Hard West

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 delivers a commanding performance profile in Hard West, a turn-based tactics title from 2015. Across the measured configurations, the combination demonstrates exceptional headroom, with the data indicating that even the most demanding settings at high resolutions remain playable. The benchmark results show a clear hierarchy where the CPU's strong single-threaded performance and the GPU's substantial bandwidth combine to produce frame rates that are consistently high, often exceeding three-digit averages at 1440p and 1080p.

Settings Recommendations

The optimal experience balances visual fidelity with the smooth, responsive feedback that turn-based tactics benefit from during camera pans and unit selection. The data shows that the High preset offers the best overall experience, as it delivers a 58.1 FPS average at 4K, which is above the standard 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. This is a significant finding because it proves the combo can handle the highest common resolution without dropping below playability. At 1440p, the High preset achieves a 110.3 FPS average, and at 1080p it reaches 176.1 FPS, demonstrating that this setting scales exceptionally well.

While the Ultra preset provides the maximum visual quality, the measured results show a substantial performance cost: 43 FPS at 4K, 82.8 FPS at 1440p, and 131.7 FPS at 1080p. The 4K figure dips below the 60 FPS ideal, which could introduce minor stutter during heavy graphical effects. Conversely, the Medium preset offers a notable performance uplift over High, with averages of 75 FPS at 4K, 146.1 FPS at 1440p, and 228.5 FPS at 1080p. However, the jump from Medium to High costs only a few frames at lower resolutions, making High the sweet spot for visual quality per frame. The Low preset is only necessary for extreme refresh rate chasing, yielding 276.7 FPS at 1080p, but it sacrifices the game's atmospheric art style for a marginal competitive edge in a single-player genre.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is the primary driver of frame rate scaling in this configuration. Its memory subsystem is a key asset: with 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus, it provides a bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s. This is particularly relevant for Hard West, which, despite its age, can load high-resolution textures and shadow maps. The data indicates that the GPU's 5 nm process node and Blackwell 2.0 architecture, with a base clock of 2325 MHz and a boost clock of 2512 MHz, provide ample raw compute for the game's DirectX 12 rendering path. The GPU's performance percentile of 83 versus all other GPUs supports the observed results, which show it handling the game's demands with ease.

The 30.87 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power ensures that the pixel rate of 201.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 482.3 GTexel/s are fully utilized. In practice, this translates to the measured frame rates, where the GPU becomes the decisive factor at higher resolutions. For instance, the frame rate drop from 1080p Medium to 4K Medium is significant, dropping from 228.5 FPS to 75 FPS, indicating that the GPU is scaling its workload with pixel count. The 12 GB memory capacity is not a limiting factor at these settings, as the game does not appear to exceed this allocation, allowing the RTX 5070 to operate without memory swap penalties.

Resolution Scaling

The data reveals a linear and predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases, which is classic GPU-bound behavior. Moving from 1080p to 1440p at High settings reduces the average FPS from 176.1 to 110.3, a drop of 37.4%. The subsequent jump to 4K further reduces performance to 58.1 FPS, a 47.3% reduction from 1440p. This pattern is consistent across all settings presets. For example, on Low settings, the progression is 276.7 FPS at 1080p, 177.8 FPS at 1440p, and 90.2 FPS at 4K. This indicates that the rendering resolution is the primary bottleneck, and the CPU is not impeding performance at any point.

The scaling from 1440p to 4K is steeper than from 1080p to 1440p, which reflects the doubling of pixel count. At 4K Ultra, the system drops to 43 FPS, highlighting that the GPU is fully saturated. This behavior confirms that the limiting component in this combo is the GPU, not the CPU. The CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls, and given the game's age, its demands are modest. The data suggests that users with high-refresh-rate 1440p monitors will see the CPU and GPU working in harmony, while 4K users will find the GPU reaching its limits on the highest preset.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Hard West at 4K with maximum settings?

A: Yes, but not at a consistent 60 FPS. The measured average at 4K Ultra is 43 FPS, which is playable but may not feel perfectly smooth. Lowering to High settings brings the average to 58.1 FPS, which is closer to the ideal.

Q: Is the RTX 5070's 12 GB of VRAM sufficient for this game?

A: The benchmark data shows no performance anomalies that would suggest VRAM limitations. The frame rates scale predictably with resolution, indicating that the 12 GB GDDR7 memory is not being exhausted at the tested settings.

Q: How does the CPU influence performance in this game?

A: The CPU's influence is minimal. The Ryzen 7 9700X, with its 8 cores and 16 threads, provides a strong foundation, but the frame rate differences between resolutions show that the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU’s high single-thread performance ensures it does not bottleneck the GPU.

Q: What is the best preset for a 1440p monitor?

A: The High preset is recommended, as it delivers a 110.3 FPS average. This provides a smooth experience that takes advantage of high refresh rates. The Ultra preset is also viable at 82.8 FPS, but the visual gain is marginal.

Q: Is the performance difference between Medium and High settings large?

A: The difference is moderate. At 1080p, the average FPS drops from 228.5 on Medium to 176.1 on High, a 22.9% reduction. At 4K, the drop is from 75 to 58.1, a 22.5% reduction, showing a consistent cost for the improved visuals.

Q: Does the game run faster on Low settings at 1080p?

A: Yes, the Low preset achieves the highest measured average FPS of 276.7 at 1080p. This is the fastest configuration tested, though it sacrifices visual fidelity.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X, based on the Zen 5 architecture with a 4 nm process, serves as a capable foundation for this gaming workload. Its 8 cores and 16 threads are more than sufficient for a turn-based tactics title, which typically does not scale well beyond a few threads. The processor's strengths lie in its high clock speeds, with a base of 3.80 GHz and a boost of 5.50 GHz, which are crucial for maintaining high minimum frame rates in CPU-bound scenarios. The benchmark data for the CPU shows a single-thread score of 1280 in 3dmark and 4459 in Cinebench R23, indicating excellent per-core performance that prevents stuttering when the game engine has to process AI turns or pathfinding.

The 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 1 MB per-core L2 cache help reduce memory latency, which is beneficial for the game's logic. The CPU's 89th percentile ranking versus all CPUs supports its strong performance. When compared to its nearest rivals, the CPU is effectively tied with the Intel Core i5-14500HX (0.2% delta) and the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H (-0.4% delta), but it offers a desktop platform with DDR5 memory support. The data shows that in this game, the CPU is not the limiting factor; the GPU is. The frame rate drops are entirely consistent with GPU load increases as resolution scales, proving that the 9700X has ample headroom to feed the RTX 5070 without becoming a bottleneck.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the combo's capabilities. At 1920x1080, the system delivers exceptional performance across all presets. The Low preset achieves a 276.7 FPS average, which is exceptionally high. The Medium preset follows with 228.5 FPS, and High drops to 176.1 FPS. The Ultra preset still manages a very smooth 131.7 FPS average. These numbers indicate that at 1080p, the combo is heavily GPU-limited but offers massive headroom for high-refresh-rate displays.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains impressive. The Low preset yields a 177.8 FPS average, while Medium and High provide 146.1 and 110.3 FPS, respectively. The Ultra preset falls to 82.8 FPS, which is still well above the 60 FPS mark. This resolution offers the best balance of visual quality and performance, with the High preset being a particularly strong choice. At 3840x2160, the demands increase significantly. The Low preset still delivers a playable 90.2 FPS, and the Medium preset achieves 75 FPS. The High preset drops to 58.1 FPS, which is just below the 60 FPS ideal. The Ultra preset is the only configuration that falls to 43 FPS, indicating it is best reserved for screenshots or non-critical moments.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this pairing of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 achieves a rank of 286 out of 1699 combos for Hard West. This places it in the top 16.8% of all tested systems, which is a strong showing for a mid-to-high-end desktop configuration. The rank reflects the combo's ability to maintain high frame rates across all resolutions, particularly its excellent 1440p performance. While it does not crack the top 100, the data suggests that the limiting factor is the GPU, not the CPU, as the 9700X's performance is not a differentiator at this level.

The rank is primarily driven by the GPU's 83rd percentile performance, which is solid but not class-leading. The nearest rival GPUs, such as the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 (0.6% delta) and the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 (0.2% delta), show that the RTX 5070 is competitive with previous generation high-end cards. The CPU's 89th percentile ranking also contributes to the overall position. The combination of a high-end CPU and a strong GPU results in a system that is well-balanced for this game, with no clear bottleneck. The data indicates that users with this combo can expect a premium experience in Hard West, with the ability to max out settings at 1440p and approach 4K60 on High settings.