Hard West

Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is a balanced pairing for Hard West, a turn-based tactics title from 2015. The data shows the combination ranks 1051st out of 1699 tested combos in this game, placing it in the upper-middle tier of systems. The CPU, a 6-core/12-thread Comet Lake part with a 2.90 GHz base and 4.30 GHz boost, sits at the 73rd percentile against all CPUs — a solid mid-range performer. The GPU, a Turing-based TU104 chip with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and a 1605 MHz base clock, lands in the 65th percentile for graphics cards, indicating it is a capable but not top-tier part in modern terms. The measured results reveal a system that is clearly GPU-limited at higher resolutions, but the CPU holds up well at 1080p, where frame rates can exceed 170 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Comet Lake architecture, built on Intel’s 14 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and can boost up to 4.30 GHz, with 12 MB of shared L3 cache. In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU achieves a multi-thread score of 10,297 in Cinebench R23 and a single-thread score of 1,453 in the same test. Its average benchmark score of 14,168 places it in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs, meaning it outperforms roughly three-quarters of processors tested.

In the context of Hard West, a turn-based tactics game that typically does not stress many threads, the CPU’s strong single-thread performance is more relevant than its multi-thread capabilities. The single-thread score of 2,541 in Passmark and 1,454 in Geekbench suggests adequate headroom for game logic and AI calculations. The measured frames per second (FPS) at 1080p Low settings hit 171.9, which is far beyond what any display at that resolution would need, indicating that the CPU is not a bottleneck at lower graphical loads. However, as settings rise to Ultra at 1080p, the FPS drops to 80.0, showing that the GPU begins to take over as the limiting factor.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the i5-10400F is essentially tied with the AMD EPYC 7552, which has an average score of 14,115 (0.4% delta). It slightly trails the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C (14,277, -0.8%) and the Intel Core i5-8500 (14,332, -1.1%). These differences are negligible in real-world gaming, especially in a title like Hard West where the frame rate is more dependent on the graphics card. The data shows that the CPU’s 12 threads are more than sufficient for this game’s demands, as even the maximum-thread 3DMark score of 4,735 is close to the 8-thread score of 3,929, suggesting diminishing returns beyond a handful of cores.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is a Turing-architecture card built on TSMC’s 12 nm process, featuring 2,560 shading units and 64 ROPs. It comes with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The card’s boost clock is 1770 MHz, and it offers 9.062 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. In synthetic benchmarks, it posts a Passmark G3D score of 18,169 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 98,316, giving it an average benchmark score of 22,206 and placing it in the 65th percentile of all GPUs.

For Hard West, the GPU’s memory capacity and bandwidth are critical at higher resolutions. The 8 GB VRAM is ample for a 2015 title, even at 4K, but the bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s may become a limiting factor as pixel count increases. Measured results show the GPU’s performance scaling: at 1080p Low, the card delivers 171.9 FPS, but this drops to 111.1 FPS at High settings and 80.0 FPS at Ultra. Moving to 1440p, the Ultra setting yields 53.6 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, the card manages just 26.1 FPS. This pattern indicates that the RTX 2070 SUPER is comfortable at 1080p and playable at 1440p, but struggles to maintain smooth frame rates at 4K with maximum settings.

In terms of rival comparison, the RTX 2070 SUPER is closely matched with the NVIDIA RTX A400 (22,307 avg score, -0.5% delta) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z (22,006, 0.9%). It is slightly behind the RTX 4060 Mobile (22,729, -2.3%) and ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 5700 (21,670, 2.5%). The data suggests that this GPU is a solid mid-range performer that can handle Hard West well at mainstream resolutions, but 4K Ultra is beyond its comfort zone.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1080p, the High preset delivers 111.1 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The Ultra preset at 1080p drops to 80.0 FPS, still playable but with diminishing returns in visual fidelity for a turn-based game. The Medium preset at 141.6 FPS offers a significant frame rate cushion, but the visual difference between Medium and High is likely minimal in this genre. For the best balance of performance and image quality at 1080p, the High preset is the recommended choice, as it provides over 100 FPS while maintaining higher graphical fidelity.

At 1440p, the High preset yields 67.0 FPS, which is playable but not silky smooth. The Medium preset at 89.4 FPS is a better option for those who prefer higher frame rates, while the Ultra preset at 53.6 FPS may be acceptable for a turn-based game where twitch response is not critical. For 4K, the situation is more challenging. The Low preset at 59.7 FPS is the only setting that achieves near-60 FPS, but it sacrifices visual quality. The Medium preset at 49.7 FPS is playable, but the High preset at 37.7 FPS is noticeably less smooth. Given that Hard West is turn-based, a frame rate in the 30-40 FPS range can be tolerated, but the Low or Medium presets at 4K are the most sensible choices for maintaining responsiveness.

The data indicates that the sweet spot for this combination is 1080p High, which offers a high frame rate without pushing the GPU to its limits. For users with 1440p monitors, High settings are viable, but Medium provides a more comfortable margin. At 4K, users should accept lower settings to keep frame rates above 50 FPS.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Hard West at 4K with playable frame rates?

A: Yes, but only at lower settings. At 4K Low, the average FPS is 59.7, which is playable. Medium drops to 49.7 FPS, and High falls to 37.7 FPS. Ultra at 4K is not recommended, as it only achieves 26.1 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU affect performance in this game?

A: The Intel Core i5-10400F is more than sufficient for Hard West. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 171.9 FPS, showing no CPU bottleneck. Even at 4K Low, the frame rate is 59.7 FPS, indicating the GPU is the primary limiter at higher resolutions.

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combo for a 60 FPS target?

A: At 1080p, the High preset delivers 111.1 FPS, well above 60. At 1440p, the High preset achieves 67.0 FPS, just above 60. For 4K, only the Low preset at 59.7 FPS comes close to 60 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 2070 SUPER compare to its nearest rival, the RTX A400?

A: The RTX 2070 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 22,206, while the RTX A400 scores 22,307. The delta is -0.5%, meaning the A400 is marginally faster, but the difference is negligible in real-world gaming.

Q: Is the 8 GB VRAM sufficient for this game at high settings?

A: Yes, 8 GB of GDDR6 memory is more than adequate for Hard West, a 2015 title. The memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s is the more relevant factor, and it supports smooth performance up to 1440p High without issues.

Q: Does the game benefit from the CPU’s 12 threads?

A: The benchmark data suggests that Hard West does not heavily utilize more than a few threads. The CPU’s 3DMark score of 4,735 for max threads is only marginally higher than the 4,748 for 16 threads, indicating that the game’s workload is not highly parallel.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data clearly illustrates how performance scales with resolution, highlighting the GPU as the dominant bottleneck in this system. Starting at 1080p Low, the system achieves 171.9 FPS. Dropping to 1440p Low reduces this to 107.5 FPS, a decrease of 37.5%. At 4K Low, the frame rate falls to 59.7 FPS, which is a further 44.5% reduction from the 1440p figure. This steep decline indicates that the RTX 2070 SUPER’s pixel throughput is being taxed heavily as resolution increases.

Looking at the High preset, the trend is similar but with lower absolute numbers. At 1080p High, the system hits 111.1 FPS. Moving to 1440p High reduces the frame rate to 67.0 FPS, a 39.7% drop. At 4K High, the average FPS is just 37.7, which is a 43.7% reduction from the 1440p result. The scaling from 1080p to 4K at High settings shows a total performance loss of 66.1%, underscoring the GPU’s inability to handle 4K with higher graphical fidelity.

The Ultra preset shows even more dramatic scaling. At 1080p Ultra, the system delivers 80.0 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, this drops to 53.6 FPS, a 33.0% decrease. At 4K Ultra, the frame rate plummets to 26.1 FPS, a 51.3% reduction from 1440p and a 67.4% drop from 1080p. These numbers suggest that the RTX 2070 SUPER is overwhelmed by the combination of 4K resolution and Ultra settings, likely due to its 256-bit memory bus and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth struggling to feed a large number of pixels.

The data indicates that the CPU is not a limiting factor in these scaling patterns. Since the i5-10400F’s performance is consistent across resolutions (as evidenced by its high 1080p Low score), the FPS drops are almost entirely attributable to the GPU. The transition from 1080p to 1440p at Medium settings shows a drop from 141.6 FPS to 89.4 FPS, a 36.9% loss, while the drop from 1440p to 4K at Medium is from 89.4 to 49.7 FPS, a 44.4% loss. This consistent pattern confirms that the RTX 2070 SUPER is the primary component determining frame rates as resolution increases, and users should consider 1440p High as the practical ceiling for this combination to maintain smooth gameplay.