Hard West

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 combination delivers a surprisingly playable experience in Hard West, a turn-based tactics title from 2015. The data shows this pairing is capable of high refresh rates at 1080p, but struggles to maintain smooth performance at 4K with maximum settings. This analysis breaks down the measured frame rates across resolutions and settings, explains the CPU's role, and provides practical recommendations.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and clearly indicates a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions. At 1080p with High settings, the combo produces 88.3 FPS. Moving to 1440p drops that to 57.7 FPS, and at 4K it falls further to 29.2 FPS. That is a 67% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K. The pattern is consistent across all settings presets, though the absolute numbers vary.

The scaling behavior reveals that the RTX 2060 is the limiting component as resolution increases. At 1080p Low, the system hits 142.3 FPS, which suggests the CPU can feed frames quickly enough when the GPU is not stressed. However, at 4K Ultra, the frame rate collapses to 21.5 FPS, a 49% drop from 4K High. This indicates the GPU's 6 GB of GDDR6 memory and 192-bit bus are simply overwhelmed by the pixel count at 4K, regardless of the relatively modest graphical demands of a turn-based tactics game.

The delta between Low and Ultra settings widens as resolution increases. At 1080p, the gap between Low (142.3 FPS) and Ultra (68.3 FPS) is 74 FPS. At 4K, the same gap is only 26.3 FPS (47.8 vs 21.5). This narrowing suggests that at 4K, the GPU is so heavily saturated that even dropping to Low settings cannot recover playable frame rates. The RTX 2060's pixel rate of 80.64 GPixel/s and texture rate of 201.6 GTexel/s are simply insufficient for 3840x2160 output in this title.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 5 2600 provides a solid foundation for Hard West, though its influence on frame rates diminishes as resolution increases. With 6 cores and 12 threads, this Zen+ architecture chip offers enough parallel processing headroom for a turn-based game, which typically does not stress multi-core performance as heavily as fast-paced shooters. The base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 3.90 GHz are adequate for maintaining consistent frame pacing.

The CPU's benchmark scores place it in the 77th percentile among all processors, which is respectable for a 2018 release. Its multi-threaded performance is notable: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 11186 and a Passmark multi-thread score of 13160. Single-thread performance is more modest, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1579 and a Passmark single-thread score of 2239. These figures suggest the CPU can handle the game logic and AI computations without becoming a bottleneck at lower resolutions.

The evidence for CPU adequacy comes from the 1080p Low result of 142.3 FPS. This frame rate is high enough that the CPU is not the primary constraint at that setting. However, the gap between 1080p Low and 1080p Ultra (74 FPS) is larger than the gap between 1440p Low and 1440p Ultra (44 FPS), indicating that at 1080p, both CPU and GPU are working in tandem. The Ryzen 5 2600's 16 MB of shared L3 cache helps keep game data close to the cores, reducing latency in a turn-based environment where the player's actions trigger complex calculations.

FAQ

*Q: Can this combo run Hard West at 4K?*

A: Yes, but only at reduced settings. At 4K Low, the average frame rate is 47.8 FPS, and at 4K Medium it drops to 40.9 FPS. However, 4K High yields only 29.2 FPS, and 4K Ultra falls to 21.5 FPS, both of which are below the 30 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: What is the best resolution for this system?

A: 1080p is clearly the sweet spot. All settings presets exceed 68 FPS at this resolution, with Low hitting 142.3 FPS and Medium reaching 114.3 FPS. Even Ultra maintains a playable 68.3 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 compare to its nearest rival?

A: The RTX 2060's average benchmark score is 16074, which is 0.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 7600S (15996) and 1.8% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (15786). It trails the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M and AMD Radeon Pro 5700 by 1.7% (16351 each).

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 2600 a bottleneck for this GPU?

A: The data suggests it is not a significant bottleneck at typical settings. The CPU's Passmark multi-thread score of 13160 and 6-core/12-thread configuration provide sufficient throughput. The 1080p Low result of 142.3 FPS shows the CPU can push frames well above 100 FPS when the GPU is not the limiting factor.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1440p with High settings?

A: The measured average is 57.7 FPS. This is just below the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay, but acceptable for a turn-based tactics game where twitch reflexes are not required.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: It ranks 1414 out of 1699 tested combos for this game, placing it in the lower 17% of all tested systems. This reflects the age of both components relative to newer hardware.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual quality and frame rate, the Medium preset at 1080p is the recommended choice. It delivers 114.3 FPS, which is more than sufficient for smooth turn-based gameplay, while still providing improved visuals over Low. The jump from Low to Medium costs 28 FPS (from 142.3 to 114.3), but the visual improvement is worth the small performance hit.

At 1440p, Medium is the highest playable preset, producing 72.1 FPS. High settings at this resolution drop to 57.7 FPS, which is still playable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes. Ultra at 1440p (43.9 FPS) is not recommended, as the frame rate dips below 45 FPS and may feel sluggish during camera pans.

For 4K users, Low is the only sensible choice at 47.8 FPS. Medium at 40.9 FPS is borderline, but the visual gains over Low are minimal in a game with stylized graphics. High and Ultra at 4K (29.2 and 21.5 FPS respectively) should be avoided entirely, as they fall below playable thresholds.

The data indicates that this system is best utilized at 1080p, where it can run all presets comfortably. For players with 1440p monitors, sticking to Medium is the pragmatic choice. The RTX 2060's 6 GB VRAM is adequate for this game's textures at 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K Ultra setting likely exceeds the memory bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s.

How This Combo Ranks

This particular CPU-GPU pairing ranks 1414 out of 1699 tested combos in Hard West, placing it in the bottom 17% of all configurations. This low ranking is primarily due to the age of both components. The Ryzen 5 2600, released in 2018, and the RTX 2060, released in 2019, are both from earlier generations compared to modern hardware.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 77th among all processors is respectable, but its absolute scores show its age. The GPU's percentile ranking of 58th among all GPUs is more concerning, placing it below average. The combo ranking reflects the combined effect of these mid-tier components.

Compared to its nearest CPU rivals, the Ryzen 5 2600 is competitive. It trails the Intel Core i5-1345U by 0.4% and the Intel Core i5-11600KF by 0.6%, while leading the AMD Ryzen 5 7530U by 0.6% and the Intel Core i7-10700F by 0.7%. These small deltas indicate that the 2600 remains a capable processor for this type of game, even if newer CPUs offer more headroom.

The GPU's nearest rivals show a similar pattern. The RTX 2060 leads the AMD Radeon RX 7600S by 0.5% and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 by 1.8%, but trails the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M and AMD Radeon Pro 5700 by 1.7%. This places the GPU in a tightly contested mid-range segment, where performance differences are minimal.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers strong performance across all presets. Low settings produce an average of 142.3 FPS, Medium reaches 114.3 FPS, High achieves 88.3 FPS, and Ultra maintains 68.3 FPS. These numbers confirm that 1080p is the ideal resolution for this combo, with even the most demanding preset staying above 60 FPS.

At 2560x1440, performance drops significantly but remains playable at lower presets. Low settings average 87.9 FPS, Medium delivers 72.1 FPS, High produces 57.7 FPS, and Ultra falls to 43.9 FPS. The transition from Low to Medium costs 15.8 FPS, while the jump from Medium to High costs 14.4 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 13.8 FPS. This linear degradation suggests the GPU is equally stressed by each settings tier.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles to maintain playable frame rates at higher presets. Low settings average 47.8 FPS, Medium drops to 40.9 FPS, High falls to 29.2 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 21.5 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 6.9 FPS, while Medium to High is 11.7 FPS, and High to Ultra is 7.7 FPS. This uneven scaling indicates that certain settings have a disproportionate impact on GPU load at 4K.

The complete dataset shows a clear trend: the RTX 2060 is the limiting factor above 1080p. The CPU's 12 threads are sufficient to keep the game logic running smoothly, but the GPU's 1920 shading units and 48 ROPs cannot handle the pixel throughput required at higher resolutions. For players with 4K displays, the combination of Low settings and the 47.8 FPS average is the only viable path to playable performance.