance data covers twelve distinct scenarios across three resolutions and four quality settings. At 1920x1080, the combo produces 381.3 FPS on High, 600 FPS on Low, 442.4 FPS on Medium, and 270.5 FPS on Ultra. These figures demonstrate exceptional headroom for competitive play or high-refresh-rate displays, with even the most demanding 1080p preset exceeding 270 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance remains robust but shows the expected impact of increased pixel count. High settings deliver 240.4 FPS, Low produces 380 FPS, Medium reaches 281.2 FPS, and Ultra maintains 171 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p reduces frame rates by approximately 37% across all settings, consistent with the additional GPU workload required for 78% more pixels.

At 3840x2160, the performance envelope tightens considerably. High settings average 127.7 FPS, Low achieves 196.6 FPS, Medium reaches 144.7 FPS, and Ultra drops to 90.7 FPS. These 4K figures remain highly playable, but the spread between Low and Ultra settings widens to 105.9 FPS, highlighting the significant impact of quality presets at higher resolutions. The data shows a consistent pattern: each settings tier reduces performance by roughly 30-40%, and each resolution step reduces performance by approximately 40%, regardless of quality level.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling behavior reveals important insights about this combo's bottleneck characteristics. From 1080p to 1440p, average frame rates across all settings drop by approximately 37%. From 1440p to 4K, the reduction is approximately 47%. This progressive degradation indicates that the GPU becomes increasingly load-bound as resolution rises, which is expected given the pixel throughput requirements.

However, the scaling pattern is not uniform across settings. At Low quality, the drop from 1080p to 4K is from 600 FPS to 196.6 FPS, a 67% reduction. At Ultra quality, the same resolution change yields a drop from 270.5 FPS to 90.7 FPS, a 66% reduction. This similarity suggests that the GPU's memory bandwidth and processing throughput are the limiting factors, rather than any specific settings feature. The RTX 4080 SUPER's 736.3 GB/s bandwidth and 52.22 TFLOPS FP32 performance appear to scale predictably with resolution demands.

The CPU's role in this scaling is minimal. If the i9-14900K were the bottleneck, we would expect frame rates to plateau at lower resolutions, where CPU overhead becomes the limiting factor. Instead, the data shows continued scaling even at 1080p, where the CPU's 24 cores and 32 threads should provide ample headroom. This indicates that Barony's rendering pipeline is primarily GPU-bound, with the CPU contributing to overall performance but not constraining it at any tested resolution or settings combination.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance for optimal settings based on display capabilities and performance priorities. For 1080p displays, the Ultra preset at 270.5 FPS is the best choice for players with high-refresh-rate monitors, as it provides the highest visual quality while still exceeding 240 FPS. Those with standard 60 Hz or 144 Hz displays could comfortably use High settings at 381.3 FPS, which provides near-maximum quality with substantial performance headroom.

At 1440p, the High preset at 240.4 FPS offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, particularly for 240 Hz monitors. The Ultra preset at 171 FPS remains viable for 144 Hz displays and provides the fullest visual experience. Players prioritizing maximum frame rates could use Low settings at 380 FPS, but the visual compromise is significant for only a modest gain over the already high High-preset performance.

For 4K displays, the High preset at 127.7 FPS is the recommended starting point, as it provides smooth gameplay on most high-refresh-rate 4K monitors while maintaining strong visual quality. The Medium preset at 144.7 FPS offers a slight performance boost for those sensitive to frame rate fluctuations, while Ultra at 90.7 FPS remains playable but approaches the lower bound of what most players consider acceptable for fast-paced action. Low settings at 196.6 FPS are unnecessary at this resolution, as the visual degradation outweighs the performance benefit.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER serves as the primary performance driver in this combo. Built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD103 chip at TSMC's 5 nm process, this GPU contains 45,900 million transistors across a 379 mm² die. Its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory operates on a 256-bit bus with 736.3 GB/s bandwidth, providing substantial memory throughput for high-resolution textures and effects.

The GPU's clock speeds range from a 2295 MHz base to a 2550 MHz boost, with memory running at 1438 MHz or 23 Gbps effective. Its 10240 shading units, 320 TMUs, and 112 ROPs deliver a pixel rate of 285.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 816.0 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance of 52.22 TFLOPS places this GPU solidly in the high-end segment, with a 88th percentile ranking among all graphics cards.

In Barony, the GPU's capabilities are evident in the scaling behavior across resolutions and settings. The 67% frame rate reduction from 1080p Low to 4K Low aligns with the 4x pixel count increase, indicating that fill rate and memory bandwidth are the primary constraints at higher resolutions. The RTX 4080 SUPER's 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores are unlikely to be heavily utilized in this roguelike title, but the raw rasterization performance proves more than sufficient for the game's demands. The GPU's benchmark scores, including 34245 in Passmark G3D and 246994 in Geekbench OpenCL, confirm its strong compute capabilities, though Barony's modest visual requirements mean the card operates well within its performance envelope across all tested configurations.