Hard West

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 ranks 1668 out of 3722 tested combos in Hard West. This places the configuration in the 55th percentile of all tested hardware pairings, indicating a mid-pack standing for this turn-based tactics title. The ranking reflects that while this combo is far from the top of the leaderboard, it sits comfortably above the median tested system, with the CPU's strong synthetic scores doing much of the heavy lifting in a game that is not graphically intensive by modern standards.

The combination's position is more heavily influenced by the processor than the graphics card. The Ryzen 9 7900X holds a 91st percentile ranking among all CPUs, while the RTX 5060 sits at the 72nd percentile among GPUs. This disparity suggests that the CPU is the more capable component in this pairing, which aligns with the game's nature as a turn-based tactical title that rarely stresses the GPU to its limits. The data shows a system that is CPU-dominant, with the GPU having ample headroom even at higher resolutions.

FAQ

*Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations in Hard West?*

A: The combo ranks 1668 out of 3722 tested combinations, placing it in the 55th percentile of all systems tested for this game.

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved with this hardware?

A: The highest recorded average is 198 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings, which is the least demanding preset tested.

Q: What is the lowest average frame rate recorded in the measurements?

A: The lowest average is 31 FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, representing the most demanding configuration tested.

Q: Does the RTX 5060 outperform its closest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: Yes, the RTX 5060 has an average benchmark score of 26331, which is 1.2% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT's score of 26011.

Q: How does the Ryzen 9 7900X compare to the Intel Core i7-14700F in average benchmark score?

A: The Ryzen 9 7900X has an average score of 53288, which is 0.6% lower than the Intel Core i7-14700F's score of 53620.

Q: Is there a performance difference between the 1080p Ultra and 1440p High settings?

A: Yes, the 1080p Ultra setting yields 93 FPS average, while 1440p High produces 79 FPS average, a difference of 14 FPS favoring the lower resolution.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear pattern of GPU limitation at higher resolutions, despite the game's modest graphical requirements. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 198 FPS, which drops to 125 FPS at 1440p, and further to 66 FPS at 4K. This represents a 67% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, indicating that the RTX 5060 becomes the limiting factor as pixel count increases.

The scaling behavior changes with the preset level. At High settings, the frame rate drops from 125 FPS at 1080p to 79 FPS at 1440p, then to 41 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is 37%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 48%. This steeper decline at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU's 8 GB of GDDR7 memory and 128-bit memory bus begin to constrain performance more severely as the render resolution increases.

At Ultra settings, the pattern becomes more pronounced. The 1080p Ultra preset delivers 93 FPS, which falls to 59 FPS at 1440p (a 37% drop), and then to 31 FPS at 4K (a 47% drop from 1440p). The consistent ~37% reduction from 1080p to 1440p across High and Ultra presets indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at these settings, while the CPU's 12 cores and 24 threads remain underutilized. The 4K results, particularly the 31 FPS at Ultra, show that the RTX 5060 cannot maintain playable frame rates at this resolution with maximum settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers high frame rates across all presets. Low settings produce an average of 198 FPS, Medium settings yield 162 FPS with a minimum of 138 and maximum of 187 FPS, High settings reach 125 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 93 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 105 FPS, demonstrating that the GPU has substantial headroom at this resolution, with even the most demanding preset staying well above the 60 FPS threshold.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance remains strong but shows the expected decline. Low settings average 125 FPS, Medium settings achieve 103 FPS with a range of 87 to 118 FPS, High settings produce 79 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 59 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at the same preset ranges from 37% at High to 37% at Ultra, with Low and Medium showing similar proportional declines. The 59 FPS at 1440p Ultra is just below the 60 FPS target, suggesting that this preset is borderline for smooth gameplay at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, performance becomes marginal. Low settings average 66 FPS, which is playable, but Medium drops to 54 FPS with a minimum of 46 FPS, High falls to 41 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 31 FPS. The 4K results show that the RTX 5060 cannot maintain 60 FPS at any preset except Low, and even the Low setting averages only 66 FPS. The minimum frame rate data at 4K Medium (46 FPS) indicates noticeable dips below the average, which could cause stutter in a turn-based game where camera movement is frequent.

The measured data shows a consistent pattern where each preset step at a given resolution costs roughly 20-30% performance. At 1080p, stepping from Low to Medium costs 36 FPS, from Medium to High costs 37 FPS, and from High to Ultra costs 32 FPS. This consistent scaling suggests that the GPU's shading units and texture units are being progressively utilized, with the 3840 shading units and 120 TMUs handling the increased workload predictably.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 features 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth. In Hard West, this memory configuration proves sufficient for 1080p and 1440p play, but becomes a limiting factor at 4K. The game's texture-heavy environments and lighting effects at Ultra settings appear to exceed the 8 GB capacity at 3840x2160, contributing to the low 31 FPS average at that resolution.

The GPU's clock speeds are modest, with a base clock of 2280 MHz and a boost clock of 2497 MHz. These clocks, combined with the 3840 shading units, produce a peak FP32 performance of 19.18 TFLOPS. For a turn-based tactics game released in 2015, this level of compute power is more than adequate, as evidenced by the 198 FPS at 1080p Low. The GPU's 30 RT cores and 120 tensor cores are irrelevant for this title, which does not utilize ray tracing or DLSS.

The RTX 5060's benchmark performance shows a Passmark G3D score of 20891, placing it in the 72nd percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT, scores 26011, which is 1.2% lower than the RTX 5060's average benchmark score of 26331. This close competition indicates that the RTX 5060 performs similarly to last-generation mid-range cards, which is consistent with its measured FPS results in Hard West.

The GPU's 48 ROPs and 120 TMUs handle the game's 2D sprite-based rendering efficiently, but the 128-bit memory bus becomes a bottleneck at 4K. The pixel rate of 119.9 GPixel/s and texture rate of 299.6 GTexel/s are theoretical maximums that the game rarely approaches, given its turn-based nature and relatively static scenes. The data suggests that the GPU is underutilized at 1080p, moderately utilized at 1440p, and fully stressed at 4K Ultra.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X provides 12 cores and 24 threads based on the Zen 4 architecture, with a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. In Hard West, this processor delivers far more computational power than the game requires, as turn-based tactics titles typically rely on single-threaded performance for game logic and AI calculations. The CPU's 64 MB of shared L3 cache and 83.2 GB/s of memory bandwidth provide ample headroom for the game's data processing.

The CPU's synthetic benchmarks reinforce its dominance. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 29300 and single-core score of 2016.5 place it in the 91st percentile of all CPUs. The Geekbench multicore score of 19267 and single-core score of 2617 further confirm its strong performance. These scores are relevant because Hard West's AI and turn resolution can benefit from high single-thread performance, which the 7900X delivers in abundance.

Comparing to its nearest rivals, the Ryzen 9 7900X has an average benchmark score of 53288, which is 0.2% higher than the AMD EPYC 7313P's 53206 and 0.6% higher than the Intel Xeon 634's 52974. However, it trails the Intel Core i7-14700F by 0.6% (53288 vs 53620) and the Intel Xeon Phi 7290 by 0.3% (53288 vs 53469). These differences are negligible in real-world gaming, and the 7900X's high boost clock of 5.60 GHz provides excellent responsiveness for the game's UI and camera controls.

The CPU's 170 W TDP and dual-chiplet design with a 71 mm² die size per CCD indicate a power-hungry processor, but this is irrelevant for Hard West's frame rates. The measured FPS data shows that the CPU does not bottleneck the GPU at any resolution or setting, as the frame rates scale consistently with resolution changes. The 12 cores and 24 threads remain largely idle during gameplay, with the game's workload primarily falling on a few cores for game logic and rendering commands.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers 93 FPS average, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold and provides the best visual quality without sacrificing smoothness. The Medium preset at 1080p offers 162 FPS, which is beneficial for players with high-refresh-rate monitors, but the visual difference between Medium and Ultra is likely minimal in a turn-based game.

At 2560x1440, the High preset with 79 FPS average is the recommended choice, as it balances visual fidelity with performance. The Ultra preset at 59 FPS is just below 60 FPS and may cause noticeable frame pacing issues. The Medium preset at 103 FPS provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS and is a viable alternative for players who prefer consistent high frame rates. The Low preset at 125 FPS is unnecessary given the game's modest graphical demands.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset with 66 FPS average is the only option that maintains playable frame rates above 60 FPS. The Medium preset at 54 FPS is borderline, with a minimum of 46 FPS that could cause stutter during camera pans. High and Ultra at 41 FPS and 31 FPS respectively are not recommended for smooth gameplay. Players with 4K displays should either accept Low settings or consider lowering the resolution to 1440p for a better experience.

For the best overall experience, the High preset at 2560x1440 offers the most balanced combination of visual quality and performance, with 79 FPS average. This setting avoids the visual downgrades of Low and Medium while maintaining a comfortable frame rate margin. Players prioritizing maximum visual fidelity should use Ultra at 1080p, which delivers 93 FPS without compromising smoothness. The data clearly indicates that this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K requiring significant settings compromises.