Hard West

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X is a 6-core, 12-thread desktop processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, codenamed Granite Ridge, and built on TSMC's 4 nm process. It features a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. For a turn-based tactics title like Hard West, the CPU's role is less about sustaining high frame rates in chaotic scenes and more about maintaining consistent frame pacing during AI turns and game logic calculations. The Ryzen 5 9600X's strong single-thread performance—evidenced by its Geekbench single-core score of 2923 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2183.5—is particularly relevant here, as turn-based games often rely heavily on a single main thread for processing the game state and UI updates. The processor's 32 MB of shared L3 cache, along with 1 MB of L2 per core, helps reduce latency when the game needs quick access to frequently used data, which is typical for pathfinding and combat resolution algorithms. The CPU's 3DMark single-thread score of 1253 and 2-thread score of 2456 further underscore its capability in lightly threaded workloads. While the game is from 2015 and not particularly demanding on modern hardware, the processor's 81st percentile ranking among all CPUs indicates it is a capable performer. The Ryzen 5 9600X is placed close to rivals like the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755GE (0.2% faster) and the AMD Ryzen 7 7840H (0.5% slower) in average benchmark scores, suggesting that its processing power is more than sufficient to avoid becoming a bottleneck in Hard West.

However, the measured frame rates tell a story where the CPU's potential is largely untapped. At 1080p, even at Ultra settings, the average FPS is 37, which is far below what the CPU could theoretically push. This indicates that the limiting factor in this combination is not the processor. The CPU's high scores in passmark integer math (89918) and floating point math (60081) suggest it can handle complex calculations with ease. The data shows that the Ryzen 5 9600X is a robust foundation, but its performance in Hard West is constrained by other components in the system. The processor's 12 threads are more than adequate for a game released in 2015, and its 3Dmark max-thread score of 7590 shows good scaling when more threads are utilized, though the game likely does not heavily use them. In summary, the CPU role here is to provide a stable and fast platform, which it does, but the actual gameplay experience is dictated by the graphics subsystem, as the next sections will clarify.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of how different settings presets affect performance. The most playable experience at 1080p is achieved with the Low preset, which delivers an average of 79 FPS. This is the only setting at 1080p that approaches high-refresh-rate territory, offering a smooth and responsive experience for a tactical game where quick camera movements and unit selections benefit from higher frame rates. The Medium preset at 1080p yields 64 FPS, which is still very playable and provides a balance between visual quality and performance. However, for the best experience per the measured rows, the Low preset stands out because it nearly doubles the frame rate of the Ultra preset (37 FPS) while likely still looking acceptable given the game's age and art style.

At 1440p, the Low preset again leads with 50 FPS, which is playable but not as fluid as the 1080p Low result. The Medium preset at 1440p drops to 41 FPS, and the High preset falls to 31 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p is marginal at 23 FPS, which is borderline for a turn-based game where twitch reflexes are not required, but the frame pacing might feel inconsistent. Moving to 4K, the situation degrades significantly. The Low preset at 4K yields only 26 FPS, and the High preset manages just 16 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K is unplayable at 12 FPS.

Given these numbers, the recommendation is clear: for the best balance of visual fidelity and playability, the Medium preset at 1080p is a strong choice, offering 64 FPS. Yet, if the priority is the smoothest possible experience, the Low preset at 1080p is the definitive pick. The data suggests that the game is not well-optimized for higher settings with this hardware, as the frame rate drops precipitously when moving from Low to Ultra at any resolution. The step from Low to Medium at 1080p costs 15 FPS (79 to 64), which is a 19% reduction, while the step from Medium to High costs another 15 FPS (64 to 49), a 23% reduction. The jump from High to Ultra costs 12 FPS (49 to 37), a 24% reduction. This pattern indicates diminishing returns from the higher presets. Therefore, the recommended setting is Low at 1080p for the best experience, with Medium at 1080p as a viable alternative for those who want slightly better visuals without a massive performance hit. At higher resolutions, the Low preset is the only one that remains remotely playable, but the frame rates are still low enough to suggest that 1440p and 4K are not suitable for this combination.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data across resolutions reveals a significant scaling issue that points directly to the GPU as the primary bottleneck. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 79 FPS at 1080p to 50 FPS at 1440p, a 37% reduction, and then further to 26 FPS at 4K, a 67% reduction from the 1440p figure. This steep decline is characteristic of a GPU that is being overwhelmed by the increasing pixel count. The Intel Arc B370, being an integrated graphics solution with a 25 W TDP, is clearly not designed for high-resolution gaming. The trend is similar across all presets. At Medium settings, the frame rates are 64 FPS at 1080p, 41 FPS at 1440p, and 21 FPS at 4K. At High settings, the numbers are 49 FPS, 31 FPS, and 16 FPS respectively. At Ultra settings, the numbers are 37 FPS, 23 FPS, and 12 FPS.

The consistency of these drops—roughly a 35-40% reduction when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and another 45-50% reduction when moving from 1440p to 4K—indicates that the rendering load is scaling nearly linearly with the number of pixels. This is a classic sign of a fill-rate or memory-bandwidth limited scenario. The Arc B370 has a pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s, but its memory bandwidth is listed as "System Dependent," meaning it relies on shared system memory. This shared memory arrangement is a severe constraint at higher resolutions, as the GPU must compete with the CPU for memory access. The data shows that the frame rate at 4K Ultra (12 FPS) is only 15% of the frame rate at 1080p Low (79 FPS), highlighting how quickly the system becomes unusable at higher resolutions. The limiting component is unequivocally the GPU. The CPU's performance does not degrade with resolution, as its workload remains constant, so the frame rate drop is entirely attributable to the graphics processor's inability to handle the increased pixel throughput. For a game like Hard West, which is turn-based and does not require fast reaction times, the low FPS at 4K might be tolerable, but the data clearly shows that the system is out of its depth at resolutions above 1080p.

How This Combo Ranks

In the grand scheme of tested configurations, this combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X and Intel Arc B370 ranks 2721 out of 2949 total combos for Hard West. This places it in the bottom 8% of all tested setups, which is a poor result. The rank is a direct consequence of the GPU's limitations, as the CPU is a high-end part. The data shows that the combo is in the lower percentile of performance, which is expected given that the Arc B370 is an integrated GPU with a 5th percentile ranking among all GPUs. The GPU's average benchmark score of 1184 is barely above the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (which is 0.2% slower) and below the AMD Radeon HD 7650M (which is 0.7% faster). These are all legacy or low-power parts from over a decade ago, indicating that the Arc B370 is not a gaming-oriented component.

The CPU, on the other hand, is in the 81st percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 29713, making it a top-tier processor. This mismatch between a high-end CPU and a very low-end GPU creates an imbalanced system. The combo rank of 2721 reflects this imbalance, as the overall performance is dragged down by the graphics component. In comparison to other combos, this setup would be at the bottom of the list, alongside other systems with integrated or very old discrete GPUs. The data suggests that the Ryzen 5 9600X is wasted in this configuration for gaming purposes, as it is capable of much higher frame rates if paired with a suitable discrete GPU. The combo rank is a clear indicator that users should not expect a playable experience at higher settings or resolutions, and that the system is only suitable for low-end gaming or non-gaming tasks. The 2721st rank out of 2949 combos places it in the bottom 10%, which is a critical data point for anyone considering this hardware pairing.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on Intel's 3 nm process. It is part of the Arc Graphics-M generation, with a chip codenamed Panther Lake. The GPU has a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz. Its memory configuration is "System Shared," meaning it has no dedicated VRAM and instead uses a portion of the system's DDR5 memory. The memory bus width and bandwidth are likewise "System Shared" and "System Dependent," respectively. This is a fundamental limitation for gaming, as the GPU must share the same memory controller as the CPU, leading to high latency and limited bandwidth.

The GPU's compute specifications are modest: it features 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 20 raster output units (ROPs). It also includes 10 ray tracing cores. The pixel rate is 48.00 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 96.00 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is 6.144 TFLOPS, which is low compared to discrete GPUs. The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 1184, placing it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs. This is a very low score, indicating that the GPU is suitable only for basic tasks and light gaming. The nearest rivals include the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (0.2% slower), the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (0.5% slower), and the AMD Radeon HD 7650M (0.7% slower). These are all ancient parts, which underscores the Arc B370's lack of gaming prowess.

In Hard West, the GPU's role is the dominant factor in the measured frame rates. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 79 FPS, which is the best result. However, this is likely due to the game's low graphical demands at that preset. The GPU's performance quickly falls apart at higher settings and resolutions. At 1080p Ultra, the average FPS drops to 37, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 12 FPS. The GPU's 25 W TDP and reliance on shared system memory are the key reasons for this poor performance. The lack of dedicated VRAM means that at higher resolutions, the GPU must constantly fetch texture data from system memory, which is slow. The 1280 shading units are too few to handle the pixel shader workload at 4K. The data is unambiguous: the Arc B370 is the bottleneck in this system, and its capabilities are severely limited for gaming. The GPU's 5th percentile ranking confirms that it is not a viable option for modern gaming, and Hard West is no exception.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best frame rate achievable with this CPU/GPU combo in Hard West?*

A: The highest average frame rate measured is 79 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to all other tested configurations?

A: This combination ranks 2721 out of 2949 total tested combos, placing it in the bottom 8% of all systems tested for Hard West.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the main limiting factor for performance in this game?

A: The GPU is the main limiting factor. The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X is a high-end processor with an 81st percentile ranking, while the Intel Arc B370 is an integrated GPU with a 5th percentile ranking. The frame rates drop drastically with resolution and settings, which is a clear sign of GPU limitation.

Q: What is the difference in average FPS between 1080p and 4K at Low settings?

A: At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 79 at 1920x1080 to 26 at 3840x2160, a reduction of 53 FPS, or roughly 67%.

Q: What is the performance delta between the Intel Arc B370 and its closest GPU rival?

A: The Arc B370's average benchmark score is 1184. Its closest rival, the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570, has an average score of 1186, making the Arc B370 0.2% slower.

Q: Is the 1440p resolution playable with this combo at Medium settings?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the average FPS is 41, with a minimum of 35 and a maximum of 47. While playable for a turn-based game, it is not a smooth experience, and the frame rate is significantly lower than the 1080p Medium result of 64 FPS.