Hard West

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Hard West with the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 shows a clear, predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases. At 1080p, the combo delivers 141.8 FPS on Low settings, which drops to 90.3 FPS at 1440p and further to 46.1 FPS at 4K. This represents a 36% performance drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 67% drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings. The pattern holds across all quality presets, though the absolute numbers shift.

Looking at High settings, the combo produces 92.5 FPS at 1080p, 59.4 FPS at 1440p, and 29.6 FPS at 4K. The scaling from 1440p to 4K shows a 50% reduction, which is steeper than the 36% reduction seen from 1080p to 1440p. This non-linear scaling indicates that the GPU becomes increasingly stressed as pixel count grows. The RTX 2060, with its 6 GB of GDDR6 memory and 192-bit memory bus, appears to be the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

Ultra settings tell a similar story: 67.8 FPS at 1080p, 45.2 FPS at 1440p, and just 23.1 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result falls below the playable threshold of 30 FPS, while 1440p Ultra remains comfortably above it. The data suggests that 1080p is where this combo shines, with every preset delivering at least 67.8 FPS. At 1440p, only the Low and Medium presets maintain frame rates above 60 FPS, while High just misses at 59.4 FPS.

The scaling behavior points to a system where the RTX 2060 is the primary constraint. The Ryzen 5 5500, with its 6 cores and 12 threads running at a base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost up to 4.20 GHz, has enough headroom to feed the GPU at lower resolutions. The transition from 1080p to 4K increases pixel workload by a factor of four, which disproportionately impacts GPU-bound scenarios.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 5 5500 contributes to this game's results through its Zen 3 architecture and Cezanne codename. This 7 nm processor from TSMC packs 6 cores and 12 threads, with a 16 MB L3 cache and 512 KB L2 cache per core. The base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 4.20 GHz provide the computational backbone for Hard West's turn-based tactics engine.

In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU scores 836 in 3dmark single-thread and 5411 in 3dmark max-threads. Multi-threaded performance is strong, with Cinebench R20 scoring 6900 multicore and 973 singlecore. The Passmark single-thread score of 3058 and multithread score of 19330 indicate a balanced processor that handles both lightly-threaded and heavily-threaded workloads well. The CPU's percentile ranking of 79 places it above most desktop processors, with an average benchmark score of 20875.

Hard West, being a turn-based tactics title from 2015, does not typically demand extreme CPU throughput. The Ryzen 5 5500's nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-12500 with a deltaPct of -0.1, meaning the Ryzen 5 5500 trails by just 0.1% in average score. The AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 4655GE matches this performance with an identical -0.1% delta, while the AMD EPYC 7J13 edges ahead by 0.1%. These tiny margins suggest that CPU performance is not a differentiator in this game.

The 65 W TDP and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth keep the CPU fed without bottlenecking the GPU. The 3dmark 2-thread score of 1645 and 4-thread score of 3151 show strong scaling across core counts, which is relevant for a game that may utilize multiple threads for AI and pathfinding calculations. The Passmark physics score of 896 indicates adequate physics processing capability for the game's environment interactions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is the dominant component in this pairing, and the measured FPS data reflects its capabilities. Built on the Turing architecture with the TU106 chip at 12 nm, this GPU features 1920 shading units, 120 texture mapping units, and 48 ROPs. The 6 GB of GDDR6 memory operates at 1750 MHz with a 192-bit bus, delivering 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

The GPU's clock speeds are 1365 MHz base and 1680 MHz boost, with a pixel rate of 80.64 GPixel/s and texture rate of 201.6 GTexel/s. Floating-point performance reaches 6.451 TFLOPS for FP32, which is adequate for a 2015 title. The RTX 2060 also includes 30 RT cores and 240 tensor cores, though Hard West predates widespread ray tracing adoption and likely does not utilize these features.

In GPU benchmarks, the RTX 2060 scores 14111 in Passmark G3D and 5488 in GPU compute. Its percentile ranking of 58 places it in the upper half of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 16074. The nearest rivals show tight competition: the AMD Radeon RX 7600S trails by 0.5%, while the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M and Pro 5700 both lead by 1.7%. This places the RTX 2060 in a competitive mid-range tier.

The GPU's memory configuration is crucial for Hard West's performance at higher resolutions. The 6 GB VRAM capacity, combined with 336.0 GB/s bandwidth, handles the game's texture and geometry data effectively at 1080p and 1440p. At 4K, however, the memory pressure increases, and the FPS drops reflect this. The 4K High result of 29.6 FPS suggests the GPU is hitting memory bandwidth limits or fill-rate constraints.

Settings Recommendations

Analyzing the measured FPS rows, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution. At 1080p, the Medium preset delivers 117.5 FPS, which is only 17% lower than Low's 141.8 FPS but likely provides substantially better visual quality. High at 92.5 FPS remains smooth, while Ultra at 67.8 FPS is still playable for a turn-based tactics game where frame timing is less critical than in fast-paced genres.

For 1440p, the Medium preset at 74.8 FPS offers the best balance. Low at 90.3 FPS is smoother but sacrifices visual fidelity, while High at 59.4 FPS is borderline for players who prefer 60 FPS. Ultra at 45.2 FPS is acceptable for turn-based gameplay but may feel less responsive. The data suggests Medium is the sweet spot at this resolution, providing a 26% improvement over High while maintaining a comfortable frame rate.

At 4K, the situation changes dramatically. Low at 46.1 FPS is the only preset that exceeds 30 FPS, with Medium at 40.7 FPS close behind. High at 29.6 FPS dips below the 30 FPS threshold, and Ultra at 23.1 FPS is noticeably stuttery. For 4K play, Low settings are recommended, though Medium may be tolerable for patient players. The 4K results indicate this combo is not ideal for native 4K gaming, and players should consider downscaling to 1440p for a better experience.

The measured data shows that the RTX 2060's performance ceiling is reached at 4K Ultra, where the 23.1 FPS result represents the worst-case scenario. Across all resolutions, the gap between Low and Ultra settings is consistent: 74 FPS at 1080p, 45.1 FPS at 1440p, and 23 FPS at 4K. This consistency suggests the GPU's scaling with settings is uniform, with each quality tier imposing a similar relative cost.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 ranks 1369 out of 1699 tested combos in Hard West. This places it in the bottom 20% of all configurations, which is notable given the individual components' respectable benchmark scores. The rank indicates that Hard West, despite being a turn-based tactics title, is demanding enough to expose the limits of this mid-range pairing.

The combo's rank of 1369 out of 1699 suggests that many other CPU-GPU pairings deliver better performance in this specific game. The CPU's percentile of 79 and GPU's percentile of 58 do not translate to a high game-specific ranking, implying that the game's engine has specific requirements that this combination does not fully satisfy. The 4K results, in particular, drag down the overall ranking, as 4K Ultra at 23.1 FPS is among the lower scores recorded.

Compared to the nearest rival combinations, this pairing sits in a crowded field. The CPU's nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i5-12500 and AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 4655GE, show negligible performance differences of 0.1%, suggesting that CPU choice is not the determining factor in this game's ranking. Similarly, the GPU's nearest rivals, including the AMD Radeon RX 7600S and Pro 5600M, exhibit small deltas that would not meaningfully change the in-game ranking.

The ranking reflects the overall performance envelope of this combo. At 1080p, the system delivers playable frame rates across all presets, with even Ultra exceeding 60 FPS. The 1440p results are acceptable for turn-based gameplay, and 4K is only viable on Low settings. This positions the combo as a 1080p-oriented solution that can handle 1440p with settings compromises.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data for this combo in Hard West is as follows:

1080p:

• Low: 141.8 FPS
• Medium: 117.5 FPS
• High: 92.5 FPS
• Ultra: 67.8 FPS

At 1080p, the system delivers excellent performance across all presets. The jump from Low to Medium costs 24.3 FPS (17%), while Medium to High costs 25 FPS (21%), and High to Ultra costs 24.7 FPS (27%). The diminishing returns are evident, but even the most demanding preset remains well above 60 FPS.

1440p:

• Low: 90.3 FPS
• Medium: 74.8 FPS
• High: 59.4 FPS
• Ultra: 45.2 FPS

The 1440p results show a steeper drop-off. Low to Medium costs 15.5 FPS (17%), Medium to High costs 15.4 FPS (21%), and High to Ultra costs 14.2 FPS (24%). The pattern mirrors 1080p but with lower absolute values, pushing High and Ultra below the 60 FPS threshold.

4K:

• Low: 46.1 FPS
• Medium: 40.7 FPS
• High: 29.6 FPS
• Ultra: 23.1 FPS

The 4K data reveals the combo's limitations. Low to Medium costs 5.4 FPS (12%), Medium to High costs 11.1 FPS (27%), and High to Ultra costs 6.5 FPS (22%). The percentage drops are inconsistent, indicating that memory bandwidth or fill-rate constraints become more pronounced at this resolution.

The scaling from 1080p to 1440p across all presets averages about 36% reduction, while 1440p to 4K averages about 51% reduction. This non-linear scaling confirms that the RTX 2060's 336.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 6 GB VRAM capacity are the binding constraints at higher resolutions. The 1080p results show the combo operating within its comfort zone, while 4K pushes it beyond optimal operating conditions.