Hard West

The AMD Ryzen 5 7400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination delivers exceptional performance in Hard West, a turn-based tactics title from 2015. The measured data shows this pairing ranks 204th out of 2949 tested combinations, placing it in the 93rd percentile of all systems tested for this game. This is a high-end configuration that produces triple-digit frame rates at most settings, with the data revealing a clear hierarchy of performance across resolutions and graphical presets.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide a clear picture of how each preset scales performance. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 154 FPS, which is already far beyond the refresh rate of most monitors. However, the data shows that the gap between Medium and Ultra is substantial: Medium produces 243 FPS average, while Ultra drops to 154 FPS. This 89 FPS difference represents a 37% reduction in frame rate for the jump from Medium to Ultra. The High preset sits at 205 FPS, while Low reaches 261 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the pattern shifts. Ultra delivers 97 FPS average, which remains highly playable. Medium produces 169 FPS, and High achieves 130 FPS. The Low preset at 1440p reaches 206 FPS. The data suggests that Medium is the sweet spot at this resolution, as it maintains 169 FPS while presumably offering better visual quality than Low. The minimum FPS recorded for Medium at 1440p is 144, which means the system stays above the 144Hz refresh rate threshold even in demanding moments.

At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset drops to 51 FPS average, which is the only measured configuration that falls below 60 FPS. High at 4K produces 68 FPS, while Medium achieves 89 FPS with a minimum of 75 FPS. Low at 4K reaches 108 FPS. For 4K displays, the data indicates that Medium provides the best balance, as it maintains an average of 89 FPS with a minimum of 75 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay without the visual degradation of Low. The Ultra preset at 4K, while visually superior, sacrifices 38 FPS compared to Medium, a 43% performance penalty.

The optimal experience across all resolutions is Medium settings. At 1080p, Medium produces 243 FPS, which is only 18 FPS less than Low but significantly higher than Ultra's 154 FPS. At 1440p, Medium's 169 FPS with a 144 FPS minimum ensures consistent high-refresh-rate performance. At 4K, Medium's 89 FPS average with a 75 FPS minimum provides a smooth experience that neither High nor Ultra can match at their respective frame rates.

GPU Role

The RTX 4080 SUPER features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 736.3 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2295 MHz and boosts to 2550 MHz. These specifications are crucial for understanding Hard West's performance characteristics. The game, being a turn-based tactics title from 2015, does not heavily stress modern GPU resources, as evidenced by the frame rates achieved.

The data shows that the GPU is not the primary bottleneck at lower resolutions. At 1080p, the frame rates range from 154 FPS at Ultra to 261 FPS at Low, indicating that the RTX 4080 SUPER has ample headroom. The GPU's 52.22 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power and 816.0 GTexel/s texture rate are far beyond what Hard West requires. The 16 GB VRAM capacity is also more than sufficient, as the game's visual complexity does not demand large texture buffers.

The GPU's performance percentile of 86 places it in the upper echelon of all GPUs tested. Its nearest rivals include the RTX 4080 (with a delta of -0.1%) and the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (delta -1.1%). These close margins indicate that the RTX 4080 SUPER performs nearly identically to its predecessor, with the differences being within measurement noise. The GPU's performance in Hard West is consistent with its overall benchmark profile, suggesting that the game scales predictably with GPU compute resources.

At 4K resolution, the GPU becomes more relevant. The drop from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings reduces performance from 154 FPS to 51 FPS, a 67% decrease. This substantial reduction indicates that the GPU is being pushed harder at higher resolutions, though the absolute frame rates remain playable. The 16 GB VRAM ensures that memory capacity is never a limiting factor, even at 4K with Ultra settings.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7400F provides 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. This Zen 4 architecture processor on the AM5 socket features 32 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR5 memory with 83.2 GB/s bandwidth. The CPU's benchmark scores show strong single-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3072 and a multi-core score of 21765.

In Hard West, a turn-based tactics game, CPU performance is critical for game logic, AI calculations, and unit pathfinding. The data shows that the CPU is not a bottleneck at any measured configuration. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 261 FPS, which is likely near the game's engine limits. The CPU's Passmark single-thread score of 3689 indicates strong per-core performance, which is essential for games that rely on a primary simulation thread.

The CPU's percentile of 83 places it above average but not at the top. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-14600T (delta 0.1%), Intel Core Ultra 7 155H (delta 0.2%), and AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H (delta -0.2%). These small deltas indicate that the 7400F performs within 0.3% of these competing processors, making it a well-balanced choice for gaming workloads.

The 6-core, 12-thread configuration is sufficient for Hard West, as the game likely does not utilize more than a few threads. The data shows that at 1080p, increasing settings from Low to Ultra reduces frame rates from 261 to 154 FPS, a 41% drop. This reduction is primarily due to GPU load increasing, not CPU limitations. The CPU's 4.70 GHz boost clock ensures that even the most demanding turn-based calculations are processed quickly, maintaining consistent frame times.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 7400F and RTX 4080 SUPER combination ranks 204th out of 2949 tested combos for Hard West. This places the system in the top 7% of all configurations tested, a strong showing for a mid-range CPU paired with a high-end GPU. The rank indicates that this combination outperforms the vast majority of systems, though it does not reach the absolute top tier.

The ranking suggests that the RTX 4080 SUPER is the primary driver of performance, as the CPU's mid-range positioning does not hold back the GPU in this game. The combo's performance is consistent with the GPU's percentile of 86, indicating that the CPU does not introduce a significant bottleneck. If the CPU were limiting performance, the combo rank would be lower than the GPU's percentile rank.

The data implies that this combination is well-suited for Hard West at any resolution below 4K Ultra. At 1440p Ultra, the system achieves 97 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. At 1080p Ultra, the 154 FPS average provides a high-refresh-rate experience. The only configuration where the combo struggles is 4K Ultra at 51 FPS, which is still playable but not ideal for competitive play.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals the scaling behavior from 1080p to 4K. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 205 at 1080p to 130 at 1440p to 68 at 4K. This represents a 36% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a 48% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The total reduction from 1080p to 4K is 67%.

At Medium settings, the scaling is similar: 243 FPS at 1080p, 169 FPS at 1440p, and 89 FPS at 4K. This represents a 30% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 47% drop from 1440p to 4K. The total reduction is 63%. At Low settings, the scaling is less severe: 261 FPS at 1080p, 206 FPS at 1440p, and 108 FPS at 4K, representing a 59% total reduction.

The scaling pattern indicates that the GPU becomes increasingly important as resolution increases. The RTX 4080 SUPER's 736.3 GB/s memory bandwidth and 16 GB VRAM ensure that the GPU can maintain high frame rates even at 4K. However, the significant FPS drops at 4K Ultra (from 154 FPS at 1080p to 51 FPS) suggest that the GPU's compute resources are being fully utilized at this configuration. The CPU's role remains consistent across resolutions, as the frame rate drops are proportional to the pixel count increase.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured results are as follows:

• Low: 261 FPS average
• Medium: 243 FPS average, with a minimum of 206 FPS and maximum of 279 FPS
• High: 205 FPS average
• Ultra: 154 FPS average

At 2560x1440:

• Low: 206 FPS average
• Medium: 169 FPS average, with a minimum of 144 FPS and maximum of 194 FPS
• High: 130 FPS average
• Ultra: 97 FPS average

At 3840x2160:

• Low: 108 FPS average
• Medium: 89 FPS average, with a minimum of 75 FPS and maximum of 102 FPS
• High: 68 FPS average
• Ultra: 51 FPS average

The data shows that Medium settings provide the most consistent frame times, as evidenced by the recorded minimum and maximum values. At 1080p Medium, the minimum of 206 FPS ensures no drops below the 200 FPS threshold. At 1440p Medium, the minimum of 144 FPS aligns with common 144Hz monitors. At 4K Medium, the minimum of 75 FPS ensures smooth gameplay on 60Hz displays with headroom for refresh rate spikes.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this system?

A: The data shows that Medium settings at 1440p provide 169 FPS average with a 144 FPS minimum, offering an ideal balance of visual quality and performance. At 4K, Medium at 89 FPS average with a 75 FPS minimum is the best choice for 60Hz displays.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 SUPER compare to its closest rival, the RTX 4080?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has a Passmark G3D score of 34245, which is 0.1% lower than the RTX 4080's score of 54247. This negligible difference indicates that the two GPUs perform virtually identically in Hard West.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 7400F a bottleneck for the RTX 4080 SUPER?

A: No. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21765 and single-core score of 3072 provide ample processing power. The system achieves 261 FPS at 1080p Low, which is likely near the game's engine limit, indicating no CPU bottleneck.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, Low produces 261 FPS average while Ultra produces 154 FPS average, a difference of 107 FPS or 41%. This suggests Ultra settings have a significant visual cost.

Q: How does the combo rank compare to other tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 204th out of 2949 tested combinations, placing it in the top 7% of all systems tested for Hard West. This is consistent with the GPU's 86th percentile ranking.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for 4K Medium settings?

A: At 4K Medium, the minimum FPS is 75, with an average of 89 FPS and maximum of 102 FPS. This ensures no drops below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.