Hard West

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

The measured frame rates across resolutions reveal a classic pattern of GPU-bound scaling at higher settings, but with some interesting wrinkles at lower presets. At 1080p Ultra, the combination produces 115.1 FPS, while at 1440p Ultra it drops to 74 FPS — a 35.7% reduction. Pushing to 4K Ultra further reduces performance to 39.3 FPS, which is 65.9% below the 1080p Ultra result. This steep decline indicates that at Ultra settings, the rendering load scales aggressively with pixel count, and the GPU is the primary bottleneck.

However, the Low preset tells a different story. At 1080p Low, the system hits 209.5 FPS. At 1440p Low, it still manages 157.9 FPS. At 4K Low, the average is 83.1 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 24.6%, and from 1440p to 4K is 47.4%. The fact that Low settings at 4K still produce over 80 FPS suggests that even the RTX 3080's substantial compute resources are not fully taxed until resolution climbs very high. The 1080p Low result of 209.5 FPS is likely approaching a ceiling imposed by the CPU's single-thread performance, given that the Core i5-11400F has a boost clock of 4.40 GHz and a 3DMark single-thread score of 868.

The Medium preset shows a more moderate scaling curve: 194.8 FPS at 1080p, 126.8 FPS at 1440p, and 65.2 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p drop of 34.9% is nearly identical to the Ultra preset's 35.7% drop, which hints that the scaling factor between these two resolutions is consistent regardless of settings. But the 1440p to 4K drop for Medium is 48.6%, slightly steeper than Ultra's 46.9%. This suggests that at Medium settings, the GPU's memory bandwidth becomes more relevant as pixel count rises.

The data implies that Hard West is not a particularly demanding title for this hardware. Even at 4K Ultra, the system maintains nearly 40 FPS, which is playable for a turn-based tactics game where frame timing is less critical than in action genres. The limiting component shifts from CPU at low resolutions to GPU at 4K, but neither component is overwhelmed. The RTX 3080's 10 GB of GDDR6X memory and 760.3 GB/s bandwidth appear sufficient for all tested configurations.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 brings substantial resources to Hard West: 8704 shading units, 272 texture mapping units, and 96 raster output pipelines. Its boost clock of 1710 MHz and base clock of 1440 MHz drive a pixel rate of 164.2 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 465.1 GTexel/s. The 10 GB GDDR6X memory operates at 19 Gbps effective, delivering 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth across a 320-bit bus. These specifications position the GPU at the 80th percentile among all tested GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35787.

The memory subsystem appears well-matched to this game's demands. At 4K Ultra, the frame rate of 39.3 FPS is low enough to suggest that the 10 GB VRAM capacity is not the limiting factor — if it were, we would expect more severe degradation at 4K than the observed 65.9% drop from 1080p Ultra. The bandwidth of 760.3 GB/s is ample for a turn-based tactics title, which typically has smaller texture footprints than open-world action games.

In PassMark testing, the GPU scores 25086 in G3D and 14397 in compute. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon Pro Duo at 35860 (0.2% higher), the AMD Radeon 880M at 35646 (0.4% lower), the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE at 36101 (0.9% higher), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile at 35435 (1% lower). These tight deltaPct values indicate the RTX 3080 sits in a crowded performance band, but the benchmark results here show it handles Hard West comfortably across all settings.

The 4K Low result of 83.1 FPS is particularly revealing. It demonstrates that even with reduced shading complexity, the GPU can effectively drive a 4K panel. The 4K Medium result of 65.2 FPS and 4K High result of 49.8 FPS show a smooth progression of performance cost as settings increase. The GPU's 12 Ultimate DirectX support and Vulkan 1.4 API compatibility ensure it can leverage modern rendering paths, though Hard West's 2015 release date suggests it likely uses older DirectX pipelines.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achieved by this combo?

A: The highest measured average is 209.5 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

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

A: Yes, at 4K Low it averages 83.1 FPS, at 4K Medium 65.2 FPS, at 4K High 49.8 FPS, and at 4K Ultra 39.3 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 3080 compare to its nearest rival GPU?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE scores 36101, which is 0.9% higher than the RTX 3080's average benchmark score of 35787.

Q: What resolution shows the largest performance gap between settings?

A: At 4K, the gap between Low (83.1 FPS) and Ultra (39.3 FPS) is 43.8 FPS, representing a 52.7% reduction.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck at any tested resolution?

A: At 1080p Low, the 209.5 FPS result approaches the CPU's single-thread limits, as the Core i5-11400F has a 3DMark single-thread score of 868 and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz.

Q: What is the combo's ranking among all tested configurations?

A: This combo ranks 565th out of 1699 tested combinations for Hard West.

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

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its strongest results. Low settings produce 209.5 FPS, Medium settings 194.8 FPS, High settings 154.3 FPS, and Ultra settings 115.1 FPS. The step from Low to Medium costs 14.7 FPS, from Medium to High costs 40.5 FPS, and from High to Ultra costs 39.2 FPS. The largest single-step decline occurs between Medium and High, suggesting that High settings introduce significant additional rendering work.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show clearer separation. Low settings average 157.9 FPS, Medium 126.8 FPS, High 101 FPS, and Ultra 74 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 31.1 FPS, Medium to High is 25.8 FPS, and High to Ultra is 27 FPS. The declines are more evenly distributed than at 1080p, indicating that resolution scaling evens out the cost of each settings tier.

At 3840x2160, performance drops to its lowest measured values. Low settings produce 83.1 FPS, Medium 65.2 FPS, High 49.8 FPS, and Ultra 39.3 FPS. The step from Low to Medium costs 17.9 FPS, Medium to High costs 15.4 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 10.5 FPS. Notably, the absolute FPS cost of each settings increase shrinks at 4K, but the percentage cost remains significant. The 10.5 FPS difference between High and Ultra at 4K is the smallest absolute gap in the entire dataset, suggesting diminishing returns from the highest preset at this resolution.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This configuration of Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 ranks 565th out of 1699 tested combos in Hard West. This places it in the 66.7th percentile of all tested configurations, meaning it outperforms roughly two-thirds of combos in this game. The ranking reflects the balance between the CPU's 75th percentile standing among all processors and the GPU's 80th percentile among all graphics cards.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U with an average score of 17189 (0% delta), the Intel Core i7-1260P at 17212 (0.2% lower), the Intel Core Ultra 7 164U at 17215 (0.2% lower), and the Intel Core i5-1240U at 17141 (0.2% higher). These tight margins indicate the i5-11400F is competitively positioned within its performance tier. The GPU's nearest rivals are similarly close, with the AMD Radeon Pro Duo at 35860 (0.2% higher) and the AMD Radeon 880M at 35646 (0.4% lower).

The 565th rank out of 1699 suggests that while this combo is not at the top of the leaderboard, it is solidly above average. The fact that it achieves over 115 FPS at 1080p Ultra and over 49 FPS at 4K High indicates that the combo's ranking is likely constrained by other systems with newer hardware rather than by any deficiency in this pairing. For a turn-based tactics game, this level of performance is more than adequate, and the rank reflects a comfortable margin above the median.

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

For players targeting 60 FPS as a baseline, the data supports several options. At 4K, High settings deliver 49.8 FPS, which is below 60 but playable for turn-based tactics. Medium settings at 4K provide 65.2 FPS, crossing the 60 FPS threshold while maintaining moderate visual quality. At 1440p, Ultra settings deliver 74 FPS, comfortably above 60 FPS, and High settings reach 101 FPS. At 1080p, even Ultra settings exceed 115 FPS, making any preset viable.

The most balanced experience appears to be 1440p Ultra at 74 FPS. This configuration delivers the highest settings tier while maintaining a frame rate that exceeds typical display refresh rates of 60 Hz. For players with 4K displays, Medium settings at 65.2 FPS offer the best compromise between visual fidelity and smoothness, as High settings drop to 49.8 FPS and Ultra to 39.3 FPS. The 1080p High preset at 154.3 FPS is ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors, as it provides a large margin above 144 Hz.

For players who prioritize frame rate above all, 1080p Low at 209.5 FPS is the maximum achievable, but the jump from Low to Medium at 1080p only costs 14.7 FPS, making Medium the recommended choice for those seeking both performance and improved visuals. The data suggests that the system's sweet spot is 1440p with High or Ultra settings, where it delivers strong performance without pushing the GPU to its limits.

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

The Intel Core i5-11400F provides 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its 12 MB of shared L3 cache and 80 KB L1 cache per core support its 3DMark scores: 868 for single-thread, 1691 for 2-threads, 3171 for 4-threads, 4691 for 8-threads, and 5652 for max threads. The Cinebench R23 results show 2029 for single-core and 14372 for multicore, while Geekbench reports 1979 single-core and 7579 multicore. The processor's 75th percentile ranking among all CPUs confirms it is a capable mid-range part.

In Hard West, a turn-based tactics title from 2015, the CPU's role is likely modest due to the game's age and genre. Turn-based games typically have lower per-frame CPU demands than real-time strategy or action titles, as the simulation occurs in discrete turns rather than continuously. The 1080p Low result of 209.5 FPS, which is the highest measured across all configurations, suggests the CPU can feed the GPU efficiently at lower resolutions. However, the fact that 1080p Medium (194.8 FPS) and 1080p High (154.3 FPS) show diminishing returns relative to Low indicates that the GPU becomes increasingly dominant as settings rise.

The PassMark scores provide additional context: multithread score of 16908, single-thread score of 2981, and physics score of 842. The data compression score of 208472 and encryption score of 10247 suggest strong general-purpose performance, but these are not directly relevant to gaming. The CPU's memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s and dual-channel DDR4 support ensure it can keep pace with the RTX 3080's demands. The 14 nm process node and 65 W TDP indicate efficient operation, and the launch MSRP of $157 positions it as a mainstream option, though pricing is not a factor in this analysis.