Barony

Barony is a roguelike that, on paper, should not stress a system like the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 paired with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. The measured frame rates confirm this, but the scaling patterns reveal a bottleneck that shifts depending on the resolution. This combination, ranking 111th out of 2935 tested combos, delivers exceptional performance that is primarily limited by the CPU at lower resolutions and by the GPU only at the most demanding settings.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K shows a classic curve, but the magnitude of the drops tells a specific story about where the performance ceiling lies. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 663 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 418 FPS, a 37% reduction. At 4K Low, it falls to 219 FPS, another 48% drop from the 1440p figure. This dramatic scaling at Low settings indicates that the CPU is the limiting factor at 1080p; the RTX 4090 is nowhere near its full capability, and the 20-thread processor is doing the heavy lifting to feed frames. The fact that the GPU is not saturated until much higher resolutions reflects the CPU's strength.

The situation changes when we look at Ultra settings. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 303 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 191 FPS, a 37% reduction. At 4K Ultra, the average falls to 100 FPS, a 48% drop from 1440p. This pattern is nearly identical to the Low settings scaling, which is unusual. For most games, the gap between 1080p and 4K widens at higher settings because the GPU becomes the bottleneck. Here, the consistent percentage drops suggest that even at Ultra, the RTX 4090 is powerful enough to keep pace with the CPU's instruction throughput until the pixel count becomes extreme.

The key insight is that the RTX 4090 is so fast that it only starts to feel genuinely stressed at 4K with the most demanding presets. At 1080p and 1440p, even with High settings, the frame rates are astronomically high, indicating that the processor's 5.30 GHz boost clock and 20 cores are more than sufficient to prevent any stuttering or frame pacing issues. The 4K Ultra result of 100 FPS is the only data point where the GPU's raw compute power, specifically its 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 performance, appears to be the primary constraint. This is a system that will crush the game at any reasonable setting, and only at 4K Ultra does it drop below the triple-digit mark.

FAQ

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Barony?

A: Yes. The measured data shows an average of 140 FPS at 4K High and 100 FPS at 4K Ultra. Even the most demanding preset maintains a playable frame rate well above 60 FPS.

Q: What is the best resolution for maximum performance?

A: At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves 663 FPS. This is the highest measured average. If the goal is pure frame rate, 1080p is the target, though 1440p Low at 418 FPS is also exceptionally high.

Q: Is the RTX 4090 overkill for this game?

A: The data suggests it is not a bottleneck at lower resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the average is 493 FPS, while at 4K Medium it is 163 FPS. The GPU only becomes a limiting factor at 4K Ultra, where it drops to 100 FPS, indicating it is still capable but the workload is finally significant.

Q: How does the CPU's performance compare to its rivals?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 has an average benchmark score of 64640. It is 0.3% faster than the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F and 0.7% faster than the AMD EPYC 7343. It is 0.3% slower than the AMD EPYC 4464P and 0.7% slower than the AMD EPYC 9124.

Q: What is the difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 1440p, Low settings yield 418 FPS, while Ultra settings yield 191 FPS. This represents a 54% performance drop for the highest visual quality preset.

Q: Does the game use more than a few cores?

A: The benchmark results do not specify core utilization, but the CPU's Cinebench R23 multicore score of 42216 and Passmark multithread score of 49682 indicate strong multi-threaded capabilities. The high frame rates at 1080p suggest the processor's 20 threads are being leveraged effectively to avoid a CPU bottleneck.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 is a 20-core, 20-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 2.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, which is crucial for a game like Barony that appears to be highly responsive to single-thread performance. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5960 is a strong indicator of its ability to handle the game's logic and physics calculations quickly. The Passmark single-thread score of 4689 further confirms this.

In a roguelike, the simulation of the dungeon, items, and enemy AI is often the primary CPU workload. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system hits 663 FPS, which is an extraordinary number that most CPUs could not sustain. This suggests that the boost clock of 5.30 GHz is being maintained, and the processor is not throttling. The 30 MB of shared L3 cache also likely helps by keeping frequently accessed game data close to the cores.

The CPU's performance relative to its nearest rivals is tight. The deltaPct against the AMD EPYC 4464P is -0.3%, meaning it is marginally slower. Against the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F, it is 0.3% faster, which is essentially a tie since the 265F is likely the same chip without integrated graphics. The 0.7% delta against the AMD EPYC 7343 and the -0.7% against the AMD EPYC 9124 confirm that this is a top-tier processor for gaming workloads, even when compared to server-grade parts.

The 65W TDP is remarkably low for a processor with this level of performance, especially in a gaming context. This efficiency means that the CPU is unlikely to be a source of thermal throttling in a typical desktop chassis, allowing it to sustain boost clocks for longer periods. The combination of high clock speeds and 20 cores ensures that Barony never lacks for processing power, regardless of what is happening on screen.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 111th out of 2935 tested combos in Barony. This places it in the top 4% of all tested systems, which is an exceptional result. The rank is a composite measure that likely accounts for performance across all resolutions and settings, and the data shows why it scores so high.

The GPU's percentileVsAllGpus is 88, meaning it is faster than 88% of all GPUs in the database. The CPU's percentileVsAllCpus is 93, placing it faster than 93% of all CPUs. When combined, these two components create a system that is well above average. The fact that the combo rank (111) is better than the individual component percentiles suggests that the pairing is synergistic, with neither part holding the other back in a significant way.

Compared to other potential combos, this pairing is near the top of the heap. The gap between the 111th rank and the top spot is likely filled by systems with even more exotic hardware, such as multi-GPU setups or specialized workstation CPUs. For a standard desktop configuration, this is about as good as it gets. The measured data confirms that the system is not leaving performance on the table at any resolution, as the frame rates are consistently high across the board.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of performance across a matrix of resolutions and settings.

• 1920x1080 (1080p): At Low settings, the average FPS is 663. This is the highest recorded number in the dataset. Medium settings produce an average of 493 FPS, with a minimum of 419 and a maximum of 567. High settings yield 423 FPS. Ultra settings drop the average to 303 FPS. This scaling shows that even at the lowest settings, the CPU is the primary driver, and the GPU is not a limiting factor.

• 2560x1440 (1440p): Low settings produce an average of 418 FPS. Medium settings average 311 FPS, with a minimum of 264 and a maximum of 358. High settings average 267 FPS. Ultra settings average 191 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is significant, but the system remains exceptionally fast. The minimum FPS values at Medium (264 FPS) are higher than the average FPS at Ultra (191 FPS), indicating that the Medium preset provides a more consistent experience.

• 3840x2160 (4K): Low settings produce an average of 219 FPS. Medium settings average 163 FPS, with a minimum of 138 and a maximum of 187. High settings average 140 FPS. Ultra settings average 100 FPS. This is the only resolution where the GPU starts to show its limits, particularly at Ultra where the average dips to exactly 100 FPS. The min FPS at 4K Medium is 138, which is still very playable.

The data shows that the system is capable of running the game at 4K Ultra with an average of 100 FPS. The jump from Medium to High at 4K costs 23 FPS (from 163 to 140), and the jump from High to Ultra costs another 40 FPS (from 140 to 100). This suggests that the Ultra preset is significantly more demanding, likely due to advanced shading and post-processing effects that stress the GPU's 16,384 shading units.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data indicates that the best experience depends on the user's display and preference for visual fidelity versus raw frame rate.

For users with a 1080p or 1440p monitor, there is no reason to drop below High settings. At 1080p, High yields 423 FPS, and at 1440p, High yields 267 FPS. Both are far beyond the refresh rate of any current monitor, and the High preset will provide a better visual experience than Medium or Low without any perceptible downside. The Ultra preset at these resolutions (303 FPS at 1080p, 191 FPS at 1440p) is also viable, but the visual difference may be minimal, and the frame rate penalty is substantial.

For 4K users, the choice is more nuanced. The High preset at 140 FPS is the sweet spot, offering a significant improvement over Medium (163 FPS is actually higher, but the visual quality is lower). Wait, the data shows Medium at 163 FPS and High at 140 FPS. This means the High preset costs 23 FPS over Medium. The Ultra preset at 100 FPS is still playable, but the drop from High to Ultra is 40 FPS, which is a 29% reduction. Given that the game is a roguelike, where reaction time is not as critical as in a competitive shooter, the Ultra preset at 100 FPS may be acceptable for users who want the best visuals. However, the High preset at 140 FPS provides a smoother experience with a minimal visual compromise.

The Low preset is not recommended for any resolution, as it sacrifices too much visual quality for frame rates that are already excessive. The Medium preset is a decent fallback, but the High preset offers a better balance. The data suggests that the High preset is the optimal choice for most users, as it delivers high frame rates across all resolutions while maintaining good visual fidelity. For users with high-refresh-rate 1440p monitors, the High preset at 267 FPS will easily saturate a 240Hz display, and the Ultra preset at 191 FPS will still exceed a 165Hz display's capabilities. Ultimately, the High preset is the recommended starting point, with Ultra as an option for users who prioritize visual quality at the cost of some frame rate.