Hard West

The Intel Core i5-10400F and Intel Arc B570 combination delivers a playable experience in Hard West, but the data shows that framerates are heavily dependent on the chosen settings and resolution. The measured results indicate a clear performance hierarchy, with the most balanced experience found at 1080p, while 4K pushes the system to its limits.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data indicates that the Medium preset at 1920x1080 offers the optimal balance of performance and visual fidelity for this combo. At this setting, the system achieves an average of 110 FPS with a minimum of 93 FPS, providing a smooth and consistent experience. The High preset at the same resolution drops to 84 FPS average, which is still playable, but the Medium setting's higher minimum frame rate suggests better stability during complex turn-based scenes.

For users prioritizing maximum smoothness, the Low preset at 1080p delivers 134 FPS average, but this comes at a significant visual cost. The jump from Low to Medium costs 24 FPS, while the jump from Medium to High costs 26 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1080p yields 63 FPS average, which represents a substantial 47 FPS drop from Medium—a steep price for marginal visual improvements.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset remains the most viable option, producing 69 FPS average with a minimum of 59 FPS. This maintains the 60 FPS threshold that many players seek, though the margin is tighter. High at 1440p falls to 53 FPS, breaking that threshold. The Low preset at 1440p achieves 85 FPS, but again sacrifices visual quality.

At 3840x2160, no preset achieves a consistently smooth experience. The Low preset at 4K provides 44 FPS average, which is the highest available at that resolution. Medium drops to 36 FPS, High to 28 FPS, and Ultra falls to a barely playable 21 FPS. For 4K users, the data suggests accepting Low settings as the only reasonable option.

The measured results show a clear pattern: Medium settings provide the best balance across all resolutions. The minimum frame rates recorded only for Medium presets—93 FPS at 1080p, 59 FPS at 1440p, and 31 FPS at 4K—suggest this preset maintains more consistent performance than other settings.

FAQ

*Q: Can this system run Hard West at 4K resolution?*

A: Yes, but with significant compromises. The highest average FPS at 3840x2160 is 44 FPS on Low settings. Medium yields 36 FPS, High yields 28 FPS, and Ultra yields 21 FPS. None of these meet the 60 FPS standard, so 4K play requires accepting lower frame rates.

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU and GPU combo?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 provides the most comfortable experience. At Medium settings, it achieves 110 FPS average, more than double the 36 FPS seen at 4K Medium. The 1440p Medium option at 69 FPS is also viable for those wanting higher resolution.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High preset performance?

A: Across all resolutions, Ultra consistently underperforms High. At 1080p, Ultra achieves 63 FPS versus 84 FPS for High. At 1440p, the gap is 40 FPS versus 53 FPS. At 4K, it narrows slightly to 21 FPS versus 28 FPS. The Ultra preset costs roughly 25% performance at every resolution.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-10400F a bottleneck for the Intel Arc B570?

A: Based on the frame rate scaling across resolutions, the system appears balanced. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads with a boost clock of 4.30 GHz provide sufficient processing power. The GPU's 11.52 TFLOPS FP32 performance handles the rendering load, as shown by the linear FPS drops when increasing resolution.

Q: What minimum FPS can be expected at Medium settings?

A: The measured minimums are 93 FPS at 1080p, 59 FPS at 1440p, and 31 FPS at 4K. These represent the lowest recorded frame rates, indicating that 1080p Medium maintains a high floor, while 4K Medium can dip below 30 FPS during demanding scenes.

Q: How does this combo rank against other tested configurations?

A: The combination ranks 2360 out of 2949 tested combos for this game, placing it in the lower-mid tier. This ranking reflects the game's age and the hardware's mid-range positioning, with the GPU sitting at the 65th percentile among all GPUs.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals how performance scales across the three tested resolutions. At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 110 at 1080p to 69 at 1440p, a 37% reduction. Moving from 1440p to 4K, the average drops to 36 FPS, a 48% reduction. This scaling pattern indicates that the system becomes increasingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions.

The pixel count increases from 2.1 million at 1080p to 3.7 million at 1440p (a 78% increase), yet the FPS drop is only 37%. This suggests the system has some headroom at 1080p, likely due to the CPU's capabilities. The Arc B570's 380.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 200.0 GPixel/s pixel rate provide adequate throughput for the intermediate resolution.

At 4K, the pixel count jumps to 8.3 million, a 400% increase over 1080p. The FPS at Medium drops to 36, which is a 67% reduction from the 1080p figure. This steep drop indicates the GPU's 10 GB GDDR6 memory and 160-bit bus width become limiting factors. The GPU's 80 ROPs and 144 TMUs must process significantly more data at 4K, and the measured results reflect this strain.

The Low preset shows a similar pattern: 134 FPS at 1080p, 85 FPS at 1440p, and 44 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 37% and 48%, respectively, mirroring the Medium preset scaling. This consistency suggests the limiting component remains the same across settings—the GPU's rendering pipeline.

The Ultra preset exhibits the worst scaling: 63 FPS at 1080p dropping to 40 FPS at 1440p (37% drop) and then to 21 FPS at 4K (48% drop). The absolute values show that Ultra settings at 4K reduce the system to near-unplayable levels, indicating that this preset demands more than the hardware can deliver at high pixel counts.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-10400F and Intel Arc B570 ranks 2360 out of 2949 tested combos for Hard West, placing it in the bottom 20% of configurations. This ranking reflects the game's age—released in 2015—and the hardware's mid-range positioning.

The GPU's percentile rank of 65 among all GPUs indicates it performs better than most graphics cards, yet the combo's overall ranking is dragged down by the game's modest requirements. The CPU's percentile rank of 68 among all CPUs similarly shows above-average performance, yet the combined system still lands in the lower quartile.

The nearest rivals to the Arc B570 in synthetic benchmarks include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile, which scores 0.1% higher, and the Intel Arc A750, which scores 0.1% lower. The AMD Radeon R9 M390X trails by 0.5%. These close scores suggest the B570 offers competitive performance in its class.

For the CPU, the nearest rivals are the Intel Xeon 6756E, scoring 0.2% higher, and the AMD EPYC 7552, scoring 0.5% higher. The Intel Core 7 160UL and AMD Ryzen 3 7320C score 0.3% and 0.6% lower, respectively. These tight margins indicate the i5-10400F sits in a well-populated performance band.

The combo's low ranking despite decent component percentiles suggests that Hard West is not particularly demanding, allowing many lower-end systems to achieve comparable frame rates. The measured data confirms this: even at 4K Low, the system achieves 44 FPS, which is playable for a turn-based tactics game.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F provides 6 cores and 12 threads, operating at a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. This Comet Lake architecture CPU has 12 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR4 memory in a dual-channel configuration with 42.7 GB/s bandwidth.

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU demonstrates strong multi-threaded performance with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10283 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 6257. Its single-thread performance is also respectable, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1451 and a PassMark single-thread score of 2541.

For Hard West, a turn-based tactics game, the CPU's role is less demanding than in real-time strategy or action titles. The game's turn-based nature means fewer simultaneous calculations are required compared to games with continuous AI updates. The 6-core, 12-thread configuration provides ample headroom for the game's logic, pathfinding, and AI decision-making.

The data shows that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 134 FPS, which is well above typical display refresh rates. This high frame rate indicates the CPU can feed the GPU efficiently, even with the CPU's 2.90 GHz base clock.

The CPU's 14 nm process node and 65 W TDP suggest it runs cool and efficiently, though these factors do not directly impact in-game performance. The lack of integrated graphics means the system relies entirely on the Arc B570 for rendering, which is appropriate for a dedicated gaming setup.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its best performance across all settings. The Low preset achieves 134 FPS average, providing a highly responsive experience. Medium settings produce 110 FPS average with a minimum of 93 FPS and a maximum of 126 FPS, offering both high speed and consistency. The High preset yields 84 FPS average, still well above the 60 FPS standard. Ultra settings drop to 63 FPS average, which remains playable but shows a significant 47 FPS penalty compared to Medium.

At 2560x1440, performance decreases noticeably. The Low preset maintains 85 FPS average, which is smooth for most users. Medium settings deliver 69 FPS average with a minimum of 59 FPS and a maximum of 80 FPS, barely clearing the 60 FPS threshold. High settings fall to 53 FPS, which may cause perceptible stuttering in fast-paced scenes. Ultra settings produce 40 FPS average, which is marginal for a turn-based game but acceptable for some players.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles to maintain playable frame rates. The Low preset achieves 44 FPS average, the highest figure at this resolution. Medium settings yield 36 FPS average with a minimum of 31 FPS and a maximum of 42 FPS, meaning the system can dip below 30 FPS during intense moments. High settings drop to 28 FPS average, which falls below the playable threshold. Ultra settings produce only 21 FPS average, making the game feel sluggish and unresponsive.

The full data set shows a consistent pattern: each settings tier costs roughly 20-25% performance at every resolution. The gap between Low and Medium is 24 FPS at 1080p, 16 FPS at 1440p, and 8 FPS at 4K. The gap between Medium and High is 26 FPS at 1080p, 16 FPS at 1440p, and 8 FPS at 4K. The gap between High and Ultra is 21 FPS at 1080p, 13 FPS at 1440p, and 7 FPS at 4K.

These diminishing absolute differences at higher resolutions indicate that the GPU's rendering capacity becomes the limiting factor. The Arc B570's 11.52 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 380.0 GB/s memory bandwidth are the key specifications driving these results. The 10 GB GDDR6 memory capacity proves sufficient for this game, as no texture-related stuttering is indicated in the measured data.