Hard West

Hard West is a turn-based tactics title from 2015, and the measured data for the Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the Intel Arc B370 places this combination at rank 2721 out of 2949 tested combos for this game. That position in the bottom percentile of all tested configurations indicates a system that will struggle to deliver smooth gameplay under most conditions, though the data reveals a specific set of circumstances where the experience becomes acceptable. The ranking is heavily influenced by the graphics processor, which sits at the 5th percentile among all GPUs, rather than the processor, which holds a more respectable 68th percentile ranking among all CPUs. This asymmetry in component strength is the defining characteristic of this pairing.

How This Combo Ranks

The overall combo rank of 2721 out of 2949 places this system in the bottom 8% of all tested configurations for Hard West. This is a poor result, driven almost entirely by the GPU's limitations. The Intel Arc B370's average benchmark score of 1184 places it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs, meaning 95% of tested graphics cards perform better in synthetic benchmarks. To contextualize this within the GPU's peer group, the data shows it is virtually tied with the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570, which scores 1186 (a delta of -0.2%), and the ATI Radeon HD 5770 at 1190 (a -0.5% delta). The Arc B370 is also slightly ahead of the AMD FirePro M2000, which scores 1168 (a 1.4% delta). This places the GPU in the same performance tier as integrated and entry-level discrete solutions from over a decade ago.

The CPU, by contrast, is a far stronger component. The Intel Core i3-12100F scores 13494 on average, which puts it in the 68th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core 3 N355 with an average score of 13492 (a 0% delta) and the Intel Core i5-9500 at 13452 (a 0.3% delta, meaning the i3 is slightly faster). The i3-12100F also edges out the Intel Core 5 120UL, which scores 13594 (a -0.7% delta). This tells a clear story: the CPU is more than capable of handling the game's logic and AI, but it is being held back by a GPU that cannot keep up with even modest rendering demands. In turn-based tactics, where frames are often less critical than in action games, this bottleneck still results in low average frame rates across all settings and resolutions.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is the limiting factor in this configuration. Its specifications show a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz, with 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 raster operation pipelines. The memory subsystem is entirely system-shared, with no dedicated VRAM, making bandwidth system-dependent. This is a critical detail for Hard West, as the game's environments, while not graphically intensive by modern standards, still require consistent memory throughput. The GPU's raw compute capabilities are modest, with an FP32 performance of 6.144 TFLOPS and a texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s.

The benchmark results confirm this GPU's weakness. In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, the Arc B370 scores 1184, a figure that aligns it with the ATI Radeon HD 5770 from 2009. This means that for Hard West, the GPU is operating at a performance level that predates the game's release by several years. The practical impact is that the GPU struggles to maintain playable frame rates even at lower settings. The data shows that at 1080p with Low settings, the average FPS reaches 79, which is smooth, but this is the only configuration that approaches a universally accepted playable threshold of 60 FPS or higher. At any higher quality preset, the average FPS drops below 64, and at 4K, it falls to single digits or low twenties, indicating the GPU is overwhelmed by the pixel count.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K clearly illustrates the GPU bottleneck. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 49 at 1920x1080 to 31 at 2560x1440, and then to 16 at 3840x2160. This represents a 67% reduction in average FPS from 1080p to 4K. The pattern is consistent across all settings. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 79 at 1080p to 50 at 1440p (a 37% drop), and then to 26 at 4K (a further 48% drop from 1440p). At Medium settings, the average FPS goes from 64 at 1080p to 41 at 1440p and 21 at 4K. At Ultra, the numbers are 37, 23, and 12 respectively.

This scaling behavior indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting component. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rate would remain relatively flat across resolutions, as the processor would be doing the same amount of work regardless of pixel count. Instead, the FPS drops sharply as resolution increases, which is the classic signature of a GPU that is saturated by pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth demands. The system-shared memory further compounds this issue, as higher resolutions require more memory bandwidth, which is system-dependent and likely insufficient. The result is that 4K gaming is effectively unplayable at any setting, with the best case being 26 FPS at Low settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the best average FPS this combo can achieve in Hard West?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 79, which occurs at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This is the only configuration in the measured data that exceeds 60 FPS.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B370 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B370's average benchmark score is 1184. It is statistically tied with the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186, -0.2% delta) and the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190, -0.5% delta). It is slightly faster than the AMD FirePro M2000 (1168, 1.4% delta).

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this system?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor. The Intel Core i3-12100F ranks in the 68th percentile of all CPUs, while the Intel Arc B370 ranks in the 5th percentile of all GPUs. The frame rate drops significantly with increasing resolution, which indicates a GPU bottleneck.

Q: What is the playable 4K experience like?

A: 4K is not playable. The highest average FPS at 3840x2160 is 26 at Low settings, which drops to 16 at High settings and 12 at Ultra settings. Even the best 4K result is below 30 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU's performance compare to its rivals?

A: The Intel Core i3-12100F has an average score of 13494. It is effectively tied with the Intel Core 3 N355 (13492, 0% delta) and the Intel Core i5-9500 (13452, 0.3% delta). It is slightly slower than the Intel Core 5 120UL (13594, -0.7% delta) and faster than the Intel Core i7-1250U (13351, 1.1% delta).

Q: Does the system have dedicated VRAM?

A: No, the Intel Arc B370 uses system-shared memory. The memory size, type, and bus width are all listed as "System Shared," and the bandwidth is "System Dependent." This contributes to the performance drop at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, manufactured on a 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, with a 12 MB shared L3 cache. The CPU's benchmark results show a strong single-thread performance, with a 3DMark single-thread score of 893 and a Geekbench single-core score of 1932. In multi-threaded tests, it scores 4023 in 3DMark max threads and 11860 in Cinebench R23 multicore. This indicates that the CPU has ample processing power for a turn-based tactics game like Hard West, which relies on AI pathfinding and turn logic rather than complex physics or particle effects.

The CPU's 68th percentile ranking among all CPUs reinforces this assessment. It is a mid-pack performer that will not bottleneck most games, including Hard West. However, the data shows that the CPU's power is largely wasted in this configuration because the GPU cannot render frames fast enough to utilize the CPU's throughput. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (79 FPS) suggests that the CPU can feed frames at that rate, but even at this lowest graphical setting, the GPU is already working near its limit. As the resolution increases, the CPU's role diminishes further, as the GPU becomes the sole constraint. For this game, the CPU's specifications are more than sufficient, but the overall system performance is capped by the GPU.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy of presets and resolutions for this combo. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 79 FPS, which is the only smooth experience available. The Medium preset at 1080p drops to 64 FPS, which is still playable, but the High preset falls to 49 FPS, and Ultra drops to 37 FPS. Given that Hard West is a turn-based game where a stable 30 FPS can be acceptable, the Medium preset at 1080p offers the best balance between visual quality and performance, with a 64 FPS average and a minimum of 55 FPS. However, for a consistently fluid experience, the Low preset at 1080p is the safest choice.

At 2560x1440, the situation becomes more challenging. The Low preset averages 50 FPS, which is playable but with occasional dips below 60. The Medium preset at 1440p averages 41 FPS with a minimum of 35 FPS, which is acceptable for this genre. The High preset at 1440p drops to 31 FPS, which is borderline, and Ultra is not recommended at 23 FPS. At 3840x2160, no preset is playable. The Low preset averages 26 FPS, which is below the 30 FPS threshold for comfortable turn-based play, and all other presets are in the single digits or low twenties. The recommendation is to play at 1080p with the Medium preset if visual fidelity is desired, or Low for a smoother 79 FPS. At 1440p, only Low or Medium are viable, and 4K should be avoided entirely.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the data shows a full range of performance. The Low preset delivers an average of 79 FPS, the highest of any configuration. The Medium preset averages 64 FPS, with a minimum of 55 and a maximum of 74. The High preset averages 49 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 37 FPS. This resolution is the only one where the system can consistently hit 60 FPS or higher, and only at Low settings.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS figures are 50 for Low, 41 for Medium (with a minimum of 35 and maximum of 47), 31 for High, and 23 for Ultra. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is significant, averaging a 37% reduction across all presets. The 1440p Medium setting is the highest quality preset that maintains an average above 40 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the performance collapses. The Low preset averages 26 FPS, the Medium preset averages 21 FPS (with a minimum of 18 and maximum of 25), the High preset averages 16 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 12 FPS. None of these results are playable, and the system-shared memory of the GPU is likely a contributing factor to this severe degradation. The data shows a clear pattern: this combo is only viable at 1080p, with a hard ceiling at 1440p for the lowest presets, and 4K is entirely out of reach.