Hard West

FAQ

Q: What is the overall performance ranking of the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 combo in Hard West?

A: This combo ranks 1802 out of 2949 tested combos in the database for this game, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the field. The percentile positioning indicates that while the system is fully playable, it is not among the top-tier performers for this title.

Q: At which resolution does this combo achieve the highest average frame rate?

A: The highest average frame rate of 165 FPS is achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. At the same resolution, Medium settings deliver 135 FPS, High settings deliver 104 FPS, and Ultra settings deliver 78 FPS.

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with this hardware configuration?

A: At 3840x2160, the results are mixed. Low settings produce 55 FPS on average, Medium settings produce 45 FPS (with a minimum of 38 and maximum of 52), High settings produce 34 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 26 FPS. For a consistently smooth experience, 4K gaming is only viable at Low or Medium settings.

Q: How much performance difference is there between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings deliver 104 FPS on average, while Ultra settings deliver 49 FPS. This represents a drop of 55 FPS, or approximately 53% lower performance when moving from the lowest to the highest preset. Medium settings sit in between at 86 FPS, and High settings at 66 FPS.

Q: What is the CPU's percentile rank compared to all CPUs in the database?

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 has a percentile rank of 87, meaning it outperforms 87% of all CPUs in the benchmark database. Its average benchmark score is 40081, which places it in the upper tier of processors tested.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile rank and how does it compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 has a percentile rank of 66 among all GPUs. Its average benchmark score is 21035. The nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL, scores 21153, which is 0.6% higher, while the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT scores 20713, which is 1.6% lower.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 achieves a rank of 1802 out of 2949 tested combos in Hard West. This places the configuration in the 39th percentile of all tested systems, indicating that it sits below the median performance level for this game. The ranking reflects a combination that handles the game's turn-based tactical demands competently but does not excel in raw frame rate output compared to higher-end configurations.

Examining the individual components provides context for this ranking. The CPU, with a percentile rank of 87, is a strong performer relative to the broader CPU landscape. Its average benchmark score of 40081 places it nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365, which scores 40048 (a 0.1% difference), and slightly below the Intel Core 5 221E, which scores 40144 (a -0.2% difference). The CPU is clearly not the bottleneck in this system.

The GPU tells a different story. The RTX 5050 has a percentile rank of 66, and its average benchmark score of 21035 places it close to several older or mobile-oriented GPUs. The AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL scores 21153 (0.6% higher), the AMD Radeon HD 8970M scores 21237 (1% higher), and the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile scores 21379 (1.6% higher). The only rival it beats is the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT, which scores 20713 (1.6% lower). This positions the GPU as a mid-range performer that limits the overall combo ranking.

The measured FPS data confirms this analysis. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers playable frame rates across all presets, but at higher resolutions, performance drops significantly. The combo ranking of 1802 out of 2949 suggests that many other configurations deliver higher frame rates in this game, likely due to more powerful GPUs. The CPU's strong showing in synthetic benchmarks does not translate into top-tier gaming performance because the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher settings and resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal experience depends heavily on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, all settings presets deliver playable frame rates, with Low achieving 165 FPS, Medium achieving 135 FPS, High achieving 104 FPS, and Ultra achieving 78 FPS. For users with a 60 Hz monitor, even Ultra settings provide headroom above the refresh rate. For those with a 144 Hz monitor, High settings at 104 FPS offer a good balance between visual quality and smoothness, while Medium at 135 FPS provides additional headroom for demanding scenes.

At 2560x1440, the recommendation shifts. Low settings deliver 104 FPS, Medium delivers 86 FPS (with a minimum of 73 and maximum of 98), High delivers 66 FPS, and Ultra delivers 49 FPS. For a 60 Hz display, High settings at 66 FPS provide a comfortable margin above the refresh rate. For 144 Hz displays, Medium settings at 86 FPS are the highest preset that maintains a frame rate above 72 FPS, ensuring a consistent experience. Ultra settings at 49 FPS are not recommended for smooth gameplay at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the options are limited. Low settings deliver 55 FPS, Medium delivers 45 FPS (with a minimum of 38 and maximum of 52), High delivers 34 FPS, and Ultra delivers 26 FPS. For 60 Hz displays, Low settings are the only preset that approaches a playable frame rate, though it falls short of a locked 60 FPS. Medium settings at 45 FPS are acceptable for turn-based tactics, where frame rate fluctuations are less impactful than in action games. High and Ultra settings are not recommended at this resolution.

The data indicates that the best overall experience is at 1920x1080 with High settings, offering 104 FPS on average with no reported minimum frame rate drops. This provides a strong balance between visual fidelity and performance. For users prioritizing maximum smoothness, 1920x1080 with Medium settings at 135 FPS is the best choice.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo demonstrates its strongest performance. Low settings produce an average of 165 FPS, which is the highest frame rate recorded in the entire dataset. Medium settings deliver 135 FPS on average, with a minimum of 115 and a maximum of 155 FPS. High settings achieve 104 FPS on average, and Ultra settings deliver 78 FPS on average. The scaling from Low to Ultra shows a consistent decrease, with Ultra delivering approximately 53% of the Low setting's frame rate.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance drops noticeably. Low settings deliver 104 FPS on average, which matches the High setting performance at 1080p. Medium settings produce 86 FPS on average, with a minimum of 73 and a maximum of 98 FPS. High settings achieve 66 FPS, and Ultra settings deliver 49 FPS. The jump from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 37% of the frame rate at Low settings (165 to 104 FPS) and 37% at Ultra settings (78 to 49 FPS).

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the limiting factor. Low settings deliver 55 FPS on average, Medium settings produce 45 FPS with a minimum of 38 and a maximum of 52 FPS, High settings achieve 34 FPS, and Ultra settings deliver 26 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 4K represents a 47% reduction at Low settings (104 to 55 FPS) and a 47% reduction at Ultra settings (49 to 26 FPS). The minimum frame rate data at 4K Medium (38 FPS) indicates that even the middle preset can experience noticeable dips.

The data shows that the most consistent performance is at 1080p, where even the lowest minimum frame rate recorded (115 FPS at Medium) is well above typical display refresh rates. At 1440p, the minimum frame rate at Medium (73 FPS) remains above 60 FPS, but Ultra drops below this threshold. At 4K, no preset maintains a minimum frame rate above 60 FPS, and only Low settings exceed 50 FPS on average.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with the GB207 chip, manufactured on a 5 nm process at TSMC. The GPU features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 320.0 GB/s. The memory operates at 2500 MHz with a 20 Gbps effective rate. These memory specifications directly impact the measured FPS data, particularly at higher resolutions where memory bandwidth becomes a limiting factor.

The GPU's clock speeds are 2317 MHz base and 2572 MHz boost. With 2560 shading units, 80 texture mapping units, and 32 render output units, the GPU delivers a pixel rate of 82.30 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 205.8 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is 13.17 TFLOPS, which is identical to the FP16 performance at a 1:1 ratio. The GPU also includes 20 ray tracing cores and 80 tensor cores, which are not heavily utilized in Hard West given its turn-based tactical nature.

The GPU's 66th percentile rank among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 21035, reflects a mid-range performer. The measured FPS data aligns with this positioning. At 1080p, the GPU delivers frame rates ranging from 78 FPS at Ultra to 165 FPS at Low. At 1440p, the range drops to 49-104 FPS. At 4K, the range falls to 26-55 FPS. The steep performance drop from 1440p to 4K (roughly 47% across all settings) indicates that the 8 GB memory capacity and 320.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for maintaining high frame rates at 4K resolution.

The GPU's nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL (0.6% higher score), AMD Radeon HD 8970M (1% higher), AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (1.6% lower), and NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile (1.6% higher). These close scores suggest that the RTX 5050 performs similarly to a range of GPUs from different generations and market segments. In Hard West specifically, the GPU's performance is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming but struggles at 4K, particularly at higher settings presets.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 is an 8-core, 16-thread processor from the 7000 series, built on the Zen 4 architecture (codenamed Raphael). It operates on the AMD Socket AM5 platform and is manufactured on a 5 nm process at TSMC. The CPU has a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, with a TDP of 65 W. It features 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 1 MB of L2 cache per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache.

The CPU's strong synthetic benchmark results indicate that it is not a bottleneck in this system. In Cinebench R23, the CPU scores 18760 in multicore and 1930 in singlecore. In Geekbench, it scores 15371 in multicore and 2525 in singlecore. The PassMark multithread score is 34470, with a single-thread score of 4063. These results position the CPU at the 87th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 40081.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 (scoring 40048, a 0.1% difference), Intel Core 5 221E (scoring 40144, a -0.2% difference), AMD Ryzen 9 270 (scoring 40246, a -0.4% difference), and Intel Core i9-13905H (scoring 40313, a -0.6% difference). These scores show that the Ryzen 7 7700 performs nearly identically to a range of newer and older processors, indicating that its performance is well-established within the current CPU landscape.

In Hard West, which is a turn-based tactics game released in 2015, the CPU's 8 cores and 16 threads provide ample processing power. The game's turn-based nature means that frame rate is primarily determined by GPU performance rather than CPU processing. The measured FPS data supports this interpretation: the performance differences between settings presets and resolutions are consistent with GPU-bound workloads. The CPU's high single-thread performance (1930 in Cinebench R23 singlecore) ensures that any CPU-intensive calculations in the game are handled efficiently, but the overall frame rates are limited by the GPU's capabilities at higher resolutions.