Hard West

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured frame rates for Hard West show a classic scaling pattern that reveals where the bottleneck sits for this AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440, then to 3840x2160, produces substantial but predictable frame rate erosion across every settings preset. At Low settings, the transition from 1080p to 1440p drops the average from 250 FPS to 206 FPS, a 44 FPS reduction. The subsequent step to 4K Low brings the average down to 108 FPS, which is a much larger 98 FPS drop from the 1440p result. This steep decline at 4K indicates that the render resolution is starting to tax the GPU more heavily, even though Hard West is a turn-based tactics title from 2015 with modest visual demands by modern standards.

The Medium preset tells a similar story but with smaller absolute numbers. At 1920x1080 Medium, the combo delivers 233 FPS average, dropping to 169 FPS at 2560x1440, and then to 89 FPS at 3840x2160. The 1080p-to-1440p reduction is 64 FPS, while the 1440p-to-4K reduction is 80 FPS. The pattern here is consistent: as resolution increases, the frame rate penalty grows, which is the expected behavior for a system where the GPU becomes progressively more load-bearing at higher pixel counts. However, the fact that even 4K Medium maintains an 89 FPS average suggests the RTX 4080 SUPER is far from overwhelmed in this title.

High settings follow the same trajectory. The measured average at 1080p High is 205 FPS, at 1440p High it is 130 FPS, and at 4K High it is 68 FPS. The percentage drops between each step are roughly 37% from 1080p to 1440p, then 48% from 1440p to 4K. The increasing percentage loss at each resolution step is a hallmark of GPU-bound operation: the RTX 4080 SUPER has to work progressively harder to fill more pixels, and the frame rate responds accordingly. Ultra settings show the same shape, with 154 FPS at 1080p, 97 FPS at 1440p, and 51 FPS at 4K.

The data indicates that at 1080p, the CPU likely plays a meaningful role in limiting performance. The 250 FPS ceiling at Low settings across all three presets suggests that the Ryzen 7 5800XT's per-core performance is a factor at lower resolutions, since the GPU has ample headroom to render more frames. As resolution climbs, the GPU becomes the primary constraint, evidenced by the widening gaps between resolution steps. At 4K, the system is firmly GPU-limited across all settings, with the RTX 4080 SUPER's raw throughput determining the final frame rates.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER brings substantial hardware to Hard West, and the benchmark results show that the game rarely stresses its capabilities. The GPU features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth. For a turn-based tactics title released in 2015, this memory configuration is far beyond what the game can utilize, meaning VRAM capacity is effectively a non-issue at any resolution or settings combination in this test suite. The 4K Ultra preset, which would be the most demanding scenario, still runs at a playable 51 FPS average, and there is no indication from the measured data that memory capacity or bandwidth is limiting performance.

Clock speeds for the RTX 4080 SUPER are rated at 2295 MHz base and 2550 MHz boost, with memory running at 1438 MHz or 23 Gbps effective. These clocks, combined with the Ada Lovelace architecture's 10240 shading units, 320 texture mapping units, and 112 render output units, give the card a theoretical FP32 performance of 52.22 TFLOPS. In Hard West, a game with relatively simple geometry and lighting compared to modern AAA releases, these resources are underutilized. The frame rates at 1080p and 1440p confirm this: at 1080p Low, the system hits 250 FPS, which is likely near the engine's practical ceiling or CPU-limited, rather than a reflection of GPU capability.

The GPU's position relative to its peers is informative. The RTX 4080 SUPER scores 34245 in Passmark G3D and 6600 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, placing it in the 86th percentile among all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 54209 puts it just 0.1% ahead of the standard RTX 4080, 1.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X, and 2.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB. These margins are small, suggesting that in a light game like Hard West, most modern high-end GPUs would produce similar frame rates, with the CPU and engine limits being the more significant differentiators at lower resolutions.

The RTX 4080 SUPER's 16 GB VRAM is relevant for future-proofing but not for this specific title. Hard West's visual complexity does not require large texture pools or high-resolution assets, so the measured frame rates at 4K Ultra (51 FPS) are more likely limited by the GPU's compute throughput and pixel fill rate than by memory. The card's pixel rate of 285.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 816.0 GTexel/s are more than sufficient for the game's demands, which explains why even the most demanding preset remains playable.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

In the benchmark database, this specific pairing of the AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER ranks 317th out of 3722 tested combos in Hard West. This places the combination in roughly the top 8.5% of all tested configurations, which is a strong showing for a game that is not particularly demanding. The rank reflects the aggregate performance across all resolutions and settings, weighted in a way that captures the combo's overall capability in this title.

The percentile ranking of the individual components provides context. The Ryzen 7 5800XT sits in the 81st percentile among all CPUs, while the RTX 4080 SUPER sits in the 86th percentile among all GPUs. The combo rank of 317 out of 3722 is consistent with both components being above-average performers, though the game's lightweight nature means that many combinations of mid-range or older high-end parts could achieve similar results. The rank is likely influenced by the fact that Hard West does not scale infinitely with hardware; beyond a certain threshold, additional GPU or CPU power yields diminishing returns.

Compared to the nearest rivals for each component, the combo's position makes sense. The Ryzen 7 5800XT's average benchmark score of 29879 is essentially tied with the AMD Ryzen 7 7840H (29868, 0% delta), marginally ahead of the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X (29713, 0.6% delta), and slightly behind the AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS and 7840HS (both 29955, -0.3% delta). The RTX 4080 SUPER's average score of 54209 is similarly close to its rivals, with the RTX 4080 at 54247 (-0.1% delta) and the Radeon Pro W5700X at 54828 (-1.1% delta). These tight margins suggest that swapping any of these components for a near-identical performance part would not meaningfully change the combo's rank in Hard West.

The rank of 317 out of 3722 also indicates that a substantial number of tested combos outperform this one, likely those featuring higher-end CPUs or GPUs from newer generations. However, for a game like Hard West, the practical difference between rank 317 and rank 100 is minimal, as frame rates are already well above playable thresholds at all tested settings. The data shows that this combo is more than adequate for the game, with the primary benefit of the high rank being headroom for other, more demanding titles.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates across all presets. The Low preset averages 250 FPS, with no minimum or maximum values recorded. The Medium preset averages 233 FPS, with a minimum of 198 FPS and a maximum of 268 FPS, indicating some frame time variance but generally smooth performance. The High preset averages 205 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 154 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 96 FPS, showing that the graphical settings have a significant impact on performance even at a resolution where the GPU is not heavily stressed.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show clearer differentiation between presets. The Low preset averages 206 FPS, a 44 FPS drop from 1080p Low. The Medium preset averages 169 FPS, with a minimum of 144 FPS and a maximum of 194 FPS. The High preset averages 130 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 97 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 109 FPS, slightly larger than at 1080p, reflecting the increased GPU load at higher resolution. The Medium preset's minimum of 144 FPS is notable, as it suggests that even in demanding scenes, the system maintains a high frame rate.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates drop to levels that are still playable but clearly lower. The Low preset averages 108 FPS, the Medium preset averages 89 FPS with a minimum of 75 FPS and a maximum of 102 FPS, the High preset averages 68 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 51 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 57 FPS, which is smaller in absolute terms than at lower resolutions but represents a larger percentage drop. The Medium preset's minimum of 75 FPS is the lowest recorded minimum across all tested configurations, but it remains above the 60 FPS threshold typically considered acceptable for smooth gameplay.

The data across all resolutions shows a consistent pattern: the Medium preset offers a balanced experience, with frame rates that are significantly higher than High or Ultra while still providing improved visuals over Low. The measured minimum and maximum values for the Medium preset at each resolution provide additional insight into frame time consistency, with the 1080p range of 198-268 FPS being the widest, indicating more variability at higher frame rates.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Vermeer, manufactured on TSMC's 7 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 4.80 GHz, with 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 512 KB of L2 cache per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache. The processor supports DDR4 memory in a dual-channel configuration with a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s, and it uses the AM4 socket with PCIe Gen 4 connectivity.

For Hard West, a turn-based tactics game, the CPU's role is primarily in managing game logic, AI decision-making, and frame pacing rather than heavy physics or simulation workloads. The 8-core, 16-thread configuration is more than sufficient for this title, and the measured frame rates at 1080p suggest that the CPU is not a significant bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the 250 FPS average is likely approaching the game engine's limit or the CPU's single-thread performance ceiling, as the RTX 4080 SUPER should be capable of much higher frame rates in a game with such modest graphical demands.

The CPU's benchmark scores provide context for its performance. In Cinebench R23, the Ryzen 7 5800XT scores 23794 in multi-core and 3359 in single-core. In 3DMark, it scores 959 in single-thread and 7683 in 16-thread tests. These scores indicate strong per-core performance, which is relevant for games like Hard West that may not fully utilize all 16 threads. The Passmark single-thread score of 3535 and multithread score of 28053 further confirm the CPU's balanced capabilities.

The CPU's percentile rank of 81 among all processors places it in the upper tier, but not at the very top. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 7840H (0% delta), the Ryzen 7 8845HS and 7840HS (both -0.3% delta), and the Ryzen 5 9600X (0.6% delta). These are all modern processors with similar performance characteristics, suggesting that the Ryzen 7 5800XT is competitive with current mid-range and upper-mid-range options despite being based on the older Zen 3 architecture.

In Hard West, the CPU's impact is most visible at lower resolutions and settings, where the GPU can render frames quickly and the CPU must keep up with game state updates. The fact that 1080p Low and 1080p Medium both deliver frame rates above 230 FPS indicates that the CPU is handling the workload efficiently. At 4K, the CPU becomes less relevant, as the GPU's rendering time dominates the frame time budget.

FAQ

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

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the combo achieves 169 FPS average with a minimum of 144 FPS, offering a strong balance of visual quality and performance. At 4K, the High preset delivers 68 FPS, which is playable but noticeably lower.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 SUPER compare to the standard RTX 4080 in this system?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 54209, which is 0.1% lower than the standard RTX 4080's score of 54247. In Hard West, the performance difference would be negligible, with both cards producing nearly identical frame rates.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 5800XT a bottleneck at 1080p in Hard West?

A: The data suggests the CPU may limit performance at 1080p Low, where the average is 250 FPS. Since the RTX 4080 SUPER is capable of much higher frame rates in less demanding scenarios, the 250 FPS figure likely represents a CPU or engine limitation rather than GPU constraint.

Q: What is the lowest frame rate recorded for this combo in Hard West?

A: The lowest minimum frame rate recorded is 75 FPS, which occurs at 3840x2160 with Medium settings. All other presets and resolutions have minimums of 144 FPS or higher, where recorded.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 317th out of 3722 tested combinations in Hard West, placing it in the top 8.5% of all tested systems.

Q: Is 4K Ultra playable with this combo?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the combo averages 51 FPS. This is playable but may feel less smooth than lower presets. The 4K High preset offers 68 FPS, which is a better experience for those prioritizing frame rate.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance for optimal settings. At 1920x1080, all presets deliver frame rates above 150 FPS, so players can choose Ultra for maximum visual quality at 154 FPS without sacrificing smoothness. The Medium preset at 233 FPS is the best choice for high-refresh-rate displays, as it exceeds the refresh rate of most 144 Hz and 240 Hz monitors while still providing a visual upgrade over Low.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset offers the best combination of visual fidelity and performance, with an average of 169 FPS and a minimum of 144 FPS. This ensures consistent frame delivery on 144 Hz displays. The High preset at 130 FPS is also viable for 120 Hz displays, while Ultra at 97 FPS is acceptable for 60 Hz or 100 Hz monitors. Low at 206 FPS is unnecessary unless chasing maximum frame rates.

At 3840x2160, the Medium preset is the recommended choice, delivering 89 FPS average with a minimum of 75 FPS. This provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS and maintains visual quality above Low. The High preset at 68 FPS is also playable, but the 21 FPS difference between Medium and High makes the latter less attractive. Ultra at 51 FPS should be avoided for competitive or fast-paced play, though it remains playable for a turn-based tactics game where frame timing is less critical.

Overall, the Medium preset represents the sweet spot across all resolutions, offering the best balance of frame rate consistency and visual quality as measured by the recorded minimums and maximums. For players prioritizing visual fidelity, High at 1440p or 4K provides a solid experience, while Ultra is best reserved for 1080p where the performance cost is minimal.