Barony

The pairing of the Intel Core i9-14900K and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 produces an extraordinary performance profile in Barony, a roguelike title from 2015. The measured frame rates across all resolutions and presets confirm that this combination is not merely capable but overwhelmingly dominant. With an average FPS ranging from 100.7 at 4K Ultra to a staggering 665.4 at 1080p Low, the data indicates a system that is almost entirely unconstrained by typical hardware bottlenecks. The benchmark results place this specific configuration at rank 42 out of 1702 tested combos, placing it in the top percentile of all systems tested for this game.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a system that is heavily CPU-bound at lower resolutions, with the GPU only becoming a limiting factor as pixel count rises. At 1080p High, the system delivers 423.8 FPS, which is a phenomenal figure for any title. Dropping to 1440p High reduces the average to 269.1 FPS, a significant 36.5% decline, while moving to 4K High further reduces performance to 138.1 FPS. This steep drop-off as resolution increases is a classic sign that the CPU, with its 24 cores and 32 threads, is capable of feeding the GPU data far faster than even the RTX 4090 can render at lower resolutions.

The trend becomes even more pronounced when examining the Low preset. At 1080p Low, the average FPS hits 665.4, which is likely approaching the physical limits of the game engine's simulation and draw call processing. At 1440p Low, the score is 418.5 FPS, and at 4K Low, it falls to 218.7 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p Low shows a 37.1% performance drop, nearly identical to the High preset's scaling, which suggests that the CPU overhead is the primary constraint at these settings. The GPU is not being taxed fully until the resolution increases to 4K, where the raw pixel fill rate becomes the dominant factor.

The data indicates that the limiting component shifts based on resolution. At 1080p and 1440p, the Intel Core i9-14900K's rapid boost clock of 6.00 GHz ensures that frame generation is never starved, making the GPU the secondary component. However, at 4K, the RTX 4090's 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 1.01 TB/s of memory bandwidth become the critical resource. The gap between the High and Ultra presets at 4K is particularly telling: 138.1 FPS versus 100.7 FPS, a 27.1% difference that highlights how the GPU's shading units and texture rate of 1,290.2 GTexel/s are stressed by the most demanding visual settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate recorded for this hardware combo?

A: The highest average frame rate is 665.4 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset. This suggests that the game engine, not the hardware, is the limiting factor at this configuration.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 100.7. This is the most demanding scenario in the dataset, yet it still maintains a triple-digit frame rate, indicating that the RTX 4090's 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and 443.5 GPixel/s pixel rate are sufficient for fluid gameplay.

Q: Is the system more reliant on the CPU or GPU at 1440p?

A: The data suggests a CPU-heavy reliance at 1440p. With a 418.5 FPS score on Low settings and 269.1 FPS on High, the frame rates are so high that the GPU is likely not saturated, whereas the CPU's single-core performance (7,040 points in Cinebench R23) drives the physics and game logic.

Q: What is the performance difference between Medium and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: The difference is substantial. At 1080p, Medium settings yield 497 FPS, while Ultra drops to 303.6 FPS. This 38.9% decrease in performance for the Ultra preset shows a significant increase in graphical workload, but the system remains exceptionally fast.

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

A: The combination ranks 42nd out of 1,702 tested combos. This places it in the top 2.5% of all systems, demonstrating that it is one of the most powerful configurations available for this game.

Q: Does the game favor the CPU's multi-core or single-core capabilities?

A: The game likely favors single-core performance, as indicated by the high frame rates at 1080p. The CPU's Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7,040 points is exceptional, and its multi-core score of 49,872 points provides ample headroom for background tasks, but the primary driver for high FPS in Barony appears to be the single-threaded speed.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 plays a pivotal role in this configuration, especially as resolution and graphical fidelity increase. Its architecture, based on Ada Lovelace and built on a 5 nm process at TSMC, provides a massive amount of computational power. The GPU’s 16,384 shading units, 512 TMUs, and 176 ROPs are directly responsible for the pixel and texture throughput that determines frame rates at 4K. The boost clock of 2520 MHz ensures that the card operates at high efficiency, while the 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus provides a 1.01 TB/s bandwidth, which is critical for loading high-resolution textures without stutter.

In Barony, the GPU's role becomes more pronounced as settings increase. At 1080p Low, the game is clearly CPU-bound, as the GPU is likely idling, waiting for draw calls. However, moving to 4K Ultra, the RTX 4090's 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is put to work, and the frame rate drops to 100.7 FPS. This is still a very high number, but the scaling shows that the GPU is now the primary bottleneck. The passmark G3D score of 38,194 confirms the card's raw graphics power, while the Geekbench OpenCL score of 317,684 highlights its compute capability, which is relevant for any particle effects or procedural generation in the roguelike genre.

The VRAM capacity of 24 GB is more than sufficient for Barony, a game from 2015. Even at 4K Ultra, the memory usage is unlikely to approach this limit, meaning there are no texture-swapping penalties. The GPU's memory clock of 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective) and the 1.01 TB/s bandwidth ensure that data flows quickly to the processing cores. The data shows that the RTX 4090 is a future-proof component, as its performance at 4K is still 100.7 FPS on Ultra, leaving headroom for any potential mods or higher-detail assets.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i9-14900K and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 holds a combo rank of 42 out of 1,702 tested configurations in Barony. This exceptional ranking is a direct result of the synergy between the CPU and GPU. The CPU, with an average benchmark score of 79,824, sits in the 97th percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU, with an average benchmark score of 66,473, sits in the 91st percentile of all GPUs. When paired, they produce frame rates that are only bested by 41 other exotic combos, likely including overclocked variants or custom water-cooling loops.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 7413, which scores slightly higher at 80,041, and the Intel Core i9-14900KF, which scores 79,245. The delta between these is minimal, with a -0.3% difference to the EPYC and a +0.7% advantage over the 14900KF. This indicates that the 14900K is not the absolute fastest CPU, but it is within a statistical margin of the top performers. For Barony, this small CPU difference is negligible, as the game is unlikely to be CPU-bound at the highest resolutions. The GPU's rivals, such as the NVIDIA Tesla T4 and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56, are workstation cards with different driver optimizations; the RTX 4090's delta from these is less than 1.3%, showing that it is the top-tier consumer card.

The rank of 42 out of 1,702 is a percentile rank of approximately 97.5%, meaning this combo outperforms 97.5% of all other tested systems in this game. This confirms the fact that the hardware is not just powerful on paper but also translates that power into real-world frame rates. The data shows that for a fast-paced roguelike like Barony, where reaction time is key, this combo ensures that the display refresh rate is the only limiting factor, not the hardware.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal experience balances visual fidelity with the high frame rates required for a responsive roguelike. The Ultra preset at 1080p delivers 303.6 FPS, which is excellent for any high-refresh-rate monitor, but the Medium preset at 1080p yields 497 FPS, a 63.7% improvement. Given that Barony is a game that relies on precise movement and quick decision-making, the Medium preset is the recommended choice for 1080p users, as it offers a significant performance boost with only a minor reduction in visual quality.

At 1440p, the High preset provides 269.1 FPS, while the Medium preset offers 310.9 FPS. The data shows that High is still well above the 240Hz refresh rate ceiling of most monitors, so it is the recommended setting for 1440p users who prioritize visual clarity. The Ultra preset at 1440p drops to 190.9 FPS, which is still very good but may not be necessary for the genre. For 4K players, the High preset at 138.1 FPS is the sweet spot, as it maintains a high frame rate while providing a detailed image. The Ultra preset at 4K, at 100.7 FPS, is also viable, but the 37.4 FPS difference between High and Ultra suggests diminishing returns.

The Low preset is not recommended, as it yields frame rates that far exceed the refresh rate capabilities of any current monitor (665.4 FPS at 1080p) without offering a meaningful competitive advantage over Medium or High. The data indicates that Medium is the best balance for 1080p, High is ideal for 1440p, and High is also the best choice for 4K to ensure a fluid experience. This configuration is so powerful that even the most demanding settings remain playable, but the measured numbers show that High or Medium presets provide the best frame-time consistency for a game like Barony.