Barony

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER pairing delivers a highly playable experience in Barony, but the data reveals a clear division of labor. At 1080p, the combination is capable of pushing far beyond standard display refresh rates, yet the performance curve flattens considerably at 4K, where the GPU becomes the decisive factor. This analysis breaks down the measured frame rates to show exactly where the bottleneck lies and how to configure the game for the best balance of visual fidelity and smoothness.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a predictable but steep decline as resolution increases. At the 1920x1080 setting, the combo is exceptionally fast, with an average of 316 FPS on Low, 235 FPS on Medium, 202 FPS on High, and 145 FPS on Ultra. These numbers indicate that at 1080p, the system has massive headroom, and the limiting factor is rarely the hardware itself but rather the game's engine and the monitor's refresh rate. The gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 171 FPS, which demonstrates that the CPU and GPU have enough combined power to scale settings aggressively without dropping below the territory of high-refresh-rate gaming.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drop is significant but still leaves the system in a very strong position. The average FPS on Low is 199, which is a 37% reduction from the 1080p Low score. The Medium setting yields 148 FPS, and High produces 127 FPS. Ultra at 1440p dips to 91 FPS, which is still above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay but shows the first signs of the GPU starting to work harder. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is roughly a 40-45% reduction in FPS across all settings, which is a typical pattern for a system where the GPU is becoming more stressed as pixel count increases.

At 3840x2160, the performance curve becomes much more pronounced. The Low setting still manages a respectable 104 FPS, but the Medium setting drops to 78 FPS, High to 67 FPS, and Ultra falls to 48 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 56 FPS, which is a much smaller absolute gap than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is now the primary constraint. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is severe: High settings drop from 127 FPS to 67 FPS, a 47% reduction, while Ultra drops from 91 FPS to 48 FPS, a 47% reduction as well. This consistent percentage drop across settings suggests that the RTX 2070 SUPER's memory bandwidth and compute capacity are being saturated by the 4K pixel workload.

The data clearly shows that the limiting component changes with resolution. At 1080p, the CPU and GPU are both capable, and the frame rates are so high that neither is likely to be a bottleneck in a meaningful way. At 1440p, the GPU starts to take on more responsibility, but the system still delivers playable frame rates on all presets. At 4K, the RTX 2070 SUPER is definitively the limiting factor, as the frame rates on Ultra fall below the 60 FPS threshold, and even High settings hover near that line. For users targeting 4K, the data suggests that Medium or Low settings are necessary to maintain a smooth experience, while 1440p is the sweet spot for high-refresh-rate play on this hardware.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. Its benchmark scores place it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 48995. In synthetic tests, it achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32924 and a single-core score of 4648, which indicates strong all-around performance. The CPU's nearest rivals in terms of average score include the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 and the Intel Core i5-14600K, with delta percentages of -0.5% and 0.8% respectively, showing that the Ultra 5 245 is competitive with those higher-tier parts.

In Barony, a roguelike game, the CPU's role is likely more about handling game logic, procedural generation, and single-threaded tasks than about brute-force multi-core rendering. The high single-core score of 4648 in Cinebench R23 suggests that the Ultra 5 245 has excellent per-thread performance, which is crucial for maintaining high frame rates at 1080p where the GPU is not the bottleneck. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (316 FPS) and Medium (235 FPS) demonstrates that the CPU is not holding back the system at these settings, as the frame rates are exceptionally high. Even at 1080p Ultra, the 145 FPS average is well within the range where a capable CPU is required to feed the GPU, and the Ultra 5 245's performance is more than sufficient.

The CPU's 24 MB of shared L3 cache and support for DDR5 memory with a bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s also contribute to its ability to handle game data efficiently. While the game itself is not heavily dependent on multi-core scaling, the 14 cores provide headroom for background tasks and ensure that the system does not stutter due to CPU contention. The data shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this combination, as the frame rates scale proportionally with resolution changes, which is typical of a GPU-bound scenario. The Ultra 5 245's percentile rank of 90 indicates that it is a high-end processor, and its performance in this game is consistent with that positioning, allowing the GPU to operate at its full potential across all tested settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is a Turing-architecture GPU with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. Its boost clock is listed at 1770 MHz, and it has a TDP of 215 W. In terms of raw compute, it offers 9.062 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 2560 shading units. The GPU's benchmark scores place it in the 65th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20282. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile and the Intel Arc B570, with delta percentages of -1.2% and -1.3% respectively, indicating that the 2070 SUPER is slightly slower than these modern parts but still competitive.

The RTX 2070 SUPER's role in Barony is clearly defined by the resolution scaling data. At 1080p, the GPU is not the primary constraint, as the frame rates are high enough to suggest that the CPU or game engine is the limiting factor at Low settings. However, as resolution increases, the GPU's memory bandwidth and compute units become the bottleneck. The 4K Ultra setting yields only 48 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. This is a direct result of the GPU's 8 GB of VRAM and its compute capabilities being saturated by the 4K workload. The fact that the 4K Low setting produces 104 FPS shows that the GPU can handle the resolution when the graphical load is reduced, but the jump to Ultra adds too much pressure on the shading units and memory.

The GPU's memory configuration plays a significant role in its performance. The 448.0 GB/s bandwidth is adequate for 1440p gaming, where the card delivers 127 FPS on High, but at 4K, the higher memory pressure causes a noticeable drop in performance. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is also a consideration; while Barony is not a VRAM-heavy title, the Ultra preset at 4K likely requires more memory bandwidth than the card can provide, leading to the observed 48 FPS average. The RTX 2070 SUPER's percentile rank of 65 shows that it is a mid-to-high-range GPU, and the data confirms that it is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K requiring significant settings compromises. The GPU's FP32 performance of 9.062 TFLOPS is sufficient for this title, but the resolution scaling data suggests that it is a solid performer for its class rather than a 4K powerhouse.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution to play Barony with this hardware?*

A: Based on the measured FPS, 2560x1440 is the optimal resolution. On High settings, the combo achieves 127 FPS, and even Ultra stays above 90 FPS, providing a smooth experience without the need to compromise on visual quality. At 4K, the frame rates drop significantly, with Ultra falling to 48 FPS, making 1440p the best balance of performance and fidelity.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its direct rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 has an average benchmark score of 48995, which places it in the 90th percentile. It is 0.4% slower than the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G, 0.5% slower than the AMD Ryzen 9 7900, and 0.6% faster than the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H. It is also 0.8% faster than the Intel Core i5-14600K, showing it is competitive with these high-end parts.

Q: Is the RTX 2070 SUPER capable of 4K gaming in this title?

A: The data shows that 4K gaming is possible but requires significant settings adjustments. At 4K Low, the average FPS is 104, which is playable, but at 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 48, which is below the 60 FPS target. Users aiming for 4K should stick to Medium or Low settings to maintain a smooth experience.

Q: What is the performance difference between the 1080p and 1440p Ultra presets?

A: At 1080p Ultra, the combo achieves 145 FPS, while at 1440p Ultra, it drops to 91 FPS. This represents a 37% reduction in frame rate when moving from 1080p to 1440p. The 1440p result is still above 60 FPS, making it a viable option for high-refresh-rate monitors.

Q: How does the GPU's benchmark score relate to its in-game performance?

A: The RTX 2070 SUPER has a Passmark G3D score of 18169 and an average benchmark score of 20282, placing it in the 65th percentile. Its in-game performance in Barony is consistent with this mid-range positioning; it excels at 1080p and 1440p but struggles at 4K Ultra, where the frame rate drops below 60 FPS.

Q: What role does the CPU's cache size play in gaming performance?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 has 24 MB of shared L3 cache, which helps reduce memory latency and improve data access efficiency. While the exact impact on Barony is not directly measured, the CPU's high single-core benchmark score of 4648 in Cinebench R23 suggests that its cache and clock speeds are sufficient to keep up with the GPU at all tested resolutions, as the frame rates scale primarily with GPU load.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER ranks 1678 out of 2935 tested combos in Barony. This places it in the 43rd percentile of all combinations, meaning it outperforms roughly 43% of the systems tested in this game. Given that the CPU is in the 90th percentile of all CPUs and the GPU is in the 65th percentile of all GPUs, the overall combo rank is lower than either component's individual percentile. This is a typical result when a high-end CPU is paired with a mid-range GPU; the GPU limits the overall gaming performance, especially at higher resolutions.

The rank of 1678 suggests that this is a mid-tier combination for Barony. The system is clearly capable of delivering high frame rates at 1080p, but it is not among the top performers due to the GPU's limitations at 4K. The data shows that the combo is more than adequate for 1440p gaming, but users looking for top-tier 4K performance would need a more powerful GPU. The rank is a reflection of the balance between the two components; the CPU has significant headroom, but the GPU is the bottleneck in demanding scenarios. For a game like Barony, which is not particularly demanding on hardware, this combo ranks higher than it might in a more graphically intense title, as the CPU's strength helps maintain high frame rates at lower resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance for the best settings at each resolution. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset is the best choice, as it delivers an average of 145 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold and suitable for high-refresh-rate monitors. Even the most demanding preset does not stress the system, so there is no reason to drop below Ultra for the best visual experience.

At 2560x1440, the High preset is the recommended choice, achieving 127 FPS. This provides a smooth experience while maintaining high visual fidelity. The Ultra preset at 1440p still delivers 91 FPS, which is playable, but the High preset offers a significant performance boost (36 FPS higher) with a minimal visual difference. For users with 144Hz monitors, High is the better option, while those with 60Hz displays could opt for Ultra without issue.

At 3840x2160, the Medium preset is the best balance between performance and quality, with an average of 78 FPS and a minimum of 66 FPS. The High preset yields 67 FPS, which is close to the 60 FPS target, but the Medium preset provides a more comfortable margin. The Low preset at 104 FPS is an option for users who prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity, but Medium offers a better visual experience while still staying well above 60 FPS. The Ultra preset at 48 FPS is not recommended, as it falls below the standard smoothness threshold. For the best overall experience, 1440p High is the sweet spot, but for 4K users, Medium is the optimal setting to ensure a consistently smooth frame rate.