Hard West

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 pairing delivers a highly capable experience in Hard West, but the data reveals that the most sensible settings choice depends heavily on your display resolution. The benchmark results show a clear hierarchy: Ultra settings are only viable at 1080p, while High settings provide the best balance of visual fidelity and frame rate at higher resolutions. The measured frames per second (FPS) indicate that this combo ranks in the 601st position out of 1699 tested combinations, placing it in the upper-middle tier of all systems evaluated for this title.

Settings Recommendations

For 1920x1080 displays, the Ultra preset is the clear choice, delivering an average of 121.7 FPS. This is more than sufficient for smooth gameplay in a turn-based tactics title, and the visual improvements over High settings are worth the 31.7 FPS drop from 153.4 FPS. The data shows that at 1080p, the system has enough headroom to run the most demanding preset without compromising playability.

At 2560x1440, the High preset becomes the optimal selection. It produces an average of 100 FPS, which is perfectly fluid for this genre. While Ultra still manages 75.9 FPS, the gap to High is substantial, and the Medium preset at 135.3 FPS offers diminishing visual returns for a 35.3 FPS gain over High. High provides the best compromise between image quality and performance at this resolution.

For 3840x2160, High is again the recommended preset, yielding 51.5 FPS. This is playable for a turn-based game, though it is noticeably lower than the 60 FPS threshold often considered ideal. Ultra at 4K drops to 38.6 FPS, which is a significant compromise. The Medium preset at 71.5 FPS is also viable, but High offers a better visual experience for a 20 FPS cost. Low settings at 4K produce 84.6 FPS, but this is unnecessary unless the user prioritizes maximum smoothness over all visual quality.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is the dominant component in this pairing for Hard West. Its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides a substantial memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s, which is more than adequate for this game’s demands. The GPU’s boost clock of 2475 MHz, combined with its 5888 shading units, drives the high frame rates observed across all resolutions.

The data strongly suggests that the RTX 4070 is not the limiting factor until the resolution reaches 4K with Ultra settings. At 1080p and 1440p, the GPU has ample headroom, as evidenced by the large FPS jumps between Low and Ultra settings. The RTX 4070’s architecture, built on the 5 nm process, delivers the raw compute power needed to push frame rates well above 100 FPS at 1440p. Its performance percentile of 81 among all GPUs confirms its position as a high-tier part, though it sits slightly below the average score of its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, which shows a deltaPct of -0.6.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 achieves a combo rank of 601 out of 1699 tested systems in Hard West. This places the pairing in the 65th percentile of all test configurations, indicating a solidly above-average performance level. The rank reflects a system that can handle the game at high settings across all resolutions, but it is not a top-tier configuration capable of maxing out every title at 4K with high frame rates.

The CPU’s own benchmark scores support this ranking. Its average benchmark score of 18129 places it in the 76th percentile of all CPUs, with its nearest rival being the Intel Core i5-11400, which scores 18150 at a deltaPct of -0.1. This near-parity indicates that the Ryzen 5 3600 is a competent mid-range processor that does not bottleneck the RTX 4070 in most scenarios. The combo ranking is a holistic measure, and the data shows this pairing is well-matched for a game like Hard West, which is not heavily threaded but does rely on consistent single-core performance.

FAQ

Q: Is the Ultra preset playable at 2560x1440?

A: Yes, the Ultra preset at 1440p produces an average of 75.9 FPS, which is fully playable for a turn-based tactics game. However, the High preset at 100 FPS offers a more comfortable margin and is the recommended choice.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 4K with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS for 3840x2160 with High settings is 51.5 FPS. This is a playable frame rate for this genre, though not as high as what is achievable at lower resolutions.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 compare to its nearest rival in general benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4070 has an average benchmark score of 37283, which is 0.6% lower than the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56’s score of 37507. It also trails the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A by 1.9% and the RTX 4080 Mobile by 2.2%.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 3600 a bottleneck for the RTX 4070 in this game?

A: The data does not indicate a significant CPU bottleneck. The Ryzen 5 3600’s multi-threaded benchmark scores are strong, and its single-thread performance is adequate for the game’s mechanics. The FPS scaling from Low to Ultra settings suggests the GPU is the primary driver of performance.

Q: What is the difference in FPS between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 180.9 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 121.7 FPS. This represents a 59.2 FPS difference, demonstrating the performance cost of the Ultra preset.

Q: What is the combo’s overall rank out of all tested systems?

A: The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination ranks 601st out of 1699 tested combos in Hard West. This places it in the upper-middle portion of the overall rankings.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a clear and expected pattern of frame rate degradation as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the system achieves 153.4 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 reduces this to 100 FPS, a drop of 53.4 FPS. At 3840x2160, the frame rate falls further to 51.5 FPS, a 48.5 FPS drop from the 1440p result.

This scaling behavior indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. The 1080p to 1440p transition costs roughly 35% of the original frame rate, while the 1440p to 4K transition costs another 48.5%. The RTX 4070’s 12 GB VRAM is sufficient for all resolution and settings combinations tested, as there is no evidence of memory-related stuttering or performance cliffs. The FPS drop is consistent with a GPU-bound workload where the additional pixel count directly impacts fill rate and shading demands. At 1080p, the CPU may play a more significant role, as the frame rates exceed 180 FPS at Low settings, which can stress the processor’s ability to feed the GPU.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, provides a solid foundation for this pairing. Its base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 4.20 GHz, based on the Zen 2 architecture, deliver sufficient single-thread performance for Hard West’s turn-based logic and AI calculations. The CPU’s benchmark scores show a healthy balance: a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 15045 and a single-core score of 2124.

The CPU’s role is most evident at lower resolutions where the GPU is underutilized. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves 180.9 FPS, a figure that is often constrained by CPU processing power. However, the Ryzen 5 3600’s performance is sufficient to keep up with the RTX 4070’s output, as there is no evidence of a severe bottleneck in the data. The processor’s 32 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support help maintain consistent frame times. While not the fastest CPU on the market, its average benchmark score of 18129 places it within 0.1% of the Intel Core i5-11400, confirming its position as a capable mid-range part that does not hold back the RTX 4070 in this title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the performance envelope is broad. Low settings produce an average of 180.9 FPS, Medium reaches 169.7 FPS, High delivers 153.4 FPS, and Ultra yields 121.7 FPS. The gap from Low to Ultra is 59.2 FPS, showing that even the most demanding preset is highly playable.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain strong. Low averages 156.1 FPS, Medium 135.3 FPS, High 100 FPS, and Ultra 75.9 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra is more pronounced here, with a 80.2 FPS difference between the extremes.

At 3840x2160, the GPU’s workload increases substantially. Low averages 84.6 FPS, Medium 71.5 FPS, High 51.5 FPS, and Ultra drops to 38.6 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 46 FPS, and the Ultra preset clearly pushes the RTX 4070 to its limits. Across all resolutions, the data confirms that High settings are the sweet spot for this combination, offering a balanced experience without sacrificing the visual quality that the RTX 4070 can provide.