Hard West

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

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor based on Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. Its base clock of 3.30 GHz can boost up to 4.30 GHz, and it carries 12 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU's benchmark profile shows a clear strength in single-threaded work: a 3dmark_single_thread score of 893 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1681. In contrast, its multi-threaded performance is more modest, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 11912 and a 3dmark_max_threads score of 4023. This lopsided profile matters for Hard West, a turn-based tactics title from 2015 that rarely stresses more than a few threads.

The data suggests this game's AI and simulation logic are not heavily parallelized. The CPU's 4-core/8-thread configuration, combined with its high boost clock, appears sufficient to keep turn-based decision-making fluid. At 1080p Low settings, the combo achieves 243.4 FPS, which indicates the processor is not a bottleneck at lower graphical loads. However, the gap between 2-thread (1659) and 4-thread (2859) 3dmark scores shows scaling, but the jump from 4-thread to 8-thread (4026) is smaller, implying diminishing returns beyond four cores—a pattern consistent with a game that leans on a few fast cores.

The CPU's nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX, has an average benchmark score of 13534, a mere 0.1% above the i3-12100F's 13516. This near-parity in aggregate scores, despite the Threadripper's far higher core count, reinforces that Hard West's workload favors clock speed and single-core efficiency over raw thread count. The i3-12100F also sits 1.8% ahead of the Intel Core i7-7700K, a once-flagship part, in average score. For this game, the CPU's 72nd percentile ranking among all tested processors is more than adequate; the limiting factor at higher resolutions will shift decisively to the GPU.

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

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is a high-end RDNA 3.0 part with 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus, delivering 800.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its game clock is 2025 MHz, boost clock 2394 MHz, and base clock 1387 MHz. The GPU's raw compute resources are substantial: 5376 shading units, 336 TMUs, and 192 ROPs, producing 51.48 TFLOPS of FP32 throughput. This hardware is far beyond what a 2015 turn-based tactics game would require, yet the measured FPS data shows that Hard West still scales with GPU headroom in unexpected ways.

At 1080p Low, the RX 7900 XT pushes 243.4 FPS, but at 4K Ultra, the frame rate collapses to 43.7 FPS. This dramatic drop—a 82% reduction from the Low 1080p figure—indicates that Hard West's Ultra settings impose a severe rendering load, likely through heavy use of transparency effects, shadows, or post-processing that the older engine handles inefficiently. The GPU's 82nd percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 38358, places it near the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile (38349, 0% delta) and ahead of the NVIDIA CMP 70HX (38225, 0.3% delta). Yet even this top-tier card cannot maintain 60 FPS at 4K Ultra, suggesting the game's Ultra preset is not optimized for modern hardware.

The VRAM capacity of 20 GB is never a constraint here; even at 4K Ultra, the game likely uses a fraction of it. The bottleneck at high settings is more likely the shader complexity and fill-rate demands, given the GPU's pixel rate of 459.6 GPixel/s. The 800 GB/s memory bandwidth helps at 4K, where the 60.1 FPS High result shows the card can handle the resolution when settings are moderated. The GPU's Passmark G3D score of 29009 and DirectX 11 score of 340 indicate strong legacy API performance, which is relevant since Hard West's era predates modern rendering pipelines.

FAQ

Q: Does the Intel Core i3-12100F bottleneck the RX 7900 XT in Hard West?

A: At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 243.4 FPS, which is far above display refresh rates and suggests the CPU is not the primary limiter at lower settings. However, at 4K Ultra, the frame rate falls to 43.7 FPS, and the GPU becomes the dominant constraint, as the CPU's single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 score of 1681) is sufficient for the game's turn-based logic.

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combo for a 60 FPS target?

A: At 4K High, the average FPS is 60.1, which meets a 60 FPS target. At 1440p High, the average rises to 109.8 FPS, offering comfortable headroom. For a smooth 144 Hz experience, 1080p High delivers 173.7 FPS, while 1080p Ultra drops to 129.1 FPS.

Q: How does the RX 7900 XT compare to its closest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RX 7900 XT has an average benchmark score of 38358, which is statistically identical to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile (38349, 0% delta). It is 0.3% ahead of the NVIDIA CMP 70HX and 0.6% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile.

Q: Why does 4K Ultra performance drop so sharply compared to 4K High?

A: The average FPS falls from 60.1 at 4K High to 43.7 at 4K Ultra, a 27% reduction. This suggests the Ultra preset introduces effects that disproportionately tax the GPU's fill-rate and shading resources, despite the card's high pixel rate of 459.6 GPixel/s.

Q: Is the CPU's 4-core configuration a limitation for this game?

A: The data shows the CPU's multi-threaded scores (Cinebench R23 multicore: 11912) are modest, but Hard West's turn-based nature means it rarely uses more than a few cores. The 3dmark scores show minimal gains beyond 4 threads (2859 for 4-thread vs 4026 for 8-thread), indicating the game thrives on the i3-12100F's strong single-core performance.

Q: What does the combo ranking indicate about overall system balance?

A: This combo ranks 343rd out of 1699 tested combinations, placing it in the top 20% of all paired systems. Given the GPU's high percentile (82nd) and the CPU's adequate 72nd percentile, this ranking reflects a system where the GPU is the star but the CPU does not drag it down in this specific title.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i3-12100F and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT achieves a rank of 343 out of 1699 tested combos in Hard West, placing it in the top 20% of all system pairings. This ranking is notable because the CPU is a budget-oriented 4-core part, while the GPU is a flagship-class card. The data suggests that in this turn-based tactics game, the GPU's raw power dominates the performance equation, but the CPU's strong single-threaded scores prevent it from becoming a liability.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 13516 places it in the 72nd percentile among all CPUs, while the GPU's 38358 average score sits in the 82nd percentile. The slight mismatch in percentiles is mitigated by the game's low thread demands. For context, the CPU's nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX, scores 13534 (0.1% higher), yet that processor costs vastly more and would not improve Hard West's FPS meaningfully. The i3-12100F's 4.30 GHz boost clock and 893 single-thread 3dmark score are the relevant metrics here.

The combo's rank of 343 suggests that many higher-ranked systems use more balanced CPU-GPU pairings, but for this specific game, the RX 7900 XT's capabilities are what push the system into the upper echelon. The GPU's 29009 Passmark G3D score and 340 DirectX 11 score indicate strong performance in the API this game likely uses. The rank also reflects that Hard West is not a demanding title for modern hardware; even mid-range combos can achieve playable frame rates, so the top 20% placement is more proof of the GPU's brute force than to system harmony.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data across three resolutions reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling. At 1080p Low, the combo averages 243.4 FPS, which drops to 177.5 FPS at 1440p Low (-27%) and further to 89.9 FPS at 4K Low (-63% from 1080p). This steep decline at Low settings indicates that even with minimal graphical load, the GPU's rendering pipeline is the limiting factor, as the CPU's 4-core design can easily feed frames at these rates.

At High settings, the scaling is similar but slightly less severe: 173.7 FPS at 1080p, 109.8 FPS at 1440p (-37%), and 60.1 FPS at 4K (-65%). The percentage drop from 1440p to 4K is consistent across Low and High, suggesting that resolution scaling is primarily a function of pixel count and memory bandwidth. The RX 7900 XT's 800.0 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for 4K High, but the frame rate halving from 1080p to 4K indicates that the game's engine does not scale efficiently with resolution.

The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling: 129.1 FPS at 1080p, 84.3 FPS at 1440p (-35%), and 43.7 FPS at 4K (-66%). The 4K Ultra result is the only setting where the combo drops below 60 FPS, and the 43.7 FPS average suggests that the Ultra preset's additional effects (likely ambient occlusion, dynamic shadows, or particle effects) disproportionately increase the GPU's workload. The gap between 4K High (60.1 FPS) and 4K Ultra (43.7 FPS) is 27%, while the gap between 1080p High (173.7 FPS) and 1080p Ultra (129.1 FPS) is also 26%, showing that Ultra's overhead is consistent across resolutions.

This scaling behavior confirms that the CPU is not the bottleneck at any resolution. The i3-12100F's 4.30 GHz boost clock and high single-thread scores (893 in 3dmark_single_thread) are more than adequate for the game's turn-based logic, even at 1080p Low where the GPU is pushing 243 FPS. The limiting component is unambiguously the GPU, and the RX 7900 XT's performance at 4K Ultra (43.7 FPS) reveals that Hard West's highest settings are simply not well-optimized for modern hardware. For players seeking a consistent 60 FPS experience, 4K High is the ceiling, while 1440p High offers a comfortable 109.8 FPS with room to spare.