Hard West

# Hard West — AMD Ryzen 5 7600 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060

Hard West, a turn-based tactics title from 2015, demonstrates distinctly scalable performance across resolution and settings with this CPU-GPU pairing. The measured frame rates reveal a system that is GPU-limited at 4K, increasingly balanced at 1440p, and clearly CPU-bound at 1080p with low settings. The RTX 4060's 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 272.0 GB/s bandwidth, combined with the Ryzen 5 7600's 6 cores and 12 threads, produce a predictable performance envelope that favors lower resolutions and medium presets for consistent play.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 1440p and then to 4K shows a consistent frame rate reduction across all settings, but the magnitude of that drop varies significantly by preset. At High settings, average FPS falls from 117 at 1920x1080 to 74 at 2560x1440—a 36.8% reduction—then further to 39 at 3840x2160, representing a 47.3% drop from 1440p. This steep decline at 4K indicates the GPU is the primary limiting component at that resolution, as the pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K while the frame rate only drops by roughly two-thirds.

The Low preset tells a different story. At 1080p, the system delivers 186 FPS average, dropping to 118 at 1440p (−36.6%) and 62 at 4K (−47.5%). The fact that Low settings at 1080p exceeds 180 FPS suggests the CPU is nearing its practical limit for this game engine, as the RTX 4060 has ample headroom for less demanding pixel work. The 4K Low result of 62 FPS still demonstrates that even at extreme resolutions, the GPU can maintain playable rates when visual complexity is minimized.

Medium settings provide the most complete data, including minimum and maximum FPS values. At 1080p, the average is 152 FPS with a range of 129 to 175. At 1440p, the average drops to 96 FPS (range 82–111), a 36.8% decrease. At 4K, the average falls to 51 FPS (range 43–58), a 46.9% reduction from 1440p. The minimum-to-maximum spread remains proportionally similar across resolutions, indicating stable frame pacing rather than erratic spikes.

Ultra settings produce the lowest overall performance: 88 FPS at 1080p, 55 at 1440p (−37.5%), and 29 at 4K (−47.3%). The 4K Ultra result of 29 FPS is below the 30 FPS threshold often considered minimally playable, suggesting this preset is impractical at that resolution. The consistent ~37% drop from 1080p to 1440p and ~47% drop from 1440p to 4K across all settings suggests a well-behaved scaling curve with no anomalous bottlenecks.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, Medium settings at 1440p offer the most balanced experience for this combination. The 96 FPS average with an 82 FPS minimum ensures smooth turn-based gameplay without visual compromises being too aggressive. The minimum frame rate of 82 FPS is comfortably above typical display refresh rates, and the maximum of 111 FPS shows headroom for scene complexity.

For 1080p users, Medium settings at 152 FPS (minimum 129) are the clear recommendation. This preset delivers over twice the refresh rate of standard 60 Hz displays while maintaining visual fidelity between Low and High. The High preset at 1080p (117 FPS) is also viable, but the jump from Medium to High only gains visual quality while sacrificing 35 FPS on average—a meaningful trade-off for a turn-based title where fluid camera movement benefits from higher frame rates.

At 4K, Low settings (62 FPS) are the only preset that consistently exceeds 60 FPS. Medium at 4K (51 FPS average, 43 minimum) remains playable but approaches the lower boundary of smoothness. High at 4K (39 FPS) and Ultra at 4K (29 FPS) fall below ideal thresholds, making Low or Medium the only sensible choices at this resolution. Given that Hard West is turn-based, the 43 FPS minimum on Medium at 4K is likely acceptable for most players, but Low provides a safety margin.

Ultra settings are difficult to justify at any resolution. At 1080p, Ultra (88 FPS) trails Medium (152 FPS) by 64 FPS, and at 1440p the gap widens to 41 FPS (55 vs. 96). The visual improvement from Medium to Ultra in a top-down tactical game rarely justifies halving the frame rate. The data suggests Medium is the performance-per-preset sweet spot, with High serving as a viable alternative for users prioritizing image quality over frame rate.

GPU Role

The RTX 4060's specifications directly explain the measured performance patterns. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus delivering 272.0 GB/s, the card has sufficient bandwidth for Hard West's 2015-era assets at 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K Ultra result of 29 FPS suggests memory bandwidth or fill rate constraints emerge at higher pixel counts. The GPU's 3072 shading units and 48 ROPs provide a pixel rate of 118.1 GPixel/s, which is adequate for 1080p but strained at 4K.

The clock behavior is notable: a base clock of 1830 MHz boosting to 2460 MHz. The large boost headroom (630 MHz) indicates the card can aggressively scale clocks when thermal and power budgets allow, which likely contributes to the strong 1080p results. At 1080p Low (186 FPS), the GPU is not the limiting factor; the CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are more likely constraining the frame rate. In contrast, at 4K Ultra (29 FPS), the GPU is clearly saturated, and the 8 GB memory capacity combined with the 128-bit interface becomes the primary bottleneck.

The GPU's benchmark scores contextualize its position. The passmark G3D score of 19545 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2302 place it in the 61st percentile among all GPUs. The nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks—AMD Radeon HD 7790 (−0.2%), AMD Radeon 780M (+0.3%), AMD Radeon Pro 560 (+0.5%), and AMD Radeon Pro 460 (+0.7%)—are within 1% of the RTX 4060's average benchmark score of 17639. This clustering suggests that in Hard West, the RTX 4060's real-world performance is more dependent on driver optimization and specific game engine characteristics than raw synthetic throughput.

The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4 compatibility are relevant for a 2015 game that likely uses older API paths. The passmark DirectX 11 score of 175 and DirectX 12 score of 76 indicate the card's performance varies significantly by API, with older DirectX 11 workloads performing better relative to the 1080p results. This API sensitivity may explain why the 4K Ultra result is disproportionately low compared to what raw TFLOPS (15.11 FP32) might suggest.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Hard West at 4K smoothly?

A: Only at Low settings, where it achieves 62 FPS average. Medium at 4K drops to 51 FPS (minimum 43), which is playable but not consistently smooth. High (39 FPS) and Ultra (29 FPS) fall below ideal thresholds.

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU-GPU combo?

A: 1440p at Medium settings provides 96 FPS average with an 82 FPS minimum, offering the best balance of visual fidelity and performance. At 1080p, Medium reaches 152 FPS, but the GPU is underutilized.

Q: How does the RTX 4060's 8 GB VRAM affect Hard West?

A: The 8 GB GDDR6 memory with 272.0 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p across all settings, but the 4K Ultra result of 29 FPS indicates memory bandwidth or capacity constraints emerge at higher resolutions.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 7600 the bottleneck at any resolution?

A: At 1080p Low, the 186 FPS result suggests CPU limitation, as the GPU has significant headroom. At 4K Ultra (29 FPS), the GPU is clearly the limiting component.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1440p High?

A: The measured average is 74 FPS, which is 22 FPS lower than Medium (96 FPS) but still smooth for turn-based gameplay. The minimum FPS was not recorded for High at 1440p.

Q: How does Ultra compare to Medium at 1080p?

A: Ultra averages 88 FPS versus 152 FPS on Medium—a 64 FPS penalty. Given that Hard West is turn-based, Medium's higher frame rate is generally preferable unless visual quality is paramount.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 combination ranks 2013 out of 3722 tested combos for Hard West, placing it in the 54th percentile of all system pairings. This mid-pack position reflects the game's age and its modest performance requirements relative to modern hardware. The RTX 4060's 61st percentile standing among GPUs and the Ryzen 5 7600's 78th percentile among CPUs suggest the combo is slightly GPU-limited overall, but the game's turn-based nature means the ranking understates the practical experience.

Compared to the GPU's nearest synthetic rivals—AMD Radeon HD 7790, Radeon 780M, Radeon Pro 560, and Radeon Pro 460—the RTX 4060 is within 0.7% in average benchmark scores. This tight clustering indicates that in a game like Hard West, which likely doesn't stress modern GPU features, the RTX 4060's advantages in ray tracing, tensor cores, and newer architecture provide minimal benefit. The combo's rank of 2013 suggests that many older or mid-range GPUs paired with modern CPUs achieve similar or better results.

The CPU's position is more favorable. The Ryzen 5 7600's average benchmark score of 26324 places it ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX (0.2% faster), Intel Core i9-11900KF (0.4% faster), and AMD Ryzen 5 8540U (0.5% faster), while trailing the AMD Ryzen 7 7435HS by 0.3%. In Hard West, where 1080p Low reaches 186 FPS, the CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient to avoid becoming a significant bottleneck at common settings.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600's specifications provide context for its performance in Hard West. With 6 cores and 12 threads, a base clock of 3.80 GHz and boost clock of 5.10 GHz, this Zen 4 (Raphael) processor on TSMC's 5 nm process delivers strong single-threaded performance—critical for a turn-based tactics game that may rely heavily on a few threads. The 3DMark single-thread score of 999 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1852 indicate robust per-core capability.

The CPU's cache hierarchy—64 KB L1 per core, 1 MB L2 per core, and 32 MB shared L3—provides ample fast storage for game logic and AI computations. The 32 MB L3 cache is particularly relevant for Hard West's turn-based mechanics, where pathfinding and decision trees may repeatedly access the same data. The 5 nm process and 65 W TDP suggest efficient operation without thermal throttling concerns during extended sessions.

The 1080p Low result of 186 FPS is the clearest indicator of CPU involvement. While the RTX 4060 could theoretically render more frames at this low-load scenario, the Ryzen 5 7600's 12 threads likely max out the game engine's draw call throughput. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 6499 and max-thread score of 6503 show that the CPU's multi-threaded scaling is nearly flat beyond 16 threads, which is expected for a 6-core/12-thread part. The passmark multithread score of 27058 and Cinebench R23 multi-core of 12735 confirm the CPU's strong multi-threaded performance for any background tasks.

At 4K, the CPU's role diminishes. The 39 FPS at High and 29 FPS at Ultra are far below what the CPU could support, placing the GPU firmly in the driver's seat. The CPU's 78th percentile ranking among all CPUs means it outperforms the vast majority of installed processors, making it unlikely to be the limiting factor in any scenario except the lowest settings at 1080p.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 186 FPS, the maximum measured in this dataset. Medium averages 152 FPS with a minimum of 129 and maximum of 175, providing the widest recorded range. High averages 117 FPS, while Ultra drops to 88 FPS. The gap from Low to Ultra is 98 FPS, representing a 52.7% reduction.

At 2560x1440, performance scales down predictably. Low averages 118 FPS, a 36.6% drop from 1080p. Medium averages 96 FPS (minimum 82, maximum 111), with the minimum-to-maximum spread of 29 FPS closely matching the 1080p Medium spread of 46 FPS. High averages 74 FPS, and Ultra averages 55 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra gap at 1440p is 63 FPS, a 53.4% reduction.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the dominant constraint. Low averages 62 FPS, Medium averages 51 FPS with a minimum of 43 and maximum of 58, High averages 39 FPS, and Ultra averages 29 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra gap is 33 FPS, a 53.2% reduction—remarkably consistent with the 1080p and 1440p scaling percentages. This consistency indicates the game's settings scale uniformly regardless of resolution, with no unexpected performance cliffs.

The Medium preset is the only setting with complete minimum and maximum data at all three resolutions. The minimum FPS values—129 at 1080p, 82 at 1440p, and 43 at 4K—show that even the worst-case frame times remain playable at 1080p and 1440p, while 4K approaches the edge of acceptability. The maximum values—175, 111, and 58 respectively—demonstrate that the system can deliver bursts of high performance even at 4K, suggesting that scene complexity in Hard West varies considerably during gameplay.