Barony

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 570 is a deeply mismatched combination for Barony, landing at rank 2813 out of 2935 tested combos. This places the pairing in the bottom 5% of all systems measured, a position that reflects a fundamental bottleneck: the GPU is far too weak to leverage the CPU’s substantial processing power. The combo rank is driven almost entirely by the graphics card’s limitations, as the data shows the CPU is capable of far more than this GPU can feed to the display. The result is a system that struggles to maintain smooth frame rates at higher resolutions, though it can deliver acceptable performance at 1080p with lowered settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 2813 out of 2935 tested configurations places it in the 4.2nd percentile of all pairings measured for Barony. This is a poor standing, indicating that the vast majority of tested systems outperform this specific CPU-GPU match. When dissecting why the rank is so low, the blame falls squarely on the GPU. The RX 570’s average benchmark score of 28766 puts it in the 74th percentile of all GPUs, which is respectable on its own, but in the context of this game’s demands, it is insufficient. The CPU, by contrast, sits in the 93rd percentile of all processors, with an average benchmark score of 64640. The delta between the CPU’s high percentile and the GPU’s mid-range percentile creates a severe imbalance; the processor is waiting on the graphics card at every frame.

The nearest rivals for the CPU illustrate its strength. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 scores within 0.3% of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F, and it is 0.7% ahead of the AMD EPYC 7343, while lagging 0.3% behind the AMD EPYC 4464P. These minuscule deltas show the CPU is competitive with high-end server and desktop parts, confirming that its processing capability is not the limiting factor. On the GPU side, the RX 570’s nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6800M, which is 0.4% faster, and the AMD Radeon R9 M295X, which is 0.7% slower. The RX 570 also trails the AMD Radeon RX 470 by 0.8% and beats the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 by 1.2%. These tight margins around the GPU’s score suggest that the RX 570 is a mid-pack performer, but in a game like Barony, that level of performance is not enough to overcome the resolution and settings demands.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 570 is built on the Polaris 20 chip using the GCN 4.0 architecture, manufactured on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. It has 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 32 raster output units. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1168 MHz and a boost clock of 1244 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz (7 Gbps effective). The 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s. These specifications are modest by modern standards, and the data shows they directly impact Barony’s performance. The pixel rate of 39.81 GPixel/s and texture rate of 159.2 GTexel/s are the theoretical limits, but the measured FPS reveals the practical reality.

In Barony, the GPU’s role as the primary bottleneck is evident when comparing the measured FPS across settings. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 138 FPS, but this drops precipitously as settings increase. At Ultra settings, the average FPS falls to 63, a 54% reduction from Low. This scaling is characteristic of a GPU that is running out of fillrate and shader power. The 4 GB VRAM capacity is also a concern; while Barony is not a VRAM-heavy title, the data shows that the Ultra preset at 1440p yields only 40 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it drops to 21 FPS. These numbers indicate the GPU is overwhelmed, not the CPU. The RX 570’s end-of-life production status and its 150 W TDP suggest it was never designed for high-resolution gaming, and the benchmark results confirm this limitation.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a textbook GPU-bound scenario. At 1080p Low, the system hits 138 FPS, which is excellent for a roguelike. Moving to 1440p Low drops the average to 87 FPS, a 37% decrease. At 4K Low, the average falls to 46 FPS, which is a 67% drop from 1080p. This steep decline is directly proportional to the pixel count increase, indicating the GPU is the limiting component. The CPU, with its 20 cores and 20 threads, is more than capable of handling the game’s logic and physics at any resolution; the frame rate is dictated by how fast the RX 570 can rasterize the scene.

Looking at the High preset, the scaling is similar but with lower absolute numbers. 1080p High delivers 88 FPS, 1440p High drops to 56 FPS (a 36% reduction), and 4K High falls to 29 FPS (a 67% reduction from 1080p). The Medium preset shows a pattern: 1080p Medium averages 103 FPS with a minimum of 87 and maximum of 118, 1440p Medium averages 65 FPS with a minimum of 55 and maximum of 74, and 4K Medium averages 34 FPS with a minimum of 29 and maximum of 39. The consistency of the percentage drops across presets confirms that resolution is the dominant factor, not the quality settings. This is the hallmark of a GPU bottleneck, where the CPU has headroom but the graphics card cannot keep up with the increased pixel workload.

FAQ

Q: What is the overall performance rank of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and AMD Radeon RX 570 combo in Barony?

A: The combo ranks 2813 out of 2935 tested configurations, placing it in the bottom 5% of all systems measured for this game.

Q: How does the RX 570 compare to its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 470?

A: The RX 570 has an average benchmark score of 28766, which is 0.8% lower than the RX 470’s score of 28996, making the RX 470 slightly faster in synthetic benchmarks.

Q: What is the best average FPS achievable with this combo at 1080p?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 138 at 1080p with Low settings. At 1080p Medium, it drops to 103 FPS, and at 1080p High, it is 88 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this system for Barony?

A: The GPU is the clear limiting factor. The CPU ranks in the 93rd percentile of all processors, while the GPU ranks in the 74th percentile, and the FPS drops from 1080p to 4K are proportional to pixel count, indicating a GPU bottleneck.

Q: What is the CPU’s benchmark score relative to the AMD EPYC 4464P?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 has an average benchmark score of 64640, which is 0.3% lower than the AMD EPYC 4464P’s score of 64823.

Q: Does the RX 570 support modern graphics APIs needed for Barony?

A: Yes, the RX 570 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3, which are all compatible with the game’s rendering requirements.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 is a 20-core, 20-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, built on a 3 nm process at TSMC. It has a base clock of 2.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, with a TDP of 65 W. The cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 30 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports DDR5 memory on a dual-channel bus with a bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s, and it connects via PCIe Gen 5 with 20 lanes. These specifications make it a high-end desktop part, and its benchmark results confirm its strength. In Cinebench R23, it scores 42216 multicore and 5960 singlecore, while in Passmark, it achieves 49682 in multithread and 4689 in single-thread. The data shows the CPU is not the constraint in Barony.

The CPU’s nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 4464P, which is 0.3% faster, and the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F, which is 0.3% slower. These are server-class processors, indicating the Core Ultra 7 265 is in elite company. For a roguelike like Barony, which relies heavily on single-thread performance for game logic and physics, the CPU’s 5960 single-core score in Cinebench R23 is more than sufficient. The game is not computationally demanding in the way a modern AAA title might be, so the CPU’s 20 cores are largely underutilized. The bottleneck is clearly the GPU, as evidenced by the fact that the FPS scales so heavily with resolution and settings, which are GPU-bound tasks. The CPU is effectively idle, waiting for the RX 570 to finish rendering each frame.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the target resolution. At 1080p, the High preset delivers an average of 88 FPS, which is smooth for a roguelike. The Medium preset offers 103 FPS, and Low offers 138 FPS, but the visual quality difference between Low and Medium is substantial, while the performance gap between Medium and High is smaller. For the best balance of visual fidelity and performance at 1080p, the High preset is the recommended choice, as it stays well above the 60 FPS threshold. The Ultra preset at 1080p drops to 63 FPS, which is borderline, and the visual improvement over High is likely minimal in a game with simple graphics.

At 1440p, the situation becomes more challenging. The High preset averages 56 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action. The Medium preset averages 65 FPS, offering a better experience with a slight reduction in visual quality. The data shows that Medium at 1440p is the sweet spot, providing a frame rate above 60 FPS while maintaining acceptable graphics. The Low preset at 1440p hits 87 FPS, but the visual trade-off is steep. At 4K, the combo struggles significantly. The Low preset averages 46 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target, and the Medium preset drops to 34 FPS. The Ultra preset is unplayable at 21 FPS. For 4K, the only viable option is Low, and even then, the experience is not smooth. The recommendation is to stick with 1080p High or 1440p Medium for the best experience, as the GPU simply does not have the horsepower for higher resolutions.