Hard West

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 delivers exceptional performance in Hard West, a turn-based tactics title that is not particularly demanding by modern standards. The measured data shows a combination capable of high refresh rates at every resolution tested, with the platform's 12-core CPU and flagship GPU ensuring that neither component becomes a bottleneck in this specific workload. The following analysis breaks down the measured FPS results, component roles, and ranking position based solely on the provided dataset.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data across all three resolutions and four settings presets indicates that the optimal experience depends heavily on the display's native resolution. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset achieves an average of 175 FPS, which is more than sufficient for any display, while the High preset reaches 234 FPS and Medium hits 304 FPS. The Low preset tops out at 329 FPS. Given that the difference between Ultra and High is 59 FPS (from 175 to 234), and the game is a turn-based tactics title where frame rates above 144 FPS provide diminishing returns, the High preset at 1080p offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance headroom.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset maintains a solid 111 FPS average, while High delivers 148 FPS and Medium reaches 192 FPS. The Low preset hits 235 FPS. The jump from Ultra to High here is 37 FPS, and from High to Medium is 44 FPS. For 1440p displays, the High preset is the recommended choice, as its 148 FPS average comfortably exceeds the typical 144 Hz refresh rate while retaining higher visual quality than Medium. The Ultra preset's 111 FPS is still playable but leaves less margin for scene complexity spikes.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes significantly. The Ultra preset averages only 58 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold that many users consider the minimum for smooth gameplay. High averages 78 FPS, Medium averages 101 FPS, and Low reaches 123 FPS. At 4K, the Medium preset is the best experience, providing a 101 FPS average with a measured minimum of 86 FPS and maximum of 116 FPS. This is the only 4K setting that offers both a playable average and tight frame pacing. The High preset at 78 FPS is acceptable, but the Medium preset's 43 FPS advantage over Ultra (101 vs 58) makes it the clear choice for 4K gaming on this hardware.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is the primary driver of the measured FPS results in Hard West. The GPU features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, delivering 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. The core operates at a base clock of 2017 MHz with a boost clock of 2407 MHz. These specifications place the RTX 5090 in the 92nd percentile among all GPUs in the benchmark database, with an average benchmark score of 79842.

The GPU's immense memory capacity and bandwidth are more than adequate for Hard West, a game released in 2015 that does not require substantial VRAM. The 32 GB allocation ensures that texture loading and asset streaming are never constrained, even at 4K Ultra settings. The measured FPS data shows the RTX 5090 scaling predictably with resolution: at 1080p Low, it achieves 329 FPS, while at 4K Ultra, it drops to 58 FPS. This 5.7x reduction across a 4x pixel count increase indicates that the GPU remains the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

The nearest rivals for the RTX 5090 in the benchmark database include the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (0.3% higher average score), the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB (0.6% higher), and the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (1.1% higher). These deltas are minimal, suggesting that the RTX 5090's raw compute performance is closely matched by these enterprise and mobile parts, but the RTX 5090's 32 GB VRAM and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth provide a distinct advantage in memory-intensive scenarios, even if Hard West does not exploit this fully.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo at 1080p?

A: The highest 1080p average is 329 FPS, achieved with the Low settings preset. The Medium preset follows at 304 FPS, High at 234 FPS, and Ultra at 175 FPS.

Q: Does the Ultra preset at 4K provide a playable frame rate?

A: The 4K Ultra preset averages 58 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold commonly considered the minimum for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset at 4K averages 101 FPS, making it the recommended 4K settings choice.

Q: How does the RTX 5090 compare to its nearest rival in the benchmark database?

A: The RTX 5090's average benchmark score is 79842, placing it 0.3% below the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB, which scores 79605. The RTX 5090 is 0.6% above the Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB and 1.1% above the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT.

*Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested combinations in Hard West?*

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and RTX 5090 combination ranks 36th out of 2949 tested combos, placing it in the top 1.2% of all configurations tested.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to bottleneck at 1440p High settings?

A: The 1440p High preset averages 148 FPS, which is substantially lower than the 1080p High average of 234 FPS. This 86 FPS drop indicates the GPU is becoming the limiting factor as resolution increases, since the CPU workload remains constant.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded across all settings and resolutions?

A: The lowest average is 58 FPS, recorded at 4K Ultra settings. This represents the most demanding configuration tested and the only preset that drops below 60 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured data shows a clear progression across settings. The Low preset achieves the highest average at 329 FPS. Medium follows with 304 FPS, showing a 25 FPS drop from Low. High averages 234 FPS, a 70 FPS reduction from Medium. Ultra averages 175 FPS, which is 59 FPS below High. The Medium preset at 1080p also provides the only frame time data at this resolution, with a minimum of 258 FPS and a maximum of 350 FPS, indicating excellent frame pacing.

At 2560x1440, the performance scaling follows a similar pattern but with reduced absolute numbers. Low averages 235 FPS, which is 94 FPS lower than the 1080p Low result. Medium averages 192 FPS, with a minimum of 163 FPS and maximum of 221 FPS. High averages 148 FPS, and Ultra averages 111 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 124 FPS, compared to 154 FPS at 1080p, showing that the GPU is absorbing more of the resolution increase.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops are more pronounced. Low averages 123 FPS, which is 112 FPS lower than the 1440p Low result. Medium averages 101 FPS, with a minimum of 86 FPS and maximum of 116 FPS. High averages 78 FPS, and Ultra averages 58 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K is the only one that provides frame time data at this resolution, showing a 30 FPS range between minimum and maximum, which is acceptable for a turn-based game.

The data reveals that the RTX 5090 maintains playable frame rates (above 60 FPS) at all resolutions through the High preset, with only 4K Ultra falling below this threshold. The 1080p and 1440p results show headroom for high refresh rate displays, with 1440p High exceeding 144 FPS and 1080p Ultra exceeding 165 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination ranks 36th out of 2949 tested combos in Hard West. This places the combo in the top 1.2% of all configurations tested, indicating that it is among the most capable systems for this game. The rank of 36 is notable because it shows that while the RTX 5090 is a flagship GPU and the Ryzen 9 9900X3D is a high-end 12-core processor, there are 35 other combinations that achieve higher average FPS in this specific title.

The ranking position suggests that Hard West is not heavily dependent on the extreme performance characteristics of either component. The game's turn-based nature means that instantaneous frame rates are less critical than in fast-paced genres, and the measured FPS data confirms that even mid-range hardware could likely achieve playable results. However, the top 1.2% ranking indicates that this combo does not suffer from any significant bottlenecks, and the 1080p Low result of 329 FPS shows that the CPU and GPU work efficiently together.

The nearest CPU rivals for the Ryzen 9 9900X3D include the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF, which has an average benchmark score 0.6% lower, and the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K, which is 1.3% lower. These small deltas suggest that the CPU's performance is competitive with other modern processors, but the ranking in Hard West is more likely influenced by the GPU's massive throughput at lower resolutions where the CPU can keep up.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D provides the computational foundation for this combo. With 12 cores and 24 threads, this CPU operates at a base clock of 4.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. The 128 MB of L3 cache is substantial and helps with game logic and asset management. The CPU is built on TSMC's 4 nm process and supports DDR5 memory with a dual-channel configuration providing 89.6 GB/s of bandwidth.

In Hard West, a turn-based tactics game that primarily relies on single-threaded performance for game logic and AI calculations, the Ryzen 9 9900X3D's single-thread capabilities are crucial. The CPU's Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6739 and Geekbench single-core score of 3041 indicate strong per-core performance. The 3DMark single-thread score of 1269 reinforces this, and the CPU's 91st percentile ranking among all CPUs confirms its position as a high-performance part.

The CPU's multi-threaded performance is also robust, with Cinebench R23 multi-core scoring 47737 and Passmark multi-thread scoring 56154. However, Hard West is unlikely to fully utilize all 24 threads, as turn-based tactics games typically have limited parallelism. The measured FPS data supports this: at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 329 FPS, which is likely close to the game engine's rendering limits rather than a CPU bottleneck.

The nearest CPU rivals in the benchmark database show that the Ryzen 9 9900X3D is closely matched with the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF (-0.6% average score), Intel Core Ultra 5 245K (+1.3%), and Intel Xeon 6505P (+2.0%). These small deltas suggest that CPU choice has minimal impact on Hard West performance, as the game's requirements are modest relative to modern high-end processors.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals how the combo scales across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 329 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low, the FPS drops to 235, a 28.6% reduction. At 4K Low, the FPS drops further to 123, a 47.7% reduction from 1440p. This scaling pattern is consistent with GPU-bound behavior, where the frame rate decreases proportionally to the pixel count increase.

For the Medium preset, the scaling is similar but with slightly different percentages. 1080p Medium averages 304 FPS, 1440p Medium drops to 192 FPS (a 36.8% reduction), and 4K Medium drops to 101 FPS (a 47.4% reduction from 1440p). The High preset shows 1080p at 234 FPS, 1440p at 148 FPS (a 36.8% reduction), and 4K at 78 FPS (a 47.3% reduction). The Ultra preset follows the same trend: 1080p at 175 FPS, 1440p at 111 FPS (a 36.6% reduction), and 4K at 58 FPS (a 47.7% reduction).

The consistent scaling percentages across all presets indicate that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at every resolution. The CPU workload remains constant regardless of resolution, so if the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see similar FPS values across resolutions. Instead, the FPS drops by roughly 37% from 1080p to 1440p and another 47% from 1440p to 4K, closely matching the pixel count increases of 77.8% and 125%, respectively. This demonstrates that the RTX 5090's performance scales predictably with resolution, and the Ryzen 9 9900X3D has sufficient headroom to avoid becoming a bottleneck even at 1080p Low where the GPU is pushed to 329 FPS.