Barony

Barony is a roguelike that scales unusually well with modern hardware, and the pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER produces a smooth experience across most settings. The measured data shows that this combo ranks 2069 out of 2935 tested combinations, placing it in the 70th percentile of all tested systems. The game's age is evident in the raw frame rates, which reach as high as 287 FPS at 1080p Low, but the real story lies in how the system behaves under different resolution and quality loads, revealing a clear shift in bottleneck between the CPU and GPU.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K dramatically changes the performance characteristics of this combo. At 1080p with High settings, the average frame rate is 183 FPS, while at 1440p the same settings yield 116 FPS, and at 4K the average drops to 60 FPS. This represents a 67% drop in frame rate from 1080p to 4K, which is a substantial scaling penalty that points directly at the GPU as the limiting factor at higher resolutions. The RTX 2060 SUPER, with its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth, becomes the primary constraint when pixel count increases.

The scaling pattern is even more pronounced when examining the Low settings preset. At 1080p Low, the system produces 287 FPS, which drops to 181 FPS at 1440p, and further to 95 FPS at 4K. This 192 FPS difference between 1080p and 4K at Low settings shows that even with minimal graphical load, the GPU cannot keep pace with the CPU's output at higher resolutions. The CPU, with its 20 cores and 20 threads running at a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, is clearly not the limiting factor at 1080p, where frame rates exceed 280 FPS.

Looking at the Ultra preset tells a similar story with different numbers. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 131 FPS, dropping to 83 FPS at 1440p, and then to 43 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result of 43 FPS is the only measured scenario that falls below the 60 FPS threshold, indicating that this combo requires settings adjustments at 4K to maintain smooth gameplay. The scaling from 1440p to 4K at Ultra shows a 48% reduction in frame rate, which is consistent with the GPU-bound behavior observed across all presets.

The data suggests that the CPU has ample headroom in all tested scenarios. Even at 1080p Low, where the frame rate reaches 287 FPS, the Core Ultra 7 265 is not breaking a sweat. The bottleneck transitions from CPU-bound at 1080p Low to GPU-bound at 4K Ultra, with the crossover point occurring somewhere between 1080p and 1440p depending on the quality preset. This is classic behavior for a game that is not heavily threaded and relies more on raw single-core performance, which the 265 delivers with its 5.30 GHz boost clock.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved by this combo in Barony?

A: The highest measured average frame rate is 287 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 4K resolution?

A: Yes, at 4K with High settings the average is exactly 60 FPS, and with Medium settings it rises to 70 FPS. However, at 4K Ultra the average drops to 43 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS target.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 18093, which is 0.4% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile (18159) and 0.5% lower than the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (18189). It is 1.5% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 460 (18373).

Q: What is the frame rate difference between 1080p and 1440p at Medium settings?

A: At Medium settings, the average frame rate drops from 213 FPS at 1080p to 135 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 78 FPS or approximately 37%.

Q: Does the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 outperform its nearest rival in multi-core benchmarks?

A: The Core Ultra 7 265 has an average benchmark score of 64640, which is 0.3% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F (64438) and 0.7% higher than the AMD EPYC 7343 (64202). It trails the AMD EPYC 9124 (65104) by 0.7%.

Q: What is the minimum frame rate recorded for this combo at 4K Medium settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the minimum frame rate is 60 FPS, with a maximum of 81 FPS and an average of 70 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER ranks 2069 out of 2935 tested combinations in Barony. This places it in the 71st percentile of all tested systems, meaning it outperforms roughly 70% of the other combos in the database. This is a respectable position, especially considering that the GPU is a previous-generation mid-range card that was released in 2019 and is now end-of-life.

The ranking is influenced more by the CPU than the GPU, as the Core Ultra 7 265 sits in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 64640. The GPU, by contrast, is in the 62nd percentile of all GPUs with an average score of 18093. This creates an asymmetric pairing where the CPU has significant headroom that the GPU cannot fully utilize at higher resolutions.

In terms of CPU rivals, the 265 is closely matched with the AMD EPYC 4464P, which scores 64823 (0.3% higher), and the AMD EPYC 9124, which scores 65104 (0.7% higher). The Intel Core Ultra 7 265F scores 64438 (0.3% lower), and the AMD EPYC 7343 scores 64202 (0.7% lower). These are all server-class processors, indicating that the 265's desktop performance is competitive with enterprise hardware.

For the GPU, the RTX 2060 SUPER sits in a tight cluster with its nearest rivals. The RTX 3060 Mobile scores 18159 (0.4% higher), the Radeon Pro 5700 scores 18189 (0.5% higher), and the Radeon RX 460 scores 18373 (1.5% higher). The Intel Arc A770M scores 18383 (1.6% higher). This grouping suggests that the 2060 SUPER is right at the edge of its performance class, with any of these alternatives providing similar frame rates in Barony.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers high frame rates across all presets. Low settings produce an average of 287 FPS, Medium settings produce 213 FPS with a minimum of 181 and maximum of 245, High settings produce 183 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 131 FPS. These numbers indicate that at 1080p, the game is heavily CPU-bound, with the Core Ultra 7 265's 20 cores providing ample processing power to push frame rates well beyond what most displays can show.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain strong but show clear GPU influence. Low settings average 181 FPS, Medium settings average 135 FPS with a minimum of 114 and maximum of 155, High settings average 116 FPS, and Ultra settings average 83 FPS. The 1440p results show a more balanced distribution, with the GPU beginning to assert itself as a limiting factor, particularly at Ultra settings where the frame rate drops below 100 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the dominant constraint. Low settings average 95 FPS, Medium settings average 70 FPS with a minimum of 60 and maximum of 81, High settings average exactly 60 FPS, and Ultra settings average 43 FPS. The 4K results show a steep drop-off, with the RTX 2060 SUPER's 8 GB of VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth struggling to maintain high frame rates at this resolution. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 52 FPS, which is a significant gap that highlights the importance of settings adjustments for 4K play.

The data also shows that the Medium preset at 4K provides the only measured scenario with both an average above 60 FPS and a minimum of exactly 60 FPS. This makes Medium the only 4K preset that guarantees smooth gameplay without dropping below the 60 FPS threshold, as the High preset has no recorded minimum but an average of exactly 60, which could dip below in intense scenes.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, as evidenced by the frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K. The GPU has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming in Barony, but at 4K the memory bandwidth and shader throughput become limiting factors.

The GPU's compute capabilities include 2176 shading units, 136 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units. It has 34 ray tracing cores and 272 tensor cores, though Barony is a roguelike that likely does not utilize these features heavily. The pixel rate is 105.6 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 224.4 GTexel/s, which are modest figures by modern standards but adequate for a game of Barony's visual complexity.

The GPU's base clock is 1470 MHz with a boost clock of 1650 MHz, and its memory runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). The 12 nm process node and 10,800 million transistors on a 445 mm² die contribute to a 175 W TDP, which is relatively high for the performance delivered. The GPU's benchmark scores show a Passmark G3D score of 16462 and a Passmark DirectX 12 score of 61, with the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score at 2011.

At 4K Ultra, the system drops to 43 FPS, which is the only scenario where the GPU is clearly overwhelmed. The measured data shows that the GPU is capable of 95 FPS at 4K Low, but the jump to Ultra settings increases the workload significantly, resulting in a 54% reduction in frame rate. This suggests that the RTX 2060 SUPER is best paired with Medium or High settings at 4K, where it can maintain 60-70 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 is a 20-core, 20-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, built on TSMC's 3 nm process node. It has a base clock of 2.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, with 30 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB of L2 cache per core. The CPU supports DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration with 102.4 GB/s of bandwidth.

In Barony, the CPU is the dominant factor at 1080p, where frame rates exceed 180 FPS across all presets. The 287 FPS result at 1080p Low shows that the CPU can push well beyond what most displays can show, and even at Ultra settings the 131 FPS result is far from the CPU's limits. This is expected for a roguelike, which typically has simpler graphics but more complex game logic that can benefit from high single-thread performance.

The CPU's benchmark scores reflect its strength: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42216 and single-core score of 5960. The Passmark single-thread score is 4689, and the multi-thread score is 49682. These numbers place the 265 in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 64640. The CPU's nearest rivals are all server processors, which shows that the 265 offers competitive performance in a desktop package.

The 20 cores and 20 threads are more than sufficient for Barony, which likely uses only a fraction of the available threads. The high boost clock of 5.30 GHz is the more important specification for this game, as roguelikes tend to have single-threaded game loops. The data supports this interpretation: at 1080p, where the GPU is not a limiting factor, the frame rates are consistently high, indicating that the CPU can maintain high throughput without bottlenecking.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, all presets deliver frame rates above 130 FPS, so the Ultra preset is the best choice for maximum visual quality without sacrificing performance. The 131 FPS average at 1080p Ultra is smooth and leaves headroom for frame rate drops in complex scenes.

At 2560x1440, the High preset offers a balanced experience with 116 FPS average, while Ultra drops to 83 FPS. For players who prioritize visual fidelity, Ultra at 1440p is still playable, but the High preset provides a more comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold. The Medium preset at 135 FPS is another solid option if players want extra performance headroom.

At 3840x2160, the Medium preset is the recommended choice, as it is the only 4K preset that guarantees a minimum frame rate of 60 FPS with an average of 70 FPS. The High preset averages exactly 60 FPS but has no recorded minimum, which could mean it dips below 60 in demanding scenes. The Low preset at 95 FPS is also viable but sacrifices visual quality. The Ultra preset at 43 FPS is not recommended for smooth gameplay.

The data shows that the Medium preset provides the best balance of visual quality and performance across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium the average is 213 FPS, at 1440p Medium it is 135 FPS, and at 4K Medium it is 70 FPS. This consistency makes Medium the safest choice for players who want a single preset that works well across different resolutions and display configurations.