Hard West

# Hard West Combo Analysis: AMD Ryzen 5 5600G + Intel Arc B570

This combo ranks 2360th out of 2949 tested configurations for Hard West, placing it in the lower third of all tested systems. The pairing of a 6-core AMD Ryzen 5 5600G with the Intel Arc B570 produces playable results at lower resolutions, but the data reveals significant frame rate erosion as resolution climbs, suggesting a GPU-limited scenario at 4K while the CPU demonstrates sufficient headroom for this turn-based tactics title.

How This Combo Ranks

The 2360th position out of 2949 tested combos places this system in the 20th percentile for Hard West performance. This is a notable underperformance relative to what the individual components might suggest. The Intel Arc B570 sits at the 65th percentile among all GPUs, while the AMD Ryzen 5 5600G ranks at the 74th percentile among all CPUs. The combination, however, lands well below both individual percentile rankings, indicating that Hard West's engine does not scale favorably with this particular pairing.

The measured frame rates tell a story of a system that handles 1080p gaming competently but struggles to maintain fluid performance at higher resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the combo delivers 110 FPS average, which is respectable for a turn-based tactics game. However, the drop to 21 FPS at 4K Ultra represents a dramatic 81% performance reduction from the 1080p Medium result. This steep curve suggests the Arc B570's 10 GB GDDR6 memory and 160-bit bus become limiting factors as pixel count increases.

The Ryzen 5 5600G's CPU performance, while solid in synthetic benchmarks, does not compensate for the GPU's resolution scaling limitations. The CPU's 3DMark 16-thread score of 5451 and Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10551 indicate adequate processing power, yet the game's measured results show the GPU as the primary bottleneck. The combination's rank reflects this imbalance, as Hard West appears to favor systems with stronger GPU scaling rather than CPU throughput.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 operates at a fixed 2500 MHz base and boost clock, with 2304 shading units and 144 texture mapping units. The GPU's 10 GB GDDR6 memory runs at 2375 MHz with 19 Gbps effective speed, delivering 380.0 GB/s bandwidth across a 160-bit bus. These specifications place the Arc B570 in the 65th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20556.

In Hard West, the GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution rises. At 1080p, the system achieves 134 FPS on Low settings, but this drops to 63 FPS at Ultra—a 53% reduction purely from settings changes. The pattern intensifies at 4K, where Low produces 44 FPS and Ultra falls to 21 FPS, representing a 52% decrease. This consistent ~52-53% performance penalty from Low to Ultra across resolutions indicates the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are the constraining factors.

The Arc B570's 80 ROPs and 200.0 GPixel/s pixel rate suggest it should handle 1080p rendering efficiently, which the data confirms. However, the 160-bit memory bus and 380.0 GB/s bandwidth become inadequate for 4K workloads, where the pixel throughput demands exceed what this GPU can deliver. The nearest rival comparison shows the Arc B570 performing nearly identically to the Intel Arc A750 (deltaPct of -0.1) and slightly better than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (deltaPct of 0.1), suggesting consistent mid-range GPU behavior.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K reveals a steep and consistent drop across all settings. At High settings, the transition from 1080p (84 FPS) to 1440p (53 FPS) represents a 37% reduction, and then to 4K (28 FPS) another 47% reduction from 1440p. The Low settings show a similar pattern: 134 FPS at 1080p, 85 FPS at 1440p (37% drop), and 44 FPS at 4K (48% drop). This consistent ~37-38% decline from 1080p to 1440p, followed by a steeper ~47-48% decline from 1440p to 4K, indicates the GPU's memory bandwidth and pixel throughput are being progressively saturated.

The Medium settings provide the most complete data with minimum and maximum frame rates recorded. At 1080p Medium, the system delivers 110 FPS average with a minimum of 93 and maximum of 126. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 69 FPS with a range of 59-80. At 4K Medium, the average falls to 36 FPS with a range of 31-42. The minimum frame rates at each resolution stay within 16-18% of the average, suggesting relatively stable frame pacing despite the overall performance decline.

This scaling behavior points to the GPU as the limiting component in this configuration. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads at 3.90 GHz base and 4.40 GHz boost provide sufficient compute for Hard West's turn-based logic, which is not particularly demanding on processor resources. The data suggests that upgrading the GPU would yield more significant performance gains than upgrading the CPU, particularly for users targeting 1440p or 4K gameplay.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Hard West?

A: The data shows 1080p as the optimal resolution, with all settings producing playable frame rates: 134 FPS at Low, 110 FPS at Medium, 84 FPS at High, and 63 FPS at Ultra. At 1440p, only Low (85 FPS) and Medium (69 FPS) remain above 60 FPS, while 4K drops below playable levels on all settings.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B570 compare to its nearest rivals in terms of benchmark scores?

A: The Arc B570's average benchmark score of 20556 places it nearly identically to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (20534, deltaPct 0.1), Intel Arc A750 (20582, deltaPct -0.1), AMD Radeon R9 M390X (20662, deltaPct -0.5), and NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (20480, deltaPct 0.4). These differences are all within 0.5%, indicating near-identical GPU performance.

Q: Does the Ryzen 5 5600G's integrated graphics affect gaming performance?

A: The Ryzen 5 5600G includes Radeon Vega 7 integrated graphics, but the system uses the discrete Intel Arc B570. The CPU's benchmarks show a 3DMark single-thread score of 872 and multi-thread score of 5451, indicating the processor's compute capabilities are separate from its integrated graphics, which do not factor into the measured FPS results.

Q: What frame rates can be expected at Medium settings across all resolutions?

A: Medium settings produce the most consistent results: 110 FPS at 1080p (93-126 range), 69 FPS at 1440p (59-80 range), and 36 FPS at 4K (31-42 range). The minimum frame rates suggest that 1080p and 1440p Medium are viable for smooth gameplay, while 4K Medium falls below 60 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU's performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 5 5600G's average benchmark score of 21088 is within 0.4% of its nearest rivals: Intel Core i3-1220P (21066, deltaPct 0.1), Intel Core Ultra 7 256V (21112, deltaPct -0.1), AMD Ryzen 5 7530U (21133, deltaPct -0.2), and Intel Core Ultra 7 155U (21174, deltaPct -0.4). This indicates the CPU's processing power is competitive with these alternatives.

Q: Is this combo better suited for 1080p or 1440p gaming in Hard West?

A: The data strongly favors 1080p. At 1080p, all settings including Ultra (63 FPS) remain above 60 FPS. At 1440p, only Low (85 FPS) and Medium (69 FPS) achieve 60+ FPS, while High (53 FPS) and Ultra (40 FPS) fall below. For 1440p gaming, users would need to compromise on settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the Medium preset provides the best balance of visual quality and performance across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the system delivers 110 FPS average with a minimum of 93 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay without frame drops. The 1440p Medium result of 69 FPS average (minimum 59) remains playable, though users sensitive to frame dips may prefer Low settings at this resolution.

For 1080p users, High settings (84 FPS) offer improved visuals while maintaining comfortable performance margins. Ultra at 1080p (63 FPS) is technically playable but leaves little headroom for demanding scenes. At 1440p, the choice narrows to Low (85 FPS) or Medium (69 FPS), with Medium providing noticeably better visual fidelity for a modest frame rate cost. The 4K resolution is not recommended for this combo, as even Low settings only achieve 44 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

The minimum frame rate data at Medium settings provides insight into frame pacing stability: 93 FPS at 1080p, 59 FPS at 1440p, and 31 FPS at 4K. These minimums stay within 16-18% of the average frame rates, suggesting that the Medium preset maintains consistent performance without significant spikes or drops. This stability makes Medium the safest recommendation for users prioritizing smooth gameplay over maximum visual fidelity.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600G features 6 cores and 12 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture, manufactured on TSMC's 7 nm process. The CPU runs at a 3.90 GHz base clock with a 4.40 GHz boost clock, drawing 65 W TDP. Its cache hierarchy includes 64 KB L1 per core, 512 KB L2 per core, and 16 MB total L3 cache. The processor supports DDR4 memory in dual-channel configuration with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth.

In Hard West, a turn-based tactics game, the CPU's role is primarily handling game logic, AI decisions, and unit pathfinding rather than intensive physics or simulation. The Ryzen 5 5600G's multi-threaded performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10551 and Geekbench multi-core score of 8428, provides ample processing power for these tasks. The CPU's 74th percentile ranking among all CPUs suggests it outperforms the GPU's 65th percentile, reinforcing the GPU-bottleneck analysis.

The CPU's nearest rivals, all within 0.4% of its average benchmark score of 21088, include the Intel Core i3-1220P (21066), Intel Core Ultra 7 256V (21112), AMD Ryzen 5 7530U (21133), and Intel Core Ultra 7 155U (21174). This clustering indicates that the Ryzen 5 5600G's processing capabilities are consistent with other mid-range CPUs of its generation. The 3DMark scores of 5451 for 16 threads and 872 for single thread show balanced multi-threaded and single-threaded performance, which benefits games that rely on both.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data for this combo across resolutions and settings:

1080p (1920x1080):

• Low: 134 FPS average
• Medium: 110 FPS average, 93 FPS minimum, 126 FPS maximum
• High: 84 FPS average
• Ultra: 63 FPS average

1440p (2560x1440):

• Low: 85 FPS average
• Medium: 69 FPS average, 59 FPS minimum, 80 FPS maximum
• High: 53 FPS average
• Ultra: 40 FPS average

4K (3840x2160):

• Low: 44 FPS average
• Medium: 36 FPS average, 31 FPS minimum, 42 FPS maximum
• High: 28 FPS average
• Ultra: 21 FPS average

The progression across resolutions shows a clear pattern: each settings tier at 1080p outperforms the next tier up at 1440p, and similarly for 1440p to 4K. For example, 1080p Ultra (63 FPS) exceeds 1440p High (53 FPS), and 1440p Ultra (40 FPS) exceeds 4K High (28 FPS). This indicates that resolution has a more significant impact on performance than settings adjustments, which is typical for GPU-bound scenarios.

The Medium settings rows provide the only complete minimum and maximum frame rate data, offering insight into frame time consistency. The 1080p Medium range of 93-126 FPS shows a 33 FPS spread, while 1440p Medium's 59-80 FPS range shows a 21 FPS spread, and 4K Medium's 31-42 FPS range shows an 11 FPS spread. The narrowing range at higher resolutions suggests the GPU's workload becomes more consistent as pixel count increases, although the overall frame rates become less playable.