Hard West

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700X and Intel Arc B580 combination ranks 2,817th out of 3,722 tested combos in Hard West, placing it in the lower third of all configurations. This percentile position reflects a pairing where the GPU’s 68th-percentile standing among all GPUs is the primary constraint, while the CPU’s 85th-percentile score suggests it has ample headroom for this turn-based tactics title. The data indicates a system that delivers playable framerates at mainstream resolutions but struggles to maintain smooth performance at 4K, particularly when visual fidelity settings are pushed to their maximum.

How This Combo Ranks

The comboRankInGame of 2,817 out of 3,722 places this configuration in the 24th percentile of tested pairings for Hard West. This is a modest result for a system built around a CPU that scores in the 85th percentile of all processors. The AMD Ryzen 7 7700X posts a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 19,088 and a single-core score of 1,987, indicating strong computational capability. However, the Intel Arc B580’s 68th-percentile GPU ranking, with an average benchmark score of 23,021, aligns more closely with the combo’s overall position.

The deltaPct values from the nearest rival comparisons show how tightly clustered the CPU’s performance is at this tier. The Ryzen 7 7700X averages 35,909 across benchmark suites, just 0.3% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 (35,802), 0.5% ahead of both the Intel Core 7 250H (35,728) and AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 350 (35,719), and 0.7% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H (35,670). These margins are negligible in gaming workloads, meaning any of these CPUs would produce similar results in Hard West when paired with the same GPU.

For the GPU side, the Arc B580’s average score of 23,021 sits within 1% of several rivals: it trails the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP by 0.2% (23,061), leads the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 by 0.6% (22,895), trails the RTX 3080 by 0.7% (23,172), and trails the NVIDIA P106-100 by 1% (23,249). This tight grouping indicates that the Arc B580 delivers performance comparable to these established cards, and the combo’s low rank in Hard West is more a reflection of the game’s modest hardware demands than any deficiency in the components themselves.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Hard West at 1080p with maximum settings?

A: Yes, at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, the combination produces an average of 71 FPS. This is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, though lower than the 95 FPS average seen at High settings.

Q: What is the best resolution for balanced performance?

A: The 2560x1440 High preset delivers an average of 60 FPS, making it the most balanced option. It offers a significant visual upgrade over 1080p while maintaining playable framerates, whereas 4K High drops to 32 FPS.

Q: How does the GPU’s 12 GB VRAM affect 4K performance?

A: The 12 GB GDDR6 memory with 456.0 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for Hard West at 3840x2160, as evidenced by the playable 41 FPS average at Medium settings. The bottleneck at 4K is the GPU’s raw compute, not memory capacity.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 7700X holding back the Arc B580 in this game?

A: No, benchmark results suggest the CPU is not the limiting factor. The Ryzen 7 7700X’s 3DMark scores (8,859 for 16 threads, 1,090 for single thread) indicate strong performance, while the GPU’s 68th-percentile ranking is the primary constraint.

Q: What settings produce the highest minimum framerate?

A: The only measured minimum framerates come from Medium settings. At 1920x1080 Medium, the minimum is 105 FPS; at 2560x1440 Medium, it is 67 FPS; and at 3840x2160 Medium, it is 35 FPS)Skip to contentQ: What settings produce the highest minimum framerate?

A: The only measured minimum framerates come from Medium settings. At 1920x1080 Medium, the minimum is 105 FPS; at 2560x1440 Medium, it is 67 FPS; and at 3840x2160 Medium, it is 35 FPS.

Q: Does this combo handle 4K Ultra?

A: No, 4K Ultra produces only 24 FPS average, which is below playable thresholds. The system is better suited to 1080p or 1440p gaming, where it can maintain framerates above 45 FPS even at Ultra settings.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580’s specifications define its performance envelope in Hard West. With a base and boost clock of 2670 MHz, the GPU sustains consistent frequency across workloads. The 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 456.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is ample for this turn-based tactics title’s texture streaming needs. The 2,560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output units work together to produce the measured framerates.

The GPU’s compute capabilities, rated at 13.67 TFLOPS FP32, determine its ability to handle the game’s rendering at different resolutions. At 1920x1080, the GPU is rarely the bottleneck, producing 151 FPS at Low settings. However, the scaling to 3840x2160 exposes its limits: the same Low preset drops to 50 FPS, and High settings fall to 32 FPS. This indicates that the Arc B580 has sufficient memory bandwidth but lacks the raw fill rate for high-resolution, high-fidelity rendering.

The GPU’s architecture, Xe2-HPG on a 5 nm process from TSMC, includes 20 ray tracing cores, though Hard West does not utilize ray tracing. The DirectX 12 Ultimate support with feature level 12_2 ensures compatibility with modern APIs, but the game’s 2015 release date means it likely uses older rendering paths. The measured performance across presets shows a clear hierarchy: Low, Medium, High, and Ultra each exact a significant toll on framerates, with the gap widening as resolution increases.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers excellent performance across all settings. Low settings produce 151 FPS average, Medium reaches 124 FPS with a minimum of 105 FPS and maximum of 143 FPS, High achieves 95 FPS, and Ultra maintains 71 FPS. These numbers indicate that 1080p is well within the Arc B580’s comfort zone, with even the most demanding preset remaining above 70 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the framerates drop but remain playable. Low settings average 96 FPS, Medium delivers 79 FPS with a range of 67 to 90 FPS, High hits exactly 60 FPS, and Ultra falls to 45 FPS. The 1440p High result is notable for landing precisely at the 60 FPS mark, making it a viable option for users with 144 Hz displays who prefer higher settings over maximum framerates.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles to maintain playable framerates. Low settings average 50 FPS, Medium produces 41 FPS with a minimum of 35 FPS and maximum of 47 FPS, High drops to 32 FPS, and Ultra falls to 24 FPS. The 4K Medium result is the only 4K preset that approaches acceptable playability, and even it dips below 40 FPS in demanding scenes. The data suggests that 4K gaming is only feasible at Low settings, and even then, the experience is marginal.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K reveals the bottleneck dynamics of this combination. At Low settings, the framerate decreases from 151 FPS at 1080p to 96 FPS at 1440p (a 36% reduction) and then to 50 FPS at 4K (a 67% reduction from the 1440p figure). This scaling pattern indicates that the GPU is the limiting component, as the CPU’s performance headroom is not exhausted even at 1080p.

For High settings, the scaling is steeper: 95 FPS at 1080p, 60 FPS at 1440p (a 37% drop), and 32 FPS at 4K (a 47% drop from 1440p). The Ultra preset shows similar behavior, falling from 71 FPS at 1080p to 45 FPS at 1440p to 24 FPS at 4K. The consistent ~37% reduction from 1080p to 1440p across presets suggests that the GPU’s pixel throughput is the primary constraint, as the number of pixels increases by roughly 77% between these resolutions.

The transition from 1440p to 4K shows a more variable reduction pattern, ranging from 48% at Medium settings (79 to 41 FPS) to 60% at Low settings (96 to 50 FPS). This variability indicates that at 4K, the GPU’s memory bandwidth of 456.0 GB/s begins to play a larger role, with higher settings demanding more memory throughput that the 192-bit bus cannot fully supply.

Settings Recommendations

For 1080p displays, Ultra settings are the clear recommendation. The 71 FPS average at 1920x1080 Ultra provides a fully smooth experience while delivering the maximum visual quality the game offers. Users prioritizing higher refresh rates can drop to High for 95 FPS or Medium for 124 FPS, with the latter providing a minimum of 105 FPS that never dips below the 100 FPS threshold.

At 1440p, High settings offer the best balance, hitting exactly 60 FPS average. This provides a stable experience for standard 60 Hz monitors. For users with adaptive sync displays, Medium settings at 79 FPS with a 67 FPS minimum offer more headroom, while Ultra at 45 FPS is playable but may feel less smooth during camera movements or effects-heavy turns.

At 4K, the options are limited. Low settings at 50 FPS are the only preset that exceeds 48 FPS, making it the default choice for 4K displays. Medium settings at 41 FPS are playable for turn-based gameplay, where the slower pacing mitigates the lower framerate, but the 35 FPS minimum may be noticeable. High and Ultra at 32 FPS and 24 FPS, respectively, are not recommended for regular play, though turn-based tactics can tolerate these framerates better than fast-paced genres.

The data indicates that this system is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming in Hard West)Skip to content. The 1440p High preset offers the most compelling combination of visual fidelity and performance, while 1080p Ultra provides the highest quality experience without sacrificing smoothness. Users with 4K displays should accept Low settings or consider reducing resolution to 1440p for a better experience.