Hard West

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 combination delivers a highly capable experience in Hard West, a turn-based tactics title from 2015. The measured data shows that this pairing can push very high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, while 4K Ultra remains the only challenging configuration. The CPU’s strong single-thread performance and the GPU’s ample memory bandwidth create a balanced platform, though the results reveal a clear ceiling imposed by the graphics card at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo if aiming for 60 FPS?

A: The data shows that 4K High achieves an average of 52.4 FPS, which falls short of 60 FPS. For a guaranteed 60 FPS experience, 1440p High delivers 97 FPS, while 1440p Ultra reaches 72.1 FPS, making either a solid choice.

Q: How much faster is the Low preset compared to Ultra at 1080p?

A: The frame rate gap is substantial. At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 246.8 FPS, which is 131.7 FPS higher than the Ultra preset’s 115.1 FPS average. This represents a performance increase of over 114% when dropping from Ultra to Low.

Q: Does the RTX 3080’s 10 GB VRAM cause any issues in this game?

A: The measured data does not indicate any VRAM-related performance anomalies. The RTX 3080 features 10 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 320-bit bus with 760.3 GB/s bandwidth. Given the game’s 2015 release date, this configuration appears sufficient across all tested settings, as frame rates scale consistently with resolution changes.

Q: How does the CPU’s 16-thread performance compare to its closest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 7 9700X’s average benchmark score of 36029 is nearly identical to its nearest competitors. It is 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core i5-14500HX and 0.6% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845, while sitting 0.4% behind the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H and 0.8% behind the Intel Core Ultra 5 225H.

Q: What is the frame rate drop from 1440p to 4K at Medium settings?

A: At 2560x1440 Medium, the average FPS is 125. Moving to 3840x2160 Medium drops the average to 67.2 FPS. This is a reduction of 57.8 FPS, or roughly 46% fewer frames per second.

Q: Is the RTX 3080’s performance closer to the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE or the RTX 5070 Ti Mobile?

A: According to the nearestRivals data, the RTX 3080 has an average benchmark score of 35787. It sits 0.9% below the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE (score 36101) and 1% above the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile (score 35435). The gap to both is minimal.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is the primary driver of Hard West’s frame rate in most scenarios. With a boost clock of 1710 MHz and 8704 shading units, the GPU has substantial raw compute power. The measured FPS demonstrates that the RTX 3080 scales predictably as resolution increases, which points to the graphics card being the limiting factor at 4K. At 1080p Low, the average of 246.8 FPS suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU at very high rates, but the GPU still handles the majority of the rendering workload.

The memory subsystem of the RTX 3080 is a key asset here. The 10 GB GDDR6X VRAM operates at 19 Gbps effective, providing 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth across a 320-bit bus. For a turn-based tactics game with relatively static scenes, this bandwidth is more than adequate. The pixel rate of 164.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 465.1 GTexel/s are also high, which explains why the card can maintain over 100 FPS at 1440p High and Ultra. The RTX 3080’s percentile rank of 80 among all GPUs places it in the upper tier, and its nearest rivals show a tight cluster of performance, with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE being the only direct competitor within 1%.

Settings Recommendations

The optimal preset depends on the target resolution. For 4K displays, the High preset is the best balance of visual quality and performance, yielding an average of 52.4 FPS. The Medium preset at 67.2 FPS is also viable if a smoother experience is prioritized over visual fidelity. The Ultra preset at 4K is not recommended, as it drops to 36.1 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay in a tactical title.

At 1440p, the Medium and High presets both provide excellent experiences. Medium averages 125 FPS, while High averages 97 FPS. The Ultra preset at 72.1 FPS is also playable and offers the highest visual quality. For 1080p users, all presets are playable, but the Ultra preset’s 115.1 FPS average is the sensible ceiling for maximizing graphics without sacrificing smoothness. The Low preset’s 246.8 FPS is excessive for most displays, which are typically capped at 144 Hz or 165 Hz. The data suggests that Medium or High at 1440p offers the best balance, but High at 4K is the most demanding configuration that remains playable.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 ranks 512 out of 1699 tested combos in Hard West. This places it in the top 30% of all configurations in the database. The rank reflects a strong mid-to-high tier position, indicating that while this system is far from the fastest available, it outperforms the majority of tested hardware pairings.

The ranking is consistent with the measured FPS data. At 1080p and 1440p, the combo delivers frame rates that exceed what most monitors can display, which is a hallmark of a well-balanced system. However, the 4K Ultra result of 36.1 FPS reveals a limitation that prevents a higher rank. The CPU’s percentile of 89 among all CPUs is notably higher than the GPU’s percentile of 80, suggesting the processor has more headroom than the graphics card. This discrepancy is likely why the combo ranks in the 500s rather than the 300s, as the GPU becomes the bottleneck at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X provides the computational foundation for this system. With 8 cores and 16 threads, the CPU offers strong multi-threaded performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 31588. However, for Hard West, the single-thread performance is more critical. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4459 and Geekbench single-core score of 3353 indicate excellent per-core capabilities, which is essential for the game’s turn-based logic and AI calculations.

The CPU’s base clock of 3.80 GHz and boost clock of 5.50 GHz are high, and the 32 MB of shared L3 cache helps reduce latency. The 3DMark single-thread score of 1280 and 2-thread score of 2525 show that the processor scales well with low thread counts. In the measured results, the CPU’s influence is most visible at 1080p Low, where the 246.8 FPS average suggests the processor is keeping up with the GPU’s output. The Ryzen 7 9700X’s nearest rivals all have average benchmark scores within 0.8% of its 36029, confirming that this CPU is competitively positioned in the market.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset leads with an average of 246.8 FPS. The Medium preset follows at 200.4 FPS, with High at 153.3 FPS and Ultra at 115.1 FPS. All 1080p results exceed 100 FPS, indicating a highly responsive experience.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 155.6 FPS, which is still exceptionally high. Medium drops to 125 FPS, High to 97 FPS, and Ultra to 72.1 FPS. The 1440p results show a more pronounced difference between presets, with Ultra being 83.5 FPS slower than Low. At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 80.7 FPS, Medium at 67.2 FPS, High at 52.4 FPS, and Ultra at 36.1 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the only configuration below 40 FPS, making it the sole pairing of resolution and settings that struggles to maintain smooth gameplay.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 1440p to 4K reveals a clear pattern of performance degradation. At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 200.4 at 1080p to 125 at 1440p, and then to 67.2 at 4K. This represents a 37.6% decrease from 1080p to 1440p, and a 46.2% decrease from 1440p to 4K. The pixel count increase from 1080p to 4K is fourfold, but the frame rate does not drop proportionally, which indicates that the GPU is not the sole bottleneck.

The data suggests a balanced system at lower resolutions, but an increasingly GPU-bound scenario at higher ones. At 1080p Low, the 246.8 FPS average is likely near the CPU’s limit for this game, as the turn-based nature limits the number of draw calls. At 4K Ultra, the 36.1 FPS result shows the GPU is heavily taxed. The RTX 3080’s 10 GB VRAM and 760.3 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient, but the raw compute power is the limiting factor. The CPU’s high single-thread score of 4459 in Cinebench R23 ensures it is not a bottleneck at 4K, where the GPU’s workload dominates. This scaling behavior is typical for a game of this era, where the GPU becomes the primary constraint as resolution increases.