Hard West

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT paired with the Intel Arc B570 produces a specific performance profile in Hard West, a turn-based tactics title from 2015. This combo ranks 2360 out of 2949 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-mid tier of all tested systems for this game. The data shows a setup that delivers playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p with adjusted settings, but struggles to maintain smooth performance at 4K, particularly at higher quality presets.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT and Intel Arc B570 lands at position 2360 out of 2949 tested combos in Hard West. This places the pairing in the 21st percentile of all tested systems, indicating that roughly four out of five tested configurations deliver higher average frame rates in this title. The rank reflects the GPU’s position as the primary constraint; the Arc B570 sits at the 65th percentile among all GPUs, while the Ryzen 7 5800XT ranks at the 81st percentile among all CPUs. That gap between CPU and GPU percentile rankings suggests the processor has ample headroom that the graphics card cannot fully utilize in this game.

Looking at the GPU’s nearest rivals provides context for its performance tier. The Intel Arc B570’s average benchmark score is 20556, which sits nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile at 20534 (a delta of 0.1 percent) and the Intel Arc A750 at 20582 (a delta of -0.1 percent). The Arc B570 also edges out the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M, which scores 20480 (0.4 percent slower), and trails the AMD Radeon R9 M390X by a negligible 0.5 percent (20662). These near-identical scores mean the Arc B570 performs in the same bracket as a mobile RTX 3070 and the previous-gen Arc A750, despite being a desktop part with 10 GB of VRAM.

The CPU’s nearest rivals tell a similar story. The Ryzen 7 5800XT’s average benchmark score of 29879 is essentially tied with the AMD Ryzen 7 7840H at 29868 (0 percent delta) and the AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS at 29955 (-0.3 percent). It also matches the AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS at 29955 (-0.3 percent) and leads the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X by 0.6 percent (29713). This indicates the 5800XT delivers performance comparable to recent laptop H-series chips and a newer desktop Ryzen 5, which is respectable for a 2024 refresh of a 2020 architecture.

In Hard West specifically, the combo’s rank of 2360 out of 2949 suggests that while the CPU is capable, the GPU limits overall frame rates. The game is turn-based, so the action is less demanding than fast-paced shooters, but the measured FPS data shows the Arc B570 still struggles at higher resolutions and settings. The rank implies that many combos with similar or weaker CPUs but stronger GPUs outperform this pairing, reinforcing that the Arc B570 is the bottleneck.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 is built on the Xe2-HPG architecture, codenamed Battlemage, and represents the Arc 5 generation. Its chip, BMG-G21, is manufactured on a 5 nm process at TSMC with 19,600 million transistors on a 272 mm² die. The GPU operates at a fixed clock speed of 2500 MHz for both base and boost, which is a straightforward design without dynamic frequency variation. Memory consists of 10 GB of GDDR6 on a 160-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 380.0 GB/s. The memory clock runs at 2375 MHz, translating to 19 Gbps effective.

The GPU features 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output units, along with 18 ray tracing cores. Its pixel rate is 200.0 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 360.0 GTexel/s. Compute performance is rated at 11.52 TFLOPS for FP32 and 23.04 TFLOPS for FP16 (at a 2:1 ratio). The card draws a TDP of 150 W and requires a single 8-pin power connector, with a suggested PSU of 450 W. It connects via PCIe 4.0 x8 and outputs through 1x HDMI 2.1a and 3x DisplayPort 2.1. The card supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

In Hard West, the GPU’s VRAM and clock speeds directly influence the measured results. At 1080p, the Arc B570 delivers 134 FPS on Low settings, which drops to 110 FPS on Medium, 84 FPS on High, and 63 FPS on Ultra. These numbers show that even at the lowest resolution, the Ultra preset cuts performance nearly in half compared to Low. At 1440p, the pattern continues: 85 FPS on Low, 69 FPS on Medium (with a minimum of 59 and maximum of 80), 53 FPS on High, and 40 FPS on Ultra. At 4K, the GPU’s limits become evident: 44 FPS on Low, 36 FPS on Medium (31 min, 42 max), 28 FPS on High, and 21 FPS on Ultra.

The 10 GB VRAM buffer is sufficient for Hard West at all tested settings, given the game’s 2015 release and modest texture requirements. The fixed 2500 MHz clock means the GPU runs at a constant speed, so performance scaling across resolutions and settings is purely a function of workload rather than thermal or power-related boost behavior. The 380.0 GB/s memory bandwidth provides adequate data throughput for the game’s assets, but the limited 160-bit bus and 10 GB capacity become less of a factor than raw shader throughput at higher resolutions.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution and settings combo for this hardware in Hard West?*

A: The data shows 1080p at Medium settings yields 110 FPS average (93 min, 126 max), which is smooth and stable. At 1440p, Medium delivers 69 FPS (59 min, 80 max), which is playable. For 4K, only Low settings reach 44 FPS, which is below the typical 60 FPS target.

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

A: The Arc B570’s average benchmark score of 20556 is within 0.5 percent of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (20534), Intel Arc A750 (20582), NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (20480), and AMD Radeon R9 M390X (20662). This means performance is statistically identical to those parts in general benchmarks.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 5800XT holding back the Arc B570 in this game?

A: No. The CPU’s percentile rank (81) exceeds the GPU’s (65), and the measured FPS drops significantly as resolution increases (from 134 FPS at 1080p Low to 44 FPS at 4K Low), indicating the GPU is the limiting component, not the processor.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 1440p with High settings?

A: The measured data shows 53 FPS average at 2560x1440 with High settings. This is below the 60 FPS threshold, so players may prefer Medium settings (69 FPS) for smoother gameplay.

*Q: Does the Arc B570 support modern graphics APIs needed for Hard West?*

A: Yes. The GPU supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. Hard West launched in 2015, so it can run on older APIs, but the card’s modern feature set ensures compatibility.

Q: How does this combo rank relative to all tested systems?

A: The combination ranks 2360 out of 2949 tested combos, meaning it outperforms approximately 589 other configurations but sits behind about 2360. This places it in the lower 20 percent of all tested systems for Hard West.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this combo covers three resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160) and four settings presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra). At 1080p, the average frame rates are 134 FPS on Low, 110 FPS on Medium (with a minimum of 93 and maximum of 126), 84 FPS on High, and 63 FPS on Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra is 71 FPS, representing a 53 percent drop. Medium settings provide a good balance, maintaining over 100 FPS with a minimum above 90.

Moving to 1440p, performance scales down proportionally. Low settings produce 85 FPS, Medium drops to 69 FPS (59 min, 80 max), High yields 53 FPS, and Ultra falls to 40 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra here is 45 FPS, a 53 percent reduction, matching the 1080p scaling pattern. At this resolution, only Low and Medium settings maintain frame rates above 60 FPS. High settings sit below the 60 FPS threshold, and Ultra drops into the 40 FPS range, which may be acceptable for a turn-based game but not ideal for smooth camera movement.

At 4K, the Arc B570 struggles significantly. Low settings average 44 FPS, Medium drops to 36 FPS (31 min, 42 max), High falls to 28 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 21 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 23 FPS, a 52 percent reduction, consistent with the other resolutions. Notably, even Low settings at 4K fail to reach 60 FPS, and the minimum frame rate on Medium is 31 FPS, which can cause noticeable stutter in a tactics game where camera pans are common.

The data reveals a consistent scaling pattern across resolutions. From 1080p to 1440p, frame rates drop by roughly 37 percent at each settings level (e.g., 134 to 85 FPS on Low, 110 to 69 on Medium, 84 to 53 on High, 63 to 40 on Ultra). From 1440p to 4K, the drop is more severe, around 48 percent (85 to 44 on Low, 69 to 36 on Medium, 53 to 28 on High, 40 to 21 on Ultra). This indicates the GPU’s memory bandwidth and pixel throughput become increasingly strained as resolution climbs.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression from 1080p to 4K illustrates the Arc B570’s scaling behavior in Hard West. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 134 FPS. Dropping to 1440p Low reduces that to 85 FPS, a 37 percent decrease. At 4K Low, the frame rate falls to 44 FPS, another 48 percent reduction from 1440p. This pattern repeats across all settings. For Medium, the numbers go from 110 FPS at 1080p to 69 FPS at 1440p (37 percent drop) to 36 FPS at 4K (48 percent drop). High settings show 84 FPS at 1080p, 53 FPS at 1440p (37 percent drop), and 28 FPS at 4K (47 percent drop). Ultra follows the same trend: 63 FPS at 1080p, 40 FPS at 1440p (37 percent drop), and 21 FPS at 4K (48 percent drop).

The consistent 37 percent reduction from 1080p to 1440p aligns with the pixel count increase of 78 percent (from 2.07 million to 3.69 million pixels). The frame rate drop is less than the pixel increase, suggesting that the GPU is not purely pixel-bound at these resolutions. However, the 48 percent reduction from 1440p to 4K, where pixel count increases by 125 percent (from 3.69 million to 8.29 million), indicates a shift toward pixel processing limits. The GPU’s 200.0 GPixel/s pixel rate becomes a more significant constraint at 4K, as does the 380.0 GB/s memory bandwidth when handling larger framebuffers.

The scaling behavior points to the GPU as the limiting component. The Ryzen 7 5800XT, with 8 cores and 16 threads boosting to 4.80 GHz, provides more than enough processing power for a turn-based tactics game. If the CPU were the bottleneck, frame rates would remain relatively flat across resolutions. Instead, the steep drops at 4K confirm that the Arc B570’s compute and memory resources are saturated. The GPU’s 11.52 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 360.0 GTexel/s texture rate are modest by modern standards, and Hard West’s rendering demands at 4K exceed what this card can sustain at playable frame rates.

For players targeting 4K, the data suggests that only Low settings (44 FPS) approach playability, and even then, the frame rate is below 60 FPS. Medium settings at 4K (36 FPS) may be tolerable in a turn-based game where fast reaction times are not required, but the 31 FPS minimum could cause visible stutter during camera transitions. The 1440p resolution offers a better compromise, with Medium (69 FPS) and High (53 FPS) providing playable experiences, though High falls short of 60 FPS.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT is a Zen 3 architecture processor from the 5000 series, codenamed Vermeer, manufactured on a 7 nm process at TSMC. It has 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 4.80 GHz. The CPU supports DDR4 memory in a dual-channel configuration with a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s, and it includes ECC memory support. It uses the AMD Socket AM4 interface and provides PCIe Gen 4 with 20 lanes (CPU only). The chip is unlocked for overclocking and has a TDP of 105 W.

The cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 512 KB of L2 per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache. The processor contains 4,150 million transistors on a die size of 74 mm². It was released on 2024-07-30 with a launch MSRP of $249. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU scores 23794 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 3359 in single-core. It achieves 9993 in Cinebench R20 multicore and 1410 in single-core. PassMark results show a multithread score of 28053 and a single-thread score of 3535. The average benchmark score is 29879, placing it at the 81st percentile among all CPUs.

In Hard West, the CPU’s role is secondary due to the game’s turn-based nature. The 8-core, 16-thread configuration with a 4.80 GHz boost clock ensures that the game’s logic, AI calculations, and unit pathfinding run without bottlenecking the GPU. The measured FPS data shows no signs of CPU limitation: frame rates scale predictably with resolution and settings, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario. If the CPU were limiting, we would expect similar frame rates across different resolutions at the same settings, but the data shows a clear drop from 134 FPS at 1080p Low to 44 FPS at 4K Low.

The CPU’s strong single-thread performance (3359 in Cinebench R23 single-core) is relevant for a game from 2015, which likely relies on fewer threads. The 3dmark single-thread score of 959 and 2-thread score of 1879 indicate solid performance for legacy workloads. However, the game does not appear to stress even these capabilities, as the GPU bottlenecks first. The CPU’s 3dmark 16-thread score of 7683 and max-thread score of 7680 show that multi-threaded performance is consistent, but Hard West does not require such extensive parallel processing.

The nearest CPU rivals underscore the 5800XT’s position. It matches the AMD Ryzen 7 7840H (29868, 0 percent delta) and the AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS (29955, -0.3 percent), both of which are laptop processors. It also edges out the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X (29713, 0.6 percent delta). These comparisons show that the 5800XT offers desktop-class performance that is competitive with recent mobile chips and a newer desktop part. For Hard West, this means the CPU will not hinder the Arc B570’s output at any resolution. The bottleneck remains squarely on the GPU, and players seeking higher frame rates would need a more powerful graphics card rather than a faster processor.