Hard West

The Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER pairing delivers a wide performance envelope in Hard West, ranging from a highly playable 79.8 FPS at 1080p Ultra to a borderline 25.8 FPS at 4K Ultra. This data reveals a system where the CPU’s six cores and 12 threads, boosting to 4.40 GHz, provide ample headroom for turn-based logic, while the GPU’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory becomes the primary constraint at higher resolutions and settings. The measured frames per second across all 12 configurations show a clear, predictable scaling pattern that players can exploit to prioritize visual fidelity or smoothness.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a six-core, 12-thread processor from the Rocket Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. In the context of Hard West, a turn-based tactics title, the CPU’s role is less about raw frame generation and more about maintaining consistent logic and unit processing. The benchmark data supports this interpretation: at 1080p Low, the combo reaches 173.6 FPS, a figure that far exceeds display refresh rates and suggests the processor is not a bottleneck even in the lightest GPU load scenario.

The processor’s multi-threaded capabilities, reflected in a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14372, are more than sufficient for the game’s AI and turn calculations. However, single-thread performance, indicated by a Geekbench single-core score of 1979, is likely the more critical metric for a game that may not fully utilize all 12 threads. The 75th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17181, places it in the upper tier of processors, but the nearest rivals—such as the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U with a deltaPct of 0—show that it is not uniquely positioned for this workload. The CPU’s 12 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support at 51.2 GB/s provide sufficient bandwidth, as evidenced by the fact that the FPS drop from Low to Ultra settings at 1080p (from 173.6 to 79.8) is more attributable to GPU load than to CPU limitations.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Examining the measured data, the High preset emerges as the most balanced choice for this combination. At 1080p High, the average FPS is 110.2, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold and leaves room for frame time variance. Moving to 1440p High, the average drops to 69 FPS, still smooth, but the 4K High result of 36.8 FPS is below the ideal playable range for most users. The Ultra preset, while visually superior, exacts a heavy toll: 79.8 FPS at 1080p, 48.9 FPS at 1440p, and only 25.8 FPS at 4K. The data suggests that Ultra is only viable at 1080p, and even then, the 30 FPS gap between High and Ultra at that resolution (110.2 vs 79.8) may not justify the visual gains in a genre where clarity of the battlefield is paramount.

For players with 1080p displays, High is the recommended preset, as it offers a 38% improvement over Ultra in average FPS while likely retaining most of the visual detail. At 1440p, High is the only preset that maintains an average above 60 FPS, making it the definitive choice. The Medium preset, at 89.8 FPS for 1440p, is a viable alternative for those who prefer higher settings than Low but cannot tolerate the 69 FPS of High, though the difference is marginal. The Low preset, with 173.6 FPS at 1080p and 108.2 FPS at 1440p, is reserved for competitive or high-refresh-rate scenarios, but it underutilizes the GPU’s capabilities.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The FPS scaling across resolutions reveals a classic GPU-bound profile. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 110.2 at 1080p to 69 at 1440p (a 37.4% reduction) and then to 36.8 at 4K (a 46.7% reduction from 1440p). This steep decline is consistent with the GPU’s pixel throughput limits, as the RTX 2070 SUPER’s 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 9.062 TFLOPS FP32 performance are being saturated. The 4K to 1080p ratio of 0.33 (36.8 / 110.2) indicates that the GPU is the primary limiter at higher resolutions, as a CPU-bound scenario would show a much flatter curve.

The Low settings curve tells a similar story but with more headroom. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 173.6 FPS, dropping to 108.2 FPS at 1440p and 58.1 FPS at 4K. The 4K Low result of 58.1 FPS is notably higher than the 4K High result, showing that reducing shading and texture work relieves the GPU’s load significantly. This pattern suggests that the CPU can handle the game’s logic at 4K, but the GPU cannot keep up with the pixel count when effects are enabled. The data implies that players targeting 4K should expect to use Low or Medium settings, with Medium yielding 45.5 FPS and Low yielding 58.1 FPS, both of which are below the 60 FPS standard but may be acceptable for a turn-based game.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER ranks 1066 out of 1699 tested combos in Hard West, placing it in the 37.3rd percentile of all systems. This mid-pack ranking is somewhat surprising given the individual components’ benchmarks: the CPU sits in the 75th percentile among all CPUs, and the GPU is in the 65th percentile among all GPUs. The discrepancy suggests that Hard West’s engine may not scale perfectly with high-end hardware, or that the game is more sensitive to other factors such as memory latency or driver overhead.

Relative to its nearest GPU rivals, the RTX 2070 SUPER’s average benchmark score of 22206 is nearly identical to the NVIDIA RTX A400 (22307, deltaPct -0.5) and slightly ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 5700 (21670, deltaPct 2.5). This means the combo’s rank is likely more dependent on the CPU side, where the i5-11400F’s nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U, has a nearly identical average score (17189 vs 17181, deltaPct 0). The rank of 1066 indicates that while this system is capable of smooth 1080p and 1440p play, there are hundreds of other combinations that achieve higher average FPS, particularly those with newer GPUs like the RTX 4060 Mobile, which scores 22729 (deltaPct -2.3) and would likely push the combo higher in the rankings.

FAQ — 4-6 Q&A pairs answerable from FACT PACK data

*Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Hard West?*

A: The highest measured average FPS is 173.6, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This is the only configuration in the data that exceeds 170 FPS, indicating a strong CPU and GPU response at minimal graphical load.

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

A: No, the data shows an average FPS of 25.8 at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings. This is below the 30 FPS threshold often considered the minimum for playable frame rates, so the system is not suited for 4K Ultra in this game.

Q: How much of a performance drop is there from High to Ultra at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, High settings yield 69 FPS, while Ultra settings drop to 48.9 FPS. This represents a 29.1% reduction in average FPS when moving from High to Ultra, which is a significant trade-off for the increased visual detail.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be the bottleneck at 1080p Low?

A: At 1080p Low, the system achieves 173.6 FPS, which is a very high frame rate. Given the CPU’s 75th percentile ranking and the GPU’s 65th percentile ranking, the data suggests the GPU is still the primary limiter, but the CPU’s single-thread performance (Geekbench score of 1979) is sufficient to not cap the frame rate at this level.

Q: What is the difference in FPS between 1080p and 4K at Medium settings?

A: At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 140 at 1920x1080 to 45.5 at 3840x2160. This is a 67.5% reduction, highlighting that the GPU’s fill rate and memory bandwidth are overwhelmed by the 4K resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The complete measured FPS data for this combo is as follows:

• 1920x1080 (1080p): Low 173.6 FPS, Medium 140 FPS, High 110.2 FPS, Ultra 79.8 FPS
• 2560x1440 (1440p): Low 108.2 FPS, Medium 89.8 FPS, High 69 FPS, Ultra 48.9 FPS
• 3840x2160 (4K): Low 58.1 FPS, Medium 45.5 FPS, High 36.8 FPS, Ultra 25.8 FPS

At 1080p, all settings achieve playable frame rates above 60 FPS, with Ultra being the only one below 100 FPS. The 1440p results show a clear divide: Low, Medium, and High all stay above 60 FPS, but Ultra falls to 48.9 FPS, which may still be acceptable for turn-based play. At 4K, only Low settings reach near 60 FPS (58.1), while Medium and High are in the 36-46 FPS range, and Ultra is effectively unplayable. The scaling from 1080p to 4K at each setting is consistent, with an average FPS reduction of roughly 70-80% across all presets, confirming the GPU’s central role.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture with a 12 nm process, featuring 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU’s base clock of 1605 MHz and boost clock of 1770 MHz, combined with 2560 shading units, provide the raw compute power for Hard West’s visuals. The 8 GB VRAM is a critical factor; at 4K with High or Ultra settings, the game likely approaches or exceeds this capacity, causing texture swapping and the observed FPS drops to 36.8 and 25.8, respectively. The 25.0M / mm² transistor density and 13,600 million transistors on the 545 mm² die indicate a substantial rendering engine, but the 65th percentile ranking among GPUs shows it is a mid-range performer by modern standards.

The GPU’s memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s is a likely bottleneck at 4K, as the FPS drop from 1440p to 4K at High settings (69 to 36.8) is steeper than the drop from 1080p to 1440p (110.2 to 69). This non-linear scaling is typical of a GPU that is constrained by memory bandwidth at higher pixel counts. The RTX 2070 SUPER’s support for DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4 ensures compatibility with modern rendering paths, but the game’s 2015 release date means older DirectX paths may be in use, potentially limiting the GPU’s efficiency. The data shows that the GPU is the dominant factor in determining FPS at all resolutions, as evidenced by the wide spread of 173.6 FPS at 1080p Low versus 25.8 FPS at 4K Ultra, a range that the CPU alone cannot explain.