Hard West

FAQ

Q: How does the Intel Core i5-10400F compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i5-10400F posts an average benchmark score of 14,168, placing it 0.4% above the AMD EPYC 7552 (14,115) and 1.1% below the Intel Core i5-8500 (14,332). It trails the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C by 0.8% (14,277) and the AMD Ryzen Embedded V2546 by 1.2% (14,336).

Q: What is the performance percentile of the RTX 4070 relative to all tested GPUs?

A: The RTX 4070 sits in the 81st percentile of all GPUs. Its average benchmark score is 37,283, which is 0.6% lower than the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (37,507) and 2.5% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 5300M (36,371).

Q: What frame rate can this combo achieve at 1080p with Ultra settings in Hard West?

A: At 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, the combo delivers an average of 122.5 FPS. This is the lowest 1080p result, with High settings reaching 152.2 FPS and Medium hitting 168 FPS.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested CPU-GPU pairings in Hard West?

A: This pairing ranks 602nd out of 1,699 total tested combos in Hard West. The data is measured, not estimated, meaning real benchmark runs confirm this position.

Q: What is the core and thread configuration of the i5-10400F?

A: The CPU has 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. It features 12 MB of shared L3 cache and supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with 42.7 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: What is the memory configuration of the RTX 4070 and its launch MSRP?

A: The GPU has 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 504.2 GB/s bandwidth. Its launch MSRP was 599 USD, and it is now classified as end-of-life in production status.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on Comet Lake architecture, built on Intel's 14 nm process. Its base clock of 2.90 GHz can boost up to 4.30 GHz, and it carries 12 MB of shared L3 cache. For a turn-based tactics title like Hard West, the CPU’s role is primarily about maintaining consistent frame pacing during AI turns and unit calculations, rather than pushing extreme single-thread performance.

Benchmark data shows the i5-10400F achieves a single-thread score of 688 in 3DMark and 1,453 in Cinebench R23 single-core. In multi-threaded workloads, it scores 4,748 in 3DMark 16-thread and 10,297 in Cinebench R23 multicore. These numbers place the CPU in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 14,168. The nearest rival scores show the CPU is essentially neck-and-neck with the AMD EPYC 7552 (0.4% ahead) and slightly behind the Intel Core i5-8500 (1.1% behind).

For Hard West specifically, the CPU’s 6 cores and 12 threads are more than sufficient for the genre's typical AI and logic demands. The boost clock of 4.30 GHz helps with single-threaded game logic, while the 12 threads ensure background tasks don't cause hitches. The CPU's 65 W TDP and Intel Socket 1200 compatibility make it a straightforward drop-in for mainstream builds, and its PCIe Gen 3 with 16 lanes is adequate for the RTX 4070 despite the GPU supporting Gen 4.

The absence of integrated graphics means a discrete GPU is mandatory, which is satisfied here by the RTX 4070. Memory bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s is modest by modern standards, but for a 2015 turn-based title, it doesn't bottleneck the CPU's game-relevant throughput. The data indicates the i5-10400F is a balanced mid-range CPU that should not be the limiting factor in Hard West at most settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is built on Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process at TSMC, packing 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die. Its base clock runs at 1920 MHz with a boost up to 2475 MHz, and it features 5,888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. The memory subsystem is 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 192-bit bus, yielding 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth.

This GPU sits in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37,283. Its nearest rivals show it's 0.6% behind the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (37,507) and 2.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 5300M (36,371). The RTX 4070's 29.15 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 455.4 GTexel/s texture rate are substantial for any game, including Hard West.

For Hard West, the GPU's role is to handle the game's visual effects, shadows, and any particle effects during combat sequences. The 12 GB VRAM is ample for this title, and the 504.2 GB/s bandwidth ensures texture streaming at high resolutions is not a concern. The boost clock of 2475 MHz means the GPU can push frames well beyond 60 FPS at 1080p and 1440p, as the measured FPS data confirms.

The RTX 4070 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6, which covers all rendering paths Hard West might use. Its 200 W TDP and suggested 550 W PSU make it a power-efficient choice for a high-performance card. The dual-slot design and 240 mm length fit most cases, though the 1x 16-pin power connector requires a modern PSU.

How This Combo Ranks

In Hard West, this specific CPU-GPU pairing ranks 602nd out of 1,699 tested combos, placing it in the top 35% of all configurations. The data is measured, meaning real benchmark runs confirm this position rather than estimates. This rank reflects a balanced pairing where neither component drastically outclasses the other for this particular game.

Given the CPU's 73rd percentile and the GPU's 81st percentile, the combo rank of 602/1,699 suggests that Hard West is slightly more GPU-bound than CPU-bound. The CPU's single-thread performance, while adequate, is not exceptional, and the game's turn-based nature may not fully utilize the 12 threads. Conversely, the RTX 4070's raw rasterization power is well above what this 2015 title typically demands, so the GPU has headroom that the game may not exploit.

The rank also implies that many combos with faster CPUs or GPUs achieve better results, but this pairing remains competitive. For a game like Hard West, the 602nd rank out of 1,699 combos is a solid mid-tier placement. It means you're ahead of 1,097 other tested pairings, which is reassuring for a CPU that launched in 2020 and a GPU that launched in 2023.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows clear scaling patterns across resolutions. At 1080p High, the combo delivers 152.2 FPS, which drops to 102.8 FPS at 1440p High (a 32.5% decrease) and further to 55 FPS at 4K High (a 63.9% decrease from 1080p). This scaling indicates the GPU becomes increasingly stressed as resolution rises, which is typical.

At 1080p Low, the combo hits 181.2 FPS, while 1440p Low yields 153.2 FPS (a 15.5% drop) and 4K Low produces 83.7 FPS (a 53.8% drop). The smaller drop from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings suggests the CPU can keep up, but the larger drop to 4K points to GPU limitations.

Ultra settings show the most dramatic scaling: 122.5 FPS at 1080p drops to 74.8 FPS at 1440p (a 38.9% drop) and 40.9 FPS at 4K (a 66.6% drop). This pattern confirms that at Ultra, the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K, since even the RTX 4070's substantial compute cannot maintain high frame rates. At 1080p Ultra, the CPU likely provides enough headroom for the GPU to work near its potential.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080: The combo delivers 181.2 FPS at Low settings, 168 FPS at Medium, 152.2 FPS at High, and 122.5 FPS at Ultra. The spread from Low to Ultra is 58.7 FPS, indicating a moderate performance cost for higher settings. At 1080p, all settings are well above 120 FPS, making this resolution ideal for high refresh rate monitors.

2560x1440: At 1440p, the results are 153.2 FPS at Low, 134.2 FPS at Medium, 102.8 FPS at High, and 74.8 FPS at Ultra. The drop from Low to Ultra is 78.4 FPS, showing a wider gap than at 1080p. High settings remain above 100 FPS, which is smooth for most displays, while Ultra dips below 75 FPS.

3840x2160: At 4K, the combo produces 83.7 FPS at Low, 67.6 FPS at Medium, 55 FPS at High, and 40.9 FPS at Ultra. The spread is 42.8 FPS from Low to Ultra. Only Low settings clear 80 FPS, while Ultra drops below 41 FPS, making 4K Ultra less viable for smooth play. High settings at 55 FPS are playable but not ideal for fast-paced sequences.

Across all resolutions, the pattern shows that Low settings offer the highest FPS, with diminishing returns as settings increase. The RTX 4070's 12 GB VRAM is sufficient for 4K Ultra in this game, as the 40.9 FPS result is not a memory limitation but a compute limitation. The i5-10400F's 4.30 GHz boost clock helps maintain frame times, as evidenced by the 152.2 FPS at 1080p High, which requires consistent CPU throughput.