Hard West

Settings Recommendations

For Hard West, the measured performance data across three resolutions and four quality presets reveals a clear pattern: the Medium preset delivers the most balanced experience for this AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 combination. At 1920x1080, Medium produces 119.7 FPS average, which is 30.4 FPS above High and 50.8 FPS above Ultra, while remaining only 24.7 FPS behind Low. The gap between Medium and Ultra at 1080p is substantial — 50.8 FPS — suggesting that Ultra's additional visual demands extract a heavy toll without a proportional frame-rate benefit.

Moving to 2560x1440, Medium maintains a playable 73.9 FPS average, which keeps the experience smooth on high-refresh monitors. High at this resolution drops to 56.7 FPS, still acceptable for a turn-based tactics title, but the margin over Medium narrows to 17.2 FPS. At 3840x2160, Medium falls to 41.6 FPS, while High manages only 30.4 FPS. For 4K users, the Low preset at 48.9 FPS becomes the only option that clears the 40 FPS threshold, though Medium remains viable for slower-paced gameplay.

The data indicates that Ultra is rarely worth the performance sacrifice. Across all three resolutions, Ultra yields the lowest frame rates: 68.9 FPS at 1080p, 45.3 FPS at 1440p, and 21.7 FPS at 4K. The step from High to Ultra costs 20.4 FPS at 1080p, 11.4 FPS at 1440p, and 8.7 FPS at 4K. Given that Hard West is a turn-based tactics game where precise timing is not critical, Medium provides the best compromise between visual fidelity and fluidity. For users prioritizing maximum smoothness on 144Hz displays, Low at 1080p delivers 144.4 FPS, effectively saturating common refresh rates.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 sits at the 58th percentile among all GPUs in the benchmark database, with an average benchmark score of 16074. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 7600S, scores 15996 (0.5% lower), while the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 scores 16351 (1.7% higher). This places the RTX 2060 in a tightly contested mid-range tier where small percentage differences separate competitors.

The GPU's 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration proves adequate for Hard West's measured results, as even at 4K Ultra the frame rate drops to 21.7 FPS, which is more likely a compute limitation than a memory capacity issue. The TU106 chip, built on TSMC's 12 nm process, contains 10,800 million transistors across a 445 mm² die. Its boost clock of 1680 MHz, combined with 1920 shading units, yields 6.451 TFLOPS of FP32 performance.

The RTX 2060's memory clock runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective), and the GPU's pixel rate is 80.64 GPixel/s with a texture rate of 201.6 GTexel/s. These specifications explain the scaling pattern observed in the measured data: the RTX 2060 handles 1080p and 1440p with relative ease, but the 4K results show significant degradation. The transition from 1440p Medium (73.9 FPS) to 4K Medium (41.6 FPS) represents a 43.7% drop, highlighting the GPU's bandwidth and fill-rate limits at higher pixel counts.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Hard West at 4K with playable frame rates?

A: Yes, but only at lower settings. The Low preset at 3840x2160 yields 48.9 FPS average, while Medium drops to 41.6 FPS. High (30.4 FPS) and Ultra (21.7 FPS) fall below the 30 FPS threshold commonly considered minimum for smooth gameplay.

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

A: The data shows 1920x1080 delivers the most consistent experience, with all four presets exceeding 68 FPS. The Medium preset at 1080p produces 119.7 FPS, which is 45.8 FPS higher than the same preset at 2560x1440 (73.9 FPS).

Q: How does the RTX 2060 compare to its closest competitors in overall benchmarks?

A: The RTX 2060's average benchmark score of 16074 places it 0.5% above the AMD Radeon RX 7600S (15996) and 1.8% above the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (15786). However, it trails the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 and Radeon Pro 5600M, both scoring 16351, by 1.7%.

Q: Is the Ultra preset worth using in Hard West?

A: Benchmark results indicate no. At 1080p, Ultra averages 68.9 FPS compared to High's 89.3 FPS and Medium's 119.7 FPS. The visual upgrade from High to Ultra costs 20.4 FPS at 1080p and reduces 4K performance to 21.7 FPS, which is below playable thresholds.

Q: Does the RTX 2060's 6 GB VRAM cause issues in Hard West?

A: The measured data does not indicate VRAM-related stuttering or crashes. The GPU's 336.0 GB/s bandwidth appears sufficient for this title, as even the most demanding preset (4K Ultra) still produces measurable frame rates, albeit low at 21.7 FPS.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Medium presets?

A: At 1080p, Low (144.4 FPS) is 24.7 FPS faster than Medium (119.7 FPS). At 1440p, the gap widens to 17.3 FPS (91.2 vs 73.9). At 4K, Low (48.9 FPS) is 7.3 FPS faster than Medium (41.6 FPS). The relative cost of Medium increases with resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 combination ranks 1358 out of 1699 tested combos in Hard West, placing it in the bottom 20% of all configurations. This ranking reflects the RTX 2060's position as a mid-range GPU from the GeForce 20-series, paired with a strong CPU that is likely not the limiting factor in this title.

The CPU component of this combo, the AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT, sits at the 86th percentile among all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 29774. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755GE (29740, 0.1% lower) and the AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS (29856, 0.3% higher). This suggests the processor is not holding back the GPU in most scenarios.

However, the combo's low ranking in Hard West indicates that the RTX 2060's 58th percentile GPU standing dominates the overall result. The measured frame rates confirm this: even at 1080p Low, the combo reaches 144.4 FPS, but at 4K Ultra, it falls to 21.7 FPS. The rank of 1358 out of 1699 places this system firmly in the lower-middle tier for this specific game, which is consistent with the RTX 2060's age and the game's release date of 2015-11-17.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT provides 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and boost clock of 4.80 GHz. Its 32 MB of L3 cache and 7 nm process node (TSMC) contribute to strong single-thread and multi-thread performance. The CPU's average benchmark score of 29774 places it at the 86th percentile, with Cinebench R23 multi-core scoring 23794 and single-core scoring 3359.

In Hard West, a turn-based tactics title, CPU demands are typically modest compared to real-time genres. The 5800XT's 16 threads ensure that any background processing or AI calculations do not bottleneck the GPU. The CPU's 3dmark_16_threads score of 7683 demonstrates robust multi-threading, while the single-thread score of 959 indicates strong per-core performance that benefits game logic and turn resolution.

The measured FPS data shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this combo. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 144.4 FPS, and the scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p (144.4 to 68.9 FPS) follows GPU-bound behavior. If the CPU were the constraint, frame rates would plateau regardless of settings. The CPU's nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS, scores 29856 (0.3% higher), confirming the 5800XT is competitive with modern mobile processors.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured frame rates across presets are: Low 144.4 FPS, Medium 119.7 FPS, High 89.3 FPS, and Ultra 68.9 FPS. The progression from Low to Medium costs 24.7 FPS, Medium to High costs 30.4 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 20.4 FPS. The largest single-step drop occurs between Medium and High, suggesting that High enables effects that disproportionately impact the RTX 2060.

At 2560x1440, the results are: Low 91.2 FPS, Medium 73.9 FPS, High 56.7 FPS, and Ultra 45.3 FPS. The step from Low to Medium costs 17.3 FPS, Medium to High costs 17.2 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 11.4 FPS. The diminishing cost of Ultra at this resolution is notable, though all presets remain above 45 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the results are: Low 48.9 FPS, Medium 41.6 FPS, High 30.4 FPS, and Ultra 21.7 FPS. The Low to Medium step costs 7.3 FPS, Medium to High costs 11.2 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 8.7 FPS. Only Low and Medium exceed 30 FPS at 4K, making 4K viable only at reduced settings.

Resolution scaling shows that moving from 1080p to 1440p at Medium costs 45.8 FPS (119.7 to 73.9), and from 1440p to 4K at Medium costs 32.3 FPS (73.9 to 41.6). The RTX 2060's 6 GB VRAM and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p across all presets, but 4K pushes the GPU beyond its comfortable operating range, particularly at High and Ultra where frame rates fall below 31 FPS.