Hard West

# Hard West Combo Analysis: Intel Core i5-10400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti

This combination of a 6-core Intel Core i5-10400F and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti delivers a robust experience in Hard West, a turn-based tactics title from 2015. The combo ranks 469th out of 1,699 tested configurations, placing it in the top 28% of all tested combos. This ranking reflects a pairing where the GPU's substantial graphics horsepower is the dominant factor, while the CPU provides sufficient foundational performance for a genre that rarely stresses multi-threaded workloads to their limits. Benchmark data confirms that this system achieves highly playable frame rates across all tested resolutions and settings, with the most demanding 4K Ultra preset still delivering an average above 47 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's 469th place out of 1,699 tested combinations represents a strong overall position, but the data suggests this ranking is driven almost entirely by the GPU. The RTX 5070 Ti sits in the 87th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 52,086. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, scores 52,085, a delta of 0.0% — effectively a statistical tie. This places the GPU at the very top of its performance tier. In contrast, the Intel Core i5-10400F ranks in the 73rd percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 14,168. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 7552 (14,115, +0.4% for the Intel), the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C (14,277, -0.8%), and the Intel Core i5-8500 (14,332, -1.1%). The CPU's performance delta against these rivals is minimal, indicating that the i5-10400F is a competent but not exceptional processor in the broader landscape. The overall combo ranking of 469 out of 1,699 is thus a product of a top-tier GPU paired with a mid-range CPU, a combination that proves well-suited to Hard West's demands.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate this combo achieves in Hard West?

A: The highest recorded average frame rate is 181 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This indicates the combo can easily push far beyond standard 60 Hz displays at lower settings.

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

A: Yes, it can. At 3840x2160 resolution, the combo delivers an average of 63.4 FPS on High settings, 82.4 FPS on Medium, and 102.6 FPS on Low. Even at Ultra settings, it maintains a playable average of 47.3 FPS.

Q: How does the i5-10400F compare to its closest CPU rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i5-10400F's average benchmark score of 14,168 is 0.4% higher than the AMD EPYC 7552's 14,115, and 1.1% higher than the Intel Core i5-8500's 14,332. This demonstrates that the CPU's single-thread and multi-thread performance are closely matched with these alternatives.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all tested graphics cards?

A: The RTX 5070 Ti ranks in the 87th percentile among all GPUs, based on an average benchmark score of 52,086. This places it well above the median and indicates strong overall graphics performance.

Q: Does the combo perform better at 1440p or 1080p for High settings?

A: At 2560x1440 High, the combo averages 124.8 FPS, while at 1920x1080 High it averages 150.2 FPS. The 20% increase in frame rate at 1080p shows the GPU has ample headroom for lower resolutions.

Q: How does the RTX 5070 Ti's score compare to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080?

A: The RTX 5070 Ti scores 52,086, while the RTX 4080 scores 52,085, a delta of 0.0%. This means the two GPUs deliver virtually identical average performance in synthetic benchmarks.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Comet Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 14 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU features 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 256 KB of L2 cache per core, and a shared 12 MB L3 cache. Memory support is limited to DDR4 with a dual-channel bus, providing a theoretical bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s. The CPU connects via PCIe Gen 3 with 16 lanes.

In the context of Hard West, a turn-based tactics title, the CPU's role is less demanding than in fast-paced action games. The game's mechanics rely more on discrete logic computations and AI pathfinding than on massive parallel physics or complex simulation loops. Benchmark results for the i5-10400F show a single-thread score of 688 in 3dmark and a multi-thread score of 4,748 in the 16-thread test. Cinebench R23 scores are 1,453 single-core and 10,297 multi-core. These figures indicate a processor that can handle modern game logic without becoming a bottleneck, particularly at higher resolutions where GPU load dominates. The 73rd percentile ranking among all CPUs confirms it is above average, though not a top-tier performer. The nearest rival data, with deltas of less than 1.2% against the EPYC 7552, Ryzen 3 7320C, and i5-8500, shows that the i5-10400F sits in a tightly contested mid-range performance band. For Hard West, the CPU's 12 threads provide ample capacity for the game's turn-based AI and world simulation, ensuring that frame rates are primarily dictated by the GPU's output.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this combo in Hard West shows a clear scaling pattern across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are 181 FPS on Low, 168.2 FPS on Medium, 150.2 FPS on High, and 135.7 FPS on Ultra. This demonstrates that even at the highest 1080p preset, the combo delivers well over 135 FPS, making it suitable for high-refresh-rate monitors. The performance drop from Low to Ultra is 25%, which is a moderate penalty for the visual quality increase.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are 152.7 FPS on Low, 143.5 FPS on Medium, 124.8 FPS on High, and 92.9 FPS on Ultra. The Ultra setting at 1440p remains comfortably above 90 FPS, indicating the GPU handles the increased pixel count with ease. The scaling from Low to Ultra at this resolution is a 39% reduction, showing that the higher settings begin to exert more pressure on the graphics pipeline.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 102.6 FPS on Low, 82.4 FPS on Medium, 63.4 FPS on High, and 47.3 FPS on Ultra. The 4K Ultra result is the only configuration that dips below 60 FPS, but it remains playable for a turn-based game where precise timing is not critical. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 4K is a 54% reduction, which highlights the significant load that 4K resolution places on the GPU. Across all resolutions, the combo demonstrates that Hard West is highly playable, with only the most demanding 4K Ultra preset requiring any compromise. The data indicates that for a 60 FPS target, players can use High settings at 4K, Ultra at 1440p, and Ultra at 1080p with substantial headroom.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is the clear performance driver in this combo. It is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture using TSMC's 5 nm process, with a die size of 378 mm² containing 45,600 million transistors. The GPU features 8,960 shading units, 280 texture mapping units, and 96 raster output units. It has 70 RT cores and 280 tensor cores, supporting DirectX 12 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6. The memory subsystem consists of 16 GB of GDDR7 on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 896.0 GB/s. The base clock is 2,295 MHz with a boost clock of 2,452 MHz, and memory operates at 1,750 MHz (28 Gbps effective).

In synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 5070 Ti scores 32,974 in Passmark G3D and 20,203 in Passmark GPU Compute. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 6,604. The GPU's 87th percentile ranking and average benchmark score of 52,086 place it in the highest tier of graphics cards. The nearest rival, the RTX 4080, scores 52,085 with a 0.0% delta, meaning the two are indistinguishable in average performance. The AMD Radeon RX 7700S scores 52,505 (-0.8% for the NVIDIA), and the NVIDIA RTX A1000 scores 50,826 (+2.5% for the NVIDIA), confirming the RTX 5070 Ti's position at the top of its class.

In Hard West, the GPU's role is decisive. The measured FPS data shows that the GPU scales predictably with resolution and settings, indicating that it is the primary bottleneck. At 1080p Ultra, the combo reaches 135.7 FPS, which is 25% lower than the 181 FPS at Low settings. At 4K Ultra, the GPU is pushed to its limit at 47.3 FPS, a 54% reduction from the 4K Low result of 102.6 FPS. This performance envelope is consistent with a high-end GPU that is not constrained by the CPU in this title. The RTX 5070 Ti's 16 GB of VRAM and 896.0 GB/s bandwidth are more than sufficient for Hard West's textures and geometry, ensuring that memory capacity does not become a limiting factor at any tested setting. The GPU's substantial compute resources, including 43.94 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, are leveraged effectively in this turn-based tactics game, where visual fidelity and smooth camera transitions benefit from high frame rates.