Hard West

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600G and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 combination delivers a striking performance curve in Hard West, one that clearly defines the role each component plays. At 1080p, the pairing produces frame rates that exceed the refresh rates of most displays, but the incremental cost of higher resolutions reveals a predictable bottleneck shift. The data shows a system that is overwhelmingly capable at mainstream resolutions, yet it also exposes the limits of a turn-based tactics title that does not scale infinitely with modern GPU horsepower.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a steep, consistent decline as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 172.5 FPS at 1080p to 110.6 FPS at 1440p, and then further to 57.9 FPS at 4K. This represents a 33% reduction when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and a 48% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The pattern is similar across all settings presets, indicating that Hard West places a heavy load on the GPU’s pixel throughput as resolution climbs.

The scaling behavior is most revealing at the Low preset. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 223.5 FPS, which is nearly double the 4K Low result of 94.9 FPS. That 4K figure is still highly playable, but the gap of 128.6 FPS between the two extremes suggests that the RTX 5070 is the primary limiting factor at ultra-high resolutions. Conversely, the relatively small difference between 1080p High (172.5 FPS) and 1080p Ultra (130.9 FPS) — a 41.6 FPS drop — hints that the CPU is starting to constrain performance when the GPU has less work to do.

This is a classic sign of a balanced mid-range pairing that becomes GPU-bound at 4K. The RTX 5070’s 12 GB of GDDR7 memory and 672.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for Hard West’s demands, but the game’s 2015 release date means it lacks the advanced rendering features that would justify higher GPU utilization. The 41.2 FPS result at 4K Ultra is the only sub-60 FPS figure in the entire dataset, marking it as the sole scenario where this combo fails to maintain smooth gameplay.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this specific pairing of the Ryzen 5 5600G and RTX 5070 ranks 361st out of 1,699 tested combinations for Hard West. That places it in the top 21% of all configurations, a strong showing for a CPU that was not designed as a high-end gaming processor. The rank reflects the GPU’s dominance in this title, as the RTX 5070’s Passmark G3D score of 29,137 and its 83rd percentile ranking among all GPUs far outstrip the CPU’s contributions.

Comparing the components’ individual standings provides context. The Ryzen 5 5600G sits in the 78th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19,983. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-11600H (19,949, +0.2%) and the Intel Core i7-11800H (20,024, -0.2%), showing it is essentially tied with those mobile-class processors. The GPU, however, is in a different league; the RTX 5070’s nearest rival, the AMD Radeon Pro 5300, scores 41,610 against the RTX 5070’s 41,687, a negligible 0.2% difference. The GeForce RTX 3090, a previous-generation flagship, trails by just 0.6%.

The combo rank of 361 suggests that Hard West does not reward the CPU-GPU pairing as much as other games might. The game’s turn-based nature means it rarely stresses multiple cores simultaneously, so the 5600G’s 6-core, 12-thread configuration is more than adequate. The ranking indicates that many other combos, likely those with faster single-threaded CPUs, achieve better results despite having less powerful GPUs.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Hard West?

A: The highest recorded average is 223.5 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The next best is 211.1 FPS at 1080p Medium, showing that even at higher quality presets, the combo remains well above 200 FPS at Full HD.

Q: Is this combination capable of 4K gaming in Hard West?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K High, the average FPS is 57.9, which is just below the 60 FPS threshold. At 4K Ultra, it drops to 41.2 FPS, which is not ideal for smooth gameplay. However, 4K Medium achieves 77.3 FPS, and 4K Low reaches 94.9 FPS, making those presets fully playable.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 5600G compare to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The 5600G scores 19,983 in average benchmarks, which is within 0.2% of the Intel Core i7-11600H (19,949) and within 0.2% of the Intel Core i7-11800H (20,024). It effectively trades blows with those processors, though it trails the AMD EPYC 7713P and Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5995WX by similar margins.

Q: Does the RTX 5070 outperform the RTX 3090 in this game’s benchmark context?

A: The RTX 5070 has an average benchmark score of 41,687, while the RTX 3090 scores 41,441. This gives the RTX 5070 a 0.6% advantage, making it marginally faster in synthetic tests. In actual Hard West gameplay, the difference is likely imperceptible.

Q: What is the largest FPS drop between settings at a single resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, the difference between Low (94.9 FPS) and Ultra (41.2 FPS) is 53.7 FPS. At 1920x1080, the same comparison shows a drop of 92.6 FPS from Low (223.5 FPS) to Ultra (130.9 FPS), indicating that the GPU is less strained at lower resolutions.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: The data suggests the CPU begins to play a larger role at 1080p. The 6-core, 12-thread processor with a 3.90 GHz base clock and 4.40 GHz boost clock appears sufficient, but the relatively small FPS gains from Low to Medium (211.1 FPS vs 223.5 FPS) indicate diminishing returns as the GPU becomes less occupied.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset provides a clear picture of performance across all resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 223.5 FPS on Low, 211.1 FPS on Medium, 172.5 FPS on High, and 130.9 FPS on Ultra. These figures demonstrate that even at the highest quality preset, the system produces frame rates well above the 144 Hz refresh rate common among gaming monitors, making the GPU the dominant factor.

Moving to 2560x1440, the results remain strong but show the expected decline. Low settings produce 175.6 FPS, Medium drops to 147.1 FPS, High reaches 110.6 FPS, and Ultra falls to 84 FPS. The 84 FPS Ultra result is notable because it remains above 60 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay at the higher resolution. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 91.6 FPS, nearly identical to the 1080p gap, suggesting consistent GPU scaling.

At 3840x2160, the performance curve steepens dramatically. Low settings yield 94.9 FPS, Medium drops to 77.3 FPS, High produces 57.9 FPS, and Ultra falls to 41.2 FPS. This is the only resolution where any preset dips below 60 FPS, and the Ultra result at 41.2 FPS is the single worst figure in the entire dataset. The 4K results indicate that the RTX 5070’s 80 ROPs and 201.0 GPixel/s pixel rate are challenged by the game’s rendering demands at this resolution, though the 12 GB memory buffer is never a limiting factor.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600G is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, manufactured on a 7 nm process at TSMC. With a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, it offers solid single-thread performance, which is critical for a turn-based tactics game like Hard West. The CPU’s 16 MB of L3 cache and 51.2 GB/s memory bandwidth are adequate for the game’s data demands, though they do not represent modern specifications.

Benchmark results show the 5600G excels in multithreaded workloads, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 16,758 and a Passmark multithread score of 19,717. However, Hard West is unlikely to leverage all 12 threads effectively, as turn-based games typically rely on a few primary threads for game logic and AI. The single-thread score of 2,365 in Cinebench R23 and 872 in 3DMark single-thread test provide a better indication of gaming performance, and these figures are competitive with the nearest rival CPUs.

The CPU’s 78th percentile ranking among all CPUs places it above average, but its nearest rivals are all within 0.2-0.3% in average score. This tight clustering suggests that the 5600G is not a performance outlier in either direction. In Hard West specifically, the combo rank of 361 out of 1,699 indicates that the CPU is not holding back the system; the RTX 5070 is the clear performance driver. The 65 W TDP and unlocked multiplier make it an efficient and overclockable option, but for this game, the CPU’s role is secondary to the GPU’s raw fill rate and shading power.