Hard West

The Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7600 delivers a thoroughly playable experience in Hard West, a turn-based tactics title from 2015. The combination ranks in the 69th percentile of tested combos, with a clear performance ceiling at 4K Ultra that suggests the GPU is the primary constraint. The measured data shows strong 1080p performance across all settings, with diminishing returns as resolution climbs.

FAQ

*Q: What is the overall rank of this CPU and GPU combination in Hard West?*

A: The combo ranks 2575th out of 3722 tested configurations, placing it in the upper third of all tested hardware pairings for this game.

*Q: Can this setup handle 4K gaming in Hard West?*

A: At 4K, the average FPS ranges from 25 at Ultra settings to 52 at Low settings. Medium settings produce a 43 FPS average with a minimum of 36 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for smooth motion.

Q: What is the best resolution for high refresh rate gameplay?

A: At 1080p, the combo achieves 74 FPS on Ultra and 157 FPS on Low. For maximum smoothness, 1080p Medium delivers 129 FPS with a minimum of 110 FPS, ensuring consistent frame pacing.

Q: How does the RX 7600 compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RX 7600 scores 15171 on average, which is 0.2% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM (15199) and 0.6% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro 560X (15082). It also trails the AMD Radeon 680M by 0.7%.

Q: What is the CPU's multi-threaded capability relative to its peers?

A: The i5-10400F scores 14185 on average, placing it 0.2% ahead of the Intel Xeon 6756E (14163) and 0.5% ahead of the AMD EPYC 7552 (14115). It sits 0.3% behind the Intel Core 7 160UL (14232).

Q: Does the GPU have enough VRAM for this game at maximum settings?

A: The RX 7600 features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 288.0 GB/s bandwidth. For Hard West, the 4K Ultra preset drops to 25 FPS, indicating the GPU's memory bandwidth or compute capacity is strained at that extreme configuration.

How This Combo Ranks

The i5-10400F + RX 7600 pairing occupies the 2575th position out of 3722 tested combos in Hard West. This places the configuration in the 69th percentile, meaning roughly a third of all tested combinations perform better. The ranking reflects a balanced mid-range setup rather than a high-end enthusiast pairing. Given the game's 2015 release date, this result is expected; modern hardware vastly exceeds the requirements of a turn-based tactics title.

The CPU's synthetic benchmarks show a solid foundation. The i5-10400F scores 10283 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 1451 in single-core. In 3DMark, it achieves 4748 with 16 threads and 4735 with maximum threads, indicating good scaling across its 6 cores and 12 threads. Its Passmark multi-thread score of 12115 and single-thread score of 2541 confirm it as a competent mid-range processor. The 68th percentile ranking against all CPUs underscores that this chip is adequate but not exceptional by modern standards.

The GPU contributes more to the Hard West results. The RX 7600's Passmark G3D score of 16634 and 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 2310 show it as a capable 1080p performer. Its 57th percentile ranking against all GPUs suggests it is slightly below average in the broader market, yet it remains well-suited for older titles. The combination's overall rank is likely limited more by the GPU than the CPU, especially at higher resolutions where the graphics card becomes the bottleneck.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic GPU-bound scenario. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 99 at 1080p to 63 at 1440p and further to 33 at 4K. This represents a 67% reduction from 1080p to 4K, which is substantial but consistent with a graphics card that has 8 GB of VRAM and a 128-bit memory interface. The scaling pattern indicates that the RX 7600 is the limiting component as resolution increases.

At Low settings, the drop is less severe but still pronounced: 157 FPS at 1080p, 100 FPS at 1440p, and 52 FPS at 4K. This 67% decrease mirrors the High preset, suggesting that the GPU's raw throughput, not just VRAM capacity, governs performance. The Medium preset shows a minimum FPS of 110 at 1080p, 69 at 1440p, and 36 at 4K, with the frame rate halving at each resolution step. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, with 74 FPS at 1080p dropping to 47 FPS at 1440p and 25 FPS at 4K — a 66% reduction overall.

The spacing between presets at a given resolution is also telling. At 1080p, moving from Low to Ultra reduces average FPS from 157 to 74, a 53% penalty. At 4K, the same preset change drops FPS from 52 to 25, a 52% reduction. This consistent percentage across resolutions indicates the GPU scales uniformly with workload, reinforcing that the RX 7600 is the primary performance limiter.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers strong results across all presets. Low settings produce an average of 157 FPS, Medium averages 129 FPS with a minimum of 110 and maximum of 148, High averages 99 FPS, and Ultra averages 74 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 83 FPS, giving players a wide range of options depending on their preference for visual fidelity versus frame rate.

At 2560x1440, performance remains playable but drops noticeably. Low averages 100 FPS, Medium averages 82 FPS (minimum 69, maximum 94), High averages 63 FPS, and Ultra averages 47 FPS. The 1440p results show that even the most demanding preset stays above 45 FPS, which is acceptable for a turn-based game where precise timing is less critical than in action titles.

At 3840x2160, the GPU begins to struggle. Low averages 52 FPS, Medium averages 43 FPS (minimum 36, maximum 49), High averages 33 FPS, and Ultra averages 25 FPS. The 4K Ultra result dips below 30 FPS, which may cause noticeable stutter or lag in menus and camera movements. The Medium preset at 4K offers the best balance of playability and quality, with a minimum of 36 FPS that keeps the experience mostly smooth.

The data shows a clear hierarchy: 1080p is ideal for high refresh rates, 1440p is viable for all settings, and 4K is only recommended at Low or Medium settings. The maximum FPS values at Medium settings (148 at 1080p, 94 at 1440p, 49 at 4K) indicate that frame spikes occur but are not excessive, suggesting stable performance overall.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7600 is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with the Navi 33 chip, fabricated on a 6 nm process by TSMC. It features 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, with 32 ray tracing cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1720 MHz and a boost clock of 2655 MHz, with a game clock of 2250 MHz. Its memory runs at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective), providing 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth across an 8 GB GDDR6 frame buffer on a 128-bit bus.

The GPU's pixel rate of 169.9 GPixel/s and texture rate of 339.8 GTexel/s are respectable for mid-range hardware. Its FP32 performance of 21.75 TFLOPS places it well above the requirements of Hard West, but the 8 GB VRAM may be a limiting factor at 4K Ultra, where the 25 FPS average suggests the GPU is running out of memory bandwidth or capacity. The 128-bit bus width is modest for 4K workloads, and the measured results reflect this constraint.

In synthetic benchmarks, the RX 7600 scores 16634 in Passmark G3D and 88051 in Geekbench OpenCL. Its Vulkan score of 34401 and DirectX 12 score of 58 in Passmark indicate strong API support. The GPU's 57th percentile ranking against all GPUs means it outperforms the median but trails many modern cards. For Hard West, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck at 1440p and above, as evidenced by the 67% FPS drop from 1080p to 4K at High settings.

Settings Recommendations

For 1080p gaming, the Ultra preset at 74 FPS is the best choice for visual quality, as the frame rate remains above 60 FPS. Players prioritizing smoothness can choose Medium at 129 FPS, which provides a 74% FPS increase over Ultra with a minimum of 110 FPS. Low at 157 FPS is only necessary for extreme refresh rate displays beyond 144 Hz.

At 1440p, the High preset at 63 FPS offers a good balance, though the Medium preset at 82 FPS is more forgiving for GPU load. Ultra at 47 FPS is playable but may feel less fluid during camera pans. The Low preset at 100 FPS is overkill for most monitors, making Medium the recommended starting point for 1440p users.

At 4K, the Medium preset at 43 FPS (minimum 36) is the only viable option for consistent gameplay. The High preset at 33 FPS and Ultra at 25 FPS fall below the 30 FPS threshold that many consider the minimum for acceptable playability. Low at 52 FPS is smoother but sacrifices significant visual detail. For the best experience, 4K users should select Medium and accept the reduced fidelity, or drop to 1440p for higher frame rates.

Overall, the data suggests that 1080p Medium or High offers the best experience, with 1440p Medium as a strong alternative for users with higher-resolution displays. The Ultra preset is best reserved for 1080p, where the GPU can maintain a stable 74 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Comet Lake architecture, fabricated on a 14 nm process. It runs at a base clock of 2.90 GHz and boosts to 4.30 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU features 64 KB L1 cache per core, 256 KB L2 per core, and 12 MB shared L3 cache. It supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with 42.7 GB/s bandwidth and uses PCIe Gen 3 with 16 lanes.

The CPU's synthetic scores show it as a capable performer for gaming. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10283 and single-core score of 1451 indicate solid all-around performance. In Geekbench, it scores 6257 multi-core and 1420 single-core. The Passmark multi-thread score of 12115 and single-thread score of 2541 confirm that the i5-10400F handles both multithreaded and lightly threaded workloads effectively.

For Hard West, a turn-based tactics game, the CPU is unlikely to be a bottleneck. The game's 2015 release means it was designed for older hardware with fewer cores. The i5-10400F's 12 threads provide ample headroom for game logic, AI calculations, and background processes. The 68th percentile ranking against all CPUs suggests it outperforms many older processors, and its 3DMark 16-thread score of 4748 versus 2-thread score of 1350 shows good scaling that benefits multi-threaded tasks.

The CPU's role in this combo is primarily to feed the GPU without holding it back. At 1080p Low, the 157 FPS average suggests the CPU can push frames well beyond typical monitor refresh rates. The consistent FPS drops across resolutions indicate that the GPU becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases, rather than the CPU. Players with this setup should expect the i5-10400F to provide stable performance in Hard West, with the RX 7600 determining the final frame rate at higher settings.