Hard West

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D produces a broad spread of frame rates in Hard West, ranging from a 217 FPS average at 1080p Low to a 62 FPS average at 4K Ultra. The dataset shows a clear pattern: the game becomes progressively more demanding as resolution and settings increase, but the combination remains highly playable across most of the spectrum. This analysis examines the measured results row by row, interpreting what the numbers indicate about the roles of the CPU and GPU in this turn-based tactics title.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 reveals how the workload shifts between components. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 184 FPS at 1080p to 158 FPS at 1440p, then falls further to 83 FPS at 4K. The percentage decline from 1080p to 1440p is roughly 14%, while moving from 1440p to 4K represents a steeper 47% reduction. This accelerating drop at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU becomes the dominant limiting factor as pixel count rises.

The Low settings preset tells a similar story with different magnitudes. At 1080p Low, the combination achieves 217 FPS, which declines to 186 FPS at 1440p (a 14% reduction) and then to 131 FPS at 4K (a 30% reduction from 1440p). The smaller relative drop at 4K Low compared to 4K High suggests that the lower graphical load allows the system to maintain a higher percentage of its 1440p performance.

Medium settings show the most consistent scaling pattern. The measured averages are 202 FPS at 1080p, 173 FPS at 1440p, and 108 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p drop is 14%, and the 1440p to 4K drop is 38%. The Medium preset also provides the only min/max frame data in the dataset: at 4K Medium, the minimum is 92 FPS and the maximum is 124 FPS, while at 1440p Medium the range is 147 to 199 FPS, and at 1080p Medium it is 172 to 232 FPS.

Ultra settings produce the largest resolution penalty. From 165 FPS at 1080p, the average falls to 118 FPS at 1440p (a 28% decline) and then to 62 FPS at 4K (a 47% decline from 1440p). The fact that 4K Ultra is the only measured configuration below 60 FPS, at exactly 62 FPS average, underscores how much headroom is consumed by the highest preset at maximum resolution.

The overall scaling behavior points to a system where the RTX 5090 D is the primary constraint at 4K, particularly with higher presets. At 1080p, the frame rates across all settings are high enough that the CPU likely plays a more significant role, though the data does not isolate CPU versus GPU bottlenecks directly. The pattern of diminishing returns as resolution increases is classic GPU-bound behavior.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows allow for a direct comparison of presets at each resolution. At 1080p, Low delivers 217 FPS, Medium 202 FPS, High 184 FPS, and Ultra 165 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 52 FPS, which is substantial, but even the lowest preset produces frame rates well above typical display refresh rates. For players prioritizing visual fidelity, Ultra at 1080p remains smooth at 165 FPS.

At 1440p, the spread narrows somewhat: Low runs at 186 FPS, Medium at 173 FPS, High at 158 FPS, and Ultra at 118 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra here is 68 FPS. Medium offers the best balance in terms of the min/max data, with a measured range of 147 to 199 FPS. This suggests that Medium at 1440p maintains consistent frame delivery while still offering a visual upgrade over Low.

The 4K results present the most meaningful choices. Low achieves 131 FPS, Medium 108 FPS, High 83 FPS, and Ultra 62 FPS. All four presets remain playable, but Ultra sits close to the edge of fluidity. Medium at 4K provides a comfortable margin with a 108 FPS average and a 92 FPS minimum, making it the recommended preset for 4K based on the available data. High at 83 FPS is also acceptable, but the 25 FPS gap between Medium and High at 4K is larger than the 16 FPS gap between High and Ultra.

The data indicates that Hard West scales well across presets without any sudden cliffs. At 1440p and below, even Ultra maintains high frame rates. At 4K, Medium emerges as the sweet spot, offering more than double the frame rate of Ultra while presumably retaining a reasonable level of visual quality. The min/max measurements for Medium at all three resolutions show narrow ranges (12 to 14 FPS spread at 4K, 52 FPS at 1440p, 60 FPS at 1080p), indicating stable performance.

GPU Role

The RTX 5090 D is a massive piece of silicon built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture. Its specifications include 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2017 MHz and a boost clock of 2407 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective). These figures place it in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 77712.

In Hard West, the GPU's capabilities are most evident at 4K. The game is not particularly demanding by modern standards, as evidenced by the 131 FPS average at 4K Low. However, the jump from Low to Ultra at 4K costs 69 FPS (from 131 to 62), which indicates that the Ultra preset imposes a significant rendering load. The GPU's 21760 shading units and 176 ROPs likely contribute to its ability to handle these settings, though the data does not directly measure individual component utilization.

The RTX 5090 D's nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT, which scores 76904 with a deltaPct of 1.1, and the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT, which scores 78940 with a deltaPct of -1.6. The NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB and 16 GB variants score 79396 and 79605, respectively, with deltas of -2.1 and -2.4. These comparisons show the RTX 5090 D performing slightly below some competitors in synthetic benchmarks, but the Hard West results are what matter for this page.

The 32 GB memory capacity is far more than Hard West requires, but it ensures that no VRAM-related stuttering occurs at any resolution or preset. The 1.79 TB/s bandwidth provides ample headroom for the 512-bit bus to transfer texture data, which is particularly relevant at 4K Ultra where the game's highest quality assets are loaded. The measured frame rates suggest that the GPU is not the bottleneck at 1080p, where even Ultra produces 165 FPS, but becomes more influential at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full range of presets was measured. Low produces the highest average at 217 FPS. Medium follows at 202 FPS, with a minimum of 172 FPS and a maximum of 232 FPS. High achieves 184 FPS, and Ultra drops to 165 FPS. The 52 FPS spread from Low to Ultra at 1080p is the smallest of the three resolutions in absolute terms, but the relative difference is 24%.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are 186 FPS at Low, 173 FPS at Medium (with min/max of 147/199), 158 FPS at High, and 118 FPS at Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra widens to 68 FPS, which is a 37% reduction. The Medium preset's min/max range of 52 FPS is notable, suggesting some variability in scene complexity.

At 3840x2160, the results are 131 FPS at Low, 108 FPS at Medium (min/max 92/124), 83 FPS at High, and 62 FPS at Ultra. The Low-to-Ultra gap here is 69 FPS, representing a 53% drop. The Medium preset's min/max spread of 32 FPS is tighter than at lower resolutions, indicating more consistent frame pacing at 4K.

The data shows that every preset at every resolution exceeds 60 FPS, with the single exception being 4K Ultra at exactly 62 FPS average. The High preset at 4K, at 83 FPS, remains comfortably above 60 FPS. For players targeting 144 Hz displays, 1080p and 1440p offer multiple presets that hit that mark, while 4K requires dropping to Low or Medium.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D combination ranks 200th out of 2949 tested combinations in Hard West. This places it in the top 6.8% of all tested systems, which is a strong showing for a mid-range processor paired with a flagship GPU. The rank reflects the combination's ability to deliver high frame rates across the board, though it does not top the charts.

The ranking suggests that while the RTX 5090 D is capable of extremely high performance, the Ryzen 5 5500 may hold back the system in certain scenarios. The CPU's benchmark scores include a Cinebench R23 multicore result of 16429 and a single-core score of 2319, placing it in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen AI 5 430 (avg score 19617, deltaPct -0.1), Intel Core i5-12500 (19668, -0.4), Intel Core i7-10700F (19499, 0.5), and Intel Core i5-11600KF (19723, -0.7). These deltas are all within 1% of the Ryzen 5 5500's average benchmark score of 19593.

In the context of 2949 combinations, a rank of 200 indicates that many systems with more powerful CPUs achieve higher frame rates in Hard West. However, the measured FPS data shows that this combination still produces excellent results, particularly at lower resolutions where the CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads at 3.60 GHz base and 4.20 GHz boost are sufficient to feed the GPU. The rank is likely influenced by other combinations using higher-end CPUs that can push even higher frame rates in less GPU-bound scenarios.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, manufactured on a 7 nm process by TSMC. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz, with a TDP of 65 W. The CPU supports DDR4 memory in dual-channel configuration with a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s, and it uses PCIe Gen 3. These specifications are modest by 2025 standards, but they are sufficient for a turn-based tactics game like Hard West.

The CPU's benchmark performance includes a Passmark multithread score of 19330 and a single-thread score of 3058. Its 3DMark scores range from 836 in single-thread to 5411 in max threads, with intermediate scores of 1645 for 2 threads, 3151 for 4 threads, and 4593 for 8 threads. The Cinebench scores show a multicore result of 16429 in R23 and 6900 in R20, with single-core results of 2319 and 973, respectively.

In Hard West, the CPU's role is likely more pronounced at 1080p, where frame rates are highest. The 217 FPS at 1080p Low indicates that the CPU can keep up with the GPU's output at this resolution. However, the fact that the combination ranks 200th out of 2949 suggests that some CPU-bound scenarios exist, possibly in the 1080p Low preset where the GPU is not the limiting factor. The 6 cores and 12 threads are adequate for the game's turn-based mechanics, which do not typically require high thread counts.

The Ryzen 5 5500's nearest rivals in the database all have similar average benchmark scores, with deltas ranging from -0.7 to 0.5 percent. This indicates that the CPU is well-positioned among its peers, and the Hard West results reflect this balance. The 16 MB of L3 cache and 512 KB of L2 per core provide sufficient on-chip memory for the game's data, though the dataset does not directly measure cache impact.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved by this combo in Hard West?

A: The highest measured average is 217 FPS at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Is the combination capable of running Hard West at 60 FPS on 4K Ultra settings?

A: Yes, the measured average at 3840x2160 Ultra is 62 FPS, which exceeds 60 FPS.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 5500 compare to its nearest CPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 5 5500 has an average benchmark score of 19593, which is within 1% of the AMD Ryzen AI 5 430, Intel Core i5-12500, Intel Core i7-10700F, and Intel Core i5-11600KF.

Q: What is the minimum frame rate recorded for this combination in the dataset?

A: The only min FPS values recorded are for Medium settings: 92 FPS at 4K, 147 FPS at 1440p, and 172 FPS at 1080p.

Q: How does the RTX 5090 D's benchmark score compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RTX 5090 D scores 77712, which is 1.1% above the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT and 1.6% below the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT.

Q: What percentile does this combo rank in among all tested combinations for Hard West?

A: The combo ranks 200th out of 2949 tested combinations, placing it in the top 6.8% of all systems tested.