Hard West

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 pairing in Hard West produces a fascinating split personality: at 1080p, the CPU keeps the GPU from stretching its legs, but by 4K, the RTX 5070's raw throughput becomes the dominant factor. This is a turn-based tactics title, so the frame rates are already high, but the scaling pattern reveals exactly where the bottleneck shifts as resolution climbs.

Resolution Scaling

The measured data shows a predictable inverse relationship between resolution and average FPS, but the magnitude of the drop between 1080p and 4K is substantial. At High settings, the combo delivers 134 FPS at 1920x1080, drops to 109 FPS at 2560x1440, and falls further to 57 FPS at 3840x2160. That represents a 57.5% reduction in average FPS when moving from 1080p to 4K at High settings. The 1440p figure sits almost exactly halfway between the two extremes, suggesting a smooth, linear scaling curve rather than a sudden cliff.

Low settings tell a similar story but with a steeper relative drop. At 1080p Low, the system hits 158 FPS; at 1440p Low it manages 136 FPS; and at 4K Low it still holds 91 FPS. The decline from 1080p to 4K here is 42.4%, which is less severe in percentage terms than the High preset's drop. This indicates that at Low settings, the CPU is more of a limiting factor at 1080p, holding the average down relative to what the GPU could theoretically produce. Once resolution increases, the GPU workload grows and the CPU bottleneck relaxes.

Medium settings behave slightly differently. The 1080p Medium average is 148 FPS, which is only 10 FPS below the Low preset at the same resolution. At 1440p Medium, the average is 127 FPS, and at 4K Medium, it is 74 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 4K at Medium is 50%, which places it between the Low and High presets in scaling aggressiveness. The Medium preset also includes the only min/max FPS data in the pack: at 1080p, the range spans 125 to 170 FPS; at 1440p it narrows to 108 to 146; and at 4K it tightens further to 63 to 86. This progressive narrowing of the frame time variance suggests that at higher resolutions, the GPU becomes more consistently saturated, reducing the spikes and dips that CPU scheduling can introduce.

Ultra settings produce the lowest absolute numbers but the most dramatic scaling. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 121 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 82 FPS, a 32.2% reduction. At 4K Ultra, the average collapses to 43 FPS, which is a 64.5% drop from the 1080p figure and a 47.6% drop from 1440p. This nonlinear behavior at Ultra is telling: the 4K Ultra result falls below the 60 FPS threshold, making it the only measured configuration that is not comfortably smooth for a turn-based game. The gap between 4K Medium (74 FPS) and 4K Ultra (43 FPS) is 31 FPS, which is a massive penalty for the visual uplift Ultra provides at that resolution.

The limiting component shifts clearly with resolution. At 1080p, the Ryzen 5 2600's Zen+ architecture, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, appears to cap performance around 158 FPS at Low and 121 FPS at Ultra. The RTX 5070, which sits in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs, is likely capable of far more at this resolution. By 4K, the GPU's workload dominates, and the CPU's influence fades; the fact that 4K Low (91 FPS) is still 34 FPS higher than 4K Ultra (43 FPS) shows that the GPU's fill rate and shading capacity are the primary constraints at that resolution.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data points to Medium as the sweet spot for this pairing, particularly at 1440p and 4K. At 1440p Medium, the average FPS of 127 is only 9 FPS below the Low preset's 136, but it provides a meaningful visual quality uplift. The min/max range of 108 to 146 FPS at this setting is tight enough for consistent pacing in a turn-based tactics game, where frame time consistency matters more than raw refresh rate. At 4K Medium, the 74 FPS average is playable and stays above the 60 FPS floor, while the min FPS of 63 confirms that even the slowest frames remain smooth.

High settings are a viable alternative at 1440p, where the 109 FPS average is still far above what the game needs for responsive input. However, at 4K High, the 57 FPS average dips just below 60, and without min/max data, there is a risk that occasional frame dips could become noticeable. The 4K Ultra setting at 43 FPS is the only configuration that falls clearly into unplayable territory for a game that benefits from smooth camera panning and unit animations. Players who prioritize visual fidelity at 4K should stick with Medium, while those at 1080p can safely use Ultra at 121 FPS without hesitation.

The Low preset is only worth considering if the user is chasing the absolute highest frame rates on a high-refresh 1080p display. At 158 FPS, it is the fastest measured configuration, but the visual downgrade is substantial for a game that is not reflex-intensive. The data suggests that Medium at 1440p offers the best balance of image quality and headroom, with the 127 FPS average leaving ample margin for any background tasks or future driver overhead.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Ryzen 5 2600 and RTX 5070 ranks 1304 out of 3722 tested combos in Hard West. That places it in the 35th percentile of all pairings, meaning roughly two-thirds of tested configurations outperform it in this game. The ranking is likely dragged down by the CPU, which is an older 2000-series part that, despite being in the 75th percentile of all CPUs, is paired with a GPU in the 82nd percentile. The mismatch is evident in the resolution scaling data, where the CPU holds back performance at 1080p more than at 4K.

The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the Intel Core Ultra 5 228V and Intel Core i9-11900H, both of which have average scores within 0.5% of the Ryzen 5 2600. The AMD EPYC 9454 is 1.2% faster, while the Intel Xeon D-1746TER is 0.7% slower. These are all modern or high-end server/mobile parts, which suggests that the Ryzen 5 2600's synthetic performance is still competitive despite its age. However, synthetic benchmarks do not always translate to game performance, and the Zen+ architecture's lower IPC compared to newer designs likely costs actual FPS in CPU-bound scenarios.

The GPU's nearest rivals in average benchmark score are all AMD professional cards: the Radeon Pro 580, Radeon Pro WX 7100, and Radeon Pro 5300. These are workstation parts, not gaming GPUs, which makes the comparison somewhat misleading. The RTX 5070's 82nd percentile ranking among all GPUs is strong, but its performance in Hard West at 4K Ultra (43 FPS) suggests that the game's engine is not particularly well-optimized for the Blackwell architecture's strengths. The combo's rank of 1304 out of 3722 indicates that there are many better pairings, but also over 2400 worse ones, so this is not a bottom-tier configuration.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the settings ladder shows a clear hierarchy. Low produces 158 FPS, Medium 148 FPS, High 134 FPS, and Ultra 121 FPS. The gap from Low to Ultra is 37 FPS, or a 23.4% penalty for maximum visual quality. The Medium preset's min/max of 125 to 170 FPS shows that the frame rate can swing widely, but the average remains high enough that this is unlikely to cause issues.

At 2560x1440, the same ladder compresses. Low gives 136 FPS, Medium 127 FPS, High 109 FPS, and Ultra 82 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra gap widens to 54 FPS, or a 39.7% penalty. The Medium preset's min/max of 108 to 146 FPS is tighter than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is becoming more of a limiting factor and reducing CPU-induced variance.

At 3840x2160, the ladder stretches further. Low produces 91 FPS, Medium 74 FPS, High 57 FPS, and Ultra 43 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra gap is now 48 FPS, or a 52.7% penalty. The Medium preset's min/max of 63 to 86 FPS confirms that even the worst frames stay above 60, but the Ultra preset's 43 FPS average would be a poor experience for any game, regardless of genre.

FAQ

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 2600 a bottleneck for the RTX 5070 in Hard West?

A: Yes, but only at lower resolutions. At 1080p, the CPU limits the average FPS to 158 at Low and 121 at Ultra, which is below what the GPU should be capable of. At 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, as shown by the 91 FPS at Low and 43 FPS at Ultra.

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combo for a smooth experience?

A: The data shows that 1440p Medium at 127 FPS is the strongest measured configuration, as it provides a high average with a tight 108 to 146 FPS range. For 4K, Medium at 74 FPS is the only preset that stays above 60 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 5070's 12 GB of GDDR7 memory affect 4K performance in this game?

A: The 4K results suggest that 12 GB is sufficient for Hard West, as the memory bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s is more than enough for the game's textures. The 43 FPS at 4K Ultra is more likely due to compute load than memory capacity.

Q: Is the Ultra preset ever worth using with this combo?

A: At 1080p, yes, since the 121 FPS average is still very playable. At 1440p, the 82 FPS average is acceptable. At 4K, the 43 FPS average is too low, and Medium should be used instead.

Q: How does this CPU compare to its rivals in synthetic tests?

A: The Ryzen 5 2600's average benchmark score of 21484 is within 0.2% of the Intel Core Ultra 5 228V, 0.5% of the Intel Core i9-11900H, and 1.2% of the AMD EPYC 9454. It is 0.7% faster than the Intel Xeon D-1746TER.

Q: What does the combo's rank of 1304 out of 3722 mean in practice?

A: It means this pairing performs better than roughly 65% of tested combos in Hard West. The low rank is likely due to the CPU's age, as the GPU alone sits in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen+ architecture, built on a 12 nm process at GlobalFoundries. It has a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 3.90 GHz, with 16 MB of shared L3 cache and 512 KB of L2 per core. Its 65 W TDP makes it a low-power part, and its dual-channel DDR4 memory support provides 46.9 GB/s of bandwidth. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 1248 in Cinebench R15 multicore and 157.3 in single-core, which are respectable numbers for a 2018 release.

In Hard West, the CPU's role is most visible at 1080p, where the average FPS plateaus at 158 even on Low settings. This suggests that the game's turn-based logic and unit AI are not particularly demanding, but the single-threaded performance of the Zen+ architecture caps the frame rate. The CPU's PassMark single-thread score of 2239 and Geekbench single-core score of 1154 are modest by modern standards, which explains why it cannot push beyond 158 FPS. The 12 threads do help with background tasks, but Hard West likely does not scale well beyond a few cores.

The CPU's 75th percentile ranking among all CPUs is respectable, but it is paired with a GPU in the 82nd percentile. This mismatch is most apparent at 1080p, where the CPU limits performance, and least apparent at 4K, where the GPU's workload dominates. The RTX 5070's 30.87 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 192 texture mapping units are far ahead of what the CPU can feed at lower resolutions. The data indicates that this pairing is best suited for 1440p, where the CPU and GPU reach a better balance, with the 127 FPS average at Medium proving that the combination can deliver high frame rates without either component becoming a severe bottleneck.