Hard West

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate for this combo at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers an average of 163.7 FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings in Hard West.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival in benchmark scores?

A: The i5-11400F has an average benchmark score of 17181, which is essentially tied with the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U (17189, 0% delta) and slightly ahead of the Intel Core i7-1260P (17212, -0.2% delta).

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

A: The RTX 4090 sits in the 91st percentile versus all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 66473, placing it near the NVIDIA Tesla T4 (66733, -0.4% delta) in the benchmark database.

Q: Does the measured FPS data include minimum or maximum frame rates?

A: No. The dataset for Hard West provides only average frame rates (avgFps) for each resolution and settings combination; minFps and maxFps fields are null for all twelve measured rows.

Q: How many total processor threads does this CPU have?

A: The Intel Core i5-11400F has 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth of this CPU configuration?

A: The i5-11400F supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s, which factors into how quickly data can feed the RTX 4090's processing cores.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process node, featuring 16,384 shading units, 512 texture mapping units, and 176 render output units. Its 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus delivers 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth, which is substantial for a turn-based tactics title like Hard West. The GPU's base clock runs at 2235 MHz with a boost clock of 2520 MHz, and the memory operates at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). The RTX 4090 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, making it fully compatible with any rendering path Hard West might use.

The measured data reveals an interesting trend: the gap between Low and Ultra settings widens significantly at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the difference between Low (212.8 FPS) and Ultra (163.7 FPS) is 49.1 FPS. At 1440p, that gap grows to 73.4 FPS (181.8 vs 108.4). At 4K, the spread becomes 67.3 FPS (121.9 vs 54.6). This suggests that the RTX 4090's raw compute strength — 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 and a pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s — is being progressively taxed as resolution increases. The GPU's 128 ray tracing cores and 512 tensor cores are less relevant for Hard West, a turn-based tactics game from 2015, but the sheer rasterization throughput still dominates the performance picture.

Interestingly, the RTX 4090's nearest rivals in the benchmark database are professional or older workstation cards (Tesla T4, Tesla P40, Quadro P6000), with delta percentages within -1.3% to 0.5%. This indicates that on general compute benchmarks, the RTX 4090's massive 76,300 million transistors and 609 mm² die size produce performance in a class of its own for gaming, as the measured FPS numbers confirm.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a clear and predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 180.8 at 1920x1080 to 142.5 at 2560x1440, then to 75.4 at 3840x2160. That represents a 21.2% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a 58.3% reduction from 1080p to 4K. At Low settings, the numbers are 212.8 → 181.8 → 121.9 FPS, showing a 14.6% drop to 1440p and a 42.7% drop to 4K.

This scaling pattern reveals that the limiting component shifts as resolution climbs. At 1080p, the i5-11400F's 6 cores and 12 threads likely constrain the frame rate — the CPU's single-thread benchmark score is 868 in 3DMark and 2029 in Cinebench R23, which is modest compared to the GPU's enormous headroom. The RTX 4090 can push far beyond 212.8 FPS in many titles, but Hard West's turn-based nature may introduce CPU-bound scenarios during AI turns or map loading. At 4K, however, the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck, as evidenced by the steep drop to 54.6 FPS at Ultra settings — a scenario where the 4090's 24 GB VRAM and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth still don't prevent a near-halving of performance compared to 1080p.

The Medium settings row reinforces this interpretation. At 1080p, Medium yields 197.5 FPS, only 15.3 FPS below Low, suggesting that the CPU is near its limit. At 4K, Medium produces 102.1 FPS, a 19.8 FPS drop from Low — a larger absolute reduction that points to GPU-bound rendering. The data implies that for players targeting 4K, the RTX 4090 is the determining factor, while at 1080p, the i5-11400F's Rocket Lake architecture (14 nm, 65 W TDP) may prevent the GPU from reaching its full potential.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the best experience per the data appears to be Medium settings at 1440p, which produces 170.3 FPS — a strong combination of visual fidelity and frame rate headroom. At 1080p, Medium delivers 197.5 FPS, which is only 15.3 FPS below Low but likely offers noticeably better visual quality. The jump from Medium to High at 1080p costs 16.7 FPS (197.5 to 180.8), while the jump from High to Ultra costs 17.1 FPS (180.8 to 163.7) — both are relatively modest penalties.

At 1440p, the scaling is steeper: Medium (170.3 FPS) to High (142.5 FPS) costs 27.8 FPS, and High to Ultra (108.4 FPS) costs 34.1 FPS. This suggests that Ultra at 1440p is the first setting where the RTX 4090's performance becomes noticeably strained, though 108.4 FPS is still playable. For 4K, the data recommends Low (121.9 FPS) or Medium (102.1 FPS), as High (75.4 FPS) and Ultra (54.6 FPS) drop below the 60 FPS threshold that many players consider minimum for smooth gameplay. The 4K Ultra result of 54.6 FPS is the only measured configuration that falls below 60 FPS, making it the least advisable choice from a performance standpoint.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 169th out of 1,699 tested combos in Hard West, placing it in the top 10% of all configurations. This rank reflects the substantial GPU power of the RTX 4090 (91st percentile among GPUs) compensating for the more modest CPU (75th percentile among CPUs). The i5-11400F's average benchmark score of 17181 is nearly identical to its nearest rivals — the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U (17189), Intel Core i7-1260P (17212), and Intel Core Ultra 7 164U (17215) — all within 0.2% delta. This means the CPU is not a differentiator; the GPU does the heavy lifting.

The rank of 169 out of 1,699 is respectable but not top-tier, which makes sense given the CPU's mid-range positioning. In a turn-based tactics game like Hard West, where frame rates are less critical than in fast-paced shooters, this combo still delivers excellent performance — even the weakest measured configuration (4K Ultra at 54.6 FPS) is only slightly below 60 FPS. The data suggests that the combo's rank could improve with a more powerful CPU, but the RTX 4090 ensures that no resolution or settings combination becomes unplayable.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are: Low 212.8 FPS, Medium 197.5 FPS, High 180.8 FPS, and Ultra 163.7 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 49.1 FPS, with each settings tier costing roughly 15-17 FPS. At 2560x1440, the numbers are: Low 181.8 FPS, Medium 170.3 FPS, High 142.5 FPS, and Ultra 108.4 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra spread widens to 73.4 FPS, with the High-to-Ultra jump being the largest single step at 34.1 FPS. At 3840x2160, the results are: Low 121.9 FPS, Medium 102.1 FPS, High 75.4 FPS, and Ultra 54.6 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra spread is 67.3 FPS, and the High-to-Ultra step costs 20.8 FPS.

Across all resolutions, the data shows that Low settings provide the highest frame rates, but the relative cost of Ultra increases with resolution. At 1080p, Ultra retains 76.9% of Low's performance (163.7 / 212.8). At 1440p, Ultra retains 59.6% (108.4 / 181.8). At 4K, Ultra retains only 44.8% (54.6 / 121.9). This progressive degradation is typical of GPU-bound scaling and confirms that the RTX 4090's 24 GB memory buffer, while generous, cannot fully offset the pixel throughput demands of 4K Ultra in this title.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Rocket Lake architecture, built on Intel's 14 nm process with a die size of 276 mm². Its base clock of 2.60 GHz and boost clock of 4.40 GHz provide a reasonable single-thread capability, as reflected in the 3DMark single-thread score of 868 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2029. The CPU's L3 cache is 12 MB shared, with 80 KB L1 and 512 KB L2 per core, and it supports DDR4 dual-channel memory at 51.2 GB/s. The CPU's percentile rank of 75 versus all CPUs places it above the median, but its nearest rivals (AMD Ryzen 7 5700U, Intel Core i7-1260P, Intel Core Ultra 7 164U) all have similar average benchmark scores within 0.2%, indicating performance parity in this range.

In Hard West, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (212.8 FPS) is likely approaching the CPU's practical limit for this game, given that the RTX 4090 could theoretically push much higher. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 5619 and Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14372 show the CPU's multi-threaded capabilities, but turn-based tactics often rely on single-thread performance for game logic and AI calculations. The passmark single-thread score of 2981 and 3DMark 2-thread score of 1691 suggest that the CPU can handle these tasks adequately, but the 65 W TDP and 6-core configuration may limit sustained performance in CPU-intensive scenarios. The data implies that for this game, the i5-11400F provides sufficient processing power to keep the RTX 4090 well-fed at lower resolutions, but at 4K, the GPU's rendering workload becomes the dominant factor.