Hard West

The AMD Ryzen 5 4600G and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 pairing in Hard West presents an interesting study in component balance for a turn-based tactics title. The data shows a system where the GPU is clearly the dominant force, yet the CPU’s capabilities are sufficient to avoid bottlenecking, even at lower resolutions. This analysis breaks down the measured performance across resolutions and settings, interpreting what the numbers reveal about the hardware’s behavior in this specific game.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 5 4600G is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 2 architecture, running on the AMD Socket AM4 platform. Its base clock is 3.70 GHz, with a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. For a turn-based tactics game like Hard West, the computational demands are often less about raw multi-threaded throughput and more about consistent single-thread performance and maintaining a stable frame pacing. The CPU's benchmark scores reflect a mid-range capability; its 3dmark single-thread score is 726, and its Cinebench R23 single-core score is 1919, indicating a modest level of per-core performance. Multi-threaded results are stronger, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 13593 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 6637.

The data suggests that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this combination. At 1080p, where CPU load is typically highest relative to the GPU, the average FPS across all settings is high, ranging from 143 to 188. This indicates that the 4600G can feed the RTX 4080 enough data to maintain triple-digit frame rates. The CPU’s 8 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for this game's engine. The processor's 71st percentile ranking versus all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17507, places it in a solid mid-pack position, but its nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355GE (0.1% faster) and the Intel Core i3-14100T (0.8% slower), show that it is not in the top tier of processors. However, for Hard West, the performance headroom is clear; the game does not appear to stress the CPU heavily enough to create a significant frame rate bottleneck, even at the lower resolution.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is a high-end graphics card from the GeForce 40-series, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture. It features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding a substantial bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s. The GPU's core clocks are a base of 2205 MHz and a boost of 2505 MHz. This hardware provides a massive amount of raw graphical power, as evidenced by its 86th percentile ranking among all GPUs and an average benchmark score of 54247. Its performance is very close to the RTX 4080 SUPER, which scores only 0.1% higher, and it slightly outperforms the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X by 1.1%.

In Hard West, the GPU is the primary driver of performance. The frame rates scale predictably with resolution and settings, but the absolute numbers are high across the board. For instance, at 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 51, which is perfectly playable, but at 1080p Ultra, it jumps to 143. This shows the GPU is capable of handling the game’s effects and geometry with ease. The 16 GB VRAM is far more than what a game from 2015 would require, even at 4K, meaning memory capacity is not a constraint. The GPU's processing power is the main determinant of frame rate, particularly at higher resolutions where pixel count and shader complexity increase. Its PassMark G3D score of 34457 and DirectX 12 score of 132 highlight its modern feature set, but the game’s age means it likely doesn't utilize the latest ray tracing or DLSS features, relying instead on raw rasterization performance.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of how the system scales with resolution. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 159 FPS at 1080p to 131 FPS at 1440p, and then to 69 FPS at 4K. This is a significant drop, particularly the 47% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The pattern is similar for other settings. For example, on Ultra, the system delivers 143 FPS at 1080p, 98 FPS at 1440p, and 51 FPS at 4K. This scaling behavior is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario.

The frame rate reduction from 1080p to 4K is substantial, indicating that the RTX 4080 is under increasing load as the pixel count grows. The jump from 1080p to 1440p results in a 17.6% decrease in FPS on High settings (159 to 131), but the jump from 1440p to 4K results in a 47.3% decrease (131 to 69). This non-linear drop is typical, as 4K contains 2.25 times the pixels of 1440p. The data implies that the CPU's role is diminishing as resolution increases, while the GPU becomes the sole bottleneck. Conversely, the fact that 1080p and 1440p frame rates are so high suggests that the CPU has enough headroom to keep up with the GPU, and it is not until 4K that the GPU’s workload becomes so heavy that it limits performance. This confirms that the RTX 4080 is the performance ceiling for this combo in Hard West, and the Ryzen 5 4600G is more than adequate to support it.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate for this combo at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS is 159. This is a very high frame rate, indicating the system is not heavily stressed at this resolution.

Q: How much of a performance drop occurs when moving from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: The average FPS drops from 159 at 1080p to 69 at 4K, a reduction of 90 FPS. This significant drop confirms that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 5 4600G a bottleneck for the RTX 4080 in this game?

A: The data suggests it is not. At 1080p, where CPU load is highest, the system still achieves an average of 188 FPS on Low settings. The frame rates remain high, indicating the CPU can supply the GPU with enough data to avoid being a limiting factor.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a smooth 4K experience?

A: At 4K, the Medium preset provides an average FPS of 89, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth play. The High preset averages 69 FPS, also playable, but Medium offers a higher performance buffer.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, based on average benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 4080 has an average benchmark score of 54247, while the RTX 4080 SUPER scores 54209. This means the RTX 4080 is effectively tied with its SUPER counterpart, showing a delta of just 0.1%.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for the 1440p Medium setting?

A: The minimum FPS is 128, with an average of 150 and a maximum of 173. This shows a stable performance profile with no major frame drops.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution. At 1080p, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 143 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate monitorschers. The High preset is also strong at 159 FPS, but Ultra provides the best visual quality with only a modest FPS cost. For 1440p, the Medium preset offers the best balance, with an average of 150 FPS and a minimum of 128 FPS, ensuring a smooth experience. While High is also playable at 131 FPS, Medium provides a better safety margin. At 4K, the most demanding resolution, the Medium preset is the clear recommendationalerting, delivering an average of 89 FPS with a minimum of 76 FPS. The High preset is also viable at 69 FPS, but Medium offers more headroom for complex scenes. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to 51 FPS, which is below the ideal threshold for consistent smoothnessalerting. Therefore, for the best experience, Medium settings at 4K, High at 1440p, and Ultra at 1080p are the most sensible choices given the measured performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following data is taken directly from the measured FPS results for this specific hardware combination.

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Ultra: average FPS is 143.
• High: average FPS is 159.
• Medium: average FPS is 175, with a minimum of 149 and a maximum of 201.
• Low: average FPS is 188.

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Ultra: average FPS is 98.
• High: average FPS is 131.
• Medium: average FPS is 150, with a minimum of 128 and a maximum of 173.
• Low: average FPS is 161.

3840x2160 (4K):

• Ultra: average FPS is 51.
• High: average FPS is 69.
• Medium: average FPS is 89, with a minimum of 76 and a maximum of 103.
• Low: average FPS is 109.

The data shows a consistent hierarchy, with performance decreasing as resolution and settings increase. The only setting with recorded minimum and maximum FPS is Medium, which suggests it may be the most commonly tested or stable preset. The lack of min/max data for other settings does not imply they are unstable, but rather that only the Medium preset’s frame time variance was captured. Overall, the numbers paint a picture of a system with substantial performance reserves, even at the highest settings, making it well-suited for this classic tactics title.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 4600G and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is ranked 751 out of 3722 tested combos for Hard West. This places the system in the top 20% of all configurations tested in the database. The high rank is almost entirely attributable to the powerful GPU, which is capable of pushing very high frame rates. The CPU, while not a top-tier performer in synthetic benchmarks, does not hinder the GPU in this specific game. The fact that the combo ranks so highly despite the CPU’s mid-range status (71st percentile) underscores how GPU-dependent Hard West is.

This ranking suggests that for this game, the RTX 4080 is the primary driver of the experience, and the Ryzen 5 4600G is a sufficient companion. The combo outperforms a significant majority of other systems, meaning users with this setup will have a very smooth and enjoyable experience in Hard West, particularly at 1080p and 1440p. The 4K performance, while lower, is still respectable and playable on Medium settings. The data indicates that this pairing is an excellent match for this game, with the GPU’s strength covering for the CPU’s more modest capabilities.