Hard West

Hard West is a turn-based tactics title from 2015, and the measured data for the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 paired with the Intel Arc B580 reveals a configuration that is heavily influenced by graphics settings and resolution. The benchmark results show a clear hierarchy where the GPU becomes the primary constraint as resolution and graphical fidelity increase, while the CPU’s strong multi-threaded performance ensures that frame rates remain playable at lower settings. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS across resolutions and presets, positioning the combo within the broader database of tested systems.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data shows a predictable but steep decline as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, indicating that the Intel Arc B580 is the limiting component at higher pixel counts. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 149 FPS, which drops to 93.2 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 49.1 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 67% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, a scaling pattern that points directly to GPU-bound performance. The trend is consistent across all settings: at High, the drop is from 95.7 FPS at 1080p to 59.8 FPS at 1440p and then 33 FPS at 4K, a 65.5% decrease overall.

The scaling behavior suggests that the Ryzen 7 7700 is not the bottleneck at these resolutions, as the frame rate drops are proportional to the pixel count increase. At 1080p, the CPU’s capabilities are more exposed, with the 149 FPS Low result showing headroom that the GPU cannot fully utilize at higher settings. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 79.4 FPS, while at 4K that gap narrows to 23.9 FPS, reinforcing that the GPU’s rendering limits dominate at 4K. The data indicates that for 1440p gaming, the combo is well-balanced, but at 4K, users should expect sub-60 FPS performance even on Medium settings, where the measured average is 39 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested hardware combinations for Hard West, this specific pairing of AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and Intel Arc B580 ranks 1342 out of 1699 combos. This places it in the lower-mid tier of all tested configurations, indicating that while it is not a top performer in this game, it is far from the bottom. The rank reflects the game’s age and its relative insensitivity to high-end hardware; a modern mid-range GPU like the Arc B580, which sits at the 66th percentile among all GPUs, is adequate but not exceptional for this title.

The CPU’s percentile ranking is notably higher at 91 among all CPUs, but the combo’s overall position is dragged down by the GPU’s performance ceiling. The nearest rival GPUs to the Arc B580 include the AMD Radeon 760M and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, with the Arc B580 scoring 0.1% and 0.7% higher respectively in average benchmark scores. This tight grouping suggests that the GPU’s performance is competitive with other mid-range options, but none of these cards are designed to push Hard West to extreme frame rates. The combo’s rank of 1342 out of 1699 means that roughly 21% of tested systems perform worse, which is a reasonable outcome for a pairing that leans on a capable CPU with a mid-tier GPU.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS, the optimal settings for this combo depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 95.7 FPS, which is smooth for a turn-based tactics game, while Medium offers 126.1 FPS and Low reaches 149 FPS. The Ultra preset at 69.6 FPS is still playable but represents a significant drop from High, losing 26.1 FPS for marginal visual gains. For most users at 1080p, the High preset provides the best balance of visual quality and performance, as it maintains nearly 100 FPS without the steep cost of Ultra.

At 2560x1440, the High preset yields 59.8 FPS, which is acceptable but not ideal for fast-paced action; Medium at 78.5 FPS is a more comfortable choice, while Low at 93.2 FPS offers the smoothest experience. The Ultra preset at 43.6 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold and should be avoided unless visual fidelity is paramount. At 3840x2160, none of the presets achieve 60 FPS, with Low at 49.1 FPS being the only viable option for a playable frame rate. Medium at 39 FPS and High at 33 FPS are borderline, while Ultra at 25.2 FPS is not recommended. The data suggests that for 4K gaming, users should stick to Low settings or consider lowering the resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS across settings is as follows: Low delivers 149 FPS, Medium achieves 126.1 FPS, High reaches 95.7 FPS, and Ultra drops to 69.6 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra shows a 53.3% performance penalty, which is substantial but typical for a game that responds well to GPU load. The 1080p results indicate that the combo has ample headroom for high refresh rate monitors when settings are kept at Medium or below, with only Ultra failing to break the 70 FPS mark.

Moving to 2560x1440, the FPS values are 93.2 for Low, 78.5 for Medium, 59.8 for High, and 43.6 for Ultra. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at each setting is consistent, ranging from 37.4% at Low to 37.3% at Ultra, confirming that the GPU is the primary scaling factor. At 3840x2160, the results are 49.1 FPS for Low, 39 FPS for Medium, 33 FPS for High, and 25.2 FPS for Ultra. The 4K results show that even Low settings cannot reach 60 FPS, and the gap between Low and Ultra is 23.9 FPS, which is the smallest absolute difference across all resolutions, indicating that the GPU is saturated.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580 is the dominant component in determining frame rates for Hard West, particularly at higher resolutions. With 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus and a bandwidth of 456.0 GB/s, the GPU has sufficient memory for this game’s textures, but the benchmark results show that raw compute power is the limiting factor. The GPU’s boost clock is 2670 MHz, and it features 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 80 ROPs, with a pixel rate of 213.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 427.2 GTexel/s. These specifications place the Arc B580 at the 66th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 23021.

The GPU’s nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon 760M and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, with delta percentages of 0.1% and -0.7% respectively, showing that the Arc B580 is performance-neutral against these competitors. The measured FPS data aligns with this mid-range positioning, as the GPU struggles to maintain 60 FPS at 4K even on Low settings. The 12 GB VRAM is not a bottleneck in this game, as the FPS drops are more closely tied to the GPU’s shading and rasterization capabilities. The GPU’s memory clock of 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective) and 192-bit bus provide adequate bandwidth, but the 13.67 TFLOPS FP32 performance is the key constraint at 4K.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 plays a supportive role in this combo, providing enough processing power to avoid becoming a bottleneck at lower resolutions. With 8 cores and 16 threads, base clock of 3.80 GHz, and boost clock of 5.30 GHz, the CPU is well-equipped for modern gaming workloads. The 7700’s benchmark scores are strong, including a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 29302 and a single-core score of 4136, placing it at the 91st percentile among all CPUs. The CPU’s average benchmark score of 40468 is nearly identical to its nearest rivals, including the AMD Ryzen 9 7940H and Intel Core i9-13905H, with delta percentages of 0.1% and -0.6% respectively.

In Hard West, the CPU’s impact is most evident at 1080p with Low settings, where the frame rate reaches 149 FPS, suggesting that the CPU can handle high draw calls and game logic without issue. The 32 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 83.2 GB/s bandwidth further ensure that data delivery is not a limiting factor. The CPU’s 65W TDP and 5 nm process node from TSMC contribute to efficient operation, but the benchmark results show that the GPU is the primary determinant of FPS in this game, as evidenced by the consistent frame rate drops across all resolutions when settings are increased.