Barony

FAQ

Q: How does the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus compare to its nearest rival in overall CPU benchmark scores?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus has an average benchmark score of 84003, which is 0.2% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K (83807) and 1.1% higher than the AMD EPYC 4584PX (83090). It trails the AMD EPYC 7F72 (85072) by 1.3%.

Q: Where does the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER stand relative to other GPUs based on its average benchmark score?

A: The RTX 4070 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 43223 and sits in the 83rd percentile among all GPUs. It is effectively tied with the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB (43262, -0.1%), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile (43268, -0.1%), and the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 (43301, -0.2%), while trailing the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile (43667) by 1%.

Q: What is the best measured FPS result for this combo in Barony?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 522, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The next best results at that resolution are 388 FPS on Medium and 333 FPS on High.

Q: What is the lowest measured FPS result for this combo in Barony?

A: The lowest measured average FPS is 79, recorded at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings. This is the only measured result below 100 FPS across all tested configurations.

Q: Does the combo deliver playable frame rates at 4K with Ultra settings?

A: Yes, the measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 79 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold commonly associated with smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the GPU's memory bandwidth compare to the CPU's memory bandwidth?

A: The RTX 4070 SUPER has a memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s across a 192-bit bus with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory. The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus has a memory bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s via dual-channel DDR5 memory.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process node from TSMC, housing 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die. Its memory configuration consists of 12 GB of GDDR6X across a 192-bit bus, delivering 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's base clock is 1980 MHz with a boost clock of 2475 MHz, while the memory operates at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). These specifications position the card with 7168 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output units, alongside 56 RT cores and 224 tensor cores.

In Barony, the GPU's role is substantial, particularly at higher resolutions and settings. The measured data shows that the RTX 4070 SUPER handles the game's workload with considerable headroom at 1080p, where even Ultra settings produce 239 FPS. The card's 12 GB VRAM and high memory bandwidth are sufficient for the game's demands, as evidenced by the smooth scaling from Low to Ultra settings at each resolution. At 4K, the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck when settings are pushed higher: the frame rate drops from 172 FPS on Low to 79 FPS on Ultra, a reduction of 93 FPS that correlates directly with increased graphical load rather than CPU limitations.

The GPU's compute capabilities, reflected in its 35.48 TFLOPS FP32 performance and benchmark scores like 29995 in Passmark G3D and 4627 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, demonstrate that the card has ample raw power for this roguelike title. The 83rd percentile ranking among all GPUs and the close rivalry with the RTX 4090 Mobile (only 1% slower in average benchmark score) suggest that this card punches above its weight class for Barony's rendering requirements.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance on the optimal settings for different priorities. For players targeting the highest frame rates, Low settings at 1920x1080 deliver 522 FPS, which is excessive for any display refresh rate currently available. At 2560x1440, Low settings still produce 329 FPS, and even 4K Low yields 172 FPS, all well above typical high-refresh displays.

For the best balance of visual quality and performance, High settings at 2560x1440 represent the sweet spot: 210 FPS average with no min/max data indicating severe dips. This resolution and settings combination offers substantially better fidelity than Low while maintaining frame rates far above what most monitors can display. At 4K, High settings drop to 110 FPS, which remains smooth but reduces the margin for demanding scenes.

Ultra settings are viable at 1080p and 1440p with 239 FPS and 151 FPS respectively, making them excellent choices for players with high-refresh-rate monitors. At 4K, Ultra produces 79 FPS, which is playable but represents a significant compromise. Medium settings provide a middle ground: 388 FPS at 1080p, 245 FPS at 1440p, and 128 FPS at 4K, with measured minimums of 330, 208, and 109 FPS respectively, indicating consistent performance without severe frame drops.

The data suggests that High settings at 1440p offer the most balanced experience, combining strong visual quality with frame rates that exceed 200 FPS. For 4K users, High settings at 110 FPS outperform Medium's 128 FPS in terms of visual quality per frame, making High the recommended choice unless the 18 FPS difference is critical.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS spans a wide range across settings. Low settings produce 522 FPS, the highest of any configuration tested. Medium settings yield 388 FPS with a minimum of 330 and a maximum of 446, showing a narrow band of variance. High settings deliver 333 FPS. Ultra settings produce 239 FPS, which is still remarkably high and indicates that the game is heavily CPU-bound at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the results scale downward but remain exceptional. Low settings achieve 329 FPS. Medium settings produce 245 FPS with a minimum of 208 and a maximum of 282, maintaining a 74 FPS spread. High settings deliver 210 FPS. Ultra settings yield 151 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p reduces performance by approximately 37-38% across all settings, with the exact deltas being 193 FPS for Low, 143 FPS for Medium, 123 FPS for High, and 88 FPS for Ultra.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's workload increases significantly. Low settings produce 172 FPS. Medium settings deliver 128 FPS with a minimum of 109 and a maximum of 147, showing a 38 FPS spread. High settings yield 110 FPS. Ultra settings are the most demanding, producing 79 FPS. From 1440p to 4K, the performance drops are 157 FPS for Low, 117 FPS for Medium, 100 FPS for High, and 72 FPS for Ultra.

The measured data indicates that the combo maintains playable frame rates at every settings level, even at 4K Ultra. The minimum FPS values recorded for Medium settings across all resolutions (330 at 1080p, 208 at 1440p, 109 at 4K) suggest that the system avoids severe frame-time spikes, providing consistent performance.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the nature of the bottleneck at different settings. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 522 at 1080p to 329 at 1440p and 172 at 4K. This represents a 37% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a 67% reduction from 1080p to 4K. The progressive decline indicates that even at Low settings, the GPU becomes increasingly stressed as resolution increases.

At Medium settings, the scaling is similar: 388 FPS at 1080p, 245 FPS at 1440p, and 128 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 37% and 67% respectively, matching the Low settings pattern closely. High settings show 333 FPS at 1080p, 210 FPS at 1440p, and 110 FPS at 4K, with drops of 37% and 67%. Ultra settings produce 239 FPS at 1080p, 151 FPS at 1440p, and 79 FPS at 4K, with drops of 37% and 67%.

The consistent 37% drop from 1080p to 1440p and 67% drop from 1080p to 4K across all settings is a strong indicator that the scaling is driven primarily by pixel count rather than settings complexity. The 4K resolution has 4 times the pixels of 1080p, and the observed 67% reduction in frame rate (roughly 3x fewer FPS) aligns with the expectation that rendering workload scales with resolution. This pattern suggests that the GPU is the limiting component at higher resolutions, while at 1080p, the CPU's high single-thread performance (4823 in Passmark single-thread) may be constraining the maximum achievable frame rates.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor from the Core Ultra Series 2, based on the Arrow Lake Refresh codename with a 3 nm process node from TSMC. 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 hierarchy 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 in dual-channel configuration with a bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s and includes 20 PCIe Gen 5 lanes.

In Barony, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions where the GPU has less work per frame. At 1080p, the frame rates across all settings (239-522 FPS) are extraordinarily high, suggesting that the CPU's 5.80 GHz boost clock and strong single-thread performance (7303 in Cinebench R23 single-core) are well-suited to the game's logic and physics calculations. The Passmark single-thread score of 4823 and Cinebench R15 single-core score of 736 indicate excellent per-core performance, which is critical for a roguelike that may not efficiently utilize all 24 threads.

The CPU's multi-threaded capabilities are equally impressive, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 51731 and a Passmark multi-thread score of 60860. However, in Barony, the scaling from 1080p to 4K (67% reduction in FPS) suggests that the GPU becomes the dominant factor at higher resolutions, while the CPU's 24 cores provide ample headroom at 1080p. The combo ranks 479th out of 2935 tested combinations in this game, placing it in the top 16% of all systems, which underscores the synergy between this CPU and the RTX 4070 SUPER.

The CPU's data compression (698346 in Passmark) and encryption (52563) scores indicate strong general-purpose performance, though these are less relevant to Barony's specific workload. The 24 threads (equal to core count) suggest that the processor does not rely on hyper-threading, instead offering dedicated physical cores that can handle the game's demands without contention. The 36 MB of shared L3 cache is substantial and likely helps with the game's data access patterns, reducing latency in procedural generation and game state management.