Hard West

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Hard West with the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 shows a clear and predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 211 FPS average. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 133 FPS, a reduction of approximately 37%. At 4K Low, the average falls to 70 FPS, which is roughly 47% lower than the 1440p result and about 67% lower than the 1080p figure. This steep decline as pixel count rises points to the GPU becoming the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions.

The scaling behavior is consistent across all settings presets. With Medium settings, the averages are 173 FPS at 1080p, 109 FPS at 1440p, and 57 FPS at 4K. The High preset shows 133 FPS at 1080p, 84 FPS at 1440p, and 44 FPS at 4K. Ultra settings yield 99 FPS at 1080p, 63 FPS at 1440p, and 33 FPS at 4K. In every case, the transition from 1440p to 4K produces a larger absolute FPS loss than the step from 1080p to 1440p. For instance, on High settings, moving from 1080p to 1440p costs 49 FPS, while moving from 1440p to 4K costs 40 FPS. This pattern suggests that at 4K, the RTX 3070 is nearing its rendering ceiling for this title, with the frame rate dropping below 60 FPS on every preset except Low.

The data also reveals how settings interact with resolution. At 1080p, the gap between Low and Ultra is 112 FPS, indicating substantial headroom for visual quality without sacrificing playability. At 1440p, that gap narrows to 70 FPS, and at 4K it shrinks further to 37 FPS. This compression of the settings range at higher resolutions reinforces the conclusion that resolution scaling is the dominant performance factor, with the GPU's raw throughput being the binding constraint once pixel counts rise. The CPU, with its 8 cores and 16 threads, appears more than capable of feeding the GPU at lower resolutions, as evidenced by the high triple-digit frame rates at 1080p.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 ranks 1225th out of 2949 tested combos for Hard West. That places it in the upper-middle portion of the field, roughly in the 58th percentile of all tested configurations. The ranking reflects the balance between the CPU's strong synthetic performance and the GPU's more modest standing relative to contemporary graphics cards.

The RTX 3070 itself holds a percentile rank of 61 among all GPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 17208. Its nearest rivals in aggregate GPU performance include the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT (scoring 17083, a 0.7% difference), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 (17037, 1% difference), and the AMD Radeon HD 7970M (17019, 1.1% difference). The RTX 3070 also sits just below the NVIDIA Tesla K40c, which scores 17468, a 1.5% advantage for the Tesla. These tight margins indicate that the RTX 3070 is clustered with a group of cards whose overall performance is very similar, even though their architectural generations differ substantially.

On the CPU side, the Ryzen 7 9850X3D achieves a percentile rank of 92 among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 58386. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M (scoring 58323, a 0.1% difference), the Intel Xeon w5-2545 (58504, 0.2% ahead), the Intel Core i9-14900 (58115, 0.5% behind), and the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 (58826, 0.7% ahead). The CPU's high percentile ranking suggests that in most gaming scenarios, it will not be the bottleneck, which aligns with the measured FPS data showing strong performance at 1080p where CPU load is typically higher relative to GPU load.

The combination's overall rank of 1225 out of 2949 in Hard West specifically suggests that the game is moderately demanding on the GPU. The turn-based tactics genre typically does not push hardware as hard as fast-paced shooters or open-world titles, but the 4K results here indicate that even a turn-based game can strain the RTX 3070 at maximum resolution and settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 is built on the Ampere architecture using the GA104 chip, manufactured on Samsung's 8 nm process. The chip contains 17,400 million transistors on a die size of 392 mm², yielding a transistor density of 44.4 million per square millimeter. The GPU features 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 96 raster output units. It also includes 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores, which support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Memory configuration is a critical factor in this game's performance. The RTX 3070 comes with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory operates at 1750 MHz, with an effective data rate of 14 Gbps. At 4K resolution with Ultra settings, the measured average FPS is 33, which is below the 44 FPS seen at High settings and the 57 FPS at Medium. This suggests that at 4K, the combination of high resolution and maximum settings places significant pressure on the 8 GB frame buffer, potentially causing the GPU to exceed its memory capacity in some scenes.

Clock speeds for the RTX 3070 are specified as a base of 1500 MHz and a boost of 1725 MHz. The pixel rate is 165.6 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 317.4 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is 20.31 TFLOPS, with FP16 matching at 20.31 TFLOPS (1:1). These figures translate into the measured gaming performance: at 1080p, the GPU can deliver 133 FPS on High settings and 99 FPS on Ultra, showing that the card has ample compute for lower resolutions. The gap between Ultra and High at 1080p is 34 FPS, while at 4K it is only 11 FPS, indicating that the GPU's compute resources are being fully utilized at higher resolutions.

The GPU's power draw is rated at 220 W TDP, with a suggested PSU of 550 W. The card occupies a dual-slot form factor and uses a single 12-pin power connector. Its physical dimensions are 242 mm in length and 112 mm in height. The production status is end-of-life, with a release date of 2020-08-31.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080 resolution, the RTX 3070 delivers its strongest results. With Low settings, the average FPS is 211, which is the highest measured value across all configurations. Medium settings produce an average of 173 FPS, with a minimum of 147 and a maximum of 198. High settings yield 133 FPS average. Ultra settings produce 99 FPS average. The progression from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a consistent decline, with each step up in quality costing roughly 30-40 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drops accordingly. Low settings average 133 FPS. Medium settings average 109 FPS, with a minimum of 93 and a maximum of 126. High settings average 84 FPS. Ultra settings average 63 FPS. The 1440p results show that the combo remains very playable even at the highest quality preset, with 63 FPS on Ultra exceeding the 60 FPS threshold commonly considered the baseline for smooth gameplay.

At 3840x2160, the 4K results reveal the GPU's limits. Low settings average 70 FPS, which is playable but notably lower than the 1080p Low result. Medium settings average 57 FPS, with a minimum of 49 and a maximum of 66. This is the only preset at 4K where min and max FPS data is available, and the 17 FPS spread between min and max indicates some frame time variability. High settings average 44 FPS. Ultra settings average 33 FPS, which dips below the smoothness threshold for many users.

The Medium preset is the only one with complete min and max data at all three resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the range is 147 to 198 FPS, a 51 FPS spread. At 1440p Medium, the range is 93 to 126 FPS, a 33 FPS spread. At 4K Medium, the range is 49 to 66 FPS, a 17 FPS spread. This narrowing range at higher resolutions suggests that frame pacing becomes more consistent as the GPU becomes more fully loaded, with less headroom for variance.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Hard West?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 211, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Can this combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K in Hard West?

A: Only with Low settings, which produce an average of 70 FPS. Medium settings average 57 FPS, and High and Ultra fall to 44 FPS and 33 FPS respectively.

Q: How does the RTX 3070 compare to its closest GPU rivals?

A: The RTX 3070 has an average benchmark score of 17208. The AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT scores 17083 (0.7% lower), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 scores 17037 (1% lower), and the AMD Radeon HD 7970M scores 17019 (1.1% lower). The NVIDIA Tesla K40c scores 17468, which is 1.5% higher.

Q: What is the CPU's benchmark percentile and how does it compare to rivals?

A: The Ryzen 7 9850X3D ranks in the 92nd percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 58386. Its nearest rival, the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M, scores 58323, a 0.1% difference. The Intel Core i9-14900 scores 58115, which is 0.5% lower.

Q: What memory configuration does the RTX 3070 use?

A: The GPU has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The memory clock is 1750 MHz, translating to 14 Gbps effective data rate.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested combinations in Hard West?

A: The combo ranks 1225th out of 2949 tested combinations, placing it in the upper-middle portion of the database.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, all presets are playable, with even Ultra producing 99 FPS average. The data suggests that at 1080p, users can safely select Ultra settings without concern for performance degradation, as the 99 FPS average leaves substantial headroom above the 60 FPS threshold. The step from High to Ultra costs 34 FPS, which is a meaningful reduction, but the absolute performance remains high.

At 2560x1440, the recommendation shifts. Ultra settings produce 63 FPS average, which is just above the 60 FPS standard. High settings produce 84 FPS, offering a more comfortable margin. The difference between High and Ultra at 1440p is 21 FPS. For users prioritizing smoothness, High is the safer choice, while Ultra is viable for those who prefer maximum visual quality and can tolerate occasional dips near the 60 FPS line. Medium settings at 1440p produce 109 FPS, which is more than sufficient for any display.

At 3840x2160, the choices are more constrained. Ultra settings average 33 FPS, which is likely too low for most users. High settings average 44 FPS, still below the 60 FPS threshold. Medium settings average 57 FPS, which is close to 60 but not consistently above it, with a minimum of 49 FPS recorded. Low settings average 70 FPS, which is the only 4K preset that comfortably exceeds 60 FPS. For 4K gaming, the data indicates that Low or Medium settings are the practical choices, with Medium offering a better visual experience at the cost of occasionally dipping below 60 FPS.

The measured data also shows that the Medium preset provides the most consistent frame pacing, as it is the only preset with recorded minimum and maximum values at all three resolutions. The min-to-max spread narrows as resolution increases, from 51 FPS at 1080p to 17 FPS at 4K, suggesting that Medium settings offer stable performance across the board.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D is a desktop processor from the 9000 series, built on the Zen 5 architecture with the Granite Ridge codename. It uses AMD Socket AM5 and is manufactured on TSMC's 4 nm process. The chip contains 8,315 million transistors on a die size of 70.6 mm². The CPU has 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. The TDP is rated at 120 W.

Cache configuration is notable for gaming performance. The L1 cache is 80 KB per core, the L2 cache is 1 MB per core, and the L3 cache is 96 MB shared. This large L3 cache is particularly beneficial for gaming workloads, which often exhibit high data locality. The CPU supports DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, with a memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s. ECC memory support is included, and the processor provides PCIe Gen 5 with 24 lanes from the CPU. It also includes integrated Radeon Graphics.

In synthetic benchmarks, the Ryzen 7 9850X3D demonstrates strong multi-threaded and single-threaded performance. In Cinebench R15, it scores 3551 multicore and 343 singlecore. In Cinebench R23, the scores are 22807 multicore and 2228 singlecore. PassMark results show 41318 in multithread, 4704 in single thread, 123140 in integer math, 81998 in floating point math, and 474501 in data compression. The processor's percentile rank of 92 among all CPUs confirms its high standing.

The CPU's role in Hard West is likely secondary to the GPU, given the turn-based tactics genre's relatively modest CPU demands. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 211 FPS, which suggests the CPU is capable of driving frame rates well beyond typical display refresh rates. The fact that 1080p Ultra produces 99 FPS while 4K Ultra produces only 33 FPS reinforces that the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions. The CPU's strong single-thread performance, as indicated by the 2228 Cinebench R23 singlecore score and 4704 PassMark single thread score, ensures that game logic and AI calculations are handled without becoming a bottleneck in this title.