Hard West

Hard West is a turn-based tactics title from late 2015, and this combination of an AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 delivers performance that scales predictably with resolution and settings. The measured data shows a system that is overwhelmingly capable at 1080p and 1440p, while 4K Ultra remains the only configuration that pushes the hardware to its limits. This pairing ranks 287th out of 1699 tested combos in this game, placing it in the top 17% of all configurations, which is a strong result for a game of this vintage.

Settings Recommendations

The optimal experience depends entirely on your target resolution. At 1920x1080, the data shows that even the Ultra preset maintains an average of 131 FPS, which is far beyond what a turn-based tactics game requires for smooth play. However, the jump from High to Ultra at this resolution costs a significant 45.6 FPS (from 176.6 to 131), making the High preset the sweet spot for most users who want a flawless experience with headroom to spare. The Low preset reaches 276.4 FPS, but that level of performance offers no practical benefit in a genre where frame timing is not critical.

For 2560x1440, the High preset delivers 111.7 FPS, which remains exceptionally smooth and is the recommended choice for a balance of visual fidelity and performance. The Ultra preset at this resolution drops to 82.5 FPS, which is still playable but represents a 26% performance hit over High for marginal visual gains. The Medium preset at 146.9 FPS is the best option for those with high refresh rate displays who want to maximize smoothness without sacrificing too much visual quality.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes fundamentally. The Ultra preset produces an average of 42.8 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold that most consider the baseline for a comfortable experience. The High preset at 57.6 FPS is close to that target but still not fully locked. For 4K, the Medium preset at 75.6 FPS provides the best experience, offering smooth performance while retaining enough graphical detail to justify the resolution. The Low preset at 89.5 FPS is there for those who prioritize frame rate above all else, but Medium is the practical recommendation for 4K gaming on this hardware.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is the primary driver of performance in Hard West, as evidenced by the significant FPS variations across settings at every resolution. This GPU features 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 672.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The core clock operates at a base of 2325 MHz with a boost of 2512 MHz, and the card's 6144 shading units handle the game's rendering workload efficiently.

The VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for Hard West, a game from 2015 that was designed for much older hardware. Even at 4K Ultra, the 12 GB frame buffer is unlikely to be a limiting factor, as the game's textures and geometry are modest by modern standards. The measured data supports this: the performance drop from Medium to Ultra at 4K is 32.8 FPS (from 75.6 to 42.8), which is a 43% reduction. This substantial decrease indicates the GPU is working progressively harder as settings increase, but it does not suggest any VRAM-related bottlenecks.

The RTX 5070's overall benchmark profile shows it ranks in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 41687. Its nearest rival in synthetic testing is the AMD Radeon Pro 5300, which scores 41610 (0.2% higher), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, which scores 41441 (0.6% lower). This places the RTX 5070 in a competitive position, though Hard West's age means the game is unlikely to stress the GPU's more advanced features like ray tracing or DLSS, which are not relevant to this title.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 176.6 at 1920x1080 to 111.7 at 2560x1440, a 37% reduction, and then to 57.6 at 3840x2160, a further 48% reduction from 1440p. This is a typical scaling curve for a GPU that is being pushed harder as pixel count increases.

The Low preset tells a similar story: 276.4 FPS at 1080p, 175.3 at 1440p, and 89.5 at 4K. The percentage drops are consistent, indicating that the CPU is not becoming a bottleneck at lower resolutions. If the Ryzen 9 7900X were limiting performance, we would expect to see diminishing returns as resolution decreases, but the data shows the FPS continues to scale upward significantly at 1080p, confirming that the GPU remains the primary constraint.

The Medium preset follows the same trend: 228.9 FPS at 1080p, 146.9 at 1440p, and 75.6 at 4K. The Ultra preset shows the steepest relative decline, with 131 FPS at 1080p dropping to 82.5 at 1440p and finally 42.8 at 4K. This consistency across all settings reinforces that Hard West is a well-optimized title where the rendering load scales smoothly with resolution, and the RTX 5070 handles each step proportionally.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 combination ranks 287th out of 1699 tested combos in Hard West. This places it in the 83rd percentile of all configurations, which is a strong showing for a system built around a CPU that launched in September 2022 and a GPU that arrived in March 2025. The rank reflects the hardware's overall capability, even though Hard West is not a demanding title by modern standards.

The CPU itself is a 12-core, 24-thread processor from the 7000 series, based on Zen 4 architecture, with a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. Its average benchmark score of 50556 places it in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals in synthetic testing are the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 (50598, 0.1% higher), AMD Ryzen 9 5900XT (50738, 0.4% higher), Intel Core i7-13850HX (50827, 0.5% higher), and Intel Core i9-13980HX (50944, 0.8% higher). These deltas are all within 1%, indicating that the Ryzen 9 7900X is competitive with a range of modern and previous-generation processors.

The GPU's rank of 83rd percentile is lower than the CPU's 93rd percentile, which suggests that in this specific game, the graphics card is the more limiting component. This is consistent with the resolution scaling analysis, which showed the GPU handling the increasing pixel loads without CPU interference. For a turn-based tactics game, this rank is more than adequate, as the genre does not demand the extreme frame rates that competitive shooters require.

FAQ

Q: Is the RTX 5070 sufficient for 4K gaming in Hard West?

A: At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 42.8, which is below the 60 FPS target. However, dropping to Medium settings yields 75.6 FPS, providing a smooth experience at 4K. The High preset at 57.6 FPS is close to 60 but not consistent enough for a locked experience.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1440p?

A: The High preset at 2560x1440 delivers 111.7 FPS, which is excellent for most displays. If you have a high refresh rate monitor, the Medium preset at 146.9 FPS is a better choice, as it provides a 32% performance increase over High.

Q: Does the Ryzen 9 7900X bottleneck the RTX 5070 in this game?

A: The data does not indicate a CPU bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 276.4 FPS, and the FPS scales consistently across all settings and resolutions. This suggests the GPU is the limiting factor throughout the tested configurations.

Q: How does the RTX 5070 compare to the RTX 3090 in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5070 has an average benchmark score of 41687, while the RTX 3090 scores 41441. This puts the RTX 5070 approximately 0.6% ahead of the RTX 3090 in the overall GPU benchmark, indicating comparable performance in general compute tasks.

Q: Is the Ultra preset worth using at 1080p?

A: The Ultra preset at 1920x1080 delivers 131 FPS, which is still very smooth. However, the High preset at 176.6 FPS provides a 35% performance advantage. For a turn-based game, the visual difference between High and Ultra is unlikely to justify the FPS loss.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Medium at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 89.5 FPS, while the Medium preset averages 75.6 FPS. The difference is 13.9 FPS, or approximately 18%, making Medium a reasonable choice for better visuals without a major performance penalty.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are as follows: Low settings produce 276.4 FPS, Medium settings produce 228.9 FPS, High settings produce 176.6 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 131 FPS. The progression shows a consistent decline of roughly 50 FPS per settings tier, with the gap between High and Ultra being the largest at 45.6 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 175.3 FPS for Low, 146.9 FPS for Medium, 111.7 FPS for High, and 82.5 FPS for Ultra. The relative differences between settings are similar to 1080p, but the absolute values are lower, reflecting the increased pixel count. The drop from Medium to High is 35.2 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 29.2 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 89.5 FPS for Low, 75.6 FPS for Medium, 57.6 FPS for High, and 42.8 FPS for Ultra. This is the only resolution where the Ultra preset falls below the 60 FPS threshold, and the High preset barely exceeds it. The Medium preset at 75.6 FPS represents the best balance of visual quality and performance at this resolution.

The overall pattern across all resolutions and settings confirms that the RTX 5070 is the determining factor in Hard West's performance. The Ryzen 9 7900X provides ample processing power, as evidenced by the high frame rates even at 1080p Low. For a game from 2015, this hardware combination delivers exceptional performance, with the only caveat being that 4K Ultra is not a viable option for those seeking 60 FPS or higher.