Hard West

# Hard West — AMD Ryzen 5 5600F + Intel Arc B570 Benchmark Analysis

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F paired with the Intel Arc B570 delivers a playable, though not dominant, experience in Hard West, a turn-based tactics title from 2015. The combo ranks 2360th out of 2949 tested configurations for this game, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database. The most telling result is the 1080p Ultra average of 63 FPS, which drops to 21 FPS at 4K Ultra — a 67% reduction that clearly identifies the GPU as the primary performance bottleneck at higher resolutions. This is a pairing where the CPU has ample headroom, but the graphics card's 10 GB VRAM and 160-bit memory bus constrain high-resolution performance.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Vermeer, built on TSMC's 7 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 3.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.00 GHz, drawing 65 W TDP. The CPU features 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 512 KB of L2 per core, and a 32 MB shared L3 cache. Memory support is DDR4 with dual-channel configuration and 51.2 GB/s bandwidth. This is a desktop-class processor with PCIe Gen 4 support (20 lanes CPU-only), and it has an unlocked multiplier for overclocking.

In the context of Hard West, a turn-based tactics title, the CPU's role is less demanding than in real-time genres. The game's logic-heavy nature benefits from the 12 threads, but the 5600F's PassMark single-thread score of 2872 and multithread score of 19236 indicate strong per-core performance that prevents bottlenecking at lower resolutions. The processor's average benchmark score of 36945 places it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, with nearest rivals including the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 (36938, 0% delta), AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D (37018, -0.2%), AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 (37093, -0.4%), and Intel Core i9-12900T (37112, -0.5%). These deltas are negligible, meaning the 5600F is statistically tied with these alternatives in general compute workloads.

For Hard West specifically, the 1080p Low result of 134 FPS versus the 4K Low result of 44 FPS shows that even at the lowest settings, the GPU becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases. The CPU's PassMark physics score of 1043 and integer math score of 59339 suggest it can handle the turn-based calculations and AI pathfinding without issue. The data indicates that at 1080p, the CPU is not the bottleneck — the 134 FPS Low result is likely near the game's engine limit or GPU limit at that setting. The processor's 85th percentile ranking confirms it is a capable mid-range part that exceeds the requirements of a 2015 turn-based tactics game.

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

The Intel Arc B570 is a Battlemage-generation graphics card (Arc 5 series) built on TSMC's 5 nm process with 19,600 million transistors on a 272 mm² die. It features 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus, delivering 380.0 GB/s bandwidth. The GPU runs at a fixed 2500 MHz base and boost clock, with memory at 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective). The card has 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 80 raster operations units, along with 18 ray tracing cores. Its compute capabilities include 11.52 TFLOPS FP32 and 23.04 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1 ratio). The card supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, with a 150 W TDP and a suggested 450 W PSU.

The Arc B570's benchmark profile shows a PassMark G3D score of 14195 and a DirectX 11 score of 118, placing it in the 65th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (20534, 0.1% delta), Intel Arc A750 (20582, -0.1%), NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (20480, 0.4%), and AMD Radeon R9 M390X (20662, -0.5%). The Arc B570's average benchmark score of 20556 puts it in a tight cluster with these cards, indicating similar raw compute performance.

In Hard West, the GPU's 10 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for a 2015 title, as even 4K Ultra textures in this game would not approach that capacity. The 160-bit memory bus and 380 GB/s bandwidth, however, become limiting factors at higher resolutions. The 4K Ultra result of 21 FPS versus 1080p Ultra of 63 FPS demonstrates that the memory subsystem struggles to feed the rendering pipeline at 4K. The card's pixel rate of 200.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 360.0 GTexel/s are theoretically adequate, but the measured results show the GPU is the primary constraint at 1440p and above. The 65th percentile GPU ranking relative to the 85th percentile CPU ranking confirms the imbalance — the GPU is the weaker component in this pairing.

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

The resolution scaling data reveals a clear GPU-bound scenario. At Low settings, FPS drops from 134 at 1080p to 85 at 1440p (a 37% reduction) and further to 44 at 4K (a 67% reduction from 1080p). At High settings, the progression is 84 FPS at 1080p, 53 FPS at 1440p (37% drop), and 28 FPS at 4K (67% drop). The consistent percentage drops across settings indicate that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are the limiting factors, not the CPU.

This scaling pattern is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would remain relatively flat as resolution increases, since the same number of draw calls and game logic must be processed regardless of resolution. Instead, the FPS drops proportionally with the increase in pixel count. From 1080p to 1440p, the pixel count increases by 78%, but FPS drops by only 37% at Low settings — suggesting some headroom remains at 1440p. From 1440p to 4K, the pixel count increases by 125%, and FPS drops by 48% at Low settings. The non-linear scaling indicates that at 4K, the GPU is hitting memory bandwidth or fill rate limits beyond just pixel throughput.

The Medium settings data provides the most complete picture with min/max FPS values. At 1080p Medium, the average is 110 FPS with a range of 93 to 126 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 69 FPS (37% drop) with a range of 59 to 80 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average drops to 36 FPS (67% drop) with a range of 31 to 42 FPS. The consistent 37% and 67% drops across Low, Medium, and High settings confirm that resolution scaling is the dominant factor, independent of quality settings. This is the signature of a GPU-limited configuration where the CPU has ample headroom to feed the graphics card at all tested resolutions.

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

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 134 FPS average
• Medium: 110 FPS average (93 min, 126 max)
• High: 84 FPS average
• Ultra: 63 FPS average

At 1080p, the Arc B570 delivers excellent performance across all settings. The Low setting achieves 134 FPS, which is more than sufficient for smooth gameplay in a turn-based tactics title. The Medium setting at 110 FPS with a 93-126 FPS range shows good frame pacing. High at 84 FPS remains well above the 60 FPS threshold, and even Ultra at 63 FPS is playable. The gap between Low and Ultra is 71 FPS (53% reduction), indicating that the quality settings have a significant impact on GPU load at this resolution.

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 85 FPS average
• Medium: 69 FPS average (59 min, 80 max)
• High: 53 FPS average
• Ultra: 40 FPS average

At 1440p, performance remains respectable for most settings. Low at 85 FPS and Medium at 69 FPS are both playable, though the Medium minimum of 59 FPS approaches the 60 FPS threshold. High at 53 FPS dips below 60 FPS, and Ultra at 40 FPS begins to feel sluggish for some players. The drop from Medium to High is 16 FPS (23% reduction), while High to Ultra is 13 FPS (25% reduction), showing diminishing returns from additional quality settings.

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 44 FPS average
• Medium: 36 FPS average (31 min, 42 max)
• High: 28 FPS average
• Ultra: 21 FPS average

At 4K, the Arc B570 struggles to maintain playable frame rates. Low at 44 FPS is borderline, Medium at 36 FPS with a 31 FPS minimum is marginal, and High at 28 FPS and Ultra at 21 FPS are below acceptable thresholds for smooth gameplay. The 4K Ultra result of 21 FPS represents a 67% reduction from the 1080p Ultra result of 63 FPS, confirming that this resolution is beyond the card's comfortable capabilities for this title.

FAQ

Q: Can this combination run Hard West at 60 FPS at 1080p?

A: Yes, at 1080p with Low (134 FPS), Medium (110 FPS), and High (84 FPS) settings, the average frame rates all exceed 60 FPS. Only Ultra at 63 FPS is near the threshold but still above it.

Q: What is the best resolution for this pairing?

A: 1440p with Medium settings provides a 69 FPS average with a 59 FPS minimum, which is the highest resolution that maintains an average above 60 FPS. At 1440p Low, the average is 85 FPS, but Medium offers a better visual experience with only a 16 FPS penalty.

Q: How does the Arc B570 compare to its nearest rivals in general performance?

A: The Arc B570's average benchmark score of 20556 is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (0.1% delta), Intel Arc A750 (-0.1% delta), NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (0.4% delta), and AMD Radeon R9 M390X (-0.5% delta).

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The GPU is clearly the limiting factor at resolutions above 1080p. The consistent FPS drops of 37% from 1080p to 1440p and 67% from 1080p to 4K across all settings indicate GPU-bound performance. The CPU's 85th percentile ranking versus the GPU's 65th percentile ranking supports this conclusion.

Q: What frame rates can be expected at 4K with this setup?

A: At 4K, the average frame rates range from 44 FPS at Low settings to 21 FPS at Ultra settings. Medium achieves 36 FPS, and High achieves 28 FPS. None of these settings consistently maintain 60 FPS, and the Low setting is the only one above 40 FPS.

Q: Does the CPU's 85th percentile ranking translate to better in-game performance?

A: Not necessarily. While the Ryzen 5 5600F ranks in the 85th percentile of all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 36945, the in-game performance is constrained by the GPU. The 1080p Low result of 134 FPS suggests the CPU can handle the game's logic, but the GPU's limitations at higher resolutions prevent the CPU's advantage from being fully utilized.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal experience for this pairing depends on the target resolution and preference for frame rate versus visual quality.

For 1080p displays, the High preset at 84 FPS average is the best balance. It provides a 20 FPS improvement over Ultra (63 FPS) while maintaining significantly better visual quality than Medium (110 FPS). The 84 FPS average is comfortably above 60 FPS, and the visual difference between High and Ultra in a turn-based tactics game is likely minimal. Players prioritizing maximum visual fidelity can use Ultra at 63 FPS, which remains above the 60 FPS threshold, but the performance headroom from High is safer for maintaining consistent frame pacing.

For 1440p displays, the Medium preset at 69 FPS average is the recommended choice. It is the only 1440p setting that maintains an average above 60 FPS, with a minimum of 59 FPS that is only marginally below the threshold. Low at 85 FPS offers more headroom but sacrifices visual quality, while High at 53 FPS and Ultra at 40 FPS fall below the 60 FPS target. The Medium setting's 59-80 FPS range indicates acceptable frame pacing for a turn-based game, where sudden frame drops are less disruptive than in fast-paced genres.

For 4K displays, the data does not support a fully smooth experience at any setting. Low at 44 FPS is the highest achievable average, but it requires significant visual compromises. Medium at 36 FPS with a 31 FPS minimum is the highest quality setting that maintains playable frame rates, though it will feel less responsive. Given that Hard West is a turn-based tactics game, the 36 FPS Medium setting may be acceptable for players who prioritize visual quality over smoothness, but those seeking fluid camera movement should consider 1440p Medium or High instead.

Overall, the best experience per the measured rows is 1080p High at 84 FPS or 1440p Medium at 69 FPS. The 1440p Medium setting offers a higher resolution with acceptable performance, while 1080p High provides smoother frame rates. For players who value resolution over frame rate, 1440p Medium is the clear choice. For those who prefer maximum smoothness, 1080p High delivers 84 FPS with strong visual quality. The Ultra preset at any resolution above 1080p is not recommended, as the performance penalty (21 FPS at 4K, 40 FPS at 1440p) is substantial for marginal visual gains in a 2015 title.