Hard West

# Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Hard West reveals a classic resolution scaling curve, but with some unusual characteristics that hint at where the bottleneck lies. At 1080p with Low settings, this combo pushes 285.7 FPS, dropping to 179.8 FPS at 1440p and 96.4 FPS at 4K. That's a 47% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and another 46% drop going from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is nearly linear, which suggests the workload is scaling with pixel count rather than being limited by any single component at these lower settings.

However, the picture changes dramatically when looking at Ultra settings. At 1080p Ultra, the combo delivers 135.1 FPS, which drops to 86.5 FPS at 1440p (a 36% reduction) and then to 44.8 FPS at 4K (a 48% reduction from 1440p). The steeper drop at 4K Ultra indicates that the GPU is becoming the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions and settings. The RTX 4070 SUPER's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are being pushed harder as resolution increases, and the data shows this is where the frame rate falls below the 60 FPS threshold.

What's particularly telling is the gap between Low and Ultra at each resolution. At 1080p, the difference is 150.6 FPS (from 285.7 down to 135.1). At 1440p, that gap narrows to 93.3 FPS. At 4K, it's just 51.6 FPS. This compression of the settings range at higher resolutions is a clear indicator that pixel throughput is becoming the dominant cost. The game's turn-based tactics nature means it's not demanding real-time physics or complex AI at high thread counts, so the scaling behavior points squarely at the GPU.

# How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination ranks 242nd out of 1,699 tested combos for Hard West. That puts it in the top 14.3% of all configurations tested in this game. The percentile ranking is a strong result for a game that was released in 2015, as it shows the modern hardware is well ahead of the vast majority of systems that would have been tested.

The GPU's percentile versus all GPUs is 84, meaning it outperforms 84% of all graphics cards in the benchmark database. The CPU's percentile is even higher at 91. This suggests the CPU is the stronger component relative to its peers, which aligns with the resolution scaling analysis showing the GPU taking on more work as resolution increases. The combo ranking of 242 is influenced by both components, but the CPU's higher percentile indicates it's less likely to be the limiting factor in most scenarios.

Notably, the nearest rivals for the GPU include the NVIDIA RTX A6000 (0.2% behind), the AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE (0.3% ahead), and the AMD Radeon Pro 580X (1.4% ahead). These are all professional or near-professional cards, and the 4070 SUPER is competitive with them despite being a consumer gaming product. The CPU's nearest rivals are similarly close, with the AMD Ryzen 9 7940H just 0.1% ahead and the Intel Core i9-13905H 0.6% behind.

# GPU Role

The RTX 4070 SUPER brings substantial hardware to bear on Hard West, even though the game itself is from 2015. The GPU's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus delivers 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for the game's textures and geometry. The clock speeds are 1980 MHz base and 2475 MHz boost, and these clocks matter more than the memory bandwidth in a turn-based tactics title that doesn't stream massive open-world assets.

The GPU's benchmark scores reveal its compute capabilities: 35.48 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, 554.4 GTexel/s texture rate, and 198.0 GPixel/s pixel rate. For a game like Hard West, the pixel rate is the most relevant metric, as the game's 2D-rendered characters and environments are relatively light on texture work but still demand fill rate at higher resolutions. The measured FPS data supports this: at 4K Ultra, the combo still manages 44.8 FPS, which is playable but not smooth, and the pixel rate is clearly being taxed.

The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 29,995 and its 84th percentile ranking put it in the upper tier of graphics cards. Its nearest rival, the RTX A6000, is nearly identical in average score (42,653 vs. 42,576, a 0.2% difference). This tells us the 4070 SUPER is punching at a professional-workstation level in raw compute, which explains why it can handle 4K in a game from 2015 even if the frame rates aren't stellar.

# Measured FPS Breakdown

Starting at 1080p, the data shows a wide spread across settings. Low delivers 285.7 FPS, Medium drops to 234 FPS, High comes in at 183 FPS, and Ultra falls to 135.1 FPS. The step from Low to Medium is a 51.7 FPS reduction, while Medium to High is another 51 FPS drop. The High to Ultra step is the largest single reduction at 47.9 FPS, suggesting Ultra settings introduce a significant rendering cost.

At 1440p, the pattern continues but with lower absolute numbers. Low hits 179.8 FPS, Medium 151.2 FPS, High 114.9 FPS, and Ultra 86.5 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 93.3 FPS, compared to 150.6 FPS at 1080p. This means the settings are having less relative impact at higher resolution, which is typical of GPU-bound scenarios where resolution dominates the workload.

At 4K, the numbers become more modest. Low manages 96.4 FPS, Medium 78.2 FPS, High 58.4 FPS, and Ultra drops to 44.8 FPS. The High setting at 4K is just below the 60 FPS target, while Ultra is well below it. The step from Medium to High at 4K is 19.8 FPS, and High to Ultra is 13.6 FPS. These smaller absolute differences reflect the diminishing returns of settings changes when pixel count is already maxing out the GPU.

# FAQ

Q: Is this combo capable of 60 FPS at 4K in Hard West?

A: Only at Medium settings, where it achieves 78.2 FPS. At High settings, it drops to 58.4 FPS, slightly below 60. Ultra is 44.8 FPS.

Q: How much performance is lost going from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: From 183 FPS at 1080p to 114.9 FPS at 1440p to 58.4 FPS at 4K. That's a 68% reduction from 1080p to 4K.

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

A: 1440p offers the best balance, with High settings at 114.9 FPS and Ultra at 86.5 FPS. Both comfortably exceed 60 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 7 7700 is 0.1% behind the Ryzen 9 7940H, 0.5% ahead of the Ryzen AI 9 365, and 0.6% behind the Core i9-13905H. It's also 1.2% ahead of the Core Ultra 5 235T.

Q: Does the GPU become the bottleneck at any resolution?

A: Yes, at 4K Ultra the GPU is clearly the limiting factor, as frame rates drop to 44.8 FPS. At 1080p, the CPU is more likely to be the constraint given the very high frame rates.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking?

A: The RTX 4070 SUPER ranks in the 84th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 42,576.

# Settings Recommendations

For the best experience measured in the data, 1440p with High settings is the clear sweet spot. It delivers 114.9 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold and leaves headroom for demanding scenes. If visual fidelity is the priority, 1440p Ultra at 86.5 FPS is still smooth and offers the maximum quality settings without sacrificing playability.

At 1080p, every setting is playable, with Ultra at 135.1 FPS being the worst-case scenario. The data suggests that even the most demanding settings at 1080p are far from taxing this combo. Players with high refresh rate monitors could take advantage of Low settings at 285.7 FPS, though the visual compromise may not be worth it when High still hits 183 FPS.

For 4K, the choice is more constrained. Medium at 78.2 FPS is the only setting that clears 60 FPS comfortably. High at 58.4 FPS is borderline, and Ultra at 44.8 FPS is below the threshold for smooth gameplay. The data suggests that 4K players should stick to Medium unless they're willing to accept frame rates in the 45-58 range.

# CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 is a Zen 4 (Raphael) architecture CPU with 8 cores and 16 threads, running at a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. Its benchmark scores are impressive: a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 29,302 and a single-core score of 4,136. The PassMark multithread score of 34,470 and single-thread score of 4,063 reinforce its position as a top-tier consumer CPU.

In Hard West, a turn-based tactics game, the CPU's role is less about raw frame rate and more about maintaining consistent logic and AI processing. The game's turn-based nature means it doesn't require the same real-time simulation load as an action title, so the CPU's 8 cores and 16 threads are likely underutilized in most scenarios. The 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 83.2 GB/s memory bandwidth are more than sufficient for the game's data needs.

The CPU's 91st percentile ranking and its close competition with mobile and desktop chips (the Ryzen 9 7940H is just 0.1% ahead) suggest that the 7700 is near the top of what's available. However, the measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo hits 285.7 FPS, which is likely pushing against CPU limits given the game's age and the GPU's capability. At higher resolutions, the CPU's influence diminishes as the GPU takes over as the primary constraint, which is exactly what the resolution scaling analysis reveals.