Hard West

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D combination delivers exceptionally high frame rates in Hard West, a turn-based tactics title from 2015. The measured data shows this pairing is far more powerful than the game demands, with performance scaling predictably across resolutions and settings. The following analysis breaks down the measured FPS data, component roles, and ranking context to clarify what this hardware actually does in this specific title.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data for this combination reveals a clear hierarchy across the four tested presets. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset still achieves an average of 187 FPS, which is well above smooth display thresholds. However, the step from High to Ultra at 1080p costs 43 FPS on average, dropping from 230 FPS to 187 FPS. The Medium preset sits between them at 253 FPS, but the Low preset reaches 271 FPS. Given that the game is turn-based, the incremental visual improvements from Ultra are unlikely to justify the performance drop, but the data shows Ultra remains fully playable.

At 2560x1440, the situation becomes more nuanced. The High preset averages 158 FPS, while Ultra averages 118 FPS. The Medium preset at 205 FPS and Low at 233 FPS both exceed the refresh rates of most common monitors. The Ultra preset's 118 FPS average is still smooth, but the 40 FPS gap between High and Ultra represents a 25% performance reduction for the highest quality tier. For a tactical game where frame pacing matters less than in action titles, High at 1440p appears to be the optimal balance, delivering 158 FPS with the visual enhancements enabled.

At 3840x2160, the data tells a different story. The High preset averages 83 FPS, which remains fluid, but the Ultra preset drops to 62 FPS. The Medium preset at 108 FPS and Low at 131 FPS show that even at 4K, this hardware has substantial headroom. The 4K Ultra setting, while still playable at 62 FPS average, represents the only measured configuration that approaches the lower bounds of high-refresh gaming. For 4K, the High preset at 83 FPS is the recommended choice, as it maintains a comfortable margin above 60 FPS while preserving most visual quality.

The data suggests that the best experience across all resolutions is the High preset. It provides the most consistent frame rates relative to the visual quality investment. The Medium preset offers higher FPS at 1080p and 1440p, but the visual reduction is typically noticeable in lighting and texture detail. The Ultra preset, while technically playable at all resolutions, shows diminishing returns—the 4K performance at 62 FPS average indicates the GPU is being pushed to its limits in this title, despite the game's age.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 7000 series, built on the Zen 4 architecture with a 5 nm process. Its base clock is 3.70 GHz with a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. The CPU has 32 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR5 memory with dual-channel configuration, offering 83.2 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The processor's benchmark scores show strong single-thread performance, with a 3dmark_single_thread score of 974 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3218.

In Hard West, a turn-based tactics game, the CPU's role is primarily in game logic, AI decision-making, and scene management during turns. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low, the combination reaches 271 FPS average, which indicates the CPU is not a bottleneck at lower resolutions. The single-thread performance is particularly relevant here, as turn-based games often rely heavily on one or two threads for simulation. The 3dmark_2_threads score of 1902 and 3dmark_4_threads score of 3621 suggest that the processor handles the modest multi-threading demands of this genre with ease.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 77 versus all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 24964, places it in the upper quartile. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-11850H, scores 24935, a delta of 0.1%, meaning the 7500F is essentially tied with that mobile chip. The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F scores 25005, just 0.2% higher, indicating these processors are all within a negligible performance band. For Hard West, this level of CPU performance is substantial overkill—the game's turn-based nature means that even complex turns with many units would not stress the 7500F's capabilities.

The boost clock of 5.00 GHz is particularly valuable for this game, as higher single-thread clocks directly translate to faster AI and pathfinding calculations. The processor's 65W TDP and AM5 socket indicate a modern platform, but the game's 2015 release date means it likely does not utilize newer instruction sets or multi-threading capabilities beyond basic levels. The data shows no scenario where the CPU limits FPS; even the highest measured average of 271 FPS at 1080p Low is likely constrained by the GPU or engine-level frame caps rather than CPU processing power.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is the dominant component in this pairing. It features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing 1.79 TB/s of memory bandwidth. The GPU has 21760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 raster output pipelines. Its base clock is 2017 MHz with a boost clock of 2407 MHz. The card's FP32 performance is 104.8 TFLOPS, and it has a TDP of 575W. The GPU's benchmark scores include a Passmark G3D score of 44065 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 310674.

In Hard West, the GPU's role is rendering the isometric 2D-style environments, character sprites, and lighting effects. Despite the game's age, the measured FPS data shows that the RTX 5090 D still experiences performance scaling with resolution and settings. At 1080p, the difference between Low (271 FPS) and Ultra (187 FPS) is 84 FPS, a 31% reduction. This indicates that even in a game from 2015, the Ultra preset introduces enough visual complexity—likely in shadows, post-processing, and texture filtering—to measurably impact the GPU.

The GPU's 32 GB VRAM is far beyond what Hard West requires, so memory capacity is never a constraint. The memory bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s is similarly overprovisioned for this title. However, the data shows the GPU is still the primary scaling factor. At 4K, the Ultra preset drops to 62 FPS average, which is a 67% reduction from the 1080p Ultra score of 187 FPS. This dramatic scaling indicates that the GPU's rendering workload increases substantially with pixel count, even for this relatively simple game.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 92 versus all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 77712, places it in the top tier. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT, scores 76904, a delta of 1.1%, which is surprising given the RTX 5090 D's much higher specifications. This suggests that the benchmark database's composite scores may weight certain workloads differently, but for Hard West specifically, the measured FPS data is the definitive reference. The RTX 5090 D's raw performance ensures that it is the bottleneck only at 4K Ultra, where the 62 FPS average suggests the GPU is finally being pushed to its limits.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D ranks 59th out of 2949 tested combinations in Hard West. This places it in the top 2% of all tested configurations, which is expected given the high-end nature of both components. The rank of 59 indicates that there are 58 other combinations that achieve higher measured performance in this specific game, likely comprising faster CPUs or GPUs that edge out this pairing.

The ranking is influenced by the game's relatively low system requirements. Since Hard West is a turn-based tactics title from 2015, the CPU's 6-core/12-thread configuration is more than sufficient, and the GPU's massive memory bandwidth and shading power are excessive. The 59th rank suggests that some combinations with higher single-thread CPU performance or GPUs that scale better at 4K Ultra might achieve higher frame rates. The measured data shows that at 4K Ultra, this combo averages 62 FPS, which is likely the limiting factor for its rank—other top-tier GPUs may push that number higher.

The combo's rank of 59 out of 2949 is impressive but not top-10, which reflects the diminishing returns of high-end hardware on older games. The data indicates that the RTX 5090 D's performance is not fully utilized in this title, as evidenced by the 1080p Low score of 271 FPS being only 45% higher than the 4K Ultra score. The ranking also considers consistency across resolutions and settings; this combo shows strong performance at all measured points, but the 4K Ultra dip to 62 FPS prevents a higher rank. For a game like Hard West, the practical takeaway is that this hardware is overkill, but the rank confirms it performs in the upper echelon of tested configurations.

FAQ

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

A: The highest measured average FPS is 271, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra performance compare to 1080p Ultra?

A: At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 62, while at 1080p Ultra it is 187. This represents a 67% reduction in frame rate when moving from 1080p to 4K at the same settings.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested hardware combinations in this game?

A: The combo ranks 59th out of 2949 total tested combinations, placing it in the top 2% of all configurations.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the data shows the GPU is the limiting factor, as FPS varies significantly between settings (271 FPS at Low vs 187 FPS at Ultra), while the CPU's single-thread performance is sufficient to feed the GPU at all settings.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for the Medium preset at 1440p?

A: The minimum FPS for the Medium preset at 2560x1440 is 174, with an average of 205 and a maximum of 236.

Q: How does the CPU's benchmark score compare to its nearest rival?

A: The Ryzen 5 7500F has an average benchmark score of 24964, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core i7-11850H's score of 24935, making them statistically equivalent in performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions and four settings levels, providing a comprehensive view of performance scaling. At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 271 FPS, Medium averages 253 FPS with a range of 215 to 291, High averages 230 FPS, and Ultra averages 187 FPS. This shows a smooth degradation from Low to Ultra, with each step reducing performance by approximately 20-40 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 233 FPS, Medium averages 205 FPS with a range of 174 to 236, High averages 158 FPS, and Ultra averages 118 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra at 1440p is 40 FPS, which is proportionally larger than the 43 FPS gap at 1080p, indicating that the Ultra preset's additional effects become more demanding at higher resolutions.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 131 FPS, Medium averages 108 FPS with a range of 92 to 124, High averages 83 FPS, and Ultra averages 62 FPS. The 4K data shows the most significant scaling, with Ultra being the only setting that dips below 100 FPS average. The Medium preset's minimum of 92 FPS at 4K indicates that even in demanding scenes, the combo maintains playable frame rates.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset consistently provides the highest minimum FPS data point, with the 1080p Medium showing a minimum of 215 FPS, 1440p Medium at 174 FPS, and 4K Medium at 92 FPS. This suggests that Medium is the most stable preset in terms of frame pacing, which is relevant for a turn-based game where sudden drops during enemy turns could be noticeable.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the nature of the bottleneck in this system. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 271 at 1080p to 131 at 4K, a 52% reduction. At Medium settings, the drop is from 253 to 108, a 57% reduction. At High settings, the drop is from 230 to 83, a 64% reduction. At Ultra settings, the drop is from 187 to 62, a 67% reduction.

This pattern shows that higher settings amplify the resolution scaling penalty. The percentage drop increases with each settings tier, indicating that the GPU's workload becomes more pixel-bound at higher quality levels. The fact that the drop is not perfectly proportional to pixel count (4K has 4x the pixels of 1080p) suggests that the game's rendering is not purely fill-rate limited. If it were, the FPS at 4K would be approximately 25% of the 1080p score. Instead, the 4K scores are roughly 46-48% of the 1080p scores across settings, indicating that other factors—such as vertex processing, draw call overhead, or CPU involvement—are partially mitigating the pixel count increase.

The scaling data points to the GPU as the primary limiting component at 4K, particularly at Ultra settings where the 62 FPS average suggests the card is nearing its effective limit for this game. However, the relatively modest drop from 1080p to 4K compared to a pure fill-rate model implies that Hard West's engine does not scale its rendering workload linearly with resolution. This is common for 2D-isometric or sprite-based games, where higher resolutions may not proportionally increase the number of rendered pixels due to fixed-size sprites or UI elements.

The CPU's role in resolution scaling is minimal, as evidenced by the consistent FPS at 1080p across settings—the CPU can maintain over 270 FPS even at Low settings, which is far above the GPU's output at that resolution. The data implies that for this game, the RTX 5090 D is the decisive component, and its performance at 4K Ultra is the only scenario where the combo shows any sign of strain. For most users, this hardware will deliver flawless performance at any resolution, with the 4K Ultra setting being the only configuration that approaches the 60 FPS threshold.