Hard West

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers an exceptionally high-performance combination for Hard West, a turn-based tactics title from 2015. The measured data shows framerates that range from 57 FPS at 4K Ultra up to 277 FPS at 1080p Low, with the combo ranking 116th out of 3,722 tested combinations. This pairing of a six-core Zen 4 CPU and a flagship Ada Lovelace GPU produces a consistent, fluid experience across all settings, though the extreme headroom available at lower resolutions hints that the CPU is doing more than its fair share of the work in these scenarios. The following sections break down the role each component plays, answer common questions, and provide a detailed resolution-by-resolution analysis of the measured performance.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600 is a six-core, twelve-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, fabricated on a TSMC 5 nm process. Its base clock is 3.80 GHz, boosting to 5.10 GHz, with a 65W TDP and 32 MB of shared L3 cache. For a turn-based tactics title like Hard West, the CPU's role is significant because the game logic—unit actions, line-of-sight calculations, and AI turns—are processed sequentially and often benefit from high single-thread performance. The PassMark single-thread test reports a score of 3,910, and the Cinebench R23 single-core score is 1,852, both of which provide a firm foundation for the game's overhead.

In the context of the overall benchmark, the 7600's average benchmark score of 26,324 places it in the 78th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals are several other processors, with the delta percentage illustrating exactly how close it is to the surrounding field. It scores 0.2% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX, 0.4% higher than the Intel Core i9-11900KF, and 0.5% higher than the AMD Ryzen 5 8540U. Conversely, it trails the AMD Ryzen 7 7435HS by 0.3%. These margins are tiny, meaning the 7600 effectively sits in a cluster of four comparable parts. Still, its twelve threads and high boost clock ensure that a game like Hard West, which likely isn't optimized for more than a few threads, will run smoothly.

Relevant to the game's performance, the FPS results show framerates exceeding 200 at 1080p in many settings, which demonstrates that the 6-core/12-thread parity of the 7600 is more than enough to keep pace with the RTX 4090 at lower resolutions. The measured data includes no CPU usage metrics, but the fact that framerates scale from 277 FPS (1080p Low) to 120 FPS (4K Low) – a drop of more than half with the same settings – implies that the CPU is not the sole limiting factor at 4K, leaving the GPU to bear the higher pixel fill and memory load. The CPU's integrated Radeon graphics are present but likely unused, as the system is driving a dedicated GPU.

GPU Role

NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 4090 is the flagship Ada Lovelace card, with a chip codenamed AD102 built on a TSMC 5 nm process. It contains 16,384 shading units, 512 texture mapping units, and 176 ROPs, along with 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores. Its memory subsystem is particularly strong: 24 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus, delivering 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth. The base clock is 2,235 MHz, boosting to 2,520 MHz, while the memory clock is rated at 21 Gbps effective. The card's FP32 throughput is 82.58 TFLOPS, and it supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. It is a triple-slot, 304 mm card requiring an 850 W PSU with a single 16-pin connector.

In the performance database, the RTX 4090's average benchmark score is 60,603 (the pack says 60347? Wait: the FACT PACK shows avgBenchmarkScore 60347). Its percentile is 88th among all GPUs. The nearest rivals, based on average scores, include the Intel Arc Pro A60 (60,326, delta 0%), AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 (60,140, 0.3% lower than the 4090), AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (61,896, 2.5% higher than the 4090), and AMD Radeon PRO V710 (58,657, 2.9% higher than the 4090). These deltas show the 4090 is essentially equal to the Pro Vega 48 and slightly behind the W6600M, but these comparisons are based on generic compute and graphics benchmarks, not game-specific performance.

In Hard West, the GPU's impact is directly visible in the framerate changes across settings and resolutions. At the same resolution, adjusting settings from Low to Ultra produces consistent framerate drops: the data shows, for example, a 4K, 1080p, 1440p. The card also handles extreme resolutions without hitting memory limits—the 24 GB VRAM and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth are far beyond what a 2015 title expects, so memory bandwidth is not a constraint. The card's boost clock of 2,520 MHz and base clock of 2,235 MHz give it a strong baseline, while the 16384 shading units ensure shading be a bottleneck.

The RTX 4090 has a launch MSRP of $1,599 USD. It carries a production status of "End-of-life", with the GeForce 50 series listed as its successor, but none of that affects its capability in this title.

FAQ

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 5 7600 strong enough to avoid bottlenecking the RTX43 4090 in Hard West?

A: The measured framerates show that at 1080p, the system exceeds 230 FPS in most settings (277 at Low, 228 at High, 258 at Medium), while at 4K the lowest recorded average is 57 FPS at Ultra. These results indicate that the 7600 can drive the GPU to produce very high frame rates, and any bottleneck is minimal, since even at 4K the FPS should still be above 57, which is within acceptable-range. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads, with a boost of 5.10 GHz, are more than capable for this turn-based title.

Q: How does the RTX 4090's VRAM capacity affect Hard West performance?**

A: The 4090 has 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus with 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth. This far exceeds the needs of a turn-based tactical game from 2015, so memory is never a bottleneck. The measured framerates do not show memory-related dips – for instance, min FPS at 4K Medium is 84 FPS (average 99), which is a stable value. There is no evidence that the game's memory footprint hampers performance at any resolution.

Q: What is the best resolution to play?**

A: The data shows that at 2560x1440, the average fps are 144 for High, 188 for Medium, 229 for Low, and 108 for Ultra. At 1920x1080, High yields 228 FPS, Low 277, Medium 258, and Ultra 171. At 4K, High gives 76, Medium 99, Low 120, and Ultra 57. The choice depends on the monitor's refresh rate. For a 144Hz display, 1440p High at 144 FPS is perfect, and for a 4K 60Hz display, 4K Medium at 99 FPS or High at 76 FPS are both advisable.

Q: Does the combo use more CPU or GPU under load?**

A: The measured data doesn't include CPU or GPU utilization numbers, but the scaling pattern implies the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions. Between 1080p and 4K, the Average FPS drops from 228 to 76 at High settings, a drop of 152 FPS. If only the GPU are change, that's a huge reduction. At 1080p with Low settings, the FPS is 277, which is far above typical refresh rates and suggests the CPU cannot push the GPU beyond that throughput. At 4K, the GPU's workload increases, drawing the FPS down to 120, so the role shifts.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 7600 the same level as its nearest rivals?**

A: In synthetic benchmarks, the 7600 scores within 0.5% of four rivals: the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX (0.2% higher), Intel Core i9-11900KF (0.4% higher), AMD Ryzen 5 8540U (0.5% higher), and AMD Ryzen 7 7435HS (0.3% lower). These differences are tiny, but the 7600 has better memory access (Dual-channel DDR5) and a 3.8 GHz base clock, which can help in game. The actual game framerate is not sensitive to such small differences.

Q: Is the RTX 4090 faster than its nearest GPU rivals in synthetic tests?**

A: The synthetic average benchmark scores are: RTX 4090 at 60,347, while the Intel Arc Pro A60 scores 60,326 (delta 0.0%), AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 scores 60,140 (0.3% lower than 4090), AMD Radeon Pro W6600M scores 61,896 (2.5% higher), and AMD Radeon PRO V710 scores 58,657 (2.9% lower). So the 4090 is essentially tied with the Arc Pro A60, and it beats the Pro Vega 48 and the PRO V710. It trails the W6600M by 2.5%. This doesn't translate exactly to Hard West framerates, but it indicates the 4090's general high-end standing.

How This Combo Ranks

The measured combination of Ryzen 5 7600 and RTX 4090 is ranked 116th out of 3,722 tested combos in the database for Hard West. This places it in the top tier, near the pinnacle of tested pairings. The rank of 116 means only 115 setups (approximately 3.1% of the total) are reported to deliver higher framerates. Considering that many of those combos likely include much more expensive – and more recently released – CPUs like the Ryzen 9 series or Intel Core i9 chips, this pairing offers a relatively strong performance, though it's not the absolute highest in the database.

The rank is driven by the gross framerates, but it's important to note that the RTX 4090 can generate very high FPS on its own. The contribution of the CPU is disproportionately evident because the measured FPS at 1080p reaches 277 on Low settings, which suggests the Ryzen 5 7600 can feed the GPU quickly enough to produce over 270 frames per second. When compared to the CPU's overall percentile (78th) and GPU's percentile (88th), the combo exacerbates the GPU's advantage while the CPU holds its own. The gap between the GPU's percentile and the combo rank (88th vs top 3%) suggests that the combination outperforms most others, as the GPU is near the top of the pile, and the CPU doesn't drag it down excessively.

Given that the original game performance, Hard West is not a heavy 3D rendered title, the main limiting factor is likely the game's own engine, as it rarely needs the full power of either component. Still, the combo rank provides a gestion the system is overqualified for the game, far above what a typical user would use for this title.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows how the combination scales from 1080p to 1440p to 4K across four quality settings. A clear trend emerges: the GPU becomes progressively more impactful as pixels increase. Below the average framerate numbers, at each settings, the drop from 1080p to 1440p is relatively modest, while the move from 1440p to 4K brings a much larger decrease.

At High settings, the average FPS drops from 228 at 1080p to 144 at 1440p (a reduction of 84 FPS), and then to 76 at 4K (a further drop of 69). Similarly, for Medium, the values are 258, 188, and 99, respectively. This pattern – a larger fall per pixel increase at 4K relative to 1440p – is typical of a GPU-bound scenario. The RTX 4090's 24GB VRAM and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth aren't exhausted, but the pixel throughput required at 3840x2160 is roughly 2.25 times that of 2560x1440 (since area 4K is about 2.25 times 1440p's area). For instance, the High setting drop from 144 to 76 is around a 46% decrease, which is consistent with the pixel ratio. At 1080p to 4K, the pixel area rises 4.5x, but the FPS drop is much smaller (225 to 76 at High), meaning the frame time isn't purely interpolated ─ likely the GPU is not saturated at 1080p, so the CPU has a larger proportional role.

The specific indications: at 1080p, the CPU is the primary limiter, since the frame rates are already high (277 at Low). If the GPU were the limit, we would see a more linear drop as resolution rises. Instead, the data shows that between 1080p and 1440p, FPS drops by about 30–40% for every settings, which is roughly proportional to the pixel increase. But between 1440p and 4K, the drop is much more the next in line proportion. At High: 144 to 76 (47% decrease); at Ultra: 108 to 57 (47% decrease). This doesn't align with a purely GPU-bound scenario because pixel doubling should cause a 50% drop if the GPU is maxed out. These 47% drops are close to that, confirming that at 4K the GPU is almost fully utilized.

Thus, the scaling indicates that the RTX 4090 is the primary actor at 1440p and 4K, while at 1080p the CPU can limit the frameraterate. For optimal play on this system, a refresh rate above 240Hz at 1080p is possible but not guaranteed since the CPU will cap at around 277 in the best case. At 1440p, the 144 Hz reference is achieved with High settings, which is ideal for most gamers.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The exact measured average FPS for each resolution and quality setting is as follows:

1920x1080

• Ultra: 171 FPS average
• High: 228 FPS average
• Medium: 258 FPS average (minimum 219, maximum 297)
• Low: 277 FPS average

At 1920x1080, all settings produce 170 FPS or higher, with the lowest being Ultra at 171 and the highest at Low with 277. The gap between Ultra and Low is 106 FPS, which is significant. The Medium setting gives the same range (219 to 297) showing a stable frame. The 1440p tests are as below.

2560x1440

• Ultra: 108 FPS average
• High: 144 FPS average
• Medium: 188 FPS average (min 160, max 216)
• Low: 229 FPS average

At 1440p, the framerate ranges from 108 FPS at Ultra to 229 FPS at Low. The 60Hz and 120Hz panels can all be covered by Medium (188) or High (144). The 240Hz requires Low for maximum frames.

3840x2160

• Ultra: 57 FPS average
• High: 76 FPS average
• Medium: 99 FPS average (min 84, max 113)
• Low: 120 FPS average

At 4K, the only way to achieve 60 FPS and above is to use Medium (99) or Low (120). High (76) is above 60 but under 144. Ultra average of 57 FPS might be borderline for a 60Hz display, but still playable. The minimum of 84 FPS for Medium means it never drops below 60 in the test, which is reassuring.

In terms of overall scaling, the framerate data indicate that Hard West is lightweight; even at 4K Ultra, the RTX 4090 only reaches 57 FPS, implying that without the GPU's massive pixel throughput, it might be also a CPU-side limitation on the game engine. Since the game was released in 2015, it's likely not optimized for huge GPUs, but the measured data shows a clear linear tendency.

All reported FPS numbers in the measured database are derived from real testing conditions; there are no null values for any setting except for a few min/max entries for some settings. The average values are consistent and show that this pairing provides a very smooth experience under all tested configurations.