Hard West

Hard West is a turn-based tactics game from 2015, and the measured data for the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination reveals a setup that dramatically outpaces the title's requirements. The benchmark results show a system that is almost entirely GPU-limited at higher settings, while the 12-core, 24-thread Zen 5 processor sits largely in reserve. The data indicates that this pairing is far more capable than needed for the game's mechanics, offering triple-digit frame rates even at demanding 1440p resolutions with High settings, and only beginning to strain at 4K with Ultra presets.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X is a high-end desktop processor built on the Zen 5 architecture, codenamed Granite Ridge. It features 12 cores and 24 threads, with a base clock of 4.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. The CPU's substantial L3 cache of 64 MB shared and dual-channel DDR5 memory support are part of its profile. However, in the context of Hard West, a turn-based tactics game from 2015, the data suggests that the CPU's raw power is not the primary factor driving performance.

At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 255.8 FPS, which is over 90 FPS higher than the 1080p High result of 162.5 FPS. This massive delta at the same resolution indicates a shift in bottleneck: at Low settings, the GPU has less work, but the frame rate is still not CPU-bound, as the CPU can push far beyond this. The benchmark results imply that the 9900X's single-thread performance, evidenced by a 3DMark single-thread score of 1286 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6555, is more than sufficient to feed the GPU in this game. The processor's percentile rank of 94 against all CPUs confirms it sits near the top tier of available hardware.

The data shows that the CPU is not the limiting component in any of the measured configurations. Even at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS drops to 37.6, the bottleneck is clearly the GPU's workload, not the CPU's ability to process game logic. The 9900X's 3DMark 16-thread score of 12552 and multi-thread Cinebench R23 score of 46438 are impressive, but Hard West simply does not require that level of multi-threaded throughput. The game's turn-based nature means that frames are rendered as static scenes with minimal dynamic simulation, so the CPU's 24 threads are mostly idle, while the clock speed and IPC are what matter for the few active threads.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Based on the measured FPS data, the "High" preset offers the most balanced experience for this hardware combination. At 1080p, High delivers 162.5 FPS, which is well above any display's refresh rate and offers a smooth experience. Stepping up to Ultra at 1080p yields 118.9 FPS, which is still excellent, but the drop from High to Ultra is significant, indicating that Ultra settings impose a heavy penalty for marginal visual gains. The data suggests that High is the sweet spot for 1080p, providing a high frame rate without the excessive load of Ultra.

At 1440p, High settings produce 99.9 FPS, which is an ideal target for high-refresh monitors. Medium settings at 1440p reach 130.5 FPS, but the visual quality difference between Medium and High is often noticeable in a game with detailed environments like Hard West. The Ultra preset at 1440p drops to 78.4 FPS, which is playable but not as fluid. For 4K, the choice is more constrained: High settings yield 53.6 FPS, which is borderline for a smooth experience, while Medium drops to 70.6 FPS and Low reaches 87.5 FPS. The data indicates that for 4K, High is the highest playable preset, but Medium is the better choice for maintaining a consistent frame rate above 60 FPS.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The resolution scaling data clearly points to the GPU as the performance limiter in this combination. Moving from 1080p High (162.5 FPS) to 1440p High (99.9 FPS) results in a 38.5% drop in average frame rate. This is a typical signature of GPU-bound performance, as the number of pixels to render increases by roughly 78% from 1080p to 1440p, but the frame rate does not drop proportionally, suggesting that other factors like memory bandwidth play a role. The RTX 4070's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory with a 504.2 GB/s bandwidth is being stressed more at higher resolutions.

The drop from 1440p High (99.9 FPS) to 4K High (53.6 FPS) is a 46.3% decrease. This substantial reduction indicates that the GPU is overwhelmed at 4K, as the pixel count doubles from 1440p to 4K. The RTX 4070's average benchmark score of 37283 and its percentile rank of 81 against all GPUs show it is a capable mid-range card, but Hard West's Ultra settings at 4K require more raw pixel throughput than it can deliver, resulting in 37.6 FPS. The data reveals that the CPU is not a factor in this scaling, as the 9900X's performance is consistent across resolutions, meaning the frame rate drop is entirely attributable to the GPU's rendering load.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination ranks 420th out of 1699 tested combos in Hard West. This percentile position, roughly the top 25% of all configurations, is lower than one might expect given the raw hardware on paper. This ranking suggests that Hard West is not a demanding title for modern CPUs, and the GPU's mid-range positioning limits the combo's overall standing. The CPU's nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D with an average score of 54681 and a delta of -0.4%, and the Intel Core i7-14700F with a delta of 0.7%, show that the 9900X is competitive with its peers in synthetic benchmarks, but this does not translate to a higher in-game rank.

The GPU's nearest rivals, including the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (delta -0.6%) and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (delta -2.2%), indicate that the RTX 4070's synthetic score of 37283 is on par with some older or mobile parts. In Hard West, this translates to a mid-pack ranking. The 420th rank out of 1699 combos implies that there are many other configurations with faster GPUs that achieve higher frame rates, particularly at settings like Ultra, where the RTX 4070 struggles. The combo's rank is a direct reflection of the GPU's limitations at high resolutions, as the CPU's ample headroom does not boost the overall score.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, with a memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. Its boost clock is 2475 MHz, and it has 5888 shading units. The GPU's role in Hard West is critical, as the benchmark results show it is the primary determinant of frame rates across all settings and resolutions. At 1080p Low, the GPU achieves 255.8 FPS, but this drops to 118.9 FPS at Ultra, a 53.5% reduction. This scaling demonstrates that the GPU's shading units and pixel rate (158.4 GPixel/s) are heavily taxed by Ultra settings.

The RTX 4070's 12 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for Hard West, as the game is from 2015 and likely does not use textures that would exceed 8 GB. The data shows no signs of VRAM capacity being a bottleneck, as even at 4K Ultra, the frame rate drops to 37.6 FPS due to compute limitations, not memory exhaustion. The GPU's texture rate of 455.4 GTexel/s and FP32 performance of 29.15 TFLOPS are the metrics that matter here. Compared to its nearest rivals, the RTX 4070's average score of 37283 is 0.6% lower than the RX Vega 56 and 2.5% higher than the RX 5300M, indicating it sits in a tight performance band that explains its mid-range ranking in this game.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Hard West with this CPU and GPU combo?

A: The data shows that 1440p High settings provide 99.9 FPS, which is an excellent balance of visual quality and smoothness. At 4K, the frame rate drops below 60 FPS on High, so 1440p is the recommended resolution for the best experience.

Q: Does the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X bottleneck the RTX 4070 in this game?

A: No. The benchmark results show that frame rates scale consistently with resolution, indicating the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU's high single-thread scores, such as 6555 in Cinebench R23, ensure it is not a bottleneck.

Q: How much faster is Low settings compared to Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, Low settings achieve 255.8 FPS, while Ultra achieves 118.9 FPS. This represents a 136.9 FPS difference, meaning Low is over twice as fast.

Q: Is this combo good for 4K gaming in Hard West?

A: At 4K, High settings deliver 53.6 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target. Medium settings achieve 70.6 FPS, so the combo is playable at 4K only with lower presets.

Q: How does this combo rank against all other tested configurations?

A: It ranks 420th out of 1699 combos, placing it in the top 25% of tested systems. This is a solid mid-tier ranking, primarily limited by the GPU's performance.

Q: What is the CPU's percentile rank compared to all other CPUs?

A: The Ryzen 9 9900X has a percentile rank of 94, meaning it is faster than 94% of all CPUs in the benchmark database. Its average benchmark score is 54450.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 3840x2160 (4K), the average frame rates are as follows: Low settings produce 87.5 FPS, Medium settings produce 70.6 FPS, High settings produce 53.6 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 37.6 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a steep decline, with Ultra being less than half the speed of Low.

At 2560x1440 (1440p), the results are significantly higher: Low settings achieve 160.1 FPS, Medium settings achieve 130.5 FPS, High settings achieve 99.9 FPS, and Ultra settings achieve 78.4 FPS. The pattern is consistent, with each settings tier reducing the frame rate by roughly 20-30 FPS. At 1920x1080 (1080p), the combo shows its full potential: Low settings reach 255.8 FPS, Medium settings reach 212 FPS, High settings reach 162.5 FPS, and Ultra settings reach 118.9 FPS. The 1080p results show that even Ultra settings maintain a frame rate above 100 FPS, confirming the hardware's strength at lower resolutions. The data across all resolutions demonstrates a clear GPU-bound scenario, with the RTX 4070's limitations becoming more apparent as pixel count increases.