Hard West

Hard West is a turn-based tactics title from 2015, and the data for the AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combo shows a wide performance envelope that scales heavily with both resolution and settings. The measured FPS ranges from a highly playable 54 FPS at 4K High to a blistering 250 FPS at 1080p Low, indicating that this pairing is more than capable of handling the game’s demands across the board, with the limiting factor shifting depending on your display and quality targets.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent, revealing how the rendering load transitions from a CPU-bound scenario at lower resolutions to a GPU-bound one at higher resolutions. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 161 FPS at 1920x1080 to 102 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 59 FPS, and then further down to 54 FPS at 3840x2160, another 48 FPS drop. This pattern shows that while the RTX 4070 has plenty of headroom at 1080p, the pixel throughput required by 4K begins to tax the GPU significantly, cutting the High preset average by roughly two-thirds from 1080p to 4K.

The scaling is even more pronounced when looking at the Low preset. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 250 FPS, which drops to 162 FPS at 1440p and then to 85 FPS at 4K. The 165 FPS difference between 1080p and 4K at Low settings is the largest absolute gap in the dataset, indicating that at the lowest quality settings, the GPU is almost exclusively responsible for the frame rate, with the CPU not being a limiting factor at any resolution. This is typical for a tactics game where the visual complexity is moderate, but the resolution scaling still demands proportional GPU work.

At Medium settings, the frame rates of 210 FPS (1080p), 133 FPS (1440p), and 70 FPS (4K) show a similar downward trajectory. The Ultra preset, however, shows the most dramatic relative drop: 121 FPS at 1080p falls to 76 FPS at 1440p and then plummets to 40 FPS at 4K. The 81 FPS gap between 1080p and 4K at Ultra is significant, and the 40 FPS average at 4K Ultra is the only measured result that dips below the 60 FPS threshold, suggesting that this preset at this resolution is the only combination that struggles to maintain smooth gameplay. Overall, the data indicates that 1440p is a sweet spot for this combo, offering high frame rates even at Ultra, while 4K demands careful setting choices to stay playable.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved by this CPU and GPU combo in Hard West?

A: The highest measured average is 250 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: Does the combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K resolution across all settings?

A: No. At 4K, the average FPS is 85 on Low, 70 on Medium, and 54 on High, but it drops to 40 on Ultra, which falls below the 60 FPS mark.

Q: How much slower is the Ultra preset compared to Low at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset averages 76 FPS, while the Low preset averages 162 FPS, making Ultra roughly 86 FPS slower, or a 53% reduction in frame rate.

Q: Which resolution provides the best balance of high frame rate and visual quality?

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 on High or Medium provides a strong balance, with averages of 102 FPS and 133 FPS respectively, both well above the 60 FPS threshold while maintaining higher quality than Low presets.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the high frame rates (161-250 FPS) suggest the CPU is not a bottleneck, as the GPU is able to render frames quickly. The limiting factor is the GPU’s performance at the given settings, not the CPU.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for the Medium preset at 1080p?

A: The minimum FPS recorded for 1920x1080 Medium is 178 FPS, with a maximum of 241 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070, with its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth, is the primary driver of frame rates in Hard West, especially at higher resolutions. The GPU’s boost clock of 2475 MHz and its 5888 shading units allow it to push substantial pixel counts, but the data shows that the 4K Ultra preset (40 FPS) is the only configuration where the GPU is truly overwhelmed. The 12 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for a 2015 title like Hard West, and there is no indication from the measured results that memory capacity is a limiting factor at any resolution or settings level.

The GPU’s performance percentile of 81 places it above most other graphics cards, and its nearest rivals in the database include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (with a negative deltaPct of -1.3) and the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (with a positive deltaPct of 0.4). This indicates that the RTX 4070 is a strong performer, but the game’s results are more about the GPU’s raw rendering capability than its advanced features. The measured FPS data shows a clear linear progression: at 1440p, the GPU handles Medium at 133 FPS and High at 102 FPS, but when moving to 4K, those numbers drop to 70 FPS and 54 FPS respectively, showing the expected workload increase.

The GPU’s memory clock of 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective) and 192-bit bus width provide sufficient bandwidth for the game’s textures and geometry, but the bottlenecks at 4K Ultra are likely due to the sheer number of pixels being processed rather than memory constraints. The RTX 4070’s architecture, with 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores, is not particularly relevant for a turn-based tactics game that does not rely on ray tracing or DLSS, but the raw FP32 performance of 29.15 TFLOPS ensures that the card can handle the game’s effects and shading without issue. In essence, the GPU is the deciding factor for frame rates at 1440p and above, and its performance at 4K High (54 FPS) is adequate but not stellar, requiring a settings drop to Medium (70 FPS) for a smoother experience.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers exceptional performance across all settings. The Low preset averages 250 FPS, which is the highest in the entire dataset. Medium settings average 210 FPS, with a minimum of 178 FPS and a maximum of 241 FPS, ensuring that even the lowest recorded frame rate is far above any playability concern. High settings average 161 FPS, and Ultra settings average 121 FPS. This shows that at 1080p, the RTX 4070 is never challenged, and even the most demanding preset offers over double the refresh rate of a standard 60 Hz monitor.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but begin to show the GPU’s workload. Low settings average 162 FPS, Medium averages 133 FPS (with a minimum of 113 FPS and a maximum of 153 FPS), and High averages 102 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p averages 76 FPS, which is still very playable but marks a significant 45 FPS drop from the High preset. This resolution is where the GPU starts to flex, and the numbers suggest that a high-refresh-rate 1440p monitor would be well-utilized with this combo, especially on Medium or High settings.

At 3840x2160, the performance takes a noticeable hit. Low settings average 85 FPS, Medium averages 70 FPS (with a minimum of 59 FPS and a maximum of 80 FPS), and High averages 54 FPS. The Ultra preset drops to 40 FPS, which is the only sub-60 FPS result in the entire dataset. The Medium preset at 4K, with its 59 FPS minimum, is right at the edge of smoothness, while High and Ultra are below the 60 FPS target. This data shows that for 4K gaming, the combo is best suited for Low or Medium settings if a stable 60+ FPS experience is desired, and that the Ultra preset should be avoided.

Settings Recommendations

For players targeting 1920x1080, the data suggests that the Ultra preset is the best choice, as it averages 121 FPS while providing the highest visual quality. There is no performance reason to drop below Ultra at this resolution, since even the most demanding preset leaves substantial headroom. For 2560x1440, the High preset (102 FPS) offers a good balance of visual fidelity and speed, but the Medium preset (133 FPS) is a better option for those with high-refresh-rate displays, as it provides a 31 FPS boost over High while still looking significantly better than Low.

At 3840x2160, the choice is more constrained. The Low preset averages 85 FPS, which is smooth and playable, but sacrifices visual quality. The Medium preset averages 70 FPS, which is the best option for a 4K experience that maintains both playability and decent visuals, as its minimum of 59 FPS is just below the 60 FPS line but generally acceptable. The High preset at 54 FPS and Ultra at 40 FPS are not recommended for 4K, as they fall below the smoothness threshold. For a turn-based tactics game, where frame spikes are less critical than in action titles, the Medium preset at 4K offers the best compromise, delivering a solid 70 FPS average without the visual downgrade of Low.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT, with its 8 cores and 16 threads, is more than adequate for Hard West, a game that does not demand high CPU throughput. The CPU’s base clock of 3.80 GHz and boost clock of 4.80 GHz, combined with its 32 MB of shared L3 cache, ensure that it can feed the GPU without becoming a bottleneck, as evidenced by the high frame rates at 1080p. The CPU’s benchmark scores, such as a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 23794 and a single-core score of 3359, indicate strong performance, but the game’s turn-based nature means that even lower-end CPUs would likely suffice.

The data shows that at 1080p, where the CPU’s role is more prominent, the frame rates are exceptionally high (up to 250 FPS), suggesting that the 5800XT is not limiting the GPU. The CPU’s percentile of 81 places it above most other processors, and its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 7840H (deltaPct 0) and the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X (deltaPct 0.6), showing that it is competitive with newer mobile and desktop chips. However, the game’s performance scaling from 1080p to 4K is largely driven by the GPU, as the CPU’s workload does not increase significantly with resolution, and the frame rate drops are consistent with GPU-bound rendering.

In practical terms, the 5800XT’s 16 threads are overkill for Hard West, but they ensure that the system can handle any background tasks or future games that are more CPU-intensive. The CPU’s PCIe Gen 4 support and dual-channel DDR4 memory (51.2 GB/s bandwidth) provide a solid platform, but these features have minimal impact on this particular game’s results. The benchmark data shows that the CPU is never the primary limiter, as even at 4K Ultra (40 FPS), the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, and the CPU is likely idling with plenty of headroom. This makes the 5800XT a future-proof choice, but for Hard West specifically, its role is to simply avoid getting in the GPU’s way.