Hard West

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination ranks 103rd out of 3,722 tested combos in Hard West, placing it in the top 3% of all configurations measured. This is a dominant position, but it raises a question: why isn't it higher, given the RTX 4090 is the most powerful consumer GPU on the market? The answer lies in the game's age and genre. Hard West is a turn-based tactics title from 2015, which means its engine is not designed to stress modern hardware. The combo's rank reflects that the 4090's raw power is largely wasted here, as the game's modest graphical demands are easily met, leaving the CPU to handle the turn-based logic and AI calculations. The 87th percentile CPU (Ryzen 7 7700) and 88th percentile GPU (RTX 4090) both sit near the top of their respective charts, but the game's low ceiling prevents them from flexing their full potential.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 103 out of 3,722 tested combos indicates that only 102 other hardware pairings deliver higher average FPS in Hard West. This is an elite position, but it is not a #1 spot. The reason is that the game's performance ceiling is low enough that even mid-range GPUs can achieve high frame rates, and the RTX 4090's massive 24 GB of VRAM and 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 compute are not meaningfully utilized. The Ryzen 7 7700, with its 8 cores and 16 threads, is a capable processor, but the game's turn-based mechanics likely do not scale beyond a few threads. The nearest rivals to the CPU in synthetic benchmarks—the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 (0.1% ahead) and Intel Core 5 221E (0.2% behind)—show that the 7700 is in a tight cluster of mid-range performance, but in Hard West, the GPU is the bottleneck at higher resolutions, as we will see.

GPU Role

The RTX 4090 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture and features 16,384 shading units, 512 texture mapping units, and 176 ROPs. Its 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus delivers 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth, which is overkill for a 2015 turn-based tactics game. The GPU's 88th percentile rank among all GPUs confirms its elite status, but the measured FPS data reveals that the card is often underutilized. At 1080p Low settings, the combo achieves 287 FPS, which is far beyond any display's refresh rate. The GPU's base clock of 2235 MHz and boost clock of 2520 MHz are high, but the game's engine likely does not demand sustained high clocks. The RTX 4090's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks—the Intel Arc Pro A60 (0% delta), AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 (0.3% ahead), and AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (2.5% behind)—are workstation cards, not gaming GPUs, which underscores that the 4090's gaming performance is in a league of its own, but only when the software can leverage it.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals the shifting bottleneck. At Ultra settings, the combo delivers 171 FPS at 1080p, 108 FPS at 1440p, and 57 FPS at 4K. This is a 67% drop from 1080p to 4K, which is massive and indicates that the RTX 4090 is being heavily taxed at the highest resolution and settings. At Low settings, the drop is even steeper: 287 FPS at 1080p, 229 FPS at 1440p, and 120 FPS at 4K—a 58% decline. The fact that the 4K Low FPS (120) is still higher than the 4K Ultra FPS (57) shows that the GPU is the primary limiter at 4K, as lowering settings directly boosts performance. At 1080p, however, the CPU becomes more relevant. The 1080p Ultra FPS of 171 is only 40% lower than the 1080p Low FPS of 287, suggesting that the CPU is not a major bottleneck at this resolution, but the game's engine may be limiting the frame rate due to its turn-based nature. The 1440p numbers sit in a middle ground: the gap between Low (229 FPS) and Ultra (108 FPS) is 53%, which is narrower than at 4K (53% vs 52% actually, but the 4K Ultra is 57 FPS vs 4K Low 120 FPS—a 53% drop). The data consistently points to the GPU being the bottleneck at higher resolutions, while at 1080p, the CPU and game engine cap the performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160 (4K), the combo achieves 57 FPS on Ultra, 76 FPS on High, 99 FPS on Medium, and 120 FPS on Low. The jump from Ultra to High is 19 FPS (33% improvement), while from High to Medium is 23 FPS (30% improvement), and from Medium to Low is 21 FPS (21% improvement). This suggests that the Ultra preset is particularly demanding, likely due to settings like shadows or ambient occlusion that the 2015 engine handles poorly. The Medium preset at 4K hits 99 FPS, which is smooth for a turn-based game, and the Low preset at 120 FPS is overkill. At 2560x1440, the numbers are: Ultra 108 FPS, High 144 FPS, Medium 188 FPS, Low 229 FPS. The High preset at 144 FPS is a sweet spot for 144Hz monitors, while Medium at 188 FPS is ideal for 165Hz or 240Hz displays. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers: Ultra 171 FPS, High 228 FPS, Medium 268 FPS, Low 287 FPS. The Medium preset at 268 FPS is the highest average FPS outside of Low, and it has a recorded min FPS of 228 and max FPS of 308, indicating a stable frame rate. The Ultra preset at 1080p (171 FPS) is still smooth, but the gap between Ultra and High (57 FPS) is significant. The measured FPS data shows that the combo is capable of exceeding 200 FPS at 1080p on any preset except Ultra, and at 1440p, it stays above 100 FPS on all presets. At 4K, only the Low and Medium presets deliver above 90 FPS.

FAQ

Q: Why is the combo only ranked 103rd out of 3,722 if the RTX 4090 is the best GPU?

A: The rank is based on average FPS across all tested combos in Hard West, and the game's 2015 engine has a low performance ceiling. Many mid-range combos can achieve similar FPS because the game does not stress modern hardware, so the 4090's advantage is minimal.

Q: What is the best preset for 4K gaming on this combo?

A: The Medium preset at 4K delivers 99 FPS, which is smooth for a turn-based tactics game. The Ultra preset (57 FPS) is noticeably slower, and the High preset (76 FPS) is in between. Medium offers the best balance of visual quality and frame rate.

Q: Does the Ryzen 7 7700 bottleneck the RTX 4090 in this game?

A: At 1080p, the CPU may be a minor factor, but the 1080p Ultra FPS of 171 is still high. At 1440p and 4K, the GPU is the clear bottleneck, as shown by the large FPS drops when increasing resolution. The CPU's 8 cores and 16 threads are more than sufficient for this turn-based title.

*Q: How does the RTX 4090's 24 GB of VRAM affect performance in Hard West?*

A: The game's textures and assets from 2015 likely require far less than 24 GB, so the VRAM is not a limiting factor. The card's memory bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s is also overkill, as the game's data throughput is low.

Q: Is the 1080p Ultra preset worth using?

A: The 1080p Ultra preset delivers 171 FPS, which is still smooth, but the High preset (228 FPS) is 33% faster with likely minor visual differences. The Medium preset (268 FPS) is even faster and has a recorded min FPS of 228, ensuring no stutters.

Q: What is the combo's weakest link in this game?

A: The game's engine itself is the weakest link, as it cannot utilize the RTX 4090's full power. The GPU's 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 176 ROPs are wasted on a 2015 turn-based tactics title, and the CPU's 32 MB of L3 cache is not heavily taxed.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture (Raphael) on a 5 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, with 32 MB of shared L3 cache. Its 87th percentile rank among all CPUs places it in the upper tier, but in Hard West, the CPU's role is limited by the game's turn-based nature. The game's AI and logic likely benefit from single-threaded performance, where the 7700 scores 1,049 in 3DMark single-thread and 1,930 in Cinebench R23 single-core. These scores are strong, but not extraordinary. The 7700's nearest rivals—the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 (0.1% ahead) and Intel Core 5 221E (0.2% behind)—are similar in synthetic benchmarks, but in Hard West, the CPU is rarely the bottleneck. At 1080p, the 7700's 8 cores are enough to keep the frame rate high, but the 287 FPS at Low settings suggests the game engine may be hitting a soft cap. The CPU's 65W TDP and 5 nm process make it efficient, but that efficiency is not tested here. The 7700's 3DMark scores for 16 threads (8,484) and max threads (8,479) show that multi-threaded performance is consistent, but the game likely uses only a few threads, so the extra cores are idle. The CPU's 32 MB of L3 cache is ample for the game's data, but the 1.01 TB/s GPU bandwidth dwarfs the CPU's 83.2 GB/s memory bandwidth, which is irrelevant in this context.

Settings Recommendations

For 4K gaming, the Medium preset is recommended. It delivers 99 FPS, which is smooth for a turn-based game, and the min FPS of 84 ensures no drops below 60 FPS. The Ultra preset (57 FPS) is playable but not ideal, and the High preset (76 FPS) is a middle ground. At 1440p, the High preset (144 FPS) is ideal for 144Hz monitors, while the Medium preset (188 FPS) suits 165Hz or 240Hz displays. The Ultra preset (108 FPS) is also fine, but the High preset offers a better balance. At 1080p, the Medium preset (268 FPS) is the best choice, as it is close to the Low preset (287 FPS) but with higher visual quality, and it has a recorded min FPS of 228, ensuring no stutters. The High preset (228 FPS) is also excellent, but the Medium preset is 40 FPS faster. The Ultra preset (171 FPS) is not recommended, as the visual uplift is minimal compared to the 57 FPS loss. In all cases, the combo is powerful enough to run the game at any setting, but the Medium preset across resolutions offers the best balance of frame rate and visual fidelity, given the game's age.