Hard West

Hard West is a turn-based tactics title from 2015 that places almost no sustained stress on modern hardware, and the measured results for the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 confirm that this combination is heavily overqualified for the game. The benchmark data shows a system that delivers playable frame rates at every resolution tested, with the only meaningful compromises appearing at 4K with the highest preset. The pairing ranks 489th out of 1699 tested combinations, placing it in the upper third of all configurations, though the game’s age means that even mid-range parts from the last several years would likely produce similar results.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial but not catastrophic, and the pattern reveals how the game scales with pixel count. At 1080p with Low settings, the system produces 248.5 FPS, which falls to 155.7 FPS at 1440p and then to 82.1 FPS at 4K. That represents a 37% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and another 47% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is consistent with a game that becomes increasingly GPU-bound as resolution rises, but the absolute numbers remain high enough that even the 4K Low result of 82.1 FPS is far beyond what the game needs for smooth play.

The Ultra preset tells a similar story with lower absolute values. At 1080p Ultra, the system achieves 117.2 FPS, which drops to 75.1 FPS at 1440p and then to 38 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is the only configuration in the entire measured set that falls below 50 FPS, and it is the only one that would require a compromise for a 60 Hz display. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p on Ultra is a 36% reduction, nearly identical to the Low preset’s 37% drop, which suggests the rendering workload scales predictably with resolution regardless of quality settings.

The data indicates that at 1080p and 1440p, the RTX 3080 has ample headroom, and the frame rates are likely limited by the CPU’s ability to feed the GPU with draw calls. This is particularly evident at 1080p Low, where 248.5 FPS approaches the practical ceiling for many games of this era. At 4K, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck, with the 38 FPS Ultra result showing that the RTX 3080’s 10 GB of GDDR6X memory and 760.3 GB/s bandwidth are taxed by the combination of high resolution and maximum settings.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, with a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. For a turn-based tactics game like Hard West, the CPU workload is primarily about handling game logic, unit AI, and draw call submission, none of which are particularly demanding by modern standards. The processor’s single-thread performance, as measured by its 3dmark single-thread score of 1060 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3406, is more than sufficient for this title.

The multi-threaded performance is equally impressive, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 24128 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 12905. However, the benchmark results show that the game does not scale meaningfully with additional threads, as the 1080p Low result of 248.5 FPS is likely already near the engine’s maximum frame rate cap or the CPU’s single-thread limit. The processor’s 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 83.2 GB/s of memory bandwidth are ample for a game from 2015, and the 5 nm process node ensures that thermal and power constraints are unlikely to affect sustained performance.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850U with an average score of 26262 and a 0% delta, and the AMD Ryzen 7 5700X with an average score of 26214 and a 0.2% delta. These comparisons suggest that the 7600X is positioned in a cluster of processors with nearly identical average benchmark scores, meaning that swapping to any of these alternatives would produce essentially the same frame rates in Hard West. The processor’s 83rd percentile ranking against all CPUs further confirms that it is a high-performing part, but the game simply does not require this level of capability to run smoothly.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is built on the Ampere architecture with 8704 shading units, 272 texture mapping units, and 96 raster output units. Its 10 GB of GDDR6X memory runs at an effective speed of 19 Gbps across a 320-bit bus, yielding 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth. For Hard West, the GPU’s role is primarily to render the game’s stylized, comic-book-inspired visuals, which are not graphically intensive by modern standards. The measured results show that the GPU is the limiting factor only at 4K with the highest settings.

At 1080p, the GPU is never the bottleneck, with even the Ultra preset achieving 117.2 FPS. The 248.5 FPS result at Low settings suggests that the GPU is idling much of the time, waiting for the CPU to submit rendering commands. At 1440p, the GPU begins to assert itself, but the 155.7 FPS Low result and 75.1 FPS Ultra result remain well above playable thresholds. At 4K, the GPU’s limitations become apparent, with the Ultra preset dropping to 38 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target for most displays.

The GPU’s benchmark scores place it in the 80th percentile against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35787. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE with an average score of 36101 and a -0.9% delta, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile with an average score of 35435 and a 1% delta. These comparisons show that the RTX 3080 is competitive with much newer parts, though in Hard West the differences would be negligible because the game’s rendering demands are so modest. The GPU’s 68 RT cores and 272 tensor cores are irrelevant for this title, as Hard West does not support ray tracing or DLSS.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Hard West at 4K with maximum settings?

A: Yes, but just barely. The measured 4K Ultra result is 38 FPS, which is playable but below the 60 FPS target. For smoother performance, dropping to High settings at 4K raises the frame rate to 50.9 FPS.

Q: What is the best resolution for a 60 Hz display?

A: At 1440p, every preset except Ultra exceeds 60 FPS, with Medium achieving 124.3 FPS and High achieving 96.1 FPS. Even 4K with Medium settings produces 68 FPS, which is above 60.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this game?

A: At 1080p, the CPU is the limiting factor, as evidenced by the 248.5 FPS Low result which approaches the engine’s likely ceiling. At 4K, the GPU becomes the bottleneck, with the Ultra preset dropping to 38 FPS.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 7600X compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The 7600X has an average benchmark score of 26272, which is essentially tied with the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850U at 26262 (0% delta) and the AMD Ryzen 7 5700X at 26214 (0.2% delta). In Hard West, these differences would produce identical frame rates.

Q: Does Hard West benefit from the RTX 3080’s ray tracing capabilities?

A: No. Hard West does not support ray tracing, so the GPU’s 68 RT cores go unused. The game relies on traditional rasterization, which the RTX 3080 handles with ease at 1080p and 1440p.

Q: What is the highest frame rate recorded in the benchmark data?

A: The highest average frame rate is 248.5 FPS at 1080p with Low settings. The lowest is 38 FPS at 4K with Ultra settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy for settings optimization. For players targeting 60 FPS, the 4K Ultra preset is the only configuration that fails to meet this threshold, producing 38 FPS. Dropping to 4K High raises the frame rate to 50.9 FPS, which is still below 60, but 4K Medium achieves 68 FPS, making it the recommended choice for 4K displays. At 1440p, all presets exceed 60 FPS, with Ultra delivering 75.1 FPS, so players can safely use maximum settings without compromise.

For 1080p displays, the Ultra preset at 117.2 FPS is the best experience, as the game’s visual quality benefits from the higher settings without any performance penalty. The 248.5 FPS Low result is unnecessary for most displays and suggests that the CPU is the limiting factor, not the GPU. The data indicates that the optimal balance between visual quality and frame rate is achieved at 1440p with Ultra settings, which provides 75.1 FPS while maintaining the game’s full graphical fidelity. At 4K, Medium settings offer the best trade-off, delivering 68 FPS with only a modest reduction in visual quality compared to High and Ultra.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers 248.5 FPS on Low, 203.7 FPS on Medium, 157.1 FPS on High, and 117.2 FPS on Ultra. The gap between Low and Medium is 44.8 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is 46.6 FPS, and the gap between High and Ultra is 39.9 FPS. These results show that the CPU is the primary constraint at this resolution, as even the highest settings cannot push the frame rate below 117 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the results are 155.7 FPS on Low, 124.3 FPS on Medium, 96.1 FPS on High, and 75.1 FPS on Ultra. The frame rate drops are more aggressive than at 1080p, with the Ultra preset falling below 100 FPS for the first time. The scaling from Low to Ultra represents a 52% reduction in frame rate, indicating that the GPU is becoming more involved in the rendering process.

At 3840x2160, the results are 82.1 FPS on Low, 68 FPS on Medium, 50.9 FPS on High, and 38 FPS on Ultra. This is the only resolution where the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, with the Ultra preset dropping below 40 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra is a 54% reduction, similar to the 1440p pattern, but the absolute values are much lower due to the increased pixel count. The 4K Medium result of 68 FPS is the only configuration at this resolution that comfortably exceeds 60 FPS, making it the recommended preset for 4K displays.