Hard West

# Hard West Performance Analysis: AMD Ryzen 9 9900X + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080

This combination delivers exceptional performance in Hard West, a turn-based tactics title from 2015. The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 produces frame rates that are overwhelmingly high across all tested configurations, with the lowest recorded average being 51 FPS at 4K Ultra settings. The data indicates this pairing is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, while at 1080p the system exhibits CPU limitations that still result in extremely playable frame rates. The combo ranks in the 95.6th percentile of all tested configurations for this game, placing it at position 165 out of 3,722 total combos.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial but follows an expected pattern for a high-end GPU. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 206 at 1080p to 131 at 1440p, then to 69 at 4K. This represents a 36.4% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 47.3% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The scaling suggests that at 1080p, the system is not fully utilizing the RTX 4080's capabilities, as the CPU becomes the limiting factor.

Looking at Low settings, the scaling is even more pronounced. The system delivers 328 FPS at 1080p, drops to 207 FPS at 1440p, and then falls to 109 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p drop of 36.9% is nearly identical to the High setting's drop, which indicates a consistent pattern of GPU load increase. However, the 1440p to 4K drop of 47.3% shows that the GPU is being pushed harder at higher resolutions.

The Medium settings row provides additional insight with min and max FPS values. At 4K Medium, the average is 89 FPS with a range of 76 to 103 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average jumps to 170 FPS with a range of 144 to 195 FPS. The 1080p Medium average of 269 FPS with a range of 228 to 309 FPS shows that even at the minimum, the frame rate remains far above what most displays can show.

Ultra settings produce the most demanding workload. The average FPS at 4K Ultra is 51, which is the lowest figure in the entire dataset. At 1440p Ultra, the average rises to 98 FPS, and at 1080p Ultra it reaches 155 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 4K at Ultra settings shows a 48% reduction, which is consistent with the pixel count increase from approximately 3.7 million to 8.3 million pixels.

The data reveals that at 1080p, the system is likely CPU-bound or engine-limited, as the difference between Low and Ultra settings is only 173 FPS (328 versus 155), while at 4K the difference is 58 FPS (109 versus 51). This suggests that at lower resolutions, the Ryzen 9 9900X's 12 cores and 24 threads are enough to feed the RTX 4080, but the game's engine may have a frame rate ceiling around 328 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

For 4K displays, the High preset at 69 FPS average provides a smooth experience, but the Medium preset at 89 FPS average is the better choice for most users. The Medium preset shows a minimum FPS of 76 and maximum of 103, which keeps frame times consistent and avoids any noticeable stutter. The Ultra preset at 51 FPS average is technically playable but sits close to the threshold where turn-based tactics games can feel less responsive during camera movements and unit animations.

At 1440p, the High preset delivers 131 FPS average, which is excellent for any display refresh rate up to 120Hz. The Medium preset at 170 FPS average is even better, with a minimum of 144 FPS ensuring that even the most demanding scenes stay above the 144Hz threshold. The Ultra preset at 98 FPS average is also very playable, but the High or Medium presets offer a better balance of visual quality and performance headroom.

For 1080p displays, every preset delivers playable frame rates. The Low preset at 328 FPS average is excessive for most displays, but it demonstrates the system's raw capability. The High preset at 206 FPS average is sufficient for 144Hz or 240Hz displays, while the Medium preset at 269 FPS average provides additional headroom. The Ultra preset at 155 FPS average is the best choice for 144Hz displays, as it offers the highest visual quality while still maintaining a comfortable margin above the refresh rate.

The data suggests that the Medium preset is the sweet spot across all resolutions. It provides a 28.9% improvement over High at 4K (89 versus 69 FPS), a 29.8% improvement at 1440p (170 versus 131 FPS), and a 30.6% improvement at 1080p (269 versus 206 FPS). The visual differences between Medium and High in a turn-based tactics game are likely minimal, making Medium the most efficient choice.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 716.8 GB/s of memory bandwidth. This memory configuration is more than sufficient for Hard West, a game from 2015 that was designed for much older hardware. The GPU's 9,728 shading units, 304 texture mapping units, and 112 raster output pipelines deliver the raw compute power necessary for the high frame rates observed in the data.

The RTX 4080's clock speeds are 2205 MHz base and 2505 MHz boost, with memory running at 1400 MHz (22.4 Gbps effective). These clocks are not particularly stressed by Hard West's workload, as the game's turn-based nature means that most scenes have limited on-screen action compared to real-time titles. The GPU's 48.74 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is far beyond what this game requires, which explains why the system can achieve 328 FPS at 1080p Low settings.

The GPU's 76 ray tracing cores and 304 tensor cores are not relevant to Hard West, as the game does not utilize these features. The Ada Lovelace architecture's DirectX 12 Ultimate support is also not fully leveraged, as the game's 2015 release date means it likely uses DirectX 11 or older APIs. The PassMark DirectX 11 score of 314 and DirectX 12 score of 132 indicate that the GPU performs better under the older API, which aligns with this game's requirements.

The RTX 4080's 16 GB of VRAM is never a limiting factor in Hard West. Even at 4K Ultra settings, the game's texture memory requirements are modest by modern standards. The GPU's memory bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s ensures that texture streaming is never a bottleneck, even during rapid camera movements across the game's tactical maps.

The GPU sits at the 86th percentile of all GPUs in the benchmark database, with an average benchmark score of 54,247. Its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, scores 54,209, a difference of just 0.1%, making the two cards effectively identical in synthetic benchmarks. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54,828, which is 1.1% higher, while the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB scores 55,698, which is 2.6% higher, though these differences are within normal variance for synthetic tests.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the system produces the following average frame rates: 109 FPS at Low, 89 FPS at Medium, 69 FPS at High, and 51 FPS at Ultra. The Medium setting is the only one with recorded min and max values, showing 76 FPS minimum and 103 FPS maximum. This gives a frame time consistency that is typical for a turn-based tactics game, where scenes are often static or slowly panning.

At 2560x1440, the average frame rates are: 207 FPS at Low, 170 FPS at Medium, 131 FPS at High, and 98 FPS at Ultra. The Medium setting shows a minimum of 144 FPS and maximum of 195 FPS, which means the frame rate never drops below the 144Hz refresh rate threshold. This makes 1440p Medium an excellent choice for high refresh rate monitors.

At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are: 328 FPS at Low, 269 FPS at Medium, 206 FPS at High, and 155 FPS at Ultra. The Medium setting shows a minimum of 228 FPS and maximum of 309 FPS, which means the system maintains a minimum frame rate that exceeds the refresh rate of virtually all consumer displays. Even at Ultra settings, the 155 FPS average is sufficient for 144Hz displays.

The progression from Low to Ultra at each resolution follows a consistent pattern. At 1080p, the frame rate drops by 18% from Low to Medium, by 23.4% from Medium to High, and by 24.8% from High to Ultra. At 1440p, the drops are 17.9%, 22.9%, and 25.2% respectively. At 4K, the drops are 18.3%, 22.5%, and 26.1%. This consistency indicates that each settings tier imposes a similar relative performance cost regardless of resolution.

The minimum FPS values for Medium settings show that the system maintains frame rates well above playable thresholds. At 1080p, the minimum is 228 FPS, which is 84.8% of the average. At 1440p, the minimum is 144 FPS, which is 84.7% of the average. At 4K, the minimum is 76 FPS, which is 85.4% of the average. This narrow spread between average and minimum FPS indicates stable performance without significant frame time spikes.

How This Combo Ranks

This combo ranks 165th out of 3,722 tested combinations for Hard West, placing it in the top 4.4% of all configurations. This ranking reflects the high performance of both the CPU and GPU, though the game's age means that many modern mid-range systems can also achieve high frame rates. The rank is more impressive when considering that Hard West is a turn-based tactics game with modest system requirements.

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X ranks in the 92nd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 57,498. Its nearest rivals are the AMD EPYC 9015 with a score of 57,555 (0.1% higher), the AMD EPYC 7313 with 57,399 (0.2% lower), the Intel Core i9-14900 with 58,115 (1.1% higher), and the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M with 58,323 (1.4% higher). These small percentage differences indicate that the 9900X is competitive with top-tier server and desktop processors.

The RTX 4080 ranks in the 86th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54,247. Its nearest rivals include the RTX 4080 SUPER at 54,209 (0.1% lower), the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X at 54,828 (1.1% higher), the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB at 55,698 (2.6% higher), and the AMD Radeon 8060S at 55,757 (2.7% higher). These differences are marginal and within typical run-to-run variance for synthetic benchmarks.

The combination of a 92nd percentile CPU and 86th percentile GPU results in a system that is well-balanced for gaming. The CPU's strong single-thread performance, evidenced by a 3DMark single-thread score of 1,286 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2,253, ensures that even games with poor multi-threading can achieve high frame rates. The GPU's substantial compute resources handle the graphical workload without becoming a bottleneck at most settings.

The combo rank of 165 out of 3,722 places this system in the upper echelon of tested configurations. The fact that it achieves 328 FPS at 1080p Low and 207 FPS at 1440p Low demonstrates that the system has significant headroom for future games or more demanding titles. The 4K Ultra performance of 51 FPS average is the only configuration that approaches the edge of playability, but for a turn-based tactics game, this is still a smooth experience.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Hard West?

A: The data shows that 1440p Medium delivers 170 FPS average with a minimum of 144 FPS, which is ideal for high refresh rate monitors. At 4K Medium, the average is 89 FPS with a minimum of 76 FPS, which is also playable but with less headroom.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its closest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER?

A: The RTX 4080 has an average benchmark score of 54,247, while the RTX 4080 SUPER scores 54,209, a difference of just 0.1%. In synthetic benchmarks, these cards are effectively identical in performance.

Q: Is the Ryzen 9 9900X a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: At 1080p Low, the system achieves 328 FPS average, which is likely near the game's engine limit. The fact that 1080p Ultra (155 FPS) is less than 2.1 times slower than 1080p Low (328 FPS) suggests the CPU or engine is limiting performance at lower resolutions.

Q: What is the minimum FPS at 4K Medium settings?

A: The minimum FPS at 4K Medium is 76, with an average of 89 and a maximum of 103. This means the frame rate never drops below 76 FPS, providing a consistent experience.

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

A: This combo ranks 165th out of 3,722 total tested combinations, placing it in the top 4.4% of all configurations tested for this game.

Q: Does the RTX 4080's 16 GB VRAM ever become a limiting factor in Hard West?

A: No. Hard West is a 2015 turn-based tactics game with modest texture requirements. The 16 GB GDDR6X memory with 716.8 GB/s bandwidth is far more than the game requires, even at 4K Ultra settings.