Hard West

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Hard West shows a clear and predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases. At 1080p, the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combo delivers 218.1 FPS on Low settings, which drops to 110.1 FPS at 4K on the same settings. That is a 49.5% reduction in frame rate when moving from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, indicating that the GPU is becoming the primary limiting factor at higher pixel counts.

The gap between 1080p and 1440p is more moderate. On High settings, the combo produces 181.9 FPS at 1080p and 128.4 FPS at 1440p, a drop of approximately 29.4%. Moving from 1440p to 4K on High settings yields 128.4 FPS down to 70.1 FPS, which is a steeper 45.4% decline. This pattern suggests that the RTX 4080 SUPER's raw throughput is being increasingly taxed as pixel count grows, while the Ryzen 5 5500's six cores and twelve threads remain sufficient to feed the GPU at lower resolutions.

At Ultra settings, the scaling is even more pronounced. The combo achieves 153.6 FPS at 1080p, 97.8 FPS at 1440p, and 50.4 FPS at 4K. The jump from 1440p to 4K at Ultra represents a 48.5% loss in performance, which is the largest relative drop across any settings tier. This indicates that the Ultra preset's additional visual effects and detail levels place an outsized burden on the graphics card's memory bandwidth and shading units. The RTX 4080 SUPER's 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth and 52.22 TFLOPS of FP32 performance are being pushed hard at this combination.

The data reveals that at 1080p, the CPU begins to play a more noticeable role. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 218.1 FPS versus 153.6 FPS, a 64.5 FPS gap. However, at 4K, the same settings comparison shows 110.1 FPS versus 50.4 FPS, a 59.7 FPS gap. The absolute difference is similar, but the percentage gap is larger at 4K, confirming that the GPU is the dominant constraint in higher resolution scenarios. For turn-based tactics like Hard West, where frame timing is less critical than in fast-paced shooters, even the 4K Ultra result of 50.4 FPS remains playable, but the data suggests that 1440p is the sweet spot for this combo.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the Medium preset offers the most balanced experience across all three resolutions. At 1080p, Medium produces 203.6 FPS, which is only 14.5 FPS less than Low but 50 FPS more than Ultra. At 1440p, Medium delivers 167.4 FPS, comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold and nearly double the Ultra result of 97.8 FPS. Even at 4K, Medium holds at 89.1 FPS, which is a strong result for a turn-based tactics title.

The High preset is the next best option, particularly for users who prioritize visual fidelity over raw frame rates. At 1440p, High produces 128.4 FPS, which is still well above any practical refresh rate for this genre. At 4K, High yields 70.1 FPS, which is playable but noticeably lower than Medium's 89.1 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra at 4K is stark: 70.1 FPS versus 50.4 FPS, a 19.7 FPS gap that represents a 28.1% performance penalty for the Ultra preset's marginal visual gains.

For competitive or high-refresh-rate display users, Low settings at 1080p or 1440p are the only way to approach the 200+ FPS territory. The Low preset at 1440p produces 187.5 FPS, which is a remarkable result for a game from 2015. However, the visual trade-offs in a tactical game where you are examining character models and environmental details may not be worth the extra frame rate. The data supports Medium as the recommended default, with High as a viable alternative for those who want improved visuals without sacrificing smoothness. Ultra should be reserved for 1080p or 1440p use, as the 4K Ultra result of 50.4 FPS is the only measured row that dips below the 60 FPS mark.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Cezanne. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz, with 16 MB of L3 cache. In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU scores 16,429 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 2,319 in single-core, placing it in the 79th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-12500, scores 20,897 on average, which is only 0.1% higher, indicating that the Ryzen 5 5500 holds its own in general processing tasks.

In Hard West, the CPU's role is primarily to manage game logic, AI decision-making, and unit pathfinding, which are typical workloads for turn-based tactics. The measured FPS data suggests that the Ryzen 5 5500 is not a bottleneck at any resolution. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 218.1 FPS, which is close to the practical ceiling for this type of game. The 3dmark 16-thread score of 5,386 and the max-thread score of 5,411 indicate that the CPU has sufficient multi-threaded headroom for the game's background simulation tasks.

The 12 threads are particularly relevant for Hard West, as turn-based games often spawn multiple AI agents that each require processing time. The Ryzen 5 5500's PassMark multithread score of 19,330 and integer math score of 65,001 suggest robust handling of these workloads. However, the data shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this combo; the FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario. The single-thread performance, as evidenced by the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2,319, is adequate for the game's main loop, but it is not exceptional. For a 2015 title like Hard West, this CPU provides more than enough processing power to keep the GPU fully utilized.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER ranks 229th out of 1,699 tested combos in Hard West. That places it in the top 13.5% of all combinations tested, which is a strong showing given that the CPU is a budget-oriented 5000-series part while the GPU is a high-end 40-series card. The combo's rank reflects the game's relatively modest CPU demands, allowing the RTX 4080 SUPER to dominate the performance picture.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 88th among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 53,610, is the primary driver of this combo's position. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, which scores 53,489 (0.2% lower), and the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M, which scores 53,414 (0.4% lower). The RTX 4080 SUPER's 2.9% advantage over the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti (52,086) shows that it remains competitive even against newer hardware. The CPU's 79th percentile ranking is less relevant to the combo's overall position, as the game does not appear to be CPU-sensitive based on the FPS data.

The rank of 229 out of 1,699 combos means that the vast majority of tested systems—over 1,470 of them—produce lower frame rates in Hard West. This is expected, as the RTX 4080 SUPER is one of the faster GPUs in the database, and the Ryzen 5 5500, while not top-tier, provides enough throughput to avoid holding the GPU back. For context, the combo's measured FPS at 1080p Ultra (153.6 FPS) is higher than many systems achieve at 1080p Medium. The data confirms that this pairing is well-balanced for this specific game, with the GPU doing the heavy lifting and the CPU providing a stable foundation.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is a 40-series card built on the Ada Lovelace architecture, with a 5 nm process node from TSMC. It features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU has 10,240 shading units, 320 texture mapping units, and 112 raster output pipelines, with base and boost clocks of 2,295 MHz and 2,550 MHz respectively. Its FP32 performance is rated at 52.22 TFLOPS, and it achieves a PassMark G3D score of 34,245, placing it in the 88th percentile of all GPUs.

In Hard West, the RTX 4080 SUPER's role is to render the game's stylized Wild West environments, character models, and lighting effects. The 16 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient for a game from 2015, even at 4K resolution, and the 736.3 GB/s bandwidth ensures that texture streaming and high-resolution assets are handled without stutter. The data shows that the GPU is the dominant factor in determining FPS, as evidenced by the sharp drop from 1080p to 4K across all settings.

The GPU's nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, scores 53,489 on average, which is 0.2% lower than the RTX 4080 SUPER's 53,610. This marginal difference suggests that in Hard West, the two cards would produce nearly identical frame rates. However, the RTX 4080 SUPER's 2.9% lead over the RTX 5070 Ti (52,086) indicates that it has a slight edge over newer mid-range offerings. The PassMark DirectX 12 score of 134 and DirectX 11 score of 301 are relevant to Hard West, which likely uses an older DirectX version; the GPU's strong performance in these legacy APIs contributes to its high FPS in this title. The GPU's 320 W TDP and triple-slot design are physical characteristics that buyers should consider, but the performance data speaks for itself: this card is overkill for Hard West at 1080p or 1440p, and it only begins to struggle at 4K Ultra.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo produces its highest frame rates across all settings. Low settings yield 218.1 FPS, Medium delivers 203.6 FPS, High reaches 181.9 FPS, and Ultra manages 153.6 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 64.5 FPS, which is the largest absolute gap at any resolution. This indicates that at 1080p, the GPU has enough headroom to render even the most demanding preset without dropping below 150 FPS, making this resolution ideal for high-refresh-rate displays.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drops are more noticeable. Low settings produce 187.5 FPS, Medium delivers 167.4 FPS, High reaches 128.4 FPS, and Ultra falls to 97.8 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 89.7 FPS, which is larger than at 1080p, showing that the GPU is beginning to feel the pressure of additional pixels. High and Ultra settings both remain above 90 FPS, which is excellent for a tactical game, but the drop from Medium to High is a substantial 39 FPS, suggesting that High's visual effects are particularly demanding.

At 3840x2160, the combo's performance is significantly lower but still playable for most presets. Low settings yield 110.1 FPS, Medium delivers 89.1 FPS, High reaches 70.1 FPS, and Ultra drops to 50.4 FPS. The Ultra result is the only measured row that falls below the 60 FPS threshold, making it the least desirable option for 4K gaming. The difference between Medium and High at 4K is 19 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is 19.7 FPS, indicating that each step up in settings carries a meaningful performance cost. For users with 4K displays, Medium is the clear recommendation, as it provides a 39 FPS advantage over Ultra while likely retaining most of the visual quality improvements over Low.