Hard West

Hard West is a turn-based tactics title that places far more strain on the GPU than on the CPU, and the measured data for the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 clearly illustrates this dynamic. The benchmark results show a system that is capable of delivering smooth frame rates at mainstream resolutions, but which begins to buckle under the weight of 4K and the highest preset. The dataset provides a clear picture of where this configuration excels and where users must make compromises.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data suggests that the Medium preset offers the most balanced experience across all tested resolutions. At 1920x1080, Medium delivers an average of 151.2 FPS, which is a significant 32.4 FPS jump over the High preset's 118.8 FPS, while remaining far ahead of the playable threshold. Moving to 2560x1440, Medium still holds an average of 97.7 FPS, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS target for most displays. Even at 3840x2160, Medium maintains a playable 52.9 FPS average, making it the only preset besides Low that keeps 4K viable.

The High preset is the clear second choice for users with 144Hz monitors at 1440p, as the 74.1 FPS average is sufficient for high-refresh-rate gaming, though it falls short of the 97.7 FPS offered by Medium. The Ultra preset, however, is not recommended for this combination. At 1920x1080 it produces 85.4 FPS, which is respectable, but at 1440p it drops to 56.9 FPS, and at 4K it falls to a stutter-prone 26.8 FPS. For the best experience, Medium is the sweet spot, as it provides the largest FPS headroom while still offering a substantial visual upgrade over Low. The Low preset is only advisable for competitive play at high refresh rates, where the 189.1 FPS at 1080p and 115.6 FPS at 1440p will maximize display potential at the cost of visual fidelity.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is the primary performance limiter in this pairing, as evidenced by the FPS scaling across resolutions. The GPU features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s. This memory configuration is sufficient for Hard West's requirements, but the data indicates that the GPU's compute capacity, not its VRAM, is the bottleneck. The RTX 4060 has a boost clock of 2460 MHz and a base clock of 1830 MHz, with 3072 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. The pixel rate of 118.1 GPixel/s and texture rate of 236.2 GTexel/s directly influence how quickly the card can fill frames with detailed textures and effects.

The benchmark results show that the GPU's performance scales predictably with resolution. At 1920x1080 with Medium settings, the card produces 151.2 FPS, but this drops to 97.7 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction that aligns with the increased pixel count. The RTX 4060's FP32 throughput of 15.11 TFLOPS is adequate for the game's lighting and shadow calculations, but the Ultra preset at 4K pushes the card beyond its limits, resulting in the 26.8 FPS average. The GPU's 66th percentile ranking among all GPUs places it in the mid-range tier, and its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6600M (deltaPct -0.6) and the Intel Arc B580 (deltaPct 0.7), indicating that the RTX 4060 is competitive with other mid-range options. The card's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2302 further confirms its position as a capable but not high-end performer.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p gaming with this CPU/GPU combo?

A: The Medium preset provides the best balance, delivering an average of 97.7 FPS. High is also viable at 74.1 FPS, but Ultra drops to 56.9 FPS, which may not be ideal for all users.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Hard West?

A: Yes, but with limitations. The Low preset yields 64.3 FPS, and Medium yields 52.9 FPS, both of which are playable. High and Ultra are not recommended at 4K, as they produce 37.7 FPS and 26.8 FPS, respectively.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 compare to its rivals in this game's context?

A: The RTX 4060's average benchmark score of 23181 is nearly identical to the AMD Radeon RX 6600M (23321, deltaPct -0.6) and the Intel Arc B580 (23021, deltaPct 0.7). The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti scores 23338 (deltaPct -0.7), showing the 4060 is within 1% of these alternatives.

Q: Is the Ryzen 9 5900X holding back the RTX 4060?

A: No. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multicore score of 33150 and single-core score of 4680 are far above what Hard West requires. The FPS drops at higher resolutions are consistent with GPU-bound behavior, not CPU limitations.

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

A: The Low preset achieves 189.1 FPS, while Ultra produces 85.4 FPS. This represents a substantial 103.7 FPS difference, or roughly 54.8% of the Low preset's performance, showing the significant cost of Ultra settings.

Q: Does the 8 GB VRAM limit performance at 4K?

A: The data suggests it is not the primary constraint. At 4K, the FPS drops from 64.3 (Low) to 26.8 (Ultra), which is a 37.5 FPS decrease. This scaling points to compute limitations rather than VRAM capacity, as the card has enough memory for the game's textures.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the configuration demonstrates its peak performance. The Low preset achieves an average of 189.1 FPS, which is exceptionally smooth. Medium follows at 151.2 FPS, still well above the refresh rate of most monitors. High produces 118.8 FPS, and Ultra trails at 85.4 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a steady decline, with Ultra costing roughly 45% of the Low preset's performance.

At 2560x1440, the FPS figures are lower but still strong. Low delivers 115.6 FPS, which is highly playable. Medium provides 97.7 FPS, and High drops to 74.1 FPS. Ultra falls to 56.9 FPS, which is just below the 60 FPS threshold, making it borderline for users with standard 60Hz displays. The gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 58.7 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the performance takes a significant hit. Low is the only preset that remains comfortably above 60 FPS, averaging 64.3 FPS. Medium drops to 52.9 FPS, which is still playable but not ideal. High falls to 37.7 FPS, and Ultra plummets to 26.8 FPS, which is likely to cause noticeable stuttering. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 37.5 FPS, showing that the GPU's scaling is less efficient at higher resolutions.

The data overall shows that the RTX 4060 is best utilized at 1080p, where even Ultra remains playable, and at 1440p with Medium or High settings. The 4K resolution is only viable with Low settings for a smooth experience.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and reveals the GPU-bound nature of this configuration. At Medium settings, the average FPS goes from 151.2 at 1080p to 97.7 at 1440p, a decrease of 53.5 FPS or roughly 35.4%. Moving from 1440p to 4K, the FPS drops further to 52.9, representing another 44.8 FPS decline. The total reduction from 1080p to 4K is 98.3 FPS, meaning the system loses about 65% of its 1080p performance at 4K.

This scaling pattern is characteristic of a GPU-limited scenario. The Ryzen 9 5900X, with its 12 cores and 24 threads, has ample headroom to feed the GPU, as evidenced by its 90th percentile ranking among all CPUs and its average benchmark score of 39453, which is within 1% of rivals like the Intel Core i7-13700 (deltaPct -1) and the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8845HS (deltaPct -0.7). If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would remain relatively flat across resolutions, but the data shows a consistent decline that aligns with the pixel count increase.

At Low settings, the same trend is visible: 189.1 FPS at 1080p, 115.6 FPS at 1440p, and 64.3 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 73.5 FPS, and from 1440p to 4K is 51.3 FPS. This suggests that even at the lowest visual settings, the GPU is still the limiting factor, as the CPU's performance is more than sufficient for the game's turn-based logic. The RTX 4060's 128-bit memory bus and 272.0 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for the game's data transfer needs, but the compute units are saturated at higher resolutions. Users should expect to scale settings down as resolution increases to maintain a consistent frame rate, with Medium being the highest preset that remains viable at 4K.