Hard West

Hard West is a turn-based tactics title from 2015, and with the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 pairing, the data reveals a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher settings, yet surprisingly capable of delivering high refresh rates at 1080p. The measured FPS across twelve configurations shows a clear hierarchy where the Ultra preset imposes a heavy penalty at 4K, dropping the experience below playable thresholds, while lowering settings yields dramatic performance headroom. This combination places the setup at rank 798 out of 1699 tested combos in this specific game, indicating a solidly above-average standing.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU/GPU combo to achieve a smooth 60 FPS experience?

A: The data shows that at 2560x1440 with High settings, the system averages 82.8 FPS, and at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, it averages 101.2 FPS. Both comfortably exceed the 60 FPS target, with 1080p providing a more significant margin.

Q: How does the RTX 3070's performance in Hard West compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 28238, placing it just 0.9% behind the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT and 1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti. Its percentile rank among all GPUs is 72, showing it is a strong performer for this title.

Q: Which settings preset provides the most significant performance jump from Ultra?

A: Moving from Ultra to High settings at 4K yields an increase from 30.3 FPS to 46.1 FPS, a substantial improvement. At 1080p, the jump from Ultra to High raises the average from 101.2 FPS to 130.8 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck in this game at any resolution?

A: The Ryzen 7 3700X, with an 85th percentile rank among all CPUs, appears sufficient. The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent with a GPU limit, as lowering resolution from 1440p to 1080p at High settings only increases FPS from 82.8 to 130.8, showing the GPU is the primary constraint.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Hard West?

A: Yes, but only with reduced settings. At 4K with Low settings, the system achieves 70.4 FPS, and with Medium settings, it hits 59 FPS. High and Ultra presets fall below 60 FPS, making them less ideal for smooth play.

Q: What is the difference in performance between the Low and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: The gap is significant. The Low preset averages 132.3 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 64.7 FPS. This means the Ultra preset is roughly half the speed of Low, highlighting the visual cost of the highest quality settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, with its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, is the dominant component in this analysis. Its base clock of 1500 MHz and boost clock of 1725 MHz, combined with 5888 shading units, drive the rendering workload. The data shows that in Hard West, the GPU's role is critical; the FPS scales inversely with resolution and settings, which is classic behavior for a GPU-bound scenario. The RTX 3070's 20.31 TFLOPS of FP32 performance likely handles the turn-based tactics' geometric and texture loads with ease, but the Ultra preset's demands at 4K still overwhelm it, pulling the average down to 30.3 FPS.

The GPU's memory bandwidth is a key factor here. At 4K, the need to push more pixels and textures through the pipeline increases memory pressure. The 448.0 GB/s bandwidth appears sufficient for Low and Medium presets at 4K, resulting in 70.4 and 59 FPS respectively, but the Ultra preset likely introduces more complex shading and effects that require more memory throughput, causing a steep drop. This indicates that while the 8 GB VRAM capacity is not exceeded, the bandwidth and compute load become limiting factors at the highest settings. The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 22214 and its 72nd percentile rank suggest it is well above average, but the game's Ultra settings at high resolutions are a demanding target for this card.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal experience for this system balances visual fidelity with smoothness. For 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 130.8 FPS, which is an excellent sweet spot for high refresh rate monitors. The Ultra preset, at 101.2 FPS, is also viable, but the 29.6 FPS drop from High to Ultra may not justify the visual gains in a turn-based game where frame pacing is less critical than in an action title. For 2560x1440, High settings at 82.8 FPS are the best recommendation, as they provide a smooth experience above 60 FPS. The Medium preset at 107 FPS offers more headroom, but High is the better balance of quality and speed.

At 4K, the choice is more constrained. The Low preset at 70.4 FPS is the most playable option, while Medium at 59 FPS is borderline. High at 46.1 FPS and Ultra at 30.3 FPS are not recommended for a consistent experience. The data suggests that for most users, 1440p High is the "best experience" per the measured rows, offering a 82.8 FPS average that is both visually rich and smooth. If a user prioritizes maximum frame rates, then 1080p Low at 190.2 FPS is the peak performance, but the High preset is a more sensible default for daily play.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings. At 1920x1080, the system exhibits strong performance across the board. The Low preset averages 190.2 FPS, which is the highest recorded value. Medium settings produce 174.3 FPS, while High settings yield 130.8 FPS. The Ultra preset, while the most demanding, still manages a respectable 101.2 FPS.

At 2560x1440, performance scales down as expected. The Low preset delivers 132.3 FPS, a strong result for this resolution. Medium settings drop to 107 FPS, and High settings settle at 82.8 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p averages 64.7 FPS, which is still above the 60 FPS threshold but begins to show the strain of higher resolution.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's limits become evident. The Low preset achieves 70.4 FPS, which is playable. Medium settings average 59 FPS, right at the edge of smoothness. High settings fall to 46.1 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops significantly to 30.3 FPS, which is below the standard playability target. The progression shows a clear pattern: each step up in settings costs roughly 20-30% performance, and moving from 1440p to 4K imposes a massive load on the renderer.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and reveals the GPU-bound nature of this configuration. At High settings, the system averages 130.8 FPS at 1080p, 82.8 FPS at 1440p, and 46.1 FPS at 4K. This represents a 36.7% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 44.3% drop from 1440p to 4K. The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 64.8%, which is a substantial penalty that aligns with the pixel count increase from roughly 2 million to 8.3 million pixels.

This scaling pattern indicates that the limiting component is the GPU, not the CPU. If the Ryzen 7 3700X were the bottleneck, the FPS would remain relatively flat across resolutions, as the CPU workload for a turn-based game like Hard West is likely low. Instead, the consistent FPS decline with increasing resolution points to the RTX 3070's fill rate and memory bandwidth as the primary constraints. The data also shows that the impact of resolution scaling is more pronounced at lower settings; the drop from 1440p to 4K at Low settings is from 132.3 FPS to 70.4 FPS (a 46.8% drop), while at Ultra it is from 64.7 to 30.3 (a 53.2% drop), suggesting that the Ultra preset's additional complexity amplifies the resolution penalty.