Hard West

Hard West, a turn-based tactics title from 2015, presents an interesting benchmark scenario for the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination. This pairing of a 6-core Zen 3 processor with a flagship Blackwell GPU produces a wide spread of frame rates across resolutions and settings, revealing how the game’s age interacts with modern hardware. The data indicates a system that is overwhelmingly powerful for this title, with performance scaling that shifts from a CPU-limited state at lower resolutions to a GPU-bound state at 4K Ultra.

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

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Vermeer. It operates with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz, and its benchmark results suggest that its single-thread performance is a key asset for a game like Hard West. In synthetic testing, the chip scores 2622 points in Cinebench R23 single-core and 917 points in 3DMark single-thread, which are strong figures that help drive high frame rates in a title that may not utilize many cores. The processor’s 32 MB of L3 cache and support for dual-channel DDR4 memory at 51.2 GB/s are also relevant, as turn-based tactics games often have significant data to process for game state and AI.

The CPU’s overall benchmark profile places it at the 78th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20680. Its nearest rivals in the database are the AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT and Intel Core i7-10700, which have average scores of 20740 and 20746, respectively, representing a performance delta of -0.3% against the 5600X. This indicates that the 5600X is essentially performance-equivalent to those parts, with the Intel Core i5-12490F being a mere 0.5% faster and the Intel Xeon 6325P being 0.7% slower. In the context of Hard West, this level of CPU performance is more than sufficient to avoid becoming a bottleneck at most settings. The benchmark results show that at 1080p Low settings, the system achieves 239.4 FPS, which is the highest frame rate recorded in the data, suggesting that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU frames well beyond typical display refresh rates. The Ryzen 5 5600X’s 65W TDP and active production status also position it as an efficient and accessible part for this kind of build.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is a monumental piece of hardware, built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with the GB202 chip on a 5 nm process. It features a massive 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. Its core clocks are listed with a base of 2017 MHz and a boost of 2407 MHz, and the memory runs at an effective 28 Gbps. This specification sheet includes 21,760 shading units and 680 tensor cores, making it an absolute powerhouse. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 380114 in Geekbench OpenCL and 39650 in Passmark G3D, placing it at the 94th percentile of all GPUs.

The RTX 5090’s average benchmark score is 84306, with its nearest rival being the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D at 84241 (a 0.1% delta), followed closely by the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile at 84171 (a 0.2% delta). The AMD Radeon PRO W6600 is 1.3% slower, while the NVIDIA CMP 40HX is 1.6% faster in this particular aggregate metric. For a game like Hard West, the sheer amount of VRAM and raw compute power is overkill, but it ensures that even at the highest settings and resolutions, the game will not be constrained by memory capacity or texture throughput. The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the system still delivers 58.2 FPS, which is a direct result of the GPU’s ability to handle the increased pixel count. The GPU’s role is to provide the headroom necessary to maintain playable frame rates when the CPU is not the limiting factor, particularly at higher resolutions like 2560x1440 and 3840x2160.

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

The scaling of frame rates across resolutions provides a clear picture of where the bottleneck lies in this system. At 1080p High, the system achieves 201.4 FPS, but at 1440p High, this drops to 148.6 FPS, and at 4K High, it falls to 80.8 FPS. This represents a significant performance drop as resolution increases, which is a classic sign of the GPU becoming the primary limiting factor. The frame rate decline is much steeper than what would be expected if the CPU were the bottleneck, as CPU load typically does not scale with resolution in the same way.

However, the pattern is different when looking at the lowest settings. At 1080p Low, the system hits 239.4 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low, it drops to 207.1 FPS, and at 4K Low, it is 128.1 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings is only about 13%, but the drop from 1440p to 4K is about 38%. This suggests that at lower settings, the CPU is still able to push a high number of frames at 1080p, but as the resolution increases, the GPU’s workload rises, and its performance becomes more dominant in determining the final frame rate. The data implies that at 1080p and 1440p with Low settings, the system is partially CPU-bound, but at 4K, it is almost entirely GPU-bound. This is further supported by the fact that the gap between Low and Ultra settings widens significantly at higher resolutions, indicating that the GPU is doing more work per frame.

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

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across all tested configurations. At 1920x1080, the frame rates are exceptionally high across the board. The Low setting yields an average of 239.4 FPS, Medium yields 223.4 FPS, High yields 201.4 FPS, and Ultra yields 175.2 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 64.2 FPS, which is a substantial gap but still leaves the system running at very high refresh rates. This indicates that even at 1080p Ultra, the hardware is not being stressed to its limits.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains very strong. Low settings produce 207.1 FPS, Medium produces 192.1 FPS, High produces 148.6 FPS, and Ultra produces 110.5 FPS. The scaling here is more pronounced, with the drop from Medium to High being 43.5 FPS, which is a larger relative decrease than seen at 1080p. This suggests that the GPU is beginning to take on a more significant role in rendering the scene. At 3840x2160, the results are more varied. Low settings deliver 128.1 FPS, Medium delivers 100 FPS, High delivers 80.8 FPS, and Ultra delivers 58.2 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra at 4K shows a steep decline, with Ultra being less than half the frame rate of Low. This clearly demonstrates that the RTX 5090 is the limiting component at this resolution, as the game’s visual fidelity settings heavily impact the GPU’s workload. The data shows a system that is capable of exceeding 200 FPS at 1080p and 1440p on lower settings, but which settles into a more GPU-bound performance envelope at 4K, where the RTX 5090’s raw power is put to the test.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate recorded for this system in Hard West?

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 239.4 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 5600X compare to its nearest rivals in aggregate benchmark score?

A: The Ryzen 5 5600X has an average benchmark score of 20680, which is 0.3% lower than the AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT and Intel Core i7-10700, and 0.5% lower than the Intel Core i5-12490F. It is 0.7% higher than the Intel Xeon 6325P.

Q: What is the performance drop from 1080p High to 4K High?

A: The average frame rate drops from 201.4 FPS at 1080p High to 80.8 FPS at 4K High, representing a decrease of 120.6 FPS.

Q: Is the system more CPU-bound or GPU-bound at 4K Ultra?

A: At 4K Ultra, the system produces 58.2 FPS, which is the lowest score in the dataset. The significant drop from the 4K Low score of 128.1 FPS indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at this resolution and setting.

Q: What is the RTX 5090’s percentile ranking among all GPUs in the database?

A: The RTX 5090 is placed at the 94th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 84306.

Q: What is the difference in average FPS between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the average FPS difference between Low and Ultra settings is 96.6 FPS, with Low achieving 207.1 FPS and Ultra achieving 110.5 FPS.