Hard West

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates across 1080p, 1440p, and 4K reveal how this turn-based tactics title responds to pixel count changes when paired with the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070. At 1080p High settings, the combo delivers 133 FPS. Moving to 1440p High drops that to 84 FPS, a 37% reduction. At 4K High, the average falls to 44 FPS, which is 67% lower than the 1080p result. This steep scaling curve indicates that Hard West becomes heavily GPU-bound as resolution increases, with the RTX 3070's rendering throughput being the primary constraint at higher pixel densities.

The pattern holds across all settings presets. At Low settings, 1080p produces 211 FPS, 1440p yields 133 FPS, and 4K manages 70 FPS. The 1080p-to-4K drop here is 67%, nearly identical to the High preset's scaling. Medium settings show 173 FPS at 1080p, 109 FPS at 1440p, and 57 FPS at 4K—again a 67% reduction from the lowest to highest resolution. Ultra settings follow the same trajectory: 99 FPS at 1080p, 63 FPS at 1440p, and 33 FPS at 4K, a 67% decrease.

The consistency of this 67% scaling factor across all presets strongly suggests that resolution-dependent work—rasterization, pixel shading, and memory bandwidth utilization—dominates the performance profile. The RTX 3070's 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 165.6 GPixel/s pixel rate are the relevant hardware limits here. The GPU sits in the 61st percentile among all GPUs by average benchmark score, with its nearest rival being the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT (0.7% higher score). This mid-pack positioning explains why 4K Ultra falls to just 33 FPS—the card is being pushed well beyond its comfortable operating range at that resolution and quality level.

At 1080p, the CPU's role becomes more apparent. The Ryzen 9 7900X ranks in the 91st percentile among all CPUs, with a PassMark multithread score of 51,406 and single-thread score of 4,238. The 211 FPS Low result at 1080p suggests the CPU can feed frames fast enough to expose the GPU's ceiling, but the consistent 67% scaling pattern indicates the GPU is still the limiting factor even at 1080p. For a turn-based tactics game, this level of headroom is more than sufficient—the gameplay loop rarely demands the kind of sustained frame rates that action titles require.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 9 7900X brings 12 cores and 24 threads based on the Zen 4 Raphael architecture, manufactured on TSMC's 5 nm process. Its base clock is 4.70 GHz with a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU achieves a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 29,300 and a single-core score of 2,016.5. The Geekbench results show 19,267 multicore and 2,617 single-core. These numbers place the CPU in the 91st percentile overall, with its average benchmark score of 53,288 sitting just 0.2% above the AMD EPYC 7313P and 0.6% above the Intel Xeon 634.

Hard West is a turn-based tactics title from 2015, a genre that typically relies more on game logic, pathfinding, and AI calculations than on physics or particle simulations. The 12-core, 24-thread configuration provides substantial headroom for any background tasks or streaming workloads while gaming. The 64 MB of shared L3 cache and 83.2 GB/s memory bandwidth on the dual-channel DDR5 interface ensure that data feeding the GPU is not a bottleneck. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 10,972 and max-thread score of 12,536 indicate strong scaling across the core count, which is useful for the occasional heavy calculation bursts that turn-based games can generate when computing line-of-sight or cover mechanics.

The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low, the system reaches 211 FPS. This high frame rate demonstrates that the CPU is not holding back the GPU in CPU-light scenarios. However, the consistent 67% scaling drop from 1080p to 4K across all settings suggests that even at 1080p, the GPU is the primary limiter. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see a less severe drop when moving to 4K, because higher resolutions put more load on the GPU and less relative load on the CPU. The fact that the scaling is uniform points to the GPU being the consistent constraint.

The CPU's single-thread performance is particularly relevant for a game released in 2015, as older titles often have poorly optimized multi-threading. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2,016.5 and PassMark single-thread score of 4,238 are strong indicators that the CPU can handle whatever single-threaded workloads Hard West's engine throws at it. The 3DMark 2-thread score of 2,137 and 4-thread score of 4,151 show that even lightly threaded workloads are well-served. For practical purposes, this CPU is far more capable than what a 2015 tactics game requires, meaning the frame rate ceiling is almost entirely determined by the GPU.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 is built on the Ampere architecture with the GA104 chip, manufactured on Samsung's 8 nm process. It features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The boost clock is 1725 MHz, with a base clock of 1500 MHz. The GPU's 20.31 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 317.4 GTexel/s texture rate are the raw throughput numbers that dictate how quickly it can process the visual elements of Hard West. The 96 ROPs handle pixel output, and the 184 TMUs handle texture mapping.

In the benchmark database, the RTX 3070 holds the 61st percentile among all GPUs, with an average score of 17,208. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT (0.7% higher), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 (1% higher), and AMD Radeon HD 7970M (1.1% higher). The NVIDIA Tesla K40c sits 1.5% lower. This mid-range positioning in the overall GPU hierarchy is reflected in the Hard West results: the GPU can handle 1080p and 1440p comfortably but struggles at 4K with higher settings.

The measured FPS data shows the RTX 3070's limits clearly. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 33, which is below the 44 FPS High result and the 57 FPS Medium result. The 4K Low setting produces 70 FPS. This range from 33 to 70 FPS at 4K demonstrates that the GPU's 8 GB VRAM and bandwidth are sufficient for the game's textures at lower settings but become strained at Ultra. The 8 GB memory capacity is worth noting—for a 2015 title, texture sizes are modest, so VRAM is unlikely to be the limiting factor. Instead, the pixel throughput and memory bandwidth are more likely constraints at 4K.

The RTX 3070's 61st percentile ranking means it sits in the middle of the GPU performance distribution. The nearest rivals all score within 1.5% of it, indicating that this tier of GPUs delivers similar performance in synthetic benchmarks. In Hard West, the practical results show that 1440p High at 84 FPS and 1440p Medium at 109 FPS are the sweet spots for smooth gameplay. The 1440p Ultra result of 63 FPS is still playable but shows a significant drop from Medium. The 1080p results are all well above 99 FPS, even at Ultra, which makes 1080p a non-issue for this GPU.

The GPU's DirectX support includes 12 Ultimate (12_2), which is more than sufficient for a 2015 title that likely targets DirectX 11. The PassMark DirectX 11 score of 182 and DirectX 12 score of 85 show that the GPU handles both APIs competently, though the older API is more relevant for this game. The 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores are present but unused by a game that predates ray tracing and DLSS, so the GPU's traditional rasterization performance is what matters here.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Hard West at 4K smoothly?

A: At 4K Low settings, the average FPS is 70, which is playable. Medium drops to 57 FPS, High to 44 FPS, and Ultra to 33 FPS. For a turn-based tactics game where frame timing is less critical than in action titles, 4K Medium at 57 FPS is a reasonable target.

Q: What is the best resolution-to-settings balance for this combo?

A: The data shows 1440p Medium at 109 FPS and 1440p High at 84 FPS are strong choices. At 1080p, even Ultra produces 99 FPS. The 1440p Medium result has a min FPS of 93 and max of 126, indicating consistent frame times.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this game?

A: The consistent 67% FPS drop from 1080p to 4K across all settings indicates the GPU is the limiting factor. The Ryzen 9 7900X's 91st percentile ranking and high single-thread scores suggest it has ample headroom for this 2015 title.

Q: How does the RTX 3070 compare to its nearest rivals in overall performance?

A: The RTX 3070's average benchmark score is 17,208. The AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT scores 0.7% higher, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 scores 1% higher, and the AMD Radeon HD 7970M scores 1.1% higher. The NVIDIA Tesla K40c scores 1.5% lower.

Q: Is 8 GB of VRAM enough for Hard West at 4K?

A: The measured results show playable FPS at 4K Low (70 FPS) and Medium (57 FPS), suggesting 8 GB is sufficient for this game's texture loads. The GPU's 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth is the more relevant factor at high resolutions.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1080p Ultra?

A: The measured average FPS at 1080p Ultra is 99. At 1080p High, it rises to 133 FPS, and at Medium it reaches 173 FPS. Low produces 211 FPS. All 1080p results are well above the 60 FPS threshold.

Settings Recommendations

For this specific combination of AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 running Hard West, the measured data supports different settings depending on your display resolution. At 1080p, every preset delivers playable frame rates, with Ultra producing 99 FPS and High reaching 133 FPS. Since the game is turn-based, the visual fidelity gains from Ultra are worth the FPS cost—there is no competitive advantage to higher frame rates in this genre. The 1080p High result of 133 FPS leaves headroom for any background applications or streaming software.

At 1440p, the choice becomes more nuanced. Ultra produces 63 FPS, which is acceptable for a tactics game but leaves little margin for frame drops. High delivers 84 FPS, and Medium produces 109 FPS with a measured min of 93 FPS and max of 126 FPS. The Medium preset's consistent frame times make it the safest recommendation for 1440p, as the min FPS data suggests less variance. High at 84 FPS is also a strong option if you want improved shadows and effects without sacrificing smoothness.

At 4K, the data shows that Ultra is not viable at 33 FPS, and High at 44 FPS is marginal. Medium at 57 FPS is the highest setting that maintains a playable average, while Low at 70 FPS provides the most comfortable experience. For a turn-based tactics game, the slower pacing means 57 FPS is perfectly serviceable, so 4K Medium is the recommended preset. If you prefer maximum visual quality and can tolerate occasional dips below 60 FPS, 4K High at 44 FPS is the alternative, but the Medium preset's higher average and the fact that it's the only 4K setting with min/max data (49-66 FPS) make it the more reliable choice.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Ultra: 99 FPS average
• High: 133 FPS average
• Medium: 173 FPS average, 147 min, 198 max
• Low: 211 FPS average

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Ultra: 63 FPS average
• High: 84 FPS average
• Medium: 109 FPS average, 93 min, 126 max
• Low: 133 FPS average

3840x2160 (4K):

• Ultra: 33 FPS average
• High: 44 FPS average
• Medium: 57 FPS average, 49 min, 66 max
• Low: 70 FPS average

The data reveals that the Medium preset is the only one with recorded minimum and maximum FPS values across all three resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the range spans 147 to 198 FPS; at 1440p Medium, 93 to 126 FPS; and at 4K Medium, 49 to 66 FPS. This suggests the Medium preset provides the most stable frame pacing, which is valuable for a game where you're making tactical decisions between turns. The Ultra and High presets lack min/max data, so their average scores should be interpreted with the understanding that frame variance could be higher.

The combo's rank in this game is 1,581 out of 3,722 tested combinations, placing it in the upper-middle range of all tested systems. This rank, combined with the measured FPS data, indicates that the system is well-suited for 1080p and 1440p play, with 4K being a compromise scenario. The 67% scaling factor from 1080p to 4K across all settings confirms that resolution is the dominant factor in performance, and the GPU's 61st percentile ranking relative to all GPUs aligns with the observed mid-range performance in this title.