Hard West

# Hard West with Intel Core i5-12400 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER

The Intel Core i5-12400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER delivers a thoroughly playable Hard West experience across all tested resolutions and settings, with the data showing that this combo sits in the 603rd position out of 3,722 tested combinations. The measured frame rates reveal a system that comfortably handles this turn-based tactics title, though the scaling patterns between presets and resolutions expose where the GPU becomes the primary performance arbiter. Benchmark results indicate that the sweet spot for this pairing is the High preset at 1440p, which delivers 114 FPS average without the frame-time variance seen at lower settings.

Settings Recommendations

For players seeking the best balance between visual fidelity and smooth gameplay, the High preset at 2560x1440 stands out as the optimal configuration. This setting yields an average of 114 FPS, which represents a 34% improvement over the Ultra preset's 85 FPS at the same resolution, while still maintaining the game's intended visual presentation. The Medium preset at 1440p offers 148 FPS average, but the High preset's additional visual quality comes at a modest 23% performance cost, making it the more sensible choice for most users.

At 1920x1080, the High preset produces 180 FPS average, which is more than sufficient for any display refresh rate currently on the market. The Ultra preset at 1080p drops to 135 FPS, still highly playable, but the perceptual difference between High and Ultra in a turn-based tactics game rarely justifies the 25% performance reduction. The Low preset at 1080p reaches 245 FPS, but this exceeds the refresh rate of virtually all monitors and sacrifices visual quality for gains that the human eye cannot perceive in this genre.

For 4K displays, the High preset at 3840x2160 delivers exactly 60 FPS average, which matches the standard refresh rate of most 4K monitors. This is the recommended configuration for 4K users, as the Medium preset at 4K provides 78 FPS but with a visible drop in graphical fidelity, while the Ultra preset at 4K falls to 45 FPS, which introduces noticeable stutter in a genre where smooth camera panning matters. The data shows that High at 4K is the only preset that hits the 60 FPS target without compromising visual quality, making it the definitive choice for this resolution.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1980 MHz with a boost clock of 2475 MHz, and its 7,168 shading units process geometry through 224 texture mapping units and 80 raster operations pipelines. These specifications translate to a pixel rate of 198.0 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 554.4 GTexel/s, with FP32 compute reaching 35.48 TFLOPS.

In Hard West, the GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution rises. At 1080p, the frame rates across all presets remain above 135 FPS, suggesting that the GPU has ample headroom even at Ultra settings. However, the transition from 1080p to 1440p shows a consistent frame rate drop of approximately 37% across all presets, which indicates that the GPU is beginning to become the limiting factor. At 4K, the GPU's workload intensifies significantly, with the Ultra preset dropping to 45 FPS — a 47% reduction from the same preset at 1440p.

The 12 GB VRAM capacity proves sufficient for Hard West at all tested settings, as the game's visual complexity does not appear to exceed this allocation even at 4K Ultra. The GPU's 83rd percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 43,223, places it just ahead of the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB (deltaPct -0.1%) and marginally behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile (deltaPct -1%). This positioning confirms that the RTX 4070 SUPER is a high-tier performer, though the data shows it is not at the absolute apex of GPU performance.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates reveal a predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases. At 1920x1080, the High preset achieves 180 FPS, which drops to 114 FPS at 2560x1440 — a 37% reduction. Moving to 3840x2160, the High preset falls to 60 FPS, representing an additional 47% decrease from the 1440p result. This scaling behavior indicates that the GPU becomes progressively more stressed as pixel count rises, while the CPU maintains sufficient throughput to avoid becoming the bottleneck.

The Low preset shows a similar pattern: 245 FPS at 1080p, 181 FPS at 1440p (26% drop), and 95 FPS at 4K (48% drop from 1440p). The Medium preset, which includes frame-time data, demonstrates the scaling most clearly: 229 FPS at 1080p with a minimum of 194 FPS, dropping to 148 FPS at 1440p (min 126 FPS), and further to 78 FPS at 4K (min 66 FPS). These minimum frame times suggest that the 4K Medium setting maintains playable performance, but the variance between minimum and average grows from 35 FPS at 1080p to 12 FPS at 4K.

The Ultra preset exhibits the steepest scaling curve: 135 FPS at 1080p, 85 FPS at 1440p (37% drop), and 45 FPS at 4K (47% drop from 1440p). This pattern strongly suggests that the RTX 4070 SUPER's rendering capabilities, particularly its fill rate and memory bandwidth, are the primary constraints at higher resolutions. The CPU's role diminishes as resolution increases, which is typical for games where pixel throughput dominates the rendering pipeline.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER ranks 603rd out of 3,722 tested hardware combinations for Hard West, placing it in the top 16% of all systems evaluated. This ranking reflects the balanced nature of the pairing — neither component severely bottlenecks the other, allowing the system to perform consistently across all settings and resolutions.

The combo's position in the rankings is influenced by both the CPU and GPU's individual performance characteristics. The CPU's average benchmark score of 18,683 places it at the 72nd percentile among all processors, with its nearest rivals including the AMD EPYC 7643 (deltaPct -0.1%), Intel Core i7-1355U (deltaPct -0.3%), and AMD Ryzen AI 5 330 (deltaPct -0.7%). The GPU's average benchmark score of 43,223 at the 83rd percentile shows it outperforms its nearest rivals, including the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB (deltaPct -0.1%) and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile (deltaPct -0.1%).

The ranking data indicates that while this combo is not at the absolute top of the performance hierarchy, it delivers frame rates that exceed the requirements for smooth gameplay in Hard West at all tested configurations. The 60 FPS result at 4K High, combined with 135+ FPS at 1080p across all presets, demonstrates that this system provides a robust experience without requiring any compromise in settings for standard display refresh rates.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 10 nm process node. It operates with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The processor features 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core, and 18 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, with PCIe Gen 5 connectivity providing 16 lanes from the CPU.

In Hard West, the CPU's role is most pronounced at lower resolutions where the GPU is not the limiting factor. At 1080p, the frame rates across all presets range from 135 to 245 FPS, which suggests that the CPU can feed the GPU efficiently at these settings. The single-threaded performance, as indicated by the 3DMark single-thread score of 910 and Geekbench single-core score of 1,848, is adequate for the game's turn-based logic and AI calculations.

The multi-threaded capabilities of the i5-12400, reflected in scores like Cinebench R23 multi-core at 15,989 and Geekbench multi-core at 8,564, provide sufficient headroom for background tasks while gaming. The processor's 12 threads handle the game's simulation and rendering threads without becoming a bottleneck, as evidenced by the consistent frame-rate scaling from 1080p through 4K. The CPU's percentile ranking at 72nd among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 18,683, places it in a competitive position relative to its nearest rivals, though the data shows it trails the AMD Ryzen AI 5 330 by 0.7% in average score.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1080p gameplay with this combo?

A: The High preset at 1920x1080 delivers 180 FPS average, which is the optimal balance between visual quality and performance. The Ultra preset provides 135 FPS, while the Medium preset reaches 229 FPS, but the High preset's combination of visual fidelity and frame rate makes it the recommended choice.

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

A: Yes, the High preset at 3840x2160 achieves exactly 60 FPS average, which is playable on standard 4K displays. The Medium preset provides 78 FPS and the Low preset reaches 95 FPS, but the Ultra preset drops to 45 FPS, which may introduce visible stutter.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 SUPER compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The GPU has an average benchmark score of 43,223, which is 0.1% lower than the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB (score 43,262) and 0.1% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile (score 43,268). It is 1% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile (score 43,667).

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-12400 a bottleneck for the RTX 4070 SUPER in this game?

A: The data suggests minimal CPU bottlenecking. At 1080p, frame rates range from 135 to 245 FPS across presets, indicating the CPU can feed the GPU effectively. As resolution increases to 4K, the GPU becomes the primary constraint, with the CPU maintaining sufficient throughput.

Q: What is the frame-time consistency like at Medium settings?

A: The Medium preset provides frame-time data showing strong consistency. At 1080p, the average is 229 FPS with a minimum of 194 FPS; at 1440p, 148 FPS average with 126 FPS minimum; and at 4K, 78 FPS average with 66 FPS minimum. The variance remains acceptable across all resolutions.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems for Hard West?

A: This combination ranks 603rd out of 3,722 tested combos, placing it in the top 16% of all systems. This ranking reflects the balanced performance of the i5-12400 and RTX 4070 SUPER, which together deliver playable frame rates at all tested settings and resolutions.