Hard West

The pairing of the Intel Core i3-12100F with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 in Hard West produces a dataset that reveals a stark imbalance between processor capability and graphics horsepower. This is a turn-based tactics title from 2015 where the data indicates the GPU is rarely the primary constraint, making the combination an interesting case study in bottleneck behavior at high frame rates. The measured FPS rows show a system that can deliver exceptional performance at lower resolutions but struggles to maintain that lead when pixel count rises, pointing toward a CPU that is working at its limits while the RTX 5090 waits for instructions.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data across the three tested resolutions shows a clear pattern of diminishing returns as pixel count increases, but with unusual characteristics that suggest the CPU, not the GPU, is the limiting factor at 1080p and 1440p. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo achieves 206 FPS average. Moving to 2560x1440 at High, the average drops to 148 FPS, a reduction of 58 FPS or roughly 28%. However, the jump to 3840x2160 at High yields only 78 FPS, which is a dramatic 70 FPS drop from the 1440p result, representing a 47% decrease. This non-linear scaling is the first indicator that the CPU is holding the system back at lower resolutions, where the GPU has headroom but the processor cannot feed it fast enough.

The Low settings data reinforces this interpretation. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 244 FPS average, which is a very high number but still far below what the RTX 5090 could theoretically produce in a less CPU-bound scenario. At 1440p Low, the average is 209 FPS, a modest 35 FPS drop from 1080p. Yet at 4K Low, the average falls to 123 FPS, which is a substantial 86 FPS decline from 1440p. The relative consistency between 1080p and 1440p at Low settings, compared to the steep cliff at 4K, suggests that the CPU can just barely maintain high frame rates up to 1440p, but the GPU finally becomes the bottleneck at 2160p where its workload increases significantly.

Medium settings show a similar trend with a slightly different shape. The 1080p Medium average is 227 FPS with a minimum of 193 FPS and a maximum of 261 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average is 192 FPS with a min of 163 FPS and a max of 221 FPS. The 4K Medium result drops to 101 FPS average with a min of 86 FPS and a max of 116 FPS. The frame time consistency, as indicated by the min-max spread, actually improves proportionally at higher resolutions, which is typical of a system transitioning from CPU-bound to GPU-bound operation.

Ultra settings provide the clearest evidence of the CPU limit. At 1080p Ultra, the combo manages 175 FPS average. At 1440p Ultra, it falls to 111 FPS. At 4K Ultra, it drops to 58 FPS. The 1080p Ultra result being only 31 FPS lower than 1080p High, while 4K Ultra is 20 FPS lower than 4K High, indicates that at lower resolutions the settings have less impact because the CPU is already saturated. The data shows that the RTX 5090 only becomes the dominant factor at 4K, where the GPU's rendering workload finally exceeds the CPU's ability to issue draw calls.

How This Combo Ranks

The comboRankInGame field places this specific CPU-GPU pairing at rank 189 out of 3722 tested combinations in Hard West. This is a strong showing, placing the combo in the top 5% of all tested systems. However, given the hardware involved, the rank might seem lower than expected. The RTX 5090 is a top-tier GPU, and the Core i3-12100F, while capable, is a budget-oriented processor. The rank of 189 suggests that many other combinations with more balanced or higher-end CPUs achieve better results in this specific game, which is known to be CPU-sensitive due to its turn-based tactical nature and the AI calculations involved.

The percentileVsAllCpus for the i3-12100F is 68, meaning it performs better than 68% of all CPUs in the database. The nearestRivals data shows the i3-12100F with an average benchmark score of 13494, which is nearly identical to the Intel Core 3 N355 at 13492 (0% delta) and the Intel Core i5-9500 at 13452 (0.3% faster). The Intel Core 5 120UL scores 13594, which is 0.7% faster, and the Intel Core i7-1250U scores 13351, which is 1.1% slower. These rivals are all lower-tier or older processors, confirming that the i3-12100F sits at a mid-range performance level despite its relatively low core count.

For the RTX 5090, the percentileVsAllGpus is 92, indicating it outperforms 92% of all GPUs. Its average benchmark score is 79842, with nearest rivals including the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB at 79605 (0.3% slower) and the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT at 78940 (1.1% slower). The fact that this combination ranks 189th despite having a top-8% GPU and a top-32% CPU suggests that the game's engine is heavily reliant on single-threaded CPU performance, where the i3-12100F's 4 cores and 8 threads may not be sufficient to fully utilize the RTX 5090's capabilities.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor from the Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, with a 58 W TDP. Its cache configuration includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 12 MB of shared L3 cache. The benchmark data shows a single-thread score of 893 in 3dmark, 1674 in Cinebench R23 single-core, and 1932 in Geekbench single-core. These are respectable numbers for a budget chip, but the multi-threaded results reveal the limitation: 3dmark 16-thread score is 4051, which is only slightly higher than the 8-thread score of 4026, indicating that the 4-core design hits a ceiling quickly.

In Hard West, a turn-based tactics game, the CPU's role is primarily to handle game logic, AI pathfinding, and unit actions. The benchmark results indicate that the i3-12100F can push high frame rates in this game, but the 1080p High average of 206 FPS suggests that the processor is already near its maximum output in this scenario. The fact that Ultra settings at 1080p only reduce the average to 175 FPS, while Low settings at 4K yield 123 FPS, shows that the CPU is the limiting factor across most resolutions and settings. The 4-core configuration with 8 threads is adequate for the game's threading model, but it cannot keep up with the RTX 5090's ability to render frames.

The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 11860 and single-core score of 1674 provide context for the CPU's overall capability. In a game like Hard West, which likely does not scale well beyond a few threads, the single-core performance is more important than the multi-core score. The 3dmark single-thread score of 893 and 2-thread score of 1659 show that the chip's strength lies in its high boost clock, but the 4-core limit means that any workload that can utilize more threads will see diminishing returns. The passmark single-thread score of 3444 confirms that the i3-12100F is a capable single-thread performer, which is why it can achieve 244 FPS at 1080p Low, but the data also shows that the GPU is never fully utilized until 4K resolution.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution to play Hard West with this combo?*

A: Based on the measured FPS data, 2560x1440 at High settings provides an average of 148 FPS, which is a good balance between visual quality and performance. At 1080p, the frame rates are higher (206 FPS at High), but the system is CPU-bound, meaning the RTX 5090 is not being fully utilized. At 4K, the GPU becomes the bottleneck, and the average FPS drops to 78 at High settings.

Q: Why does the frame rate drop so much from 1440p to 4K?

A: The data shows a 70 FPS drop from 2560x1440 (148 FPS) to 3840x2160 (78 FPS) at High settings. This steep decline indicates that the RTX 5090 finally becomes the limiting component at 4K, as the GPU's rendering workload at that resolution exceeds the CPU's ability to feed it frames. At lower resolutions, the CPU is the bottleneck, which is why the frame rates are more similar between 1080p and 1440p.

Q: How does this CPU compare to its nearest rivals in overall benchmark scores?

A: The Intel Core i3-12100F has an average benchmark score of 13494. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core 3 N355, scores 13492, which is a 0% difference. The Intel Core i5-9500 scores 13452 (0.3% faster), while the Intel Core 5 120UL scores 13594 (0.7% faster) and the Intel Core i7-1250U scores 13351 (1.1% slower). This places the i3-12100F in a tight cluster of mid-range processors.

Q: Is the RTX 5090's performance in this game limited by the CPU?

A: Yes, the data strongly suggests this. At 1080p and 1440p, the frame rates are high but do not scale with resolution as expected if the GPU were the bottleneck. For example, at 1080p High the combo produces 206 FPS, and at 1440p High it produces 148 FPS. The RTX 5090 is capable of much higher frame rates, but the i3-12100F's 4-core, 8-thread configuration cannot keep up, making the CPU the limiting factor until 4K resolution.

Q: What settings preset provides the most consistent frame times?

A: The Medium settings preset shows the most consistent frame times across resolutions, as evidenced by the min and max FPS values. At 1080p Medium, the range is 193-261 FPS (average 227). At 1440p Medium, the range is 163-221 FPS (average 192). At 4K Medium, the range is 86-116 FPS (average 101). This consistency suggests that Medium settings balance the CPU and GPU workloads more evenly than Low or High.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations in this game?

A: The comboRankInGame field shows that this pairing ranks 189th out of 3722 tested combinations. This places it in the top 5% of all systems tested in Hard West. The rank is influenced by the CPU's limitations, as many higher-ranked combinations likely feature more powerful processors that can better feed the RTX 5090.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is a flagship GPU based on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture, built on TSMC's 5 nm process. It features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s. The GPU has 21760 shading units, 680 TMUs, and 176 ROPs, with 170 RT cores and 680 tensor cores. Its base clock is 2017 MHz with a boost clock of 2407 MHz, and the memory runs at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective). The GPU's benchmark scores include a 3dmark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 18355 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 376728, with a Passmark G3D score of 39650.

In Hard West, the RTX 5090's role is to render the game's visuals, but the data shows that it is not the primary performance limiter until 4K resolution. The GPU's massive memory capacity of 32 GB is far more than this 2015 title requires, and the bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s is more than sufficient for the game's textures and effects. The GPU's high pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1636.8 GTexel/s mean that it can easily handle the rendering workload at 1080p and 1440p, but the CPU cannot provide enough draw calls to keep it busy.

The RTX 5090's benchmark performance places it in the 92nd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 79842. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (0.3% slower) and the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (1.1% slower). Despite this, the measured FPS in Hard West shows that the GPU's potential is largely untapped at lower resolutions. At 4K High settings, the combo achieves 78 FPS, which is a solid result but not exceptional for a GPU of this caliber. The data suggests that the RTX 5090 is capable of much higher frame rates in this game, but the i3-12100F's 4 cores and 8 threads limit its performance.

The GPU's FP32 compute of 104.8 TFLOPS and FP16 of 104.8 TFLOPS (1:1) are impressive on paper, but Hard West is not a compute-heavy game. The turn-based tactical genre relies more on CPU logic than GPU rendering, which explains why the RTX 5090's massive compute resources are not fully utilized. The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support and Vulkan 1.4 compatibility ensure that it can run the game with modern APIs, but the game's age means it likely does not take advantage of these features. The data shows that the RTX 5090 is a capable GPU for this title, but its performance is constrained by the CPU pairing.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of which settings preset offers the best experience with this combo. The Medium settings preset stands out as the most balanced option across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the combo delivers 227 FPS average with a minimum of 193 FPS and a maximum of 261 FPS. This is a high frame rate that is well above the refresh rate of most monitors, and the frame time consistency is excellent. At 1440p Medium, the average is 192 FPS with a min of 163 FPS and a max of 221 FPS, which is still very smooth. At 4K Medium, the average drops to 101 FPS with a min of 86 FPS and a max of 116 FPS, which is playable and consistent.

The High settings preset offers a slight improvement in visual quality but at a significant performance cost at higher resolutions. At 1080p High, the average is 206 FPS, which is 21 FPS lower than Medium. At 1440p High, the average is 148 FPS, which is 44 FPS lower than Medium. At 4K High, the average is 78 FPS, which is 23 FPS lower than Medium. The frame time data for High settings is not provided for most resolutions, but the average FPS figures suggest that High is less consistent than Medium.

The Ultra settings preset is not recommended for this combo. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 175 FPS, which is 52 FPS lower than Medium. At 1440p Ultra, the average is 111 FPS, which is 81 FPS lower than Medium. At 4K Ultra, the average is 58 FPS, which is 43 FPS lower than Medium. The Ultra preset likely enables additional graphical effects that put more strain on the GPU, but since the CPU is already the bottleneck at lower resolutions, the extra load does not improve the experience proportionally.

The Low settings preset yields the highest frame rates but sacrifices visual quality. At 1080p Low, the average is 244 FPS, at 1440p Low it is 209 FPS, and at 4K Low it is 123 FPS. These numbers are impressive, but the visual fidelity of Low settings is likely not ideal for a game with a detailed art style like Hard West. Given that the Medium preset provides a 227 FPS average at 1080p and a 101 FPS average at 4K, it is the best choice for players who want a good balance of performance and visual quality. The Medium preset also shows the most consistent frame times, with min and max values that are closer together than other presets, indicating a smoother gameplay experience.