Barony

Barony, a roguelike with a 2015 release, presents an interesting case for the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination. The measured data shows a system capable of extreme frame rates, but the scaling patterns reveal a nuanced relationship between the CPU and GPU depending on the resolution. This analysis breaks down the benchmark results to understand where the bottleneck lies and how to optimize the experience.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K clearly illustrates the shift in system bottleneck. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo produces an average of 381 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 High settings, the average drops to 240 FPS, a reduction of approximately 37%. When stepping up to 3840x2160 at High settings, the average falls further to 126 FPS, which is a 47% decrease from the 1440p result and a 67% decrease from the 1080p result.

This pattern indicates that at 1080p, the system is heavily CPU-bound. The 597 FPS average at Low settings on 1080p, compared to 381 FPS at High, shows that even with a significant reduction in GPU load, the frame rate only increases by about 57%. The CPU is the limiting factor, as it cannot feed the GPU frames fast enough to saturate its capabilities at lower resolutions. The jump from Low to High settings at 1080p costs 216 FPS, but the system still maintains a very high performance level.

At 1440p, the balance shifts. The 377 FPS at Low settings suggests the CPU is still a factor, but the gap between Low and High (377 FPS to 240 FPS) is more pronounced, indicating the GPU is beginning to take on a larger role. The scaling from 1080p High (381 FPS) to 1440p High (240 FPS) shows a substantial drop, which is expected as the pixel count increases by 78%. The GPU's workload is rising, but the CPU is still capable of keeping up.

The 4K resolution is where the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck. The drop from 1440p High (240 FPS) to 4K High (126 FPS) is a 47.5% reduction, which is close to the pixel count difference of 125%. This suggests that the GPU's rendering capabilities are now the primary constraint. The 4K Low setting (197 FPS) is still higher than the 1440p Ultra setting (172 FPS), which highlights that the CPU has headroom, but the GPU cannot maintain high frame rates when the pixel workload is at its maximum.

The data shows a classic performance curve. At 1080p, the CPU is the primary limiter, capping performance. At 1440p, the system is more balanced, with both components contributing to the final result. At 4K, the GPU's raw processing power determines the frame rate, and the CPU's influence diminishes. For a game like Barony, which is a roguelike, these frame rates are exceptionally high, suggesting that the RTX 4080 SUPER is overkill for a purely competitive advantage, but it does provide a very smooth experience at all settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 is a 20-core, 20-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture. With a base clock of 2.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, it has a high single-thread performance capability. The benchmark data shows a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5960, which places it in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs.

In Barony, the CPU's role is primarily to handle game logic, entity updates, and draw calls. The high frame rates at 1080p, particularly the 597 FPS average at Low settings, indicate that the CPU is not a limiting factor at lower resolutions. The PassMark single-thread score of 4689 and the Cinebench R23 multicore score of 42216 suggest that the processor offers a strong balance of single-threaded and multi-threaded performance.

The 20 cores and 20 threads are more than sufficient for a roguelike, which typically does not scale well across many cores. The game's performance is more dependent on the speed of a few cores. The boost clock of 5.30 GHz is the key spec here, as it allows for rapid processing of single-threaded tasks. The L3 cache of 30 MB shared helps to reduce memory latency, which is beneficial for the game's procedural generation and AI routines.

The fact that the 1080p Low setting achieves 597 FPS, while the 1080p Ultra setting achieves 273 FPS, shows that the CPU can handle even the most demanding settings at this resolution. The CPU's percentile vs all CPUs at 93 indicates it is a top-tier processor. The nearest rivals, the AMD EPYC 4464P and the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F, have average scores within 0.3% of the 265, confirming that this is a high-performance part.

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 a bottleneck for the RTX 4080 SUPER in Barony at 4K?

A: No. At 3840x2160, the GPU is the primary limiter. The 4K High setting yields 126 FPS, while the 4K Low setting yields 197 FPS. The CPU is capable of higher frame rates, but the GPU's rendering workload at this resolution prevents it from reaching them.

Q: What is the maximum frame rate this combo can achieve in Barony?

A: The highest average FPS measured is 597 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This represents the absolute ceiling for this combination in the tested scenarios.

Q: How does the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 compare to its closest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F?

A: The average benchmark score for the Core Ultra 7 265 is 64640, which is 0.3% higher than the Core Ultra 7 265F's score of 64438. The difference is negligible in real-world performance.

Q: What is the performance difference between the RTX 4080 SUPER and the standard RTX 4080?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 54209, which is 0.1% lower than the RTX 4080's score of 54247. The performance is essentially identical in synthetic benchmarks.

Q: Does the game perform better at 1440p High or 4K Medium?

A: The 2560x1440 High setting has an average of 240 FPS, while the 3840x2160 Medium setting has an average of 146 FPS. The 1440p High setting provides a significantly higher frame rate.

Q: Is the CPU's 20-core configuration useful for Barony?

A: While the game is likely not optimized to use all 20 cores, the high boost clock of 5.30 GHz and the single-thread performance are what drive the high frame rates at lower resolutions. The multi-core performance is a bonus for other tasks but is not the primary factor here.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination is ranked 231st out of 2935 tested combos in Barony. This places it in the top 7.9% of all systems tested. This high ranking is reflective of the strong performance observed in the measured FPS data.

This ranking is particularly impressive given the game's age and its likely reliance on single-threaded performance. The CPU's high single-core score of 5960 in Cinebench R23 and the GPU's strong 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 6600 contribute to this position. The combo outperforms the vast majority of other systems, which suggests that it is a top-tier configuration for this title.

The rank also implies that there is a large number of systems that achieve lower performance, which is expected given the high-end nature of this pairing. The 231st position out of 2935 means that only 230 other combinations of CPUs and GPUs produce better results in Barony. This confirms the raw power of both components.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following is a detailed breakdown of the measured frame rates for this combo.

At 1920x1080, the results are as follows:

• Low settings: 597 FPS average.
• Medium settings: 444 FPS average, with a minimum of 377 FPS and a maximum of 510 FPS.
• High settings: 381 FPS average.
• Ultra settings: 273 FPS average.

At 2560x1440, the results are:

• Low settings: 377 FPS average.
• Medium settings: 280 FPS average, with a minimum of 238 FPS and a maximum of 322 FPS.
• High settings: 240 FPS average.
• Ultra settings: 172 FPS average.

At 3840x2160, the results are:

• Low settings: 197 FPS average.
• Medium settings: 146 FPS average, with a minimum of 124 FPS and a maximum of 168 FPS.
• High settings: 126 FPS average.
• Ultra settings: 90 FPS average.

The data shows a consistent trend. As resolution increases, the frame rate drops. As settings increase, the frame rate also drops. The Medium setting at each resolution shows a range of frame rates, indicating some variability in the game's performance, but the averages are stable. The system is capable of maintaining high frame rates even at 4K Ultra, with a 90 FPS average, which is playable for most users.

Settings Recommendations

For a game like Barony, where reaction time and smoothness are important, the optimal setting depends on the user's display. For a 1080p or 1440p display, the High setting is the best balance of visual fidelity and performance. At 1080p High, the 381 FPS average is far beyond any display's refresh rate, ensuring a perfectly smooth experience. At 1440p High, the 240 FPS average is still exceptionally high and will saturate most high-refresh-rate monitors.

For 4K displays, the High setting at 126 FPS is excellent, but the Medium setting at 146 FPS offers a higher frame rate with a modest reduction in visual quality. The data shows that the Medium setting has a minimum FPS of 124, which is very close to the High average, indicating a stable experience. The Ultra setting at 90 FPS is also viable, but it represents a 29% performance drop from High, which may not be worth the visual gains for a fast-paced game.

The Low settings provide the highest frame rates, but the visual sacrifice is unnecessary given the hardware's capabilities. The Ultra setting is best for users with lower refresh rate monitors who prioritize maximum visual detail. The data indicates that the High setting is the sweet spot, offering a significant improvement in visuals over Medium while maintaining a frame rate that is more than sufficient for a roguelike.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is a high-end graphics card based on the Ada Lovelace architecture. It features 10240 shading units, 80 RT cores, and 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s. The boost clock is 2550 MHz.

In Barony, the GPU's role is to render the game's graphics. The data shows that the GPU becomes the limiting factor at 4K. The 4K High setting (126 FPS) is significantly lower than the 1440p High setting (240 FPS), demonstrating the GPU's workload increases with resolution. The card's 16 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient for this game, as the textures and assets are not demanding.

The GPU's performance in the 3DMark Steel Nomad benchmark is 6600, which is a strong score. The PassMark G3D score of 34245 further confirms its high-end status. The RTX 4080 SUPER is an end-of-life product, but its performance is still competitive. The nearest rival, the standard RTX 4080, has a nearly identical average score, indicating that the SUPER variant offers minimal performance gains over its predecessor.

The GPU's high compute power, with 52.22 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, ensures that it can handle the game's rendering at high settings and resolutions. The data shows that at 1080p, the GPU is not fully utilized, as the CPU is the bottleneck. At 4K, the GPU is fully utilized, and its performance dictates the final frame rate. The 90 FPS average at 4K Ultra confirms its power, ensuring a playable experience even at the highest settings.