Barony

Barony, a roguelike released on June 22, 2015, shows a distinct performance profile when paired with the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070. The measured data reveals a system that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, while the CPU's capabilities become the limiting factor only at the lowest settings and resolutions. This analysis walks through the measured FPS data to interpret what it means for the gameplay experience.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data across the three tested resolutions reveals a classic scaling pattern, but with a notable curve. At Ultra settings, the average frame rate drops from 229 FPS at 1920x1080 to 145 FPS at 2560x1440, and further to 76 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 37% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a substantial 67% reduction from 1080p to 4K. This steep decline indicates that the RTX 5070's rendering workload is the primary bottleneck at this quality preset, as the pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K.

The scaling pattern shifts when looking at Low settings. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 501 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low reduces this to 316 FPS, a 37% drop. At 4K Low, the frame rate falls to 165 FPS, which is a 67% reduction from the 1080p figure. Interestingly, the percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is identical (67%) for both Low and Ultra settings, suggesting the rendering pipeline scales linearly with pixel count regardless of the quality preset.

The Medium preset offers the most complete data, including minimum and maximum FPS values. At 1080p Medium, the average is 372 FPS with a minimum of 317 FPS and maximum of 428 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 235 FPS (min 200, max 270), and at 4K Medium, it falls to 123 FPS (min 104, max 141). The narrowing gap between minimum and maximum FPS as resolution increases suggests that frame time consistency improves when the GPU is more uniformly saturated.

The data indicates that at 4K, even the Low preset (165 FPS) cannot match the 1080p High performance (320 FPS). This confirms that the RTX 5070's pixel throughput is the dominant factor in determining frame rates at higher resolutions. The game becomes increasingly GPU-limited as resolution scales up, with the CPU's headroom becoming less relevant.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus brings 24 cores and 24 threads to the table, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. In Barony, a roguelike that typically relies on single-threaded performance for game logic, this processor's high boost clock is likely the more critical specification. The CPU's single-thread benchmark scores support this: it achieves 354 in Cinebench R15 single-core and 2439 in Cinebench R23 single-core, with a Passmark single-thread score of 5068.

The CPU's role becomes evident when examining the frame rate differences between settings at the same resolution. At 1080p, the jump from Low (501 FPS) to Ultra (229 FPS) shows that the GPU is still doing the majority of the work, but the CPU must keep up with the frame generation. The fact that 501 FPS is achievable at Low settings demonstrates that the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus can feed frames at an extremely high rate, well beyond standard display refresh rates.

However, the CPU's performance ceiling appears to be a factor at the very highest frame rates. The 501 FPS at 1080p Low is the maximum measured in this dataset, and the scaling from 1080p to 1440p at Low (501 to 316 FPS) shows a 37% drop that closely mirrors the pixel count increase. If the CPU were the primary bottleneck, the frame rate would not drop as steeply with resolution. This suggests the CPU is sufficient to avoid becoming the main constraint except at the absolute lowest graphical loads.

The CPU's Passmark multithread score of 68574 and Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44253 indicate substantial parallel processing capability, but Barony's roguelike nature likely does not exploit this fully. The 24 threads provide headroom for background tasks and game logic, but the measured FPS patterns are more consistent with a single-thread-limited scenario at extreme frame rates. The 96th percentile ranking among all CPUs reinforces that this is a top-tier processor for any workload.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data allows for a clear recommendation based on target frame rates. For a standard 60 FPS target, every setting and resolution combination in the dataset exceeds this threshold, including 4K Ultra at 76 FPS. This means players can prioritize visual fidelity without concern for playability at 4K.

For 144Hz displays, the data shows that 1440p High (202 FPS) and 1440p Ultra (145 FPS) both comfortably exceed the refresh rate. Even 4K High at 105 FPS falls short of 144Hz but remains highly playable. For 240Hz displays, 1080p High (320 FPS) and 1080p Ultra (229 FPS) both meet the requirement, while 1440p High (202 FPS) does not quite reach 240 FPS.

The Medium preset appears to offer the best balance of visual quality and performance headroom. At 1080p Medium, the 372 FPS average with a 317 FPS minimum ensures no drops below even the most demanding refresh rates. At 1440p Medium, the 235 FPS average (min 200 FPS) still supports 240Hz displays in most scenarios. The 4K Medium preset, with an average of 123 FPS and minimum of 104 FPS, provides a stable experience for 120Hz displays.

The Low preset is only recommended for competitive play at extremely high refresh rates. The 501 FPS at 1080p Low and 316 FPS at 1440p Low are the highest measured values, but the visual compromise may not be worth the frame rate gain given that High settings at 1080p still deliver 320 FPS. For most users, High settings at 1440p (202 FPS) represents the sweet spot, offering strong visual quality with frame rates that exceed typical high-refresh displays.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 ranks 583rd out of 2935 tested combos in Barony, placing it in the top 20% of all configurations. This ranking reflects the system's strong performance, though it is not at the very top of the leaderboard for this game.

The CPU's individual standing supports this rank. The Core Ultra 7 270K Plus holds a 96th percentile position among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 93785. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Xeon 6520P (score 93786, delta 0%), AMD EPYC 4564P (score 95183, delta -1.5%), AMD EPYC 9175F (score 95615, delta -1.9%), and AMD EPYC 4565P (score 95764, delta -2.1%). The CPU essentially matches the Xeon 6520P's average score and trails the EPYC parts by 1.5% to 2.1%.

The GPU ranks lower in its own comparison, holding an 82nd percentile position with an average benchmark score of 40377. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon Pro 580 (score 40318, delta 0.1%), AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 (score 40063, delta 0.8%), AMD Radeon Pro 5300 (score 40870, delta -1.2%), and NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile (score 39568, delta 2%). The RTX 5070 performs within 2% of these workstation-class GPUs in synthetic benchmarks.

The 583rd rank out of 2935 combos suggests that while this pairing is strong in absolute terms, other combinations in the database achieve higher frame rates in Barony. This is partly due to the game's age and the fact that more recent or differently balanced hardware may scale better in this specific title. The ranking indicates a capable system that handles Barony with ease, even if it doesn't top the charts.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture using a 5 nm process at TSMC, housing 31,100 million transistors on a 263 mm² die. Its memory configuration includes 12 GB of GDDR7 on a 192-bit bus, delivering 672.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2325 MHz with a boost clock of 2512 MHz, and its memory runs at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective).

In Barony, the GPU's role is clearly dominant across most of the tested configurations. The FPS scaling with resolution follows the expected pattern for a GPU-bound scenario. The RTX 5070's 80 ROPs and 192 TMUs handle pixel and texture processing efficiently, as evidenced by the high frame rates even at 4K. The 30.87 TFLOPS of FP32 compute provides ample shading power for the game's visual effects.

The GPU's memory bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s appears sufficient for this title. Even at 4K Ultra, which typically demands the most memory bandwidth, the average frame rate of 76 FPS shows no signs of memory starvation. The 12 GB VRAM capacity is more than adequate for Barony, a game from 2015 that does not push modern texture sizes.

The RTX 5070's Passmark G3D score of 29137 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5077 place it in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon Pro 580, scores 40318 on average, a mere 0.1% difference. This indicates the RTX 5070 delivers performance consistent with its market position, though its 40-watt TDP is not reflected in the benchmark data. The GPU's performance in Barony specifically shows it can handle the game at maximum settings with high frame rates across all resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS dataset provides a comprehensive view of performance across resolutions and settings.

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 501 FPS average. Medium settings reduce this to 372 FPS, with a minimum of 317 FPS and maximum of 428 FPS. High settings produce 320 FPS average, while Ultra settings yield 229 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 54% reduction in frame rate, from 501 to 229 FPS.

At 2560x1440, Low settings achieve 316 FPS average. Medium settings produce 235 FPS, with a minimum of 200 FPS and maximum of 270 FPS. High settings reach 202 FPS average, and Ultra settings deliver 145 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 54%, matching the 1080p percentage reduction exactly.

At 3840x2160, Low settings average 165 FPS. Medium settings produce 123 FPS, with a minimum of 104 FPS and maximum of 141 FPS. High settings reach 105 FPS average, and Ultra settings yield 76 FPS. The reduction from Low to Ultra is again 54%, consistent with the other resolutions.

The Medium preset is the only one with full min/max data. Across resolutions, the difference between minimum and maximum FPS narrows as resolution increases: at 1080p the spread is 111 FPS (317 to 428), at 1440p it is 70 FPS (200 to 270), and at 4K it is 37 FPS (104 to 141). This indicates more consistent frame pacing at higher resolutions where the GPU is more fully utilized.

The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows a consistent 37% reduction in average FPS across all settings. The scaling from 1440p to 4K shows a 48-49% reduction. The 4K resolution, which has 2.25 times the pixels of 1440p, produces a slightly less than proportional drop, suggesting some efficiency gains at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved in this configuration?

A: The highest measured average frame rate is 501 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Can this system maintain 144 FPS at 4K resolution?

A: No. At 4K, the highest average frame rate is 165 FPS at Low settings, but Medium settings drop to 123 FPS. No 4K preset maintains an average above 144 FPS except Low, which achieves 165 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus has an average benchmark score of 93785, which is essentially identical to the Intel Xeon 6520P at 93786 (0% delta). It trails the AMD EPYC 4564P by 1.5%, the AMD EPYC 9175F by 1.9%, and the AMD EPYC 4565P by 2.1%.

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

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings average 316 FPS while Ultra settings average 145 FPS, representing a 54% reduction in frame rate when moving from the lowest to the highest quality preset.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 holds an 82nd percentile position among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 40377. Its closest rival, the AMD Radeon Pro 580, scores 40318, a 0.1% difference.

Q: Does the Medium preset provide stable minimum frame rates at 4K?

A: Yes. At 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the average FPS is 123 with a minimum of 104 FPS and maximum of 141 FPS. The minimum of 104 FPS remains well above standard 60 FPS targets.