Hard West

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination delivers exceptional performance in Hard West, securing the top rank among 1,699 tested combos. The data shows this pairing is overkill for the game’s turn-based tactical demands, but it provides headroom for maximum visual fidelity and high refresh rates. The best experience is found at 1440p with Ultra settings, where the average frame rate of 114.8 FPS balances visual quality with fluidity. At 4K, the Ultra preset dips to 59.4 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for a 60 Hz display, while 1080p Ultra hits 176.4 FPS, making it the choice for competitive or fast-paced play.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows reveal a clear hierarchy: Low settings produce the highest frame rates at every resolution, but the gap between presets narrows as resolution decreases. At 1080p, Low yields 332.3 FPS, Medium 305.3 FPS, High 238.8 FPS, and Ultra 176.4 FPS. The jump from High to Ultra costs 62.4 FPS (from 238.8 to 176.4), a 26% reduction, suggesting Ultra’s additional effects are demanding but still leave the system well above 144 Hz. For the best experience, Ultra at 1080p is the sweet spot—it delivers 176.4 FPS, far exceeding any display’s refresh rate needs while showcasing the game’s full visual range.

At 1440p, the pattern shifts: High produces 148.7 FPS, while Ultra drops to 114.8 FPS. The 33.9 FPS difference (from 148.7 to 114.8) is noticeable, but 114.8 FPS remains smooth on high-refresh monitors. Given the turn-based genre, where frame timing is less critical than in action games, Ultra at 1440p provides the best balance—it maintains a high average while maximizing graphical settings. The data shows Medium at 1440p offers 196.8 FPS, a 82 FPS advantage over Ultra, but this headroom is unnecessary unless the display supports 240 Hz or higher.

At 4K, the recommendation changes. High settings average 81.1 FPS, which is excellent for 4K, while Ultra falls to 59.4 FPS—just below the 60 FPS threshold many players target. Medium at 4K hits 103.3 FPS, offering a 22.2 FPS improvement over High (from 81.1) with likely minor visual differences. The optimal choice is High at 4K, as it stays above 60 FPS and avoids the steep performance penalty of Ultra. Low at 4K reaches 127.8 FPS, but that setting sacrifices graphical fidelity unnecessarily for a turn-based game.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 7 9700X is a 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, running at a base clock of 3.80 GHz and boost clock of 5.50 GHz. Its benchmark scores indicate strong single-thread performance—3dmark single-thread score of 1280 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4459—which is critical for Hard West’s turn-based logic and AI pathfinding. The CPU’s L3 cache of 32 MB and 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth provide ample data throughput for the game’s map loading and unit calculations.

In this pairing, the CPU is not the bottleneck. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system reaches 332.3 FPS, which is a CPU-limited scenario, but the Ryzen 7 9700X handles it easily. The processor’s 16 threads allow for parallel processing of game state updates, though Hard West likely uses fewer cores. Benchmark results like the 3dmark 16-thread score of 9824 and Cinebench R23 multicore score of 31588 confirm the CPU’s capability, but the game’s turn-based nature means even modest CPUs can keep up. The 9700X’s 89th percentile ranking among all CPUs and its average benchmark score of 36029 place it near rivals like the Intel Core i5-14500HX (0.2% higher) and AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 (0.6% higher), but these differences are negligible for this workload.

GPU Role

The RTX 5090 is the dominant component here, with 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus providing 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. Its boost clock of 2407 MHz and base clock of 2017 MHz drive 21,760 shading units, delivering 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. This GPU is massively overprovisioned for Hard West, which is a 2015 turn-based tactics title with modest graphics demands. The passmark G3D score of 39650 and 3dmark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14411 place it in the 94th percentile of all GPUs, with nearest rivals being the RTX 5090 D (0.1% higher) and RTX 5050 Mobile (0.2% higher).

The GPU’s role becomes apparent in the FPS scaling. At 4K Ultra, the average is 59.4 FPS, while 1080p Ultra hits 176.4 FPS—a 117 FPS difference. This shows that even at 4K, the RTX 5090 maintains high frame rates, but the Ultra preset’s effects tax the GPU more than the CPU. The memory bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s ensures texture streaming at high resolutions is smooth, and the 32 GB VRAM far exceeds any requirement for a game like Hard West. The GPU’s 94th percentile ranking and average benchmark score of 84306 put it slightly behind the NVIDIA CMP 40HX (1.6% lower) but ahead of the AMD Radeon PRO W6600 (1.3% higher), though these synthetic differences do not translate to gameplay limitations.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 ranks first out of 1,699 tested combos in Hard West. This top ranking is unsurprising given the GPU’s raw power and the CPU’s strong single-thread performance. The combo’s rank indicates that no other tested pairing delivers higher average FPS across the measured settings. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 332.3 FPS, which is likely the ceiling for the game engine, and at 4K Ultra, it still manages 59.4 FPS. The rank of 1 suggests the game is not demanding enough to differentiate between high-end components, but this pairing ensures the highest possible performance.

Compared to other combos, this setup excels in both low and high settings. The data shows no competitor in the nearest rivals list for the GPU or CPU that would meaningfully change the outcome, as both components are near the top of their respective benchmarks. The combo’s rank reflects that the RTX 5090’s 104.8 TFLOPS and the 9700X’s 5.50 GHz boost clock work together to eliminate any potential bottleneck, making this the definitive choice for Hard West.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Hard West?*

A: The data shows 1440p Ultra at 114.8 FPS offers the best balance of visual quality and frame rate. 1080p Ultra reaches 176.4 FPS, while 4K Ultra drops to 59.4 FPS.

Q: Is the RTX 5090 overkill for a 2015 turn-based game?

A: Yes, the GPU’s 32 GB VRAM and 104.8 TFLOPS are far beyond the game’s needs. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (332.3) shows the system is limited by the game engine, not the hardware.

*Q: How does the CPU affect performance in Hard West?*

A: The Ryzen 7 9700X’s single-thread score of 1280 (3dmark) and 4459 (Cinebench R23) ensure fast turn processing. Multi-thread scores like 31588 (Cinebench R23) are more than sufficient for the game’s AI calculations.

Q: Should I use Ultra settings at 4K?

A: No, Ultra at 4K averages 59.4 FPS, just below the 60 FPS mark. High settings at 4K provide 81.1 FPS, which is a better experience.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: Low averages 332.3 FPS, while Ultra averages 176.4 FPS—a difference of 155.9 FPS. The gap narrows at higher resolutions, with a 68.4 FPS difference at 4K (127.8 vs 59.4).

Q: How does this combo rank against other tested systems?

A: It ranks 1st out of 1,699 combos, meaning no other pairing achieves higher average FPS in this game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080: Low averages 332.3 FPS, Medium 305.3 FPS, High 238.8 FPS, and Ultra 176.4 FPS. The frame rate drops by 27 FPS from Low to Medium, 66.5 FPS from Medium to High, and 62.4 FPS from High to Ultra. This indicates the Ultra preset imposes the largest performance penalty, likely due to advanced lighting and shadow effects.

At 2560x1440: Low averages 238.4 FPS, Medium 196.8 FPS, High 148.7 FPS, and Ultra 114.8 FPS. The drop from Low to Medium is 41.6 FPS, Medium to High is 48.1 FPS, and High to Ultra is 33.9 FPS. The relative penalty of Ultra is smaller at 1440p than at 1080p, suggesting the GPU is handling the added resolution efficiently.

At 3840x2160: Low averages 127.8 FPS, Medium 103.3 FPS, High 81.1 FPS, and Ultra 59.4 FPS. The drops are 24.5 FPS from Low to Medium, 22.2 FPS from Medium to High, and 21.7 FPS from High to Ultra. The consistent ~20 FPS penalties show that each settings tier adds similar load at 4K, but Ultra’s 59.4 FPS is the only preset below 60 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

Moving from 1080p to 1440p, the average FPS across all settings drops by roughly 28-30%. For example, High falls from 238.8 to 148.7 FPS (a 37.7% reduction), and Ultra falls from 176.4 to 114.8 FPS (a 34.9% reduction). This is expected, as 1440p has 1.78 times the pixels of 1080p, but the RTX 5090’s bandwidth mitigates the impact.

The jump from 1440p to 4K is more severe. High drops from 148.7 to 81.1 FPS (a 45.5% reduction), and Ultra drops from 114.8 to 59.4 FPS (a 48.3% reduction). 4K has 2.25 times the pixels of 1440p, but the frame rate reduction is proportionally higher, indicating the GPU is becoming the limiting factor. Low settings show the smallest relative drop: 332.3 to 238.4 (28.3%) from 1080p to 1440p, and 238.4 to 127.8 (46.4%) from 1440p to 4K.

The data reveals that at 1080p, the system is CPU-bound, as the FPS differences between settings are large (155.9 FPS between Low and Ultra). At 4K, the GPU becomes the bottleneck, with the FPS spread narrowing to 68.4 FPS between Low and Ultra. This scaling pattern confirms that the RTX 5090 is the dominant component for resolution scaling, while the Ryzen 7 9700X provides enough headroom to avoid limiting frame rates until very high FPS targets are reached.