Hard West

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER delivers a decisive performance curve in Hard West, a turn-based tactics title from late 2015. The benchmark data shows this combo scaling predictably with resolution, but the relationship between settings and frame rate reveals where the GPU's headroom ends and the CPU's capabilities begin. At 1080p, the system posts frame rates well above refresh-rate thresholds, while 4K Ultra pushes the hardware to its limits. The results indicate a system that is massively overqualified for the game's typical demands, yet still shows meaningful performance stratification across its four quality presets.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep but consistent, indicating a GPU-bound workload at higher resolutions. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 177.3 at 1920x1080 to 128.2 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 49.1 FPS, and then to 70.4 at 3840x2160, a further drop of 57.8 FPS. This pattern—roughly a 28% decline from 1080p to 1440p and another 45% decline from 1440p to 4K—shows the RTX 4080 SUPER's rendering load scaling with pixel count. The transition from 1440p to 4K is particularly punishing, as the pixel count nearly doubles, and the data reflects that with a halving of performance headroom.

At Low settings, the scaling is less severe in absolute terms but still pronounced. The system achieves 214.1 FPS at 1080p, drops to 183.1 at 1440p, and then falls to 111.1 at 4K. The 4K Low result is notable because it remains above 100 FPS, suggesting that even at the highest resolution, the GPU is not completely saturated when visual effects are minimized. Conversely, at Ultra settings, the 4K average of 52.8 FPS is the only result below 60 FPS across the entire dataset, confirming that this preset is the true stress test for the combination.

The scaling data implies that the limiting component shifts with resolution. At 1080p, the CPU's influence is more apparent, as frame rates exceed 200 FPS at Low and Medium settings, which is beyond what the game's logic typically requires. At 4K, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck, particularly at Ultra where the 52.8 FPS average is only 37% of the 1080p Ultra score of 153.5 FPS. For a turn-based tactics game, these frame rates are all playable, but the 4K Ultra result indicates the RTX 4080 SUPER is working hard.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER carries 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s. In Hard West, this memory configuration is largely irrelevant for the measured results; the game's visual complexity is modest by modern standards, and the data shows no indication of memory capacity being a limiting factor. Instead, the GPU's compute throughput drives the differences between settings. The card's 10240 shading units and boost clock of 2550 MHz provide the raw power to push 177.3 FPS at 1080p High, but the same hardware only manages 52.8 FPS at 4K Ultra, a 70% reduction.

The GPU's 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores are present but unused in this title, as Hard West does not utilize ray tracing or DLSS features in the benchmark data. The card's 52.22 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is the relevant metric for traditional rasterization, and the frame rates reflect a linear scaling with the workload. At Low settings, the GPU is less stressed, allowing frame rates to exceed 200 FPS at 1080p, while at Ultra, the additional shading work cuts performance nearly in half. The 736.3 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for the game's texture streaming, as evidenced by the consistent frame pacing implied by the steady averages.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Hard West?*

A: Based on the measured data, 2560x1440 at High settings provides the best balance, delivering 128.2 FPS average. This is well above the 4K High result of 70.4 FPS and only slightly below the 1080p High score of 177.3 FPS, making it the sweet spot for visual quality and performance.

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

A: Yes, but with a caveat. The 4K Ultra average is 52.8 FPS, which is playable for a turn-based tactics game but below the 60 FPS threshold. For smoother gameplay at 4K, the High preset at 70.4 FPS is a better choice.

Q: How much performance is lost from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: The average FPS drops from 177.3 at 1920x1080 to 70.4 at 3840x2160, a reduction of 106.9 FPS, or roughly 60% of the 1080p performance. This indicates the GPU is the primary scaling factor at higher resolutions.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck at any resolution in this game?

A: At 1080p Low and Medium settings, the frame rates of 214.1 and 197.7 FPS respectively suggest the CPU may limit performance, as these exceed the GPU's sustainable output at lower resolutions. At 4K, the GPU is the clear bottleneck.

Q: What is the difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: The Low preset averages 183.1 FPS, while Ultra averages 96.4 FPS, a difference of 86.7 FPS. This shows the visual effects in the Ultra preset nearly halve the frame rate at this resolution.

*Q: Does the RTX 4080 SUPER's 16 GB VRAM matter for Hard West?*

A: The data shows no indication of VRAM limitations. The game's memory usage does not appear to affect performance, as the frame rates scale consistently with resolution and settings without any anomalous drops.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system is overwhelmingly fast. Low settings average 214.1 FPS, Medium averages 197.7 FPS, High averages 177.3 FPS, and Ultra averages 153.5 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 60.6 FPS, indicating that even the highest preset leaves substantial headroom for the GPU. This resolution is best suited for competitive or high-refresh-rate displays, as the data shows the combo never dips below 150 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but begins to show the GPU's workload. Low averages 183.1 FPS, Medium averages 171.1 FPS, High averages 128.2 FPS, and Ultra averages 96.4 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra widens to 86.7 FPS, reflecting the increased pixel count. The High preset at 128.2 FPS is still excellent for most displays, while Ultra at 96.4 FPS remains smooth for the genre.

At 3840x2160, the results are more varied. Low averages 111.1 FPS, Medium averages 87.8 FPS, High averages 70.4 FPS, and Ultra averages 52.8 FPS. This is the only resolution where any preset falls below 60 FPS, and it happens at Ultra. The step from Medium to High at 4K costs 17.4 FPS, while the step from High to Ultra costs another 17.6 FPS, showing a consistent penalty for each quality tier.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination ranks 248th out of 1699 tested combos in Hard West. This places it in the top 15% of all systems in the database, which is a strong showing for a mid-range CPU paired with a high-end GPU. The rank is primarily driven by the GPU's raw performance, as the CPU's benchmark percentile of 75 places it in the upper quartile of all processors, but the 4080 SUPER's 88th percentile is the dominant factor.

The combo rank of 248 suggests that while the GPU is capable of high frame rates, the CPU may hold it back in certain scenarios. The nearest rivals for the CPU in synthetic benchmarks—the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U and Intel Core i7-1260P, with average scores of 17189 and 17212 respectively—are within 0.2% of the i5-11400F's 17181 average. This indicates the CPU's performance is competitive with other mid-range parts, but it is not a top-tier processor. The GPU's nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT with an average score of 53489, is only 0.2% behind the 4080 SUPER's 53610, suggesting the GPU is near the top of its class.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-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. Its 12 MB of shared L3 cache and 51.2 GB/s of dual-channel DDR4 memory bandwidth are adequate for Hard West, a game that relies on single-threaded logic for turn-based AI and map loading. The CPU's 3DMark single-thread score of 868 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2029 indicate solid single-core performance, which is more relevant than multi-threaded scores for this genre.

The data shows that the CPU's role becomes more apparent at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the 214.1 FPS average exceeds the GPU's ability to render frames at higher settings, suggesting the CPU can feed the GPU fast enough. However, the CPU's PassMark single-thread score of 2981 and 75th percentile ranking place it below the top-tier processors that might achieve even higher frame rates at 1080p. The 4.40 GHz boost clock is the key enabler for maintaining high FPS, as the game's turn-based nature does not heavily stress all 12 threads. The 65 W TDP and 14 nm process node are irrelevant for performance here, but the CPU's 20 PCIe Gen 4 lanes ensure the GPU has sufficient bandwidth for data transfer.