Hard West

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X paired with the Intel Arc B570 delivers a playable, if not always smooth, experience in Hard West, a turn-based tactics title from 2015. Benchmark data shows this combination ranks 2360th out of 2949 tested combos for this game, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database. The measured frame rates reveal a system that is clearly GPU-limited at higher resolutions, while the CPU’s strong multi-threaded performance provides ample headroom for the game’s logic-heavy turn-based gameplay.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, indicating that the Intel Arc B570 is the primary bottleneck as resolution increases. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 134 FPS at 1920x1080 to 85 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 49 FPS, and then to 44 FPS at 3840x2160, which is roughly one-third of the 1080p figure. This pattern—a near-halving of performance at each major resolution step—points directly at the GPU’s rendering limits rather than any CPU constraint.

Medium settings tell a similar story. The average at 1080p is 110 FPS, dropping to 69 FPS at 1440p and then to 36 FPS at 4K. The minimum frame rate at 1440p Medium is 59 FPS, while at 4K Medium it falls to 31 FPS, showing that even the lowest dips become less comfortable as pixel count rises. High settings follow the same trajectory: 84 FPS at 1080p, 53 FPS at 1440p, and 28 FPS at 4K. The scaling factor from 1080p to 4K at High settings is exactly three times the resolution but yields only one-third the frame rate, which is a classic sign of a GPU that lacks the raw fill rate and bandwidth for 4K workloads.

Ultra settings are the most demanding, with the average dropping from 63 FPS at 1080p to 40 FPS at 1440p and finally to 21 FPS at 4K. This last figure is below the threshold for comfortable play, even for a turn-based title where reaction time is not critical. The data suggests that 4K Ultra is not a viable configuration for this combo, while 4K Low at 44 FPS might be acceptable for players who prioritize visual fidelity less and smooth camera movement more.

The fact that the frame rate scales almost linearly with resolution—rather than flattening out at lower resolutions—confirms that the CPU is not the limiting factor here. If the Ryzen 7 5800X were the constraint, we would expect to see smaller differences between 1080p and 1440p, as the GPU would have more headroom. Instead, the consistent proportional drops indicate that the Arc B570’s 10 GB of memory and 160-bit bus are being saturated at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X is a Zen 3 (Vermeer) part with 8 cores and 16 threads, running at a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. Its 32 MB of L3 cache and 7 nm process node from TSMC contribute to strong single-thread and multi-thread performance. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU scores 15476 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 1574.5 in single-core, with a Geekbench multi-core score of 11036 and single-core of 2032. These numbers place it at the 81st percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 29123.

For Hard West, a turn-based tactics game that involves significant CPU work for AI pathfinding, line-of-sight calculations, and turn-event processing, the 5800X’s 16 threads are more than sufficient. The game’s logic is largely serial, but the CPU’s 3DMark scores—7586 for 16 threads and 943 for single-thread—show balanced throughput that can handle any burst of unit calculations during enemy turns. The PassMark multi-thread score of 27732 and integer math score of 94969 further indicate that the processor has ample headroom for the game’s deterministic simulation.

The nearest rivals in the CPU benchmark database include the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H with an average score of 29093 (0.1% higher), the Intel Xeon Phi 7210 at 29245 (0.4% higher), the Intel Core i5-13500HX at 29270 (0.5% higher), and the AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT at 28940 (0.6% lower). These differences are negligible—within one percent—meaning that for Hard West, any of these CPUs would deliver nearly identical frame rates, as the game is not CPU-bound in the measured configurations.

The fact that the 5800X’s performance is so close to its rivals in synthetic tests, yet the measured FPS in Hard West varies dramatically with resolution, reinforces that the CPU is not the active constraint. Even at 1080p Low, where the frame rate reaches 134 FPS, the CPU is unlikely to be maxed out, given its 3DMark 16-thread score of 7586 and its ability to sustain high clock speeds. The 105 W TDP and dual-channel DDR4 memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s are adequate for feeding the GPU with draw calls and game state data.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 is a Battlemage (Arc 5) GPU built on TSMC’s 5 nm process, featuring the BMG-G21 chip with 19,600 million transistors on a 272 mm² die. It has 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 80 raster operations units, with 18 ray tracing cores. The GPU operates at a fixed 2500 MHz base and boost clock, with memory running at 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective) across a 160-bit bus, yielding 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its 10 GB of GDDR6 VRAM is a notable asset for a card in this class.

The Arc B570’s synthetic benchmarks show a PassMark G3D score of 14195 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 96844, placing it at the 65th percentile among all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 20556. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile at 20534 (0.1% lower), the Intel Arc A750 at 20582 (0.1% higher), the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M at 20480 (0.4% lower), and the AMD Radeon R9 M390X at 20662 (0.5% higher). These rivals are essentially identical in average score, but the B570’s 10 GB VRAM and 380 GB/s bandwidth give it an edge in memory-intensive scenarios, which matters at higher resolutions.

In Hard West, the GPU’s role becomes evident in the frame rate scaling. At 1080p Ultra, the B570 produces 63 FPS, which drops to 40 FPS at 1440p and 21 FPS at 4K. The fact that Ultra settings at 4K yield less than half the frame rate of Medium at 4K (36 FPS) suggests that the additional visual effects—likely higher-resolution shadows, more complex lighting, and increased draw distances—are taxing the GPU’s fill rate and pixel throughput. The B570’s pixel rate is 200.0 GPixel/s and texture rate is 360.0 GTexel/s, but these are insufficient to maintain smooth performance at 4K with maxed settings.

The GPU’s compute capabilities, measured at 11.52 TFLOPS FP32 and 23.04 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1), are not directly relevant to Hard West’s rendering workload, but the PassMark DirectX 11 score of 118 and DirectX 12 score of 72 indicate that the card handles the game’s API demands well. Since Hard West is from 2015, it likely uses DirectX 11, and the B570’s 4.6 OpenGL support and 12 Ultimate DirectX support ensure compatibility. The 10 GB VRAM is more than enough for a game of this era, even at 4K, so the frame rate drops are purely a function of the GPU’s shading and rasterization throughput rather than memory capacity.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data covers four resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160) and four settings (Low, Medium, High, Ultra), with average FPS reported for all configurations and minimum/maximum values only for Medium settings.

At 1920x1080, the combo achieves 134 FPS on Low, 110 FPS on Medium (with a minimum of 93 FPS and maximum of 126 FPS), 84 FPS on High, and 63 FPS on Ultra. This is the only resolution where all settings exceed 60 FPS on average, making 1080p the sweet spot for this system. The spread from Low to Ultra is 71 FPS, showing that the GPU has enough headroom to absorb significant visual quality increases without falling below playable levels.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 85 FPS on Low, 69 FPS on Medium (minimum 59 FPS, maximum 80 FPS), 53 FPS on High, and 40 FPS on Ultra. Here, Ultra dips below 60 FPS, and High is also below that threshold. Medium remains playable, with a minimum of 59 FPS that just misses the 60 FPS mark. The 1440p results suggest that players should stick to Medium or Low for a locked 60 FPS experience.

At 3840x2160, the averages fall to 44 FPS on Low, 36 FPS on Medium (minimum 31 FPS, maximum 42 FPS), 28 FPS on High, and 21 FPS on Ultra. None of these configurations reach 60 FPS, and even Low is below 45 FPS. The minimum of 31 FPS on Medium indicates that frame times can become inconsistent at 4K, which could be noticeable during camera pans or when multiple units act simultaneously. For 4K play, Low settings are the only reasonable option, and even then, the experience will not be smooth.

The pattern across all resolutions is consistent: Low settings provide roughly 1.5 to 1.6 times the frame rate of Medium, Medium provides about 1.3 times High, and High provides about 1.4 to 1.5 times Ultra. This uniform scaling suggests that each settings tier adds a similar amount of rendering complexity, and the GPU’s performance degrades gracefully rather than hitting a cliff at any particular configuration. However, the 4K Ultra result of 21 FPS is the clear outlier, indicating that the combination of high resolution and max settings overwhelms the Arc B570’s capabilities.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested CPU-GPU combinations for Hard West, this pairing of the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X and Intel Arc B570 ranks 2360th out of 2949 combos, placing it in the 80th percentile from the bottom (or 20th percentile from the top). This is a low ranking, reflecting the fact that Hard West is an older game that runs well on a wide range of hardware, and many higher-end combos achieve far higher frame rates.

The ranking is not surprising given the GPU’s position in the broader database. The Arc B570 sits at the 65th percentile among all GPUs, and its nearest rivals—the RTX 3070 Mobile, Arc A750, Quadro M4000M, and R9 M390X—are all similar in average benchmark score. In Hard West, the B570’s performance is adequate for 1080p and 1440p at medium settings, but it falls behind many other GPUs in the database that can handle 4K or Ultra settings with ease.

The CPU’s high percentile (81st) does not help the ranking because the game is not CPU-bound. The Ryzen 7 5800X’s 16 threads and high clock speeds are overkill for a turn-based tactics title, and the bottleneck at higher resolutions is entirely on the GPU side. If the same CPU were paired with a faster GPU, the combo’s rank would improve significantly, but as configured, the B570 holds it back.

The rank of 2360 out of 2949 means that roughly 80% of tested combos outperform this one in Hard West. This is not a condemnation of the hardware—rather, it reflects that the game is easy to run, and even mid-range GPUs from recent years can surpass the B570’s frame rates. For a player targeting 1080p or 1440p at medium settings, this combo is serviceable, but for anyone expecting high-refresh or 4K performance, better options exist in the database.

FAQ

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

A: The average frame rate is 110 FPS, with a minimum of 93 FPS and a maximum of 126 FPS, making it a smooth experience for most displays.

*Q: Can this combo handle 4K in Hard West?*

A: At 4K, the average frame rates range from 44 FPS on Low to 21 FPS on Ultra. Only Low settings approach playability, while Medium, High, and Ultra all fall below 40 FPS.

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

A: The GPU is the limiting component. Frame rates drop by roughly half when moving from 1080p to 1440p and again from 1440p to 4K, which is characteristic of GPU-bound workloads. The CPU’s high multi-thread scores (15476 in Cinebench R23 multi-core) indicate it has ample headroom.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B570 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B570 has an average benchmark score of 20556, which is within 0.5% of the NVIDIA RTX 3070 Mobile (20534), Intel Arc A750 (20582), NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (20480), and AMD Radeon R9 M390X (20662). These differences are negligible in practice.

Q: What is the best settings configuration for this combo?

A: For a consistent 60 FPS experience, 1080p with Ultra settings (63 FPS) or 1440p with Medium settings (69 FPS) are the best options. At 4K, only Low settings are recommended, yielding 44 FPS.

Q: What is the combo’s ranking among all tested combinations?

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X and Intel Arc B570 rank 2360th out of 2949 tested combos for Hard West, placing it in the lower 20% of the database.