Hard West

Hard West is a turn-based tactics title from 2015, and the benchmark data for the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination shows a wide spread of performance across its four presets. The measured frame rates indicate that the RTX 4090 is heavily utilized, but the game’s age and engine characteristics create distinct bottlenecks at higher settings. The data suggests that players should prioritize frame rate stability over absolute visual fidelity, as the jump from High to Ultra incurs a significant performance penalty.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows provide a clear hierarchy for settings, with Low, Medium, High, and Ultra each representing a distinct performance tier. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 188.8 FPS, while Medium drops to 173.2 FPS, High to 158.6 FPS, and Ultra to 145.7 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra is only 12.9 FPS at 1080p, but this margin widens considerably at higher resolutions, indicating that Ultra is disproportionately demanding.

For the best experience, the High preset is the recommended choice across all resolutions. At 2560x1440, High produces an average of 135.4 FPS, which is comfortably above the 110 FPS seen on Ultra. Similarly, at 3840x2160, High achieves 75.8 FPS, whereas Ultra falls to 56.2 FPS. The High preset offers a balanced visual upgrade over Medium without the steep cost of Ultra, making it the most efficient option for maintaining high frame rates.

The Low preset is only advisable for competitive play or if the user prioritizes maximum refresh rate on a high-Hz monitor. At 1080p, Low yields 188.8 FPS, which is 15.6 FPS higher than Medium and 30.2 FPS higher than High. However, the visual degradation is substantial, and the RTX 4090 is powerful enough to handle Medium or High without issue. For most users, Medium serves as a fallback if High proves too demanding at 4K, but the data shows High is still viable.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 319th out of 1699 tested combos in Hard West. This places it in the top 18.8% of all configurations, which is a strong showing but not a top-tier result. The ranking is influenced by the CPU’s 85th percentile score against all CPUs, while the GPU sits at the 91st percentile. The RTX 4090 is a dominant graphics card, but the Ryzen 7 3700X, despite being an 8-core, 16-thread processor, can limit performance in a game that may not scale perfectly with modern hardware.

Comparing the CPU to its nearest rivals, the Ryzen 7 3700X has an average benchmark score of 28631, which is virtually identical to the Intel Core i5-12600 at 28654 (a delta of -0.1%). This means the CPU is not a differentiator in this combo; its performance is on par with mid-range Intel alternatives. The GPU, however, is in a different league, with an average score of 66473, trailing the NVIDIA Tesla T4 by only -0.4% and leading the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 by 0.9%. This suggests the RTX 4090 is the primary driver of the combo’s rank, and the CPU is not a bottleneck in most scenarios.

The rank of 319 out of 1699 is respectable, but it indicates that many other combos with newer CPUs achieve higher frame rates. The Ryzen 7 3700X, released in 2019, is a capable processor but lacks the single-thread performance of newer chips. In a turn-based tactics game like Hard West, where CPU load can be significant during AI turns, this may explain why the combo does not crack the top 200.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Hard West?

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 on High settings provides an average of 135.4 FPS, which is a strong balance between visual quality and performance. At 3840x2160, High drops to 75.8 FPS, which is still playable but less smooth.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from High to Ultra at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, High averages 75.8 FPS, while Ultra averages 56.2 FPS. This represents a 25.8% reduction in frame rate, making Ultra a poor trade-off for the visual gains.

Q: Is the RTX 4090 bottlenecked by the Ryzen 7 3700X in this game?

A: The CPU’s average benchmark score of 28631 is within 0.1% of the Intel Core i5-12600, indicating it is not severely limiting. However, the combo ranks 319th out of 1699, suggesting other CPU/GPU pairings achieve higher FPS, which implies some CPU limitation at lower resolutions.

Q: Does the Low preset offer a significant advantage at 1080p?

A: Yes, Low at 1920x1080 averages 188.8 FPS, which is 30.2 FPS higher than High. This is a 19% improvement, but it comes with a substantial visual downgrade.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Medium and High at 1440p?

A: Medium averages 150.3 FPS, while High averages 135.4 FPS. The difference is 14.9 FPS, which is a 9.9% drop, making High a reasonable choice for better visuals.

Q: Can this combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K with any settings?

A: Yes, High at 3840x2160 averages 75.8 FPS, and Medium averages 100.1 FPS. Only Ultra falls below 60 FPS, at 56.2 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions and four settings, with no minimum or maximum frame rates recorded. At 1920x1080, the Low preset leads with 188.8 FPS, followed by Medium at 173.2 FPS, High at 158.6 FPS, and Ultra at 145.7 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 43.1 FPS, indicating that the GPU has ample headroom at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the order remains the same: Low at 161.6 FPS, Medium at 150.3 FPS, High at 135.4 FPS, and Ultra at 110 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 51.6 FPS, showing that resolution scaling affects higher settings more. The drop from High to Ultra is 25.4 FPS, which is a significant 18.8% reduction.

At 3840x2160, the performance curve becomes steeper. Low averages 120.4 FPS, Medium 100.1 FPS, High 75.8 FPS, and Ultra 56.2 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 64.2 FPS, with Ultra being the only preset that fails to reach 60 FPS. The transition from High to Ultra is particularly harsh, losing 19.6 FPS, which is a 25.8% drop.

Across all resolutions, the RTX 4090 shows its strength, as even Low at 4K exceeds 120 FPS. The data indicates that the GPU is not the limiting factor at 1080p, where even Ultra exceeds 145 FPS. Instead, the CPU or game engine appears to cap performance, as the frame rates at 1080p are not proportionally higher than at 1440p.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 reveals how the system scales with pixel count. On the Low preset, 1080p averages 188.8 FPS, which drops to 161.6 FPS at 1440p (a 14.4% reduction) and then to 120.4 FPS at 4K (a 25.5% reduction from 1440p). This scaling shows that even at Low settings, the GPU is not fully saturated at 1080p, as the frame rate gains are limited by the CPU.

On the High preset, 1080p averages 158.6 FPS, falling to 135.4 FPS at 1440p (a 14.6% drop) and 75.8 FPS at 4K (a 44.0% drop from 1440p). The substantial decline from 1440p to 4K indicates that the RTX 4090 is under heavy load at 4K, and the pixel count is the primary bottleneck. In contrast, the 1080p to 1440p drop is modest, suggesting the CPU is limiting performance at lower resolutions.

The Ultra preset shows the most extreme scaling: 145.7 FPS at 1080p, 110 FPS at 1440p (a 24.5% drop), and 56.2 FPS at 4K (a 48.9% drop from 1440p). This pattern demonstrates that Ultra is disproportionately demanding at 4K, where the GPU’s 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth are still insufficient to maintain high frame rates. The data suggests that the limiting component shifts from the CPU at 1080p to the GPU at 4K, with the crossover occurring around 1440p.