Hard West

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 pairing delivers a wide performance envelope in Hard West, ranging from nearly 40 FPS at 4K Ultra to more than 200 FPS at 1080p Low. The measured data shows a turn-based tactics title that is highly responsive to both resolution and quality settings, with the GPU becoming the primary constraint as pixel count rises. This analysis walks through the measured FPS rows, the hardware characteristics behind them, and what they mean for practical play.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial and consistent across all four settings presets. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 155 FPS at 1920x1080 to 98 FPS at 2560x1440, and finally to 51 FPS at 3840x2160. That represents a 37% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 48% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The scaling pattern indicates that the RTX 3080 is the limiting component at higher resolutions, as the frame rate declines roughly in proportion to the increase in pixel count.

Low settings show the same trend but with higher absolute numbers: 217 FPS at 1080p, 155 FPS at 1440p, and 82 FPS at 4K. The 4K Low result is 38% lower than the 1440p Low result, which itself is 29% lower than 1080p Low. Medium settings follow suit, with 201 FPS at 1080p, 127 FPS at 1440p, and 67 FPS at 4K. Ultra settings produce the steepest curve, dropping from 116 FPS at 1080p to 73 FPS at 1440p and then to 38 FPS at 4K — a 67% total decline from the lowest tested resolution to the highest.

The interesting observation is that the percentage drop from 1440p to 4K is larger than the drop from 1080p to 1440p at every settings preset. For High settings, the 1440p-to-4K decline is 48%, versus 37% for the 1080p-to-1440p step. For Low settings, those figures are 47% and 29%, respectively. This suggests that the RTX 3080's 10 GB of GDDR6X memory and 320-bit bus are being pushed harder as the resolution increases, with the memory bandwidth of 760.3 GB/s becoming a more significant factor at 4K.

At 1080p, the frame rates are high enough that the CPU likely enters the picture. The Ryzen 5 5500's 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost of 4.20 GHz, are sufficient for turn-based tactics, but the 217 FPS Low result suggests the game's rendering thread can outpace the CPU's per-core throughput in lighter scenes. The 3dmark_single_thread score of 836 and passmark_single_thread score of 3058 indicate modest single-core performance relative to modern CPUs, which could explain why the 1080p Low result — the most CPU-bound configuration — is the only one that approaches the GPU's raw capability ceiling.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is the dominant component in this pairing, particularly at 1440p and 4K. Its 8704 shading units, 272 texture mapping units, and 96 raster output pipelines provide the raw compute throughput needed for the game's visual effects. The boost clock of 1710 MHz and base clock of 1440 MHz are moderate for the Ampere architecture, but the 29.77 TFLOPS FP32 performance is more than adequate for a 2015-era turn-based title.

The 10 GB of GDDR6X memory, running at 1188 MHz with 19 Gbps effective speed, yields a bandwidth of 760.3 GB/s across the 320-bit bus. This is a key specification for Hard West at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS drops to 38. At that setting, the game is likely filling the frame buffer with high-resolution textures and effects, and the memory subsystem becomes the bottleneck. The 4K Medium result of 67 FPS, with a minimum of 57 and maximum of 77, shows that reducing the preset from Ultra to Medium recovers a significant amount of performance — a 76% improvement in average FPS.

The GPU's benchmark data reinforces its position. The passmark_g3d score of 25086 and the 3dmark_steel_nomad_dx12 score of 4407 place it in the 68th percentile versus all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in the database — the NVIDIA P106-100, AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16, AMD Radeon RX 6600M, and AMD Radeon R9 M290X — all have average benchmark scores within 0.4% of the RTX 3080, which is a tight cluster. This suggests the RTX 3080 is neither a standout nor a laggard in the overall GPU landscape, but for Hard West specifically, its performance is more than sufficient at 1080p and 1440p.

The DirectX 12 benchmark scores are notable: passmark_directx_12 gives a score of 100, while passmark_directx_11 gives 207. Hard West was released in 2015 and likely runs on an older DirectX path, so the higher DirectX 11 score is more relevant. The passmark_directx_9 score of 258 and passmark_directx_10 score of 170 suggest the GPU handles legacy APIs well, which is consistent with the game's era.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 is a 5000-series desktop processor built on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Cezanne. It has 6 cores and 12 threads, with a 65 W TDP and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. The 16 MB of L3 cache and 512 KB L2 per core provide adequate cache for a turn-based tactics game, which typically has smaller working sets than real-time strategy or first-person shooters.

The CPU's benchmark scores show a balanced profile. The cinebench_r23_multicore score of 16429 and geekbench_multicore score of 7976 indicate solid multi-threaded performance, while the cinebench_r23_singlecore score of 2319 and geekbench_singlecore score of 1730 are more modest. The 3dmark_single_thread score of 836 and 3dmark_2_threads score of 1645 suggest that the CPU's per-core performance is adequate but not exceptional.

In Hard West, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU at most tested configurations. The game is turn-based, so the rendering workload is typically burst-oriented rather than continuous. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (217) and 1080p Medium (201) are high enough that the Ryzen 5 5500's 4.20 GHz boost clock can keep up with the game's logic and draw calls. However, the 1080p High result of 155 FPS, which is 40% lower than the Low result, suggests that the GPU is already the limiting factor even at 1080p when higher-quality settings are enabled.

The CPU's percentile versus all CPUs is 73, which places it above the median. Its nearest rivals — the AMD Ryzen AI 5 430, Intel Core i5-12500, Intel Core i7-10700F, and Intel Core i5-11600KF — all have average benchmark scores within 0.7% of the Ryzen 5 5500. This tight grouping means the CPU is not a differentiator in this game; any of these processors would likely produce similar FPS in Hard West at the tested settings.

The memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s, running dual-channel DDR4, is another factor. Hard West is not a memory-intensive title, so this figure is unlikely to be a bottleneck. The PCIe Gen 3 interface is also sufficient, as the RTX 3080 is PCIe 4.0-capable but the game's data throughput does not require the extra bandwidth.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 ranks 1117 out of 3722 tested combos in Hard West. That places it in the 70th percentile of all CPU-GPU pairings tested on this benchmark database, which is a solid but not elite position. The rank reflects the fact that the RTX 3080 is a high-end GPU from the previous generation, while the Ryzen 5 5500 is a mid-range CPU from the same era.

The ranking makes sense given the measured FPS. At 1080p Ultra, the combo achieves 116 FPS, which is well above the threshold for smooth play. At 4K Ultra, the 38 FPS result is marginal but playable for a turn-based game where frame timing is less critical than in action titles. The combo's rank of 1117 out of 3722 means there are 1116 combos that perform better, but also 2605 that perform worse — a strong majority of tested systems.

The GPU's percentile of 68 versus all GPUs and the CPU's percentile of 73 versus all CPUs are both above median, but the combo rank is slightly lower than either individual percentile would suggest. This indicates that the pairing is not perfectly balanced for Hard West; the CPU is slightly more capable relative to its peers than the GPU is relative to its peers. However, the gap is small enough that it does not materially affect the game experience at most settings.

The data shows that the combo performs best at 1080p and 1440p, where the average FPS exceeds 73 at all settings except 4K Ultra. The 4K Low result of 82 FPS is the only 4K configuration that exceeds 60 FPS, which suggests that players targeting 4K should stick to Low or Medium settings for a consistent experience.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset offers 201 FPS average with a minimum of 171 and maximum of 231, which is excellent for any display. The High preset at 155 FPS is also smooth, but the jump from Medium to High costs 46 FPS — a 23% reduction. The Ultra preset at 116 FPS is still fluid, but the visual improvement over High may not justify the 25% performance loss.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset delivers 127 FPS average with a minimum of 108 and maximum of 146. This is the sweet spot for high-refresh-rate 1440p monitors. The High preset at 98 FPS is also playable, but the Low preset at 155 FPS is only necessary if the display supports refresh rates above 144 Hz. The Ultra preset at 73 FPS is borderline for fast-paced action but perfectly fine for turn-based tactics.

At 3840x2160, the Medium preset is the recommended choice, with 67 FPS average, a minimum of 57, and a maximum of 77. This provides a stable experience for a 60 Hz 4K display, though the minimum FPS could cause occasional dips below the refresh rate. The Low preset at 82 FPS is smoother but sacrifices visual quality. The High preset at 51 FPS and Ultra at 38 FPS are below the 60 FPS threshold and should be avoided unless the player prefers visual fidelity over smoothness.

For the best overall experience, the Medium preset at 1440p appears to be the balance point. It maintains an average FPS above 120, which is high enough for any current display, while keeping the minimum FPS at 108 — well above the threshold for stutter-free play. The 4K Medium result is also viable, making this preset the most versatile across all resolutions.

FAQ

Q: Does this combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K?

A: Only at Low and Medium settings. The measured data shows 82 FPS at 4K Low and 67 FPS at 4K Medium, but High drops to 51 FPS and Ultra to 38 FPS.

Q: What is the best resolution for this pairing?

A: The 2560x1440 Medium preset offers 127 FPS average with a minimum of 108, which is the most balanced configuration across all tested resolutions.

*Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in Hard West?*

A: The GPU becomes the limiting factor at 1440p and above, as evidenced by the steep FPS drops with higher resolutions. At 1080p Low, the CPU's single-thread performance may cap the frame rate, but the game is generally GPU-bound.

Q: How does the RTX 3080's memory affect performance?

A: The 10 GB of GDDR6X with 760.3 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for the game's textures, but the 4K Ultra result of 38 FPS suggests the memory subsystem is stressed at the highest settings.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 5500 a bottleneck for the RTX 3080?

A: The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are adequate for this turn-based game. The 1080p Low result of 217 FPS shows the CPU can drive high frame rates, but the 4K results are constrained by the GPU.

Q: What settings should a 1440p 144 Hz monitor user choose?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440, with 127 FPS average and 108 FPS minimum, is the only configuration that consistently stays above 144 Hz's refresh window. The High preset at 98 FPS would require a lower refresh rate.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 217 FPS average
• Medium: 201 FPS average, 171 FPS minimum, 231 FPS maximum
• High: 155 FPS average
• Ultra: 116 FPS average

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 155 FPS average
• Medium: 127 FPS average, 108 FPS minimum, 146 FPS maximum
• High: 98 FPS average
• Ultra: 73 FPS average

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 82 FPS average
• Medium: 67 FPS average, 57 FPS minimum, 77 FPS maximum
• High: 51 FPS average
• Ultra: 38 FPS average

The data reveals a clear hierarchy: the Medium preset consistently offers the best balance of frame rate and visual quality across all resolutions, with the 1080p and 1440p variants exceeding 120 FPS and the 4K variant remaining above 60 FPS. The Low preset is only recommended for the highest possible frame rates, while High and Ultra provide diminishing returns at lower resolutions. The minimum and maximum FPS values for the Medium preset show a relatively tight range — 60 FPS at 1080p, 38 FPS at 1440p, and 20 FPS at 4K — indicating stable performance without severe frame-time spikes.