Hard West

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER combination in Hard West occupies a specific niche in the benchmark database, ranking 1062nd out of 1699 tested combos. This places the pairing in the lower-middle portion of the performance distribution, a position that becomes more understandable when examining the game's turn-based tactical nature and the hardware's respective strengths. The data reveals a system that is clearly capable of smooth 1080p play but struggles as resolution increases, highlighting a GPU-bound scenario typical of this genre.

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

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 brings substantial processing headroom to Hard West, featuring 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 4 architecture. Its base clock of 3.80 GHz can boost up to 5.30 GHz, providing the kind of single-thread responsiveness that turn-based tactics often rely on for unit pathfinding, AI decision-making, and UI responsiveness. The processor's cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and a shared 32 MB L3 cache, which helps keep frequently accessed game data close to the cores.

In synthetic benchmarks, the 7700 demonstrates strong multi-threaded capabilities, scoring 29,302 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 4,136 in single-core. Its PassMark multithread score of 34,470 and single-thread score of 4,063 reinforce this profile. The CPU's 91st percentile ranking among all tested processors indicates it sits well above the median, yet in Hard West, the frame rates suggest the CPU is rarely the limiting factor. The game's mechanics, focused on turn-based movement and combat resolution, do not demand the continuous high-frequency thread spawning seen in real-time strategy titles.

Interestingly, the CPU's nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the AMD Ryzen 9 7940H (0.1% ahead), the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 (0.5% ahead), and the Intel Core i9-13905H (0.6% behind). These deltas are minimal, suggesting that swapping among these processors would yield negligible differences in Hard West performance. The 7700's 65W TDP and 5 nm process node from TSMC make it an efficient choice, but the benchmark data indicates that the game's frame pacing is determined far more by the graphics subsystem than by the CPU's 16 threads.

FAQ — 4-6 Q&A pairs answerable from FACT PACK data

Q: What is the best average frame rate achievable with this combo at 1080p?

A: The highest measured average is 173.2 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This drops to 79.0 FPS at Ultra, showing a performance range of over 94 FPS depending purely on graphical preset.

Q: How does the RTX 2070 SUPER compare to its closest rival in raw GPU compute?

A: The RTX 2070 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 22,206, placing it 0.5% behind the NVIDIA RTX A400 but 2.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 5700. Its PassMark G3D score is 18,169, with a GPU compute score of 7,557.

Q: Does the CPU's multi-threaded performance translate to higher frame rates in this game?

A: No direct correlation is visible. The Ryzen 7 7700 achieves a PassMark multithread score of 34,470, yet at 4K Ultra the combo only manages 25.9 FPS. This indicates the GPU becomes the bottleneck long before the CPU's 16 threads are fully utilized.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings produce 106.5 FPS while Ultra drops to 50.0 FPS. This represents a 53% reduction in average frame rate when moving from the lowest to the highest preset.

Q: How does the GPU's memory bandwidth influence performance at higher resolutions?

A: The RTX 2070 SUPER offers 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s bandwidth. At 4K, the average frame rates fall to 59.7 FPS (Low) and 25.9 FPS (Ultra), suggesting that the memory subsystem's capacity and bandwidth are strained by the higher pixel counts.

Q: Is the CPU's launch MSRP relevant to its performance tier?

A: The Ryzen 7 7700 had a launch MSRP of $329. Its 91st percentile ranking among all CPUs indicates it delivers top-decile processing power, but in Hard West, this power contributes little to the measured frame rates beyond ensuring the GPU is never starved of data.

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

The measured FPS data across resolutions paints a clear picture of a GPU-limited system. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo achieves 109 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 drops this to 69 FPS, a 36.7% reduction. At 3840x2160, the High preset yields only 37.6 FPS, a further 45.5% decline from the 1440p result. This scaling pattern is steep, indicating that the RTX 2070 SUPER's 9.062 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth are being saturated as pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K.

The Low settings row shows a similar trajectory: 173.2 FPS at 1080p, 106.5 FPS at 1440p, and 59.7 FPS at 4K. Even at the lowest graphical preset, the 4K resolution halves the 1440p performance. This consistent drop across all presets strongly suggests that resolution alone, not shader complexity or texture detail, is the primary performance driver. The GPU's 64 ROPs and 160 TMUs are likely the limiting factors, as they must process an increasing number of pixels regardless of how simple the rendering workload is.

Ultra settings magnify the effect, with 1080p producing 79 FPS, 1440p yielding 50 FPS, and 4K falling to 25.9 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at each resolution also widens as resolution increases, from 94.2 FPS at 1080p down to 33.8 FPS at 4K. This indicates that the GPU's fixed-function units are overwhelmed by the combined demands of high preset quality and high resolution, leaving the Ryzen 7 7700's 8 cores with no opportunity to influence the outcome.

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

At 1920x1080, the full settings spectrum runs from 173.2 FPS at Low to 144.9 FPS at Medium, 109.0 FPS at High, and 79.0 FPS at Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra is 94.2 FPS, meaning Ultra delivers roughly 45.6% of the Low preset's frame rate. This resolution is the only one where the combo consistently exceeds 60 FPS across all presets, with even Ultra staying comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold.

Moving to 2560x1440, the numbers compress noticeably. Low settings produce 106.5 FPS, Medium drops to 88.0 FPS, High falls to 69.0 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 50.0 FPS. Here, Ultra falls below the 60 FPS mark, suggesting that 1440p Ultra is the edge of this combination's comfortable playability. The differential between Low and Ultra is 56.5 FPS, a smaller absolute gap than at 1080p but a larger proportional one, with Ultra delivering just 47% of Low's performance.

At 3840x2160, the system's limitations become stark. Low settings manage 59.7 FPS, barely above the 60 FPS target, while Medium drops to 45.9 FPS, High to 37.6 FPS, and Ultra to 25.9 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 33.8 FPS, and every preset above Low fails to reach 60 FPS. The data shows that 4K gaming with this combo requires significant graphical compromises, and even then, the frame rates are marginal.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER ranks 1062nd out of 1699 tested combos in Hard West. This places it in the 37.5th percentile of all tested systems, meaning roughly 63% of the combos in the database outperform it. Given the CPU's strong 91st percentile ranking and the GPU's more modest 65th percentile, the combo's overall rank reflects the GPU's limitations more than the CPU's capabilities.

Breaking down the rank, it becomes clear that the RTX 2070 SUPER is the anchor dragging the combo down. The GPU's average benchmark score of 22,206 is competitive with its nearest rivals — the RTX A400 at 22,307, the GTX TITAN Z at 22,006, and the RTX 4060 Mobile at 22,729 — but this performance tier is simply not sufficient to push the combo higher in Hard West's ranking. In contrast, the CPU's nearest rivals all have average scores within 1.2% of the 7700's 40,468, indicating that processor choice among these options would not meaningfully alter the combo's position.

The rank of 1062 suggests that many other hardware pairings deliver higher frame rates in this game, likely due to more powerful GPUs rather than faster CPUs. The data implies that upgrading the graphics card would yield far greater improvements in Hard West than any CPU swap, as the 7700's processing power is already ample for this genre.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

For players prioritizing a smooth, consistent experience at 1080p, the High preset at 109.0 FPS offers an excellent balance. It delivers nearly double the frame rate of Ultra's 79.0 FPS while still providing substantial visual quality. The Medium preset at 144.9 FPS is also viable for those who prefer higher refresh rates, though the jump from Medium to High costs 35.9 FPS, which may not be worth the visual fidelity gain for competitive play.

At 1440p, the High preset at 69.0 FPS is the best choice for maintaining a stable 60+ FPS experience. Ultra drops to 50.0 FPS, which introduces noticeable stutter in a turn-based game where smooth camera pans and unit animations matter. Medium at 88.0 FPS is ideal for users with 144Hz displays, offering a substantial improvement over High without the steep performance penalty of Ultra.

For 4K, the data suggests that Low settings at 59.7 FPS are the only reasonable option, and even this is marginal. Medium at 45.9 FPS and High at 37.6 FPS are playable but may feel sluggish, while Ultra at 25.9 FPS is likely too choppy for comfortable play. The recommendation is to use Low at 4K or drop to 1440p and use High or Ultra for a more satisfying experience.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture with a TU104 chip manufactured on a 12 nm process. Its base clock of 1605 MHz boosts to 1770 MHz, and the memory runs at 1750 MHz, translating to 14 Gbps effective on 8 GB of GDDR6 memory. The 256-bit memory bus provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for feeding the 2560 shading units and 64 ROPs at higher resolutions.

In Hard West, the GPU's 9.062 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 113.3 GPixel/s pixel rate are the primary determinants of frame rate. The game's turn-based tactics typically involve static scenes with detailed environments, which can be demanding on fill rate and memory bandwidth. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for this game's textures, as evidenced by the fact that even at 4K Ultra, the system runs without apparent memory-related crashes, but the performance degradation from 1080p to 4K suggests the GPU's compute units are the bottleneck.

The RTX 2070 SUPER's 65th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 22,206, places it in the upper-mid range. Its nearest rival, the RTX 4060 Mobile, is 2.3% faster on average, while the RX 5700 is 2.5% slower. In Hard West, this GPU tier is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming but struggles at 4K, particularly at higher presets. The data shows that the GPU's 40 RT cores and 320 tensor cores provide no tangible benefit in this non-ray-traced, non-DLSS title, meaning raw rasterization performance is the sole relevant metric.