Barony

Barony is a roguelike that places surprisingly heavy demands on the hardware driving it, and this particular pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and the Intel Arc B370 lands near the bottom of the performance hierarchy. In the database of tested combinations, this setup holds the 2701st position out of 2935 total combos, placing it in the 8th percentile of all tested systems. The data indicates that while the CPU is a top-tier part, the integrated graphics solution severely bottlenecks the entire experience, making this combo suitable only for low-resolution or low-fidelity play.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 2701 out of 2935 is a stark indicator of where this system falls in the grand scheme of tested hardware. This position puts the configuration in the bottom 10% of all tested pairings, a direct consequence of the graphics solution’s limitations. The CPU is not the limiting factor here; the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a flagship processor that sits in the 96th percentile of all CPUs tested, with an average benchmark score of 84003. This score places it just 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K and 1.1% ahead of the AMD EPYC 4584PX, showing that the processor alone is a powerhouse.

However, the GPU is the exact opposite. The Intel Arc B370, which is an integrated graphics solution, ranks in the 5th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 1184 from the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test. The delta between the CPU and GPU performance is enormous, and the game’s frame rates reflect this massive imbalance. In the context of the 2935 tested combos, this pairing is firmly in the "entry-level" or "integrated-only" tier, unable to compete with systems that utilize even modest discrete graphics cards.

The nearest rivals for the GPU highlight its position. The Arc B370’s score of 1184 is effectively tied with the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570, which scores 1186, and the ATI Radeon HD 5770, which scores 1190. This places the B370 in the same performance class as graphics hardware from over a decade ago. While the CPU pulls the system’s theoretical compute power upward, the measured frame rates in Barony are dictated almost entirely by the GPU’s low standing. The data shows a system where the processor’s potential is left entirely untapped, rendering the high-end CPU irrelevant for gaming purposes in this specific configuration.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 serves as the sole rendering engine for this combo, and its specifications reveal why the performance is so constrained. The GPU is an integrated part of the Panther Lake platform, built on Intel’s Xe3-LPG architecture and a 3 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz, which are modest figures for a graphics processor. The memory configuration is "System Shared," meaning the GPU draws from the main system memory rather than having its own dedicated VRAM. This shared memory setup is a critical bottleneck, as the bandwidth is "System Dependent" and cannot match the speed of dedicated GDDR memory found on discrete cards.

The GPU’s compute resources are also limited. It has 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 raster output units, along with 10 ray tracing cores. The pixel rate is 48.00 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 96.00 GTexel/s, figures that are far below what is needed for high-fidelity gaming at modern resolutions. The FP32 performance is 6.144 TFLOPS, which is a low number for a graphics chip. The TDP is just 25 W, and it is designated as an IGP (Integrated Graphics Processor) with a slot width of "IGP," confirming it is not a standalone card.

In Barony, the GPU’s role is purely limiting. The data shows that even at 1080p with Low settings, the average frame rate is 144 FPS, which is the highest result in the entire measurement set. This suggests that the GPU can handle the game at its most basic settings, but it begins to struggle as the resolution or graphical fidelity increases. The shared memory architecture means that the GPU is competing with the CPU for memory bandwidth, which further hampers performance in a game that may require frequent asset loading. The integrated nature of the B370 is the primary reason why this combo cannot push higher frame rates at higher settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates show a clear and predictable pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves an average of 144 FPS. Moving to 1440p with Low settings, the average drops to 91 FPS, a 36.8% decrease. At 4K with Low settings, the average falls to 47 FPS, a 67.4% decrease from the 1080p baseline. This scaling pattern is typical for a GPU-bound scenario, where the number of pixels being rendered becomes the dominant factor.

Looking at the High settings, the scaling is similar. The system produces 92 FPS at 1080p, 58 FPS at 1440p, and 30 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 37%, and from 1080p to 4K is 67.4%, which is nearly identical to the Low settings scaling. This consistency indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor across all settings, and the CPU is not causing any additional bottlenecks. If the CPU were the constraint, we would expect to see a smaller performance delta between resolutions, as the CPU’s workload would remain constant.

The data suggests that the limiting component is unequivocally the GPU. The frame rate drops are directly proportional to the pixel count increase. For example, 4K has 4 times the pixels of 1080p, and the frame rates at Low settings drop from 144 FPS to 47 FPS, which is roughly 3 times lower. This is a classic sign of a GPU that is saturated and cannot keep up with the rendering demands. The CPU, with its 24 cores and 24 threads, is more than capable of handling the game’s logic, but it is left idle while the GPU struggles to fill frames.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of the system’s capabilities across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low settings produce an average of 144 FPS, Medium settings produce 107 FPS with a minimum of 91 FPS and a maximum of 123 FPS, High settings produce 92 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 66 FPS. These numbers show that the system is playable at 1080p across all settings, though the frame rate drops significantly as fidelity increases.

At 2560x1440, the performance is more constrained. Low settings yield an average of 91 FPS, Medium settings yield 67 FPS with a minimum of 57 FPS and a maximum of 78 FPS, High settings yield 58 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 42 FPS. The 1440p results are still within a playable range for most titles, but the drop from 1080p is noticeable, and the Ultra preset is beginning to feel less smooth.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles to maintain playable frame rates. Low settings produce an average of 47 FPS, Medium settings produce 35 FPS with a minimum of 30 FPS and a maximum of 41 FPS, High settings produce 30 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to just 22 FPS. The 4K results are largely unplayable for a game like Barony that benefits from smooth motion, especially on the High and Ultra presets. The minimum FPS of 30 at 4K Medium settings is particularly telling, as it indicates the system is often dipping below the average.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the best experience for this combo is achieved at 1080p with Medium settings. This preset delivers an average of 107 FPS, which is high enough for smooth gameplay, while offering a better visual experience than the Low preset. The minimum FPS of 91 at this setting ensures that there are no major stutters, and the maximum of 123 FPS shows there is headroom for less demanding scenes. The Low preset at 1080p offers a higher average of 144 FPS, but the visual quality is likely too compromised for a game that relies on visual cues.

At 1440p, the Medium preset is the best balance, delivering an average of 67 FPS with a minimum of 57 FPS. This is still a playable frame rate, but it is noticeably lower than the 1080p experience. The High preset at 1440p, with an average of 58 FPS, is also viable, but the Medium preset provides a more consistent experience. For users who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate, the High preset at 1440p is acceptable, but the Medium preset is the recommended choice for sustained performance.

For 4K, there is no ideal setting. The Low preset, with an average of 47 FPS, is the only one that approaches playability, but it is still below the 60 FPS target that many players prefer. The Medium preset, at 35 FPS average, is marginal, and the High and Ultra presets are not recommended due to their low frame rates. The data suggests that this combo is not suited for 4K gaming, and users should stick to 1080p or 1440p for the best experience.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake Refresh architecture, built on a 3 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz, with a TDP of 125 W. The cache configuration includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 36 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports DDR5 memory on a dual-channel bus, with a memory bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s. The processor also includes integrated Arc Xe-LPG Graphics with 64 execution units, which is separate from the discrete Arc B370 that is handling the rendering in this combo.

In Barony, the CPU’s role is to handle game logic, AI, and other non-graphics tasks. Given the roguelike genre, the game may have complex procedural generation and simulation elements, but the data shows that the CPU is not a bottleneck. The benchmark results for the CPU are exceptional, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 51731 and a single-core score of 7303. The PassMark multithread score is 60860, and the single-thread score is 4823. These numbers place the CPU far above the requirements for Barony, which is not known for being CPU-intensive.

The CPU’s performance relative to its nearest rivals confirms its high standing. It is 0.2% faster than the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, which has an average score of 83807, and 1.1% faster than the AMD EPYC 4584PX, which scores 83090. It is also 1.3% faster than the AMD EPYC 9135, which scores 82980, but 1.3% slower than the AMD EPYC 7F72, which scores 85072. These deltas are minimal, showing that the 290K Plus is at the top of the CPU hierarchy, but its performance is irrelevant in this combo because the GPU is the limiting factor.

The data indicates that the CPU is entirely underutilized in this configuration. The frame rates in Barony are dictated by the GPU’s capabilities, and the CPU’s massive compute potential is never fully realized. This makes the pairing highly unbalanced, as the cost and performance of the CPU are wasted when paired with such a weak integrated GPU. For users interested in Barony, this CPU would be better paired with a discrete graphics card to unlock its full potential.