Hard West

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates for Hard West show a pronounced resolution sensitivity that is typical of a GPU-bound title at higher pixel counts. The progression from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 to 3840x2160 reveals where the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 begins to strain, and the pattern is consistent across all four settings presets.

At the High preset, the average frame rate drops from 104 FPS at 1920x1080 to 66 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 38 FPS, or roughly 36.5% of the 1080p figure. Moving further to 3840x2160, the average falls to 34 FPS, which is only about 32.7% of the 1080p score. This steep decline indicates that the RTX 5050's 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 128-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 320.0 GB/s, are sufficient for 1080p but become limiting factors as pixel count quadruples at 4K.

The Low preset tells a similar story but with higher absolute numbers. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 165 FPS average. At 2560x1440, this drops to 104 FPS, and at 3840x2160 it falls to 55 FPS. The percentage retention from 1080p to 4K is about 33.3%, which is nearly identical to the High preset's retention rate. This consistency across presets suggests that the limiting component is primarily the GPU's raw throughput rather than any specific setting.

The Medium preset provides the most complete data, with minimum and maximum frame rates recorded at all three resolutions. At 1920x1080, the average is 135 FPS with a minimum of 115 FPS and a maximum of 155 FPS. At 2560x1440, the average drops to 86 FPS, with a range of 73 to 98 FPS. At 3840x2160, the average is 45 FPS, with a range of 38 to 52 FPS. The minimum frame rates at each resolution stay above the average of the next lower resolution in most cases, which indicates a predictable scaling curve rather than sudden cliffs.

The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic resolution penalty. At 1920x1080, the average is 78 FPS, which is still playable. At 2560x1440, it drops to 49 FPS, and at 3840x2160 it falls to 26 FPS. The 4K figure is below the 30 FPS threshold that many players consider the minimum for acceptable smoothness, making Ultra at 4K impractical with this combination.

The data suggests that the RTX 5050 is well-matched to 1080p gaming in Hard West, capable of delivering high frame rates across all presets. At 1440p, the card remains viable for Medium and High settings, but Ultra begins to approach the lower bounds of comfort. At 4K, only the Low preset achieves a playable average above 50 FPS, and even that is marginal compared to the 165 FPS available at 1080p.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the tested database of 2,949 CPU and GPU combinations running Hard West, the AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 achieves a combo rank of 1,802. This places the pairing in the lower half of all tested configurations, which is noteworthy given the individual components' benchmark standings.

The CPU itself, the AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT, sits at the 81st percentile among all tested processors. Its average benchmark score of 29,879 places it in close competition with several mobile and desktop parts. The nearest rival is the AMD Ryzen 7 7840H with an average score of 29,868, representing a 0% delta. The AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS and AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS both score 29,955, which is 0.3% higher. The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X scores 29,713, which is 0.6% lower. These deltas are all within a single percentage point, indicating that the 5800XT is competitively positioned in raw CPU compute terms.

The GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050, sits at the 66th percentile among all tested GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 21,035 is closely matched by several older or mobile parts. The AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL scores 21,153, which is 0.6% higher. The AMD Radeon HD 8970M scores 21,237, which is 1% higher. The AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT scores 20,713, which is 1.6% lower. The NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile scores 21,379, which is 1.6% higher. These tight deltas mean that the RTX 5050 is not a standout performer in the broader GPU landscape, but it is far from the bottom.

The combination rank of 1,802 out of 2,949 (roughly the 61st percentile of combos) is lower than either component's individual percentile would suggest. This discrepancy points to Hard West's specific hardware demands. The game, released in 2015, is a turn-based tactics title that may not scale perfectly with modern multi-threaded CPUs or the latest GPU architectures. The 8-core, 16-thread Ryzen 7 5800XT offers substantial compute headroom, but the game's engine may not utilize it fully. Similarly, the RTX 5050's Blackwell 2.0 architecture and 13.17 TFLOPS FP32 performance are more than sufficient for the game's visual complexity, yet the measured frame rates indicate that the game is not extracting the full potential from this hardware.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the optimal settings preset depends heavily on the target resolution and the player's preference for visual fidelity versus frame rate smoothness.

At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 165 FPS average, which is far beyond what a turn-based tactics game requires for smooth play. The Medium preset delivers 135 FPS average with a minimum of 115 FPS, offering a substantial improvement in visual quality while maintaining excellent frame pacing. The High preset at 104 FPS is still very smooth, and the Ultra preset at 78 FPS is perfectly playable. For most players at 1080p, the High preset represents the best balance, as it provides strong visual quality without sacrificing the headroom needed for any scene complexity that might cause dips.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset hits 104 FPS, which is excellent. The Medium preset drops to 86 FPS average with a minimum of 73 FPS, still well within smooth territory. The High preset at 66 FPS is acceptable for a turn-based game, where reaction times are less critical than in real-time genres. The Ultra preset at 49 FPS is playable but may feel less fluid during camera movements or animations. For 1440p, the Medium preset is the recommended choice, as it retains a comfortable margin above 60 FPS while offering better visual detail than Low.

At 3840x2160, the options are more constrained. The Low preset averages 55 FPS, which is the only preset that stays comfortably above 50 FPS. The Medium preset at 45 FPS is playable, with a minimum of 38 FPS and a maximum of 52 FPS. The High preset at 34 FPS is borderline, and the Ultra preset at 26 FPS is below the 30 FPS threshold. For 4K, the Low preset is the pragmatic recommendation, as it maintains a playable frame rate without requiring a significant compromise in game mechanics. The Medium preset is viable for players who prioritize visual quality over frame rate stability, given the turn-based nature of the game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured frame rates provides a detailed picture of performance across resolutions and settings.

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers the highest average at 165 FPS. The Medium preset follows at 135 FPS, with a minimum of 115 FPS and a maximum of 155 FPS. The High preset achieves 104 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 78 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 87 FPS, or roughly 52.7% of the Low figure, which indicates that the Ultra preset imposes a significant rendering cost.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 104 FPS. The Medium preset averages 86 FPS, with a minimum of 73 FPS and a maximum of 98 FPS. The High preset averages 66 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 49 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 55 FPS, which is a smaller absolute gap than at 1080p but similar in percentage terms.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 55 FPS. The Medium preset averages 45 FPS, with a minimum of 38 FPS and a maximum of 52 FPS. The High preset averages 34 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 26 FPS. The Low to Ultra gap is 29 FPS, which is a smaller absolute difference but represents a 52.7% reduction from Low to Ultra, consistent with the other resolutions.

The Medium preset is the only one with complete minimum and maximum data across all resolutions. The minimum frame rates at each resolution are 115 FPS at 1080p, 73 FPS at 1440p, and 38 FPS at 4K. The maximum frame rates are 155 FPS at 1080p, 98 FPS at 1440p, and 52 FPS at 4K. The spread between minimum and maximum is consistent, suggesting stable frame pacing without severe stutters.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture using a 5 nm process at TSMC. The chip, designated GB207, contains 16,900 million transistors on a 149 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 113.4 million per mm². The GPU has 2,560 shading units, 80 texture mapping units, and 32 raster output units, along with 20 ray tracing cores and 80 tensor cores.

The memory subsystem consists of 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 320.0 GB/s. The memory clock runs at 2500 MHz with 20 Gbps effective speed. The base clock is 2317 MHz, with a boost clock of 2572 MHz. The pixel rate is 82.30 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 205.8 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is 13.17 TFLOPS, with FP16 also at 13.17 TFLOPS, indicating a 1:1 ratio.

The GPU's 66th percentile ranking among all tested GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 21,035, places it in the mid-range. The nearest rivals are all within 1.6% of its score, which suggests that the RTX 5050 is not a performance outlier but rather a solidly average part. In Hard West, the GPU's role is evident in the resolution scaling data. The 8 GB memory capacity is not likely to be a bottleneck at 1080p or 1440p for a game from 2015, but at 4K, the memory bandwidth of 320.0 GB/s may struggle to feed the render pipeline efficiently.

The boost clock of 2572 MHz is relatively high for a mid-range GPU, and the 13.17 TFLOPS FP32 throughput is sufficient for the game's visual effects. However, the measured frame rates at 4K Ultra (26 FPS) suggest that the GPU is being pushed to its limits, likely due to the combination of high pixel count and the game's draw calls at that preset.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Vermeer. It is manufactured on a 7 nm process at TSMC, with 4,150 million transistors on a 74 mm² die. The base clock is 3.80 GHz, boosting up to 4.80 GHz. The CPU supports DDR4 memory in a dual-channel configuration, providing a memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s. It uses the AMD Socket AM4 and has a TDP of 105 W.

The cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 512 KB of L2 cache per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports PCIe Gen 4 with 20 lanes from the CPU. It has no integrated graphics, so a discrete GPU is mandatory. The processor is unlocked for overclocking, and its launch MSRP was $249.

In benchmark tests, the 5800XT achieves a single-thread score of 959 in 3dmark and 3,535 in Passmark single-thread tests. Multi-threaded performance is strong, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 23,794 and a Passmark multi-thread score of 28,053. The 16-thread 3dmark score is 7,683, which is nearly identical to the max-thread score of 7,680, indicating that the CPU scales well with all threads available.

The CPU's 81st percentile ranking among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 29,879, places it above the majority of tested CPUs. The nearest rivals are all within 0.6% of its score, confirming that the 5800XT is a well-balanced part. In Hard West, the CPU's role is less pronounced than the GPU's, as evidenced by the resolution scaling data. At 1080p, the frame rates are high enough that the CPU could become a factor if the game's logic is single-threaded, but the 959 single-thread 3dmark score and 3,535 Passmark single-thread score indicate strong per-core performance.

The 8-core configuration is more than sufficient for a turn-based tactics game, where AI calculations and pathfinding may use multiple threads but rarely saturate 16 threads. The 32 MB L3 cache helps reduce memory latency, which is beneficial for game logic that repeatedly accesses the same data structures. The CPU's memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s is adequate for the game's needs, especially when paired with the GPU's 320.0 GB/s bandwidth.

FAQ

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

A: Based on the data, 1920x1080 is the strongest resolution, with average frame rates ranging from 78 FPS at Ultra to 165 FPS at Low. At 2560x1440, the range is 49 to 104 FPS, and at 3840x2160, it drops to 26 to 55 FPS.

Q: Can this system run Hard West at 4K?

A: Yes, but only at lower settings. The Low preset averages 55 FPS at 3840x2160, while Medium averages 45 FPS, High averages 34 FPS, and Ultra averages 26 FPS, which is below the 30 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the RTX 5050 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RTX 5050 has an average benchmark score of 21,035, which is 0.6% lower than the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL, 1% lower than the AMD Radeon HD 8970M, 1.6% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT, and 1.6% lower than the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 5800XT a strong CPU for gaming?

A: The CPU sits at the 81st percentile among all processors with an average score of 29,879. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 7840H, is within 0% delta, while the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X is 0.6% lower, indicating competitive performance.

Q: What is the difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 165 FPS, while Ultra averages 78 FPS. This is a difference of 87 FPS, or roughly 52.7% of the Low figure, showing a significant performance cost for Ultra settings.

Q: Does the Medium preset provide stable frame pacing?

A: The Medium preset has recorded minimum and maximum frame rates at all resolutions. At 1080p, the range is 115 to 155 FPS; at 1440p, it is 73 to 98 FPS; and at 4K, it is 38 to 52 FPS, indicating consistent performance without major stutters.