Hard West

The Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the Intel Arc B370 produces a predictable performance curve in Hard West, where the primary constraint shifts decisively toward the GPU as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 79 FPS average, which is the highest recorded figure across the entire test matrix. Moving to Medium at the same resolution drops the average to 64 FPS, while High yields 49 FPS and Ultra falls to 37 FPS. This scaling pattern—a roughly 53% reduction from Low to Ultra at 1080p—indicates that even at the lowest preset, the system is not fully CPU-bound; the frame rate headroom suggests the processor could push higher if the graphics pipeline allowed it. The data shows a 15 FPS gap between Low and Medium, a 15 FPS gap between Medium and High, and a 12 FPS gap between High and Ultra, which reveals a relatively linear degradation across presets at 1080p, characteristic of a system where neither component is dramatically overspending or underspending relative to the other.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates compress noticeably. Low settings produce 50 FPS average, Medium produces 41 FPS, High produces 31 FPS, and Ultra drops to 23 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 27 FPS, which is a 54% reduction, nearly identical to the percentage drop seen at 1080p. However, the absolute values are lower, indicating that the Arc B370’s limited throughput is beginning to dominate. The transition from 1080p to 1440p at High settings—from 49 FPS to 31 FPS—represents a 37% performance loss, while the same resolution jump at Low settings—from 79 FPS to 50 FPS—represents a 37% loss as well. This consistency suggests that the scaling penalty is resolution-driven rather than setting-driven, which is typical for a GPU whose memory bandwidth is system-dependent and whose compute resources are modest.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles to maintain playable frame rates. Low settings yield 26 FPS average, Medium yields 21 FPS, High yields 16 FPS, and Ultra falls to 12 FPS. The drop from 1440p to 4K at Low settings—from 50 FPS to 26 FPS—is a 48% reduction, and at High settings—from 31 FPS to 16 FPS—is a 48% reduction. This halving of performance with each resolution step-up points directly at the GPU as the limiting component. The Arc B370’s system-shared memory and 6.144 TFLOPS FP32 throughput are insufficient for 4K rendering in this title, where even the lowest preset cannot sustain 30 FPS. The data indicates that the i5-10400F is not the bottleneck at 4K; the GPU is saturated, and CPU headroom remains untapped. For a turn-based tactics game, the low frame rates at 4K may be tolerable for some players, but the numbers clearly show that this resolution is outside the combo’s capable operating envelope.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-10400F and Intel Arc B370 ranks 2721 out of 2949 tested combos in Hard West, placing it in the bottom 8% of all configurations. This percentile position reflects the GPU’s severe limitations rather than the CPU’s capabilities. The i5-10400F alone sits at the 68th percentile among all CPUs in general benchmark data, with an average benchmark score of 14185, which is a respectable mid-range position. In contrast, the Arc B370’s standalone average benchmark score is 1184, placing it at the 5th percentile among all GPUs—a bottom-tier result. The combo’s in-game rank is thus dragged down almost entirely by the graphics component, which is confirmed by the resolution scaling analysis showing GPU-bound behavior at every setting above 1080p Low.

The nearest rivals for the CPU provide context for its processing strength. The Intel Xeon 6756E scores 14163, which is 0.2% lower than the i5-10400F, while the AMD EPYC 7552 scores 14115, 0.5% lower. On the other side, the Intel Core 7 160UL scores 14232, 0.3% higher, and the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C scores 14277, 0.6% higher. These deltas are minimal, indicating that the i5-10400F’s compute performance is tightly clustered with these alternatives. For Hard West, a turn-based tactics title that does not heavily tax multi-threaded workloads, the CPU’s six cores and twelve threads are more than sufficient, as evidenced by the fact that the combo’s rank is not improved by the CPU’s relative strength. The GPU’s nearest rivals—the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186, 0.2% higher), ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190, 0.5% higher), AMD Radeon HD 7650M (1192, 0.7% higher), and AMD FirePro M2000 (1168, 1.4% lower)—all represent legacy or low-power parts, confirming that the Arc B370 is competing in a performance tier that is a decade old. This ranking data suggests that the combo is suitable for low-resolution, low-setting gameplay in Hard West, but any expectation of modern 1080p Ultra performance is unsupported by the measurements.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is built on the Xe3-LPG architecture with a Panther Lake chip, fabricated on a 3 nm process. Its boost clock reaches 2400 MHz, with a base clock of 300 MHz, and it features 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 render output units. The GPU also includes 10 ray tracing cores, though Hard West does not leverage ray tracing in its rendering path. The pixel rate is 48.00 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 96.00 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance at 6.144 TFLOPS. Critically, the memory configuration is listed as System Shared, meaning the GPU relies on shared system memory with a bandwidth that is System Dependent. This is a fundamental limitation for a game like Hard West that requires frequent texture and geometry data access, as the lack of dedicated VRAM and fixed memory bus width creates a bottleneck that becomes more pronounced at higher resolutions and settings.

The measured frame rates show that the GPU’s performance drops off steeply as resolution increases. At 1080p, the Ultra preset averages 37 FPS, which is playable but not smooth. At 1440p, the Ultra preset drops to 23 FPS, and at 4K, it falls to 12 FPS. The Medium preset at 1080p yields 64 FPS with a minimum of 55 FPS and maximum of 74 FPS, providing a stable experience. The data indicates that the Arc B370 is operating near its limits even at 1080p Medium, and the GPU’s 5th percentile ranking among all GPUs—with a Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184—underscores its entry-level positioning. The GPU’s boost clock of 2400 MHz is relatively high for the compute throughput, but the system-shared memory negates any clock advantage in memory-intensive scenes. For Hard West, the GPU’s role is to provide basic rasterization, and the measurements show that it can handle the game at 1080p Low and Medium presets with acceptable frame rates, but it struggles beyond that.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal settings for this combo balance frame rate consistency with visual fidelity. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers 64 FPS average with a minimum of 55 FPS and maximum of 74 FPS, which is the highest average among presets that still maintains a minimum above 30 FPS. The Low preset achieves 79 FPS average, but the visual quality reduction may not be necessary given that Medium provides a 15 FPS improvement over High’s 49 FPS. High preset at 1080p yields 49 FPS, which is playable but leaves less headroom for scene complexity. Ultra drops to 37 FPS, which is below the 40 FPS threshold that many players find acceptable for turn-based games. The data suggests that 1080p Medium is the sweet spot: it offers a 64 FPS average, a 55 FPS minimum, and a 74 FPS maximum, indicating consistent frame pacing.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset yields 41 FPS average with a minimum of 35 FPS and maximum of 47 FPS. This is the only 1440p preset that maintains a minimum above 30 FPS, making it the recommended choice for players who prioritize resolution over settings. Low at 1440p produces 50 FPS average, which is smoother but requires a noticeable drop in texture and effects quality. High at 1440p yields 31 FPS, and Ultra drops to 23 FPS, both of which fall below the 30 FPS playability floor for most users. At 3840x2160, no preset reaches 30 FPS average—Low is 26 FPS, Medium is 21 FPS, High is 16 FPS, and Ultra is 12 FPS—so 4K is not recommended for this combo. The measured data indicates that the best experience is achieved at 1080p Medium, with 1440p Medium as a viable alternative for those willing to accept a lower frame rate in exchange for higher resolution.

FAQ

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

A: The highest measured average FPS is 79 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only preset that exceeds 70 FPS, with Medium at 1080p achieving 64 FPS as the next highest.

*Q: Can this combo handle 4K resolution in Hard West?*

A: No. The data shows that at 3840x2160, the best result is 26 FPS average on Low settings, which falls below the 30 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. Ultra at 4K drops to 12 FPS average.

Q: How does the Arc B370 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The Arc B370 has an average benchmark score of 1184. The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 scores 1186 (0.2% higher), the ATI Radeon HD 5770 scores 1190 (0.5% higher), the AMD Radeon HD 7650M scores 1192 (0.7% higher), and the AMD FirePro M2000 scores 1168 (1.4% lower).

Q: What is the combo’s rank among all tested configurations in this game?

A: The combo ranks 2721 out of 2949 total combos tested in Hard West, placing it in the bottom 8% of all configurations.

Q: Which settings provide the most stable frame rate at 1080p?

A: Medium settings at 1920x1080 yield 64 FPS average with a minimum of 55 FPS and maximum of 74 FPS. This is the only preset at 1080p that offers both a high average and a minimum above 50 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU’s benchmark scores (e.g., 10283 in Cinebench R23 multi-core) indicate substantial processing headroom, but the GPU’s performance drops from 50 FPS at Low to 23 FPS at Ultra, showing that graphics throughput is the constraint.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Comet Lake architecture, manufactured on a 14 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 64 KB L1 per core, 256 KB L2 per core, and 12 MB shared L3. Its memory support is DDR4 with dual-channel configuration, providing a memory bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s. In Hard West, a turn-based tactics game that is not heavily threaded, the CPU’s single-thread performance is more relevant than its multi-thread capabilities. The Cinebench R23 single-core score is 1451, and the 3DMark single-thread score is 688, both of which are modest but sufficient for the game’s logic, AI, and pathfinding calculations. The multi-thread scores—10283 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 12115 in PassMark multi-thread—indicate that the CPU can handle background tasks without impacting gameplay.

The CPU’s percentile rank of 68 among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 14185, places it in the mid-range of processors. Its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks are all within 0.6% of its average score, confirming that it is neither a standout nor a laggard. In the context of Hard West, the data shows that the CPU is not the bottleneck at any resolution or setting. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 79 FPS, but the GPU’s limitations prevent higher frame rates. At 4K, the CPU’s utilization likely decreases significantly as the GPU struggles to render each frame, meaning the processor is idle waiting for graphics work. The i5-10400F’s 12 threads provide ample parallelism for the game’s turn-based mechanics, and its boost clock of 4.30 GHz ensures responsive UI interactions and unit movements. The data indicates that upgrading the GPU would yield significant performance gains, while upgrading the CPU would have minimal impact on Hard West frame rates for this combo.