Hard West

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, running on the AMD Socket AM4 platform. Its base clock is 3.80 GHz with a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, and it carries a 32 MB L3 cache. In synthetic benchmarks, the chip posts a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15476 and a single-core score of 1574.5, while Geekbench results show 11036 multi-core and 2032 single-core. The processor’s average benchmark score of 29123 places it at the 81st percentile of all CPUs, indicating strong general-purpose performance. For a turn-based tactics title like Hard West, the CPU’s role is typically less demanding than in real-time strategy or action games, as the workload is driven by discrete turns rather than continuous simulation. The 3dmark 16-thread score of 7586 and max-thread score of 7578 suggest that the processor can handle heavily threaded workloads, but Hard West’s turn-based nature means that single-thread performance, reflected in the 3dmark single-thread score of 943 and PassMark single-thread result of 3445, is more relevant for game logic and AI decision-making between turns.

The Ryzen 7 5800X’s nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H with an average score of 29093 (0.1% ahead of the 5800X), the Intel Xeon Phi 7210 at 29245 (0.4% behind), and the Intel Core i5-13500HX at 29270 (0.5% behind). The AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT trails slightly at 28940, a 0.6% deficit. These deltas are negligible, meaning the 5800X sits in a tightly packed performance cluster where no single rival holds a meaningful advantage in average benchmark scores. For Hard West, this implies that the CPU is not a bottleneck at any resolution tested, as even the weakest of these rivals would be sufficient for the game’s turn-based mechanics. The processor’s 105 W TDP and DDR4 memory support with dual-channel bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s further indicate a capable platform for this title, though the game’s performance will be dictated almost entirely by the GPU, as evidenced by the measured FPS data.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on Intel’s 3 nm process node. It features 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster operation pipelines, with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz. The GPU’s memory is system-shared, meaning it relies on the host system’s DDR4 memory rather than dedicated VRAM, with bandwidth that is system-dependent. Its compute capabilities are modest: FP32 performance is rated at 7.680 TFLOPS, and the pixel rate is 60.00 GPixel/s with a texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s. The Arc B390 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, which covers the API requirements of Hard West, a game released in 2015. The GPU’s 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 1482, placing it at the 9th percentile of all GPUs, which indicates entry-level performance relative to the broader market.

The Arc B390’s nearest rivals are all legacy NVIDIA parts: the GeForce GT 520MX with a score of 1463 (1.3% behind the Arc B390), the GeForce 800M at 1460 (1.5% behind), the GeForce GT 625 OEM at 1446 (2.5% behind), and the GeForce GT 710 at 1443 (2.7% behind). This grouping shows that the Arc B390 is positioned at the very bottom of the GPU performance spectrum, competing with decade-old integrated and low-end discrete solutions. In Hard West, this translates to severe limitations at higher resolutions and settings. The measured FPS data confirms this: at 4K Ultra, the average frame rate drops to 14 FPS, which is unplayable, while even 1080p Ultra averages only 41 FPS. The GPU’s 80 W TDP and IGP form factor indicate it is designed for power efficiency rather than gaming performance, and the system-shared memory architecture further constrains its ability to handle large textures or high-resolution frame buffers. The 12 RT cores are present, but Hard West does not utilize ray tracing, so they have no bearing on these results.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows provide a clear picture of which settings deliver a playable experience on the Arc B390. At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 87 FPS, which is smooth and well above the threshold for turn-based gameplay. The Medium preset at 1080p averages 71 FPS with a minimum of 61 FPS and a maximum of 82 FPS, offering a comfortable margin above 60 FPS while presumably improving visual fidelity over Low. The High preset at 1080p drops to 55 FPS, which is still playable but begins to approach the boundary where frame pacing could become noticeable in a turn-based context. The Ultra preset at 1080p averages 41 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for those who prefer a fluid experience. Given that Hard West is a turn-based tactics game where input latency is less critical than in action titles, the Medium preset at 1080p is the optimal choice: it maintains an average of 71 FPS with a minimum of 61 FPS, ensuring that no frame drops below the 60 FPS threshold during heavy scenes.

At 2560x1440, the situation becomes more constrained. The Low preset averages 55 FPS, which is acceptable but not ideal, while the Medium preset averages 45 FPS with a minimum of 38 FPS, which may result in occasional stutter. The High preset at 1440p averages 35 FPS, and Ultra falls to 26 FPS, both of which are below the smoothness threshold. For 1440p, the Low preset is the recommended choice, as it provides the only average above 50 FPS, though players seeking higher fidelity may accept the Medium preset at 45 FPS given the turn-based nature of the game. At 4K, none of the settings are playable: Low averages 29 FPS, Medium averages 24 FPS with a minimum of 20 FPS, High averages 18 FPS, and Ultra averages 14 FPS. The data strongly indicates that 4K is outside the Arc B390’s capability for this title, and users should stick to 1080p for a satisfactory experience. The Medium preset at 1080p stands out as the best balance of performance and quality, as it delivers a 71 FPS average while providing more visual detail than Low.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1080p with Medium settings?

A: The average FPS is 71, with a minimum of 61 FPS and a maximum of 82 FPS, making it the most balanced preset for this resolution.

Q: How does the Arc B390 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Arc B390’s 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1482 is 1.3% higher than the GeForce GT 520MX, 1.5% higher than the GeForce 800M, 2.5% higher than the GeForce GT 625 OEM, and 2.7% higher than the GeForce GT 710.

Q: Can the system run Hard West at 4K resolution?

A: No. The highest average FPS at 3840x2160 is 29 FPS on Low settings, while High averages 18 FPS and Ultra averages 14 FPS, all of which are below playable thresholds.

Q: What is the CPU’s percentile ranking among all processors?

A: The Ryzen 7 5800X is at the 81st percentile, with an average benchmark score of 29123 across all tested workloads.

Q: Does the Arc B390 have dedicated VRAM?

A: No. The GPU uses system-shared memory, with the memory size, type, and bus width all listed as "System Shared," and bandwidth that is system-dependent.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded at 1440p Medium settings?

A: The minimum FPS is 38, with an average of 45 FPS and a maximum of 52 FPS, indicating occasional drops below 40 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a steep decline as resolution increases, which is typical for a GPU with the Arc B390’s limited compute resources. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 87, which serves as a baseline for the system’s peak performance. Moving to 1440p Low, the average drops to 55 FPS, a reduction of 32 FPS (or roughly 37%) from the 1080p result. At 4K Low, the average falls to 29 FPS, which is 58 FPS lower than 1080p Low, representing a 67% decrease. This scaling pattern is consistent across all settings. For Medium, the averages are 71 FPS at 1080p, 45 FPS at 1440p, and 24 FPS at 4K, with the 1080p-to-1440p drop being 26 FPS and the 1080p-to-4K drop being 47 FPS. High settings show 55 FPS at 1080p, 35 FPS at 1440p, and 18 FPS at 4K, while Ultra yields 41 FPS at 1080p, 26 FPS at 1440p, and 14 FPS at 4K.

The resolution scaling indicates that the Arc B390 is the limiting component in this system, as the Ryzen 7 5800X has ample headroom for a game like Hard West. The fact that the 1080p Low average of 87 FPS does not scale linearly with pixel count—4K has four times the pixels of 1080p, yet the FPS only drops to 29, which is roughly one-third—suggests that the GPU is already bandwidth-constrained at lower resolutions, and the system-shared memory architecture exacerbates this at higher resolutions. The 1440p results are particularly telling: the Low preset at 55 FPS is just above the playable threshold, but Medium at 45 FPS with a minimum of 38 FPS shows that the GPU cannot sustain high frame rates even at moderate settings. The turn-based nature of Hard West means that the 24 FPS average at 4K Medium might be tolerable for some players, but the data clearly shows that 1080p is the intended resolution for this IGP. The performance gap between Low and Ultra at any given resolution is also notable: at 1080p, the difference is 46 FPS (87 vs. 41), which indicates that the GPU’s fill rate and shader throughput are insufficient for high-detail settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data is presented across three resolutions and four settings levels, with some rows lacking minimum and maximum values.

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 87 FPS, with no minimum or maximum recorded. This is the highest average in the entire dataset and represents the system’s best-case scenario. The Medium preset at 1080p averages 71 FPS, with a minimum of 61 FPS and a maximum of 82 FPS, providing a consistent experience above 60 FPS. The High preset averages 55 FPS, with no min/max data, which is a 16 FPS drop from Medium. The Ultra preset at 1080p averages 41 FPS, a 14 FPS drop from High, and is the lowest average at this resolution. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a steady decline of 16, 14, and 14 FPS respectively, indicating that each settings tier has a similar performance cost.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 55 FPS, with no min/max recorded. This is 32 FPS lower than the 1080p Low result. The Medium preset at 1440p averages 45 FPS, with a minimum of 38 FPS and a maximum of 52 FPS, making it the only 1440p setting with min/max data. The High preset averages 35 FPS, a 10 FPS drop from Medium, and the Ultra preset averages 26 FPS, a 9 FPS drop from High. The deltas between settings at 1440p are slightly smaller than at 1080p, but the overall performance is significantly lower, with even Low failing to reach 60 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 29 FPS, with no min/max recorded. The Medium preset averages 24 FPS, with a minimum of 20 FPS and a maximum of 27 FPS, which is the only 4K row with min/max data. The High preset averages 18 FPS, a 6 FPS drop from Medium, and the Ultra preset averages 14 FPS, a 4 FPS drop from High. The performance at 4K is uniformly poor, with the best case (Low) still below 30 FPS, and Ultra just barely reaching 14 FPS. Across all resolutions, the Medium preset is the only one that provides min/max data at every resolution, which suggests that these measurements were taken with more detailed logging, and the minimum values (61 FPS at 1080p, 38 FPS at 1440p, 20 FPS at 4K) show that frame drops become more severe as resolution increases. The data confirms that the Arc B390 is only suitable for 1080p gaming in Hard West, and even then, the Ultra preset at 41 FPS may be too demanding for those sensitive to frame rate fluctuations.