Hard West

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 built on the Zen 2 architecture, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. It has 8 MB of shared L3 cache and a 65 W TDP. For a turn-based tactics title like Hard West, the CPU's workload is primarily about managing game logic, AI pathfinding, and turn resolution rather than continuous physics simulation. The processor's multithreaded capability, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 13593, provides ample headroom for such tasks.

In the context of the measured results, the CPU shows its strength at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low settings, the combo achieves 189.6 FPS, while at 1080p Ultra it drops to 92.6 FPS. This 97 FPS spread across settings indicates that at 1080p, the GPU is the primary scaling factor as settings increase. However, the CPU's single-thread performance, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1919 and a 3DMark single-thread score of 726, ensures that even the most demanding turn-based calculations do not become a bottleneck. The processor sits in the 75th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17489, placing it just ahead of the Intel Core i5-12450H by 0.1% and slightly behind the Intel Core i3-14100T by 0.8%.

The 4600G's 3DMark 16-thread score of 4863 and max-thread score of 4889 show that scaling beyond 8 threads yields minimal gains, which is typical for games that are not heavily threaded. Hard West, being a 2015 release, likely utilizes fewer threads, making the CPU's 12 threads more than sufficient. The processor's PassMark multithread score of 15992 further confirms its capability to handle background tasks alongside gaming without introducing frame time spikes. The data indicates that for this game, the Ryzen 5 4600G is never the limiting factor at 1440p or 4K, where GPU load dominates.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

The measured data shows a clear hierarchy across settings, and the optimal choice depends on the target resolution. At 1080p, the Medium preset delivers 159.1 FPS, which is a comfortable margin above the High preset's 121.9 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1080p drops to 92.6 FPS, which is still playable but offers diminishing returns for the visual uplift. For a turn-based tactics game where reaction time is less critical, the Medium preset at 1080p provides the best balance of fluidity and visual fidelity, as the jump from Low (189.6 FPS) to Medium (159.1 FPS) costs only 30.5 FPS while significantly improving image quality.

At 1440p, the Medium preset achieves 99.6 FPS, which is excellent for a high-refresh-rate monitor. The High preset at 79.4 FPS is also viable, but the 20.2 FPS drop from Medium is noticeable. The Ultra preset at 1440p falls to 59 FPS, which is borderline for smooth gameplay. Given that Hard West is turn-based, the 59 FPS at Ultra is acceptable, but the Medium preset's near-100 FPS offers a more consistent experience. The data suggests that Medium at 1440p is the sweet spot, as it retains 62.7% of the Low preset's frame rate (125.6 FPS) while providing substantially better shadows and textures.

At 4K, the situation changes dramatically. The High preset produces 41.3 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold. The Medium preset at 55.8 FPS is closer but still not ideal. The Low preset at 65 FPS is the only 4K setting that clears 60 FPS. For 4K, the recommendation is to use Low settings, as the 65 FPS average provides a playable experience without the stutter that sub-60 FPS can introduce. The Ultra preset at 4K yields 33.4 FPS, which is not recommended for any scenario. Overall, the best experience per the measured rows is Medium at 1080p or 1440p, where the frame rates are high enough to ensure no input lag issues.

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

The FPS scaling across resolutions reveals a classic GPU-bound pattern. At Medium settings, the frame rate drops from 159.1 FPS at 1080p to 99.6 FPS at 1440p, a 37.4% reduction, and then to 55.8 FPS at 4K, a 64.9% reduction from 1080p. This steep decline as resolution increases indicates that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 is the primary performance limiter at higher resolutions. The GPU's 8 GB of GDDR7 memory and 128-bit bus width with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are being saturated as pixel count increases.

At High settings, the scaling is similar: 121.9 FPS at 1080p, 79.4 FPS at 1440p (a 34.9% drop), and 41.3 FPS at 4K (a 66.1% drop from 1080p). The consistent percentage drops across settings suggest that the GPU's compute throughput, rated at 19.18 TFLOPS FP32, is the bottleneck rather than memory capacity or any CPU limitation. The RTX 5060's 3840 shading units and 120 texture mapping units are being fully utilized as resolution increases.

The Low preset shows a less severe drop: 189.6 FPS at 1080p to 125.6 FPS at 1440p (a 33.8% reduction) and 65 FPS at 4K (a 65.7% reduction from 1080p). The fact that the 4K Low frame rate (65 FPS) is still above the 4K High frame rate (41.3 FPS) by 57.4% confirms that the GPU's fillrate and shading capacity are the limiting factors. The RTX 5060's pixel rate of 119.9 GPixel/s and texture rate of 299.6 GTexel/s are insufficient to maintain high frame rates at 4K with higher settings. The data clearly shows that the CPU's role diminishes as resolution increases, with the GPU becoming the sole performance constraint at 4K.

FAQ

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 5 4600G sufficient for Hard West at 4K?

A: Yes, the CPU is not a bottleneck at 4K. The measured frame rates at 4K are determined by the GPU, with the Low preset achieving 65 FPS and the Ultra preset at 33.4 FPS. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are more than adequate for the turn-based logic.

Q: What is the best resolution for a 60 FPS experience with this combo?

A: At 1440p, the Medium preset delivers 99.6 FPS, and the High preset provides 79.4 FPS, both comfortably above 60 FPS. At 4K, only the Low preset (65 FPS) clears 60 FPS, while Medium (55.8 FPS) and High (41.3 FPS) fall short.

Q: How does the RTX 5060's VRAM affect Hard West performance?

A: The RTX 5060 has 8 GB of GDDR7 memory with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth. The measured results show no evidence of VRAM capacity issues, as the frame rates scale consistently with resolution and settings, indicating that memory bandwidth, not capacity, is the limiting factor.

Q: Can this combo handle Ultra settings at any resolution?

A: Yes, at 1080p Ultra, the combo achieves 92.6 FPS, which is playable. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 59 FPS, which is borderline but acceptable for a turn-based game. At 4K Ultra, it falls to 33.4 FPS, which is not recommended.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 4600G compare to its nearest rivals in overall CPU benchmarks?

A: The 4600G has an average benchmark score of 17489, which is 0% different from the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355GE (17482), 0.1% higher than the Intel Core i5-12450H (17475), and 0.8% lower than the Intel Core i3-14100T (17636).

Q: Is the RTX 5060 a strong performer relative to other GPUs?

A: The RTX 5060 has an average benchmark score of 30109 and sits in the 73rd percentile of all GPUs. It is essentially tied with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT (30097, 0% delta) and the AMD Radeon RX 570 (30158, -0.2% delta), while being 0.5% ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla M60 (29969).

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process node, featuring 21,900 million transistors on a 181 mm² die. It operates at a base clock of 2280 MHz and a boost clock of 2497 MHz, with 8 GB of GDDR7 memory running at an effective speed of 28 Gbps. The GPU's 3840 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 48 ROPs deliver a pixel rate of 119.9 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 299.6 GTexel/s. The 128-bit memory bus provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is the key constraint at high resolutions.

In Hard West, the GPU's role is to render the game's stylized Western environments and character models. The measured frame rates show that the RTX 5060 is capable of high performance at 1080p, with the Low preset hitting 189.6 FPS and Ultra at 92.6 FPS. The GPU's 19.18 TFLOPS FP32 compute capability is sufficient for the game's lighting and shadow effects at these settings. However, as resolution increases, the GPU's fillrate and memory bandwidth become limiting. At 4K, the frame rate drops to 65 FPS on Low and 33.4 FPS on Ultra, indicating that the GPU cannot sustain the pixel throughput required for 4K with high settings.

The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 20891 places it in the 73rd percentile, with an average benchmark score of 30109. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, has a nearly identical score of 30097, showing that the RTX 5060 is competitive in its class. The DirectX 12 score of 77 and DirectX 11 score of 200 from PassMark suggest that the GPU handles modern APIs well, which is relevant for a game like Hard West that can use DX11. The GPU's 8 GB VRAM is not a bottleneck in this game, as the frame rate scaling is consistent with compute and bandwidth limitations rather than memory capacity issues.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 189.6 FPS, Medium delivers 159.1 FPS, High produces 121.9 FPS, and Ultra drops to 92.6 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 97 FPS, showing that settings have a significant impact at this resolution. The Medium preset retains 83.9% of Low's frame rate, while Ultra retains only 48.8% of Low's performance.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset measures 125.6 FPS, Medium at 99.6 FPS, High at 79.4 FPS, and Ultra at 59 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra is 66.6 FPS, a smaller absolute difference than at 1080p but a similar percentage reduction. The Medium preset at 1440p delivers 79.3% of Low's frame rate, and Ultra delivers 47.0% of Low's performance. The 1440p results show that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor, as the frame rates scale more consistently with resolution than with settings.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset achieves 65 FPS, Medium at 55.8 FPS, High at 41.3 FPS, and Ultra at 33.4 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra is 31.6 FPS, which is the smallest absolute difference across all resolutions, indicating that the GPU is saturated even at Low settings. The Medium preset at 4K retains 85.8% of Low's frame rate, while Ultra retains 51.4% of Low's performance. The 4K results clearly show that the RTX 5060 is the sole bottleneck, with the CPU having no influence on the outcome.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 4600G and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 ranks 866th out of 1699 tested combos in Hard West. This places it in the middle of the distribution, which is a reasonable position given the hardware's specifications. The rank of 866 out of 1699 corresponds to approximately the 51st percentile of all tested configurations, meaning that 833 combos perform worse and 865 perform better.

Given that the RTX 5060 is a current-generation GPU with a PassMark G3D score of 20891 and the Ryzen 5 4600G is a mid-range CPU from 2020 with an average benchmark score of 17489, the combo's mid-pack ranking is expected. The GPU's 73rd percentile ranking is higher than the CPU's 75th percentile ranking by a small margin, but the overall combo rank is dragged down by the CPU's performance in certain scenarios. However, for a turn-based tactics game like Hard West, the combo's actual measured frame rates are very playable, with 1080p Medium at 159.1 FPS being a standout result.

The combo's rank of 866 is not a reflection of poor performance but rather a signal of the large number of high-end combos in the database. The 4K Low result of 65 FPS and 1440p Medium of 99.6 FPS demonstrate that this combo is well-suited for the game at mainstream resolutions. The data shows that while the combo may not top the charts, it delivers a smooth experience for the vast majority of players, and the mid-pack ranking should not deter users from considering this configuration for Hard West.