Hard West

The Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti pairing produces a wide performance envelope in Hard West, a turn-based tactics title from 2015. The measured frame rates show that the game is highly scalable across resolution and quality settings, with the GPU becoming the dominant constraint at higher resolutions while the CPU holds its own at lower ones. This analysis breaks down the resolution scaling, CPU and GPU roles, and how this specific combination ranks against the broader field of tested hardware.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data reveals a classic resolution-dependent scaling pattern. At 1080p, the combo delivers exceptionally high frame rates: 181.3 FPS on Low, 169.6 FPS on Medium, 150 FPS on High, and 136.3 FPS on Ultra. These numbers indicate that at 1080p, even the most demanding preset leaves significant headroom, suggesting the CPU is not a bottleneck at this resolution. The drop from Low to Ultra at 1080p is a modest 45 FPS (from 181.3 to 136.3), representing a 24.8% reduction, which shows the GPU is still capable of handling the increased load without collapsing.

Moving to 1440p, the performance remains strong but begins to show more GPU influence. Low settings hit 156.1 FPS, Medium drops to 144.3 FPS, High falls to 119 FPS, and Ultra lands at 89.5 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 66.6 FPS, a larger absolute gap than at 1080p. This widening gap signals that the RTX 4070 Ti is starting to work harder, but the frame rates are still well above playable thresholds for a tactics game, where fluidity is less critical than in fast-paced shooters.

At 4K, the scaling becomes pronounced. Low settings produce 99.7 FPS, Medium drops to 83.2 FPS, High falls to 62.3 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 49.8 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 49.9 FPS, and the percentage drop from Low to Ultra is 50.1% (from 99.7 to 49.8). This steep decline indicates that the GPU is now the clear limiting component. The 4K Ultra result of 49.8 FPS is the only measured configuration that dips below the 60 FPS threshold, and even 4K High at 62.3 FPS is borderline. The data shows that for 4K play, the user must choose between High settings for near-60 FPS or Ultra for visual fidelity at a lower frame rate.

The scaling behavior suggests that Hard West is not particularly demanding on the CPU. The 1080p Low result of 181.3 FPS versus the 4K Low result of 99.7 FPS shows a 45% reduction when resolution quadruples, which points directly to GPU-bound operation at higher resolutions. Conversely, the relatively small spread at 1080p (136.3 to 181.3 FPS) indicates that the i5-10400F can feed the GPU adequately at lower resolutions, where the graphics card is not fully taxed.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this hardware in Hard West?*

A: Based on the measured data, 1440p High at 119 FPS offers an excellent balance of visual quality and performance. For 4K, High settings at 62.3 FPS is the highest quality preset that stays above 60 FPS, while 4K Ultra drops to 49.8 FPS.

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

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K Low, the system achieves 99.7 FPS, and 4K Medium reaches 83.2 FPS. However, 4K High (62.3 FPS) and 4K Ultra (49.8 FPS) show that the RTX 4070 Ti is the limiting factor at this resolution, particularly on the highest presets.

Q: How does the i5-10400F perform in synthetic benchmarks relevant to gaming?

A: The CPU scores 10297 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 1453 in single-core. In 3DMark, it achieves 4748 with 16 threads and 688 in single-thread. These scores place it in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs, indicating solid mid-range performance.

Q: Is the RTX 4070 Ti a strong GPU for this game?

A: The GPU has a Passmark G3D score of 31624 and sits in the 85th percentile of all GPUs. In Hard West, it delivers 150 FPS at 1080p High and 119 FPS at 1440p High, demonstrating substantial headroom for most gaming scenarios.

Q: What is the combo's overall rank among tested configurations?

A: This specific combination of Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti ranks 471st out of 1699 tested combos in Hard West, placing it in the top 27.7% of all tested systems.

Q: Does the game favor the CPU or GPU more?

A: The data indicates a GPU-favored workload at higher resolutions. The 4K Ultra result (49.8 FPS) is 63.5% lower than 1080p Ultra (136.3 FPS), showing that the GPU's rendering load scales heavily with resolution. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient to avoid becoming a bottleneck.

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 has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, with 12 MB of shared L3 cache. These specifications, while not high-end, are more than adequate for a turn-based tactics game like Hard West, which does not demand the high single-thread performance required by modern competitive shooters.

The CPU's benchmark results show a balanced profile. In Cinebench R23, it scores 10297 multicore and 1453 single-core. The 3DMark results show scaling from 688 single-thread to 4748 at 16 threads, indicating that the processor benefits from multi-threading but does not have exceptional per-core performance. The Passmark multithread score of 12115 and single-thread score of 2541 further confirm this. The i5-10400F sits in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 14168.

In the context of Hard West, the CPU's role appears to be secondary. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (181.3 FPS) is the highest across all resolutions and settings, suggesting that the CPU can push frames well beyond typical display refresh rates. Even at 1080p Ultra (136.3 FPS), the CPU does not appear to be a limiting factor. The nearest rivals to this CPU in synthetic benchmarks include the AMD EPYC 7552 (0.4% higher score), AMD Ryzen 3 7320C (0.8% lower), and Intel Core i5-8500 (1.1% lower), showing that the i5-10400F is competitively positioned among its peers.

The 12 threads and 4.30 GHz boost clock provide sufficient computational headroom for Hard West's AI and logic calculations, which are typically not demanding in turn-based titles. The data suggests that users upgrading from older CPUs will see no meaningful bottleneck from this processor in this game, as the GPU becomes the primary constraint at higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

This particular combination of Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti ranks 471st out of 1699 tested combos in Hard West, placing it in the top 27.7% of all configurations. This is a strong result, especially considering that the rank includes systems with newer, more expensive CPUs and GPUs. The ranking reflects the balanced nature of this pairing: the CPU is mid-range, but the GPU is a high-end Ada Lovelace part that excels in this game.

The combo's position in the ranking is primarily driven by the GPU. The RTX 4070 Ti has a Passmark G3D score of 31624 and ranks in the 85th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 44900. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile (0.6% higher), Intel Arc A730M (1.5% higher), and AMD Radeon Pro 580 (1.6% lower). These comparisons show that the GPU is competitive with much newer mobile parts, despite being an end-of-life desktop product.

The i5-10400F, ranked in the 73rd percentile of CPUs, does not drag the combo down significantly. The 471st rank out of 1699 means that approximately 1228 other combinations performed better, but many of those likely feature top-tier CPUs like Core i9 or Ryzen 9 parts paired with equally strong GPUs. For a 10th-gen Intel CPU paired with a 40-series GPU, this rank is respectable. The data indicates that the combo delivers 4K High at 62.3 FPS, which is a demanding test, and the fact that it stays above 60 FPS at 4K High suggests that this pairing is well-suited for high-resolution gaming in this title.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is the dominant component in this pairing, and its role in Hard West is clear from the resolution scaling data. Built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process, the GPU features 7680 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 80 ROPs. It has a base clock of 2310 MHz and a boost clock of 2610 MHz, with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. These specifications translate into substantial raw compute power, with 40.09 TFLOPS of FP32 performance.

The GPU's benchmark results are impressive. It scores 31624 in Passmark G3D and 205028 in Geekbench OpenCL, with a Vulkan score of 186784. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it achieves 5024. The GPU sits in the 85th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 44900. Its nearest rivals include the RTX 5090 Mobile (0.6% higher) and Intel Arc A730M (1.5% higher), showing that this desktop GPU slightly trails newer mobile parts but outperforms several AMD Radeon Pro models.

In Hard West, the GPU's performance is the key factor in determining playable settings. At 1080p, the GPU is underutilized, with frame rates ranging from 136.3 FPS (Ultra) to 181.3 FPS (Low). At 1440p, the GPU starts to show its capabilities, with 89.5 FPS on Ultra and 156.1 FPS on Low. The 4K results are where the GPU's limits become apparent: 49.8 FPS on Ultra and 62.3 FPS on High. The 12 GB of VRAM is sufficient for this game, as Hard West is not a texture-heavy title, and memory bandwidth is not a limiting factor at the tested settings.

The GPU's 285 W TDP and 600 W suggested PSU indicate that it is a power-hungry component, but the performance it delivers in Hard West justifies this. The data shows that the RTX 4070 Ti is capable of providing a smooth experience at 1440p Ultra (89.5 FPS) and even 4K High (62.3 FPS), making it a strong choice for this game and similar titles. The GPU's role is to provide the graphical horsepower that pushes frame rates up at lower resolutions and maintains playability at 4K, which it does admirably despite the game's age.