Hard West

FAQ

Q: How does the AMD Ryzen 5 7600 compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 5 7600 sits within 0.5% of its nearest rivals. It is 0.2% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX, 0.4% ahead of the Intel Core i9-11900KF, and 0.5% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 5 8540U. It trails the AMD Ryzen 7 7435HS by 0.3%.

Q: What is the GPU's performance percentile relative to all GPUs?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER ranks in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs. Its average benchmark score is 43223, and its nearest rival, the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB, scores 43262 — a delta of -0.1%. The RTX 4090 Mobile scores 43667, which is 1% higher.

Q: How does this CPU/GPU combo rank for Hard West?

A: The combo ranks 566th out of 3722 tested combos for Hard West. This places it in the top 15% of all tested configurations for this game.

Q: What are the CPU's key specifications?

A: The AMD Ryzen 5 7600 has 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. It has 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 1 MB of L2 cache per core. It supports DDR5 memory with dual-channel configuration and 83.2 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: What memory configuration does the RTX 4070 SUPER use?

A: The GPU has 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. Its memory clock runs at 1313 MHz, which translates to 21 Gbps effective.

Q: What is the best 4K setting for playable frame rates?

A: At 3840x2160, the Medium preset delivers 78 FPS average with a minimum of 66 FPS and maximum of 89 FPS. This is the only 4K preset with recorded minimum/maximum frame data, and it stays comfortably above 60 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

For Hard West, the measured data shows a clear progression across presets at each resolution. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 277 FPS average, while Ultra still manages 135 FPS. The Medium preset at 1080p yields 234 FPS average with a minimum of 199 FPS and maximum of 269 FPS. Given that even Ultra at 1080p produces 135 FPS, the game is extremely well optimized for this hardware at that resolution.

At 2560x1440, the story shifts. High preset delivers 114 FPS, Medium delivers 148 FPS, and Ultra drops to 85 FPS. The Medium preset again shows the tightest frame variance with 126 FPS minimum and 170 FPS maximum. For players with 1440p displays, the High preset at 114 FPS is the sweet spot — it keeps frame rates well above 100 while preserving visual quality. Dropping to Medium adds 34 FPS but sacrifices noticeable detail.

The 3840x2160 results are where careful selection matters most. Ultra at 4K falls to 45 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold many players consider minimum for smooth gameplay. High at 4K reaches exactly 60 FPS average, but there is no recorded minimum frame data for that preset. Medium at 4K provides 78 FPS average with a documented minimum of 66 FPS, making it the only 4K preset with both a playable average and a confirmed floor above 60 FPS.

The data indicates the best overall experience comes from the Medium preset at any resolution. At 1080p, Medium delivers 234 FPS with a 199 FPS minimum — more than enough for any refresh rate. At 1440p, Medium's 148 FPS average and 126 FPS minimum keeps everything smooth. At 4K, Medium's 78 FPS average and 66 FPS minimum is the only preset that guarantees no drops below 60 FPS. The High preset is viable at 1440p (114 FPS) and 4K (60 FPS exactly), but the lack of minimum frame data at 4K High makes Medium the safer recommendation for 4K displays.

Ultra presets should be reserved for 1080p only, where 135 FPS remains highly playable. At 1440p Ultra's 85 FPS is acceptable, but at 4K Ultra's 45 FPS falls below the playability threshold.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is the primary driver of Hard West's frame rates. Its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for a turn-based tactics title from 2015. The GPU's base clock runs at 1980 MHz with a boost clock of 2475 MHz, and its memory clock operates at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective).

The GPU's architecture — Ada Lovelace on TSMC's 5 nm process — includes 7168 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 80 render output units. It also features 56 ray tracing cores and 224 tensor cores. The FP32 performance is rated at 35.48 TFLOPS, which is identical to its FP16 performance at a 1:1 ratio. The pixel rate is 198.0 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 554.4 GTexel/s.

In Hard West specifically, the GPU's performance headroom is evident from the frame rates. At 1080p with Low settings, the GPU produces 277 FPS, showing that the game is not heavily demanding on modern hardware. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a 142 FPS drop (277 to 135), indicating that the GPU is handling the increased graphical load without being fully saturated at any preset below Ultra.

The 4K results demonstrate where the GPU begins to feel pressure. The difference between Low (95 FPS) and Ultra (45 FPS) at 3840x2160 is 50 FPS, showing that Ultra settings at 4K push the GPU to its limits. The Medium preset at 4K shows the GPU operating in a comfortable zone with 78 FPS average and a 66 FPS minimum.

The RTX 4070 SUPER's benchmark scores reinforce its mid-to-high tier positioning. Its PassMark G3D score is 29995, and its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 4627. The Geekbench OpenCL score is 172795, and the Vulkan score is 205624. These place the GPU in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs, with its nearest rival — the Quadro M6000 24 GB — scoring nearly identically at 43262 versus 43223.

The GPU's 220 W TDP and suggested 550 W PSU make it a practical choice for most systems. The dual-slot cooler and 267 mm length are standard dimensions for this performance class.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination ranks 566th out of 3722 tested combos specifically for Hard West. This ranking places the combo in the top 15.2% of all configurations tested for this game.

To contextualize this ranking, consider the CPU's position in the broader market. The Ryzen 5 7600 sits in the 78th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 26324. Its nearest rivals — the Ryzen 9 6900HX, Ryzen 7 7435HS, Core i9-11900KF, and Ryzen 5 8540U — all score within 0.5% of the 7600. This clustering suggests that the CPU is not the differentiator in Hard West's performance; the GPU carries the weight.

Similarly, the RTX 4070 SUPER holds the 83rd percentile among all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 43223 is within 1% of the RTX 4090 Mobile (43667) and within 0.2% of the Quadro M6000 (43301). This tight grouping at the top of the GPU hierarchy explains why the combo ranks as well as it does — the GPU is a strong performer, and the CPU does not bottleneck it in a turn-based tactics game.

The ranking of 566 out of 3722 means that 3156 tested combos perform worse in Hard West, while 565 perform better. Given that this combo uses a 6-core CPU with a 12 GB GPU, the ranking reflects a well-balanced pairing where neither component is severely underutilized. The game's turn-based nature means that frame rates are less critical than in real-time genres, but the measured data shows this combo still delivers high frame rates across all presets and resolutions.

For comparison, the CPU's nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks — the Ryzen 9 6900HX — has an average score that is only 0.2% different, suggesting that swapping the CPU for any of these near-equal alternatives would not materially change the Hard West ranking. Similarly, the GPU's nearest rival, the Quadro M6000 24 GB, scores within 0.1%, meaning a GPU swap to that card would also keep the combo in the same performance neighborhood.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600 provides the processing foundation for this combo. With 6 cores and 12 threads, it offers enough parallelism for Hard West's turn-based logic, AI calculations, and game state management. The CPU's base clock of 3.80 GHz and boost clock of 5.10 GHz give it strong single-thread performance, which is often more important than multi-core throughput in tactics games.

The CPU's cache hierarchy — 64 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 — provides ample low-latency storage for game data. The 5 nm Zen 4 architecture (codenamed Raphael) on the AM5 socket supports DDR5 memory with dual-channel configuration and 83.2 GB/s bandwidth. The CPU also supports ECC memory, though this is unlikely to affect gaming performance.

Synthetic benchmarks show the 7600's capabilities. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 12735, and single-core is 1852. Geekbench multi-core scores 13413, while single-core is 2521. In PassMark, the multi-thread score is 27058, and single-thread is 3910. The 3DMark tests show scaling from 1938 (2-thread) to 6503 (max-thread), indicating efficient use of additional threads.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 78th among all CPUs, combined with its average benchmark score of 26324, places it just above the Ryzen 9 6900HX (26274) and just below the Ryzen 7 7435HS (26402). This tight grouping means the 7600 is neither a performance outlier nor a weak link in this combo.

For Hard West specifically, the CPU's role is less demanding than in real-time strategy games. Turn-based tactics typically involve fewer simultaneous calculations, and the 7600's strong single-thread performance (boost clock of 5.10 GHz) ensures that AI decision-making and game logic execute quickly. The 12 threads handle background tasks and any multi-threaded game systems without bottlenecking the GPU.

The CPU's 65 W TDP makes it an efficient choice, and its unlocked multiplier allows for overclocking if additional performance is needed. The integrated Radeon Graphics provide a fallback display output, though the RTX 4070 SUPER handles all rendering duties in this configuration.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates for Hard West with this combo span three resolutions and four quality presets, providing a complete picture of performance scaling.

1920x1080:

• Low: 277 FPS average
• Medium: 234 FPS average, 199 FPS minimum, 269 FPS maximum
• High: 180 FPS average
• Ultra: 135 FPS average

At 1080p, the game runs exceptionally well at every preset. The Medium preset's minimum of 199 FPS shows that even in demanding scenes, frame rates never dip below 200 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 142 FPS, demonstrating that the GPU has substantial headroom even at the highest quality settings.

2560x1440:

• Low: 181 FPS average
• Medium: 148 FPS average, 126 FPS minimum, 170 FPS maximum
• High: 114 FPS average
• Ultra: 85 FPS average

At 1440p, performance remains strong across all presets. The Medium preset provides a 126 FPS minimum, ensuring smooth gameplay even during intense sequences. The difference between Low and Ultra is 96 FPS, with Ultra still delivering a playable 85 FPS. The High preset's 114 FPS is a solid middle ground for players who want both quality and frame rate.

3840x2160:

• Low: 95 FPS average
• Medium: 78 FPS average, 66 FPS minimum, 89 FPS maximum
• High: 60 FPS average
• Ultra: 45 FPS average

At 4K, the game becomes more demanding. Low settings produce 95 FPS, but Ultra drops to 45 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth play. The Medium preset is the standout here, with 78 FPS average and a 66 FPS minimum that keeps gameplay fluid. The High preset's 60 FPS exactly meets the standard, but without minimum frame data, it carries some risk of dips below 60.

The scaling from 1080p to 4K at each preset shows consistent behavior. Low settings drop from 277 to 95 FPS (a 65.7% reduction), Medium drops from 234 to 78 FPS (66.7%), High drops from 180 to 60 FPS (66.7%), and Ultra drops from 135 to 45 FPS (66.7%). This uniform scaling suggests that the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions, while the CPU maintains consistent performance across all settings.