Hard West

# Hard West with Intel Core i5-12400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D

This combination of an Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D delivers a top-tier experience in Hard West, a turn-based tactics title from 2015. The measured frame rates across all resolutions and settings place this combo at rank 93 out of 2,949 tested combinations, putting it comfortably in the top 3% of all systems evaluated. The data shows a pairing that is heavily GPU-limited at lower resolutions, yet remains remarkably playable even at 4K Ultra settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 93 out of 2,949 tested combinations places this system in the 96.8th percentile of all tested hardware pairings for Hard West. This is a strong result, though not the absolute top tier, which makes sense given the game's age and its relatively modest demands on modern hardware. The ranking reflects a system that can handle the game with ease at virtually any settings configuration, with the only question being how much headroom remains at the highest resolutions.

Looking at the individual components, the CPU sits at the 73rd percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 19,039. Its nearest rivals are extremely close: the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS scores 19,047 (a 0% delta), the Intel Core 3 201E scores 19,056 (-0.1% delta), and both the Intel Core i5-1335U and AMD EPYC 7773X score around 18,980-18,982 (0.3% delta). This clustering indicates the i5-12400F is a mid-pack performer in synthetic CPU tests, solidly average for its generation.

The GPU, by contrast, sits at the 92nd percentile among all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 77,712. Its nearest rivals in the database are notably different in character: the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT scores 76,904 (1.1% delta), the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT scores 78,940 (-1.6% delta), and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 variants score 79,396 and 79,605 (-2.1% and -2.4% deltas respectively). The RTX 5090 D's performance profile is substantially ahead of most consumer GPUs, yet the data shows it grouped with mobile and datacenter parts in raw compute benchmarks.

The combination of a 73rd-percentile CPU with a 92nd-percentile GPU produces a system that ranks in the 93rd position overall, indicating that for Hard West specifically, the GPU is doing most of the heavy lifting. This is typical for a turn-based tactics game where the visual rendering often matters more than complex AI calculations.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Core 12th Gen series, built on Intel's Alder Lake architecture using a 10 nm process. It runs at a base clock of 2.50 GHz and boosts up to 4.40 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 18 MB of shared L3 cache. This is a desktop-class chip on the Intel Socket 1700 platform, supporting both DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration.

In synthetic benchmarks, the i5-12400F shows a clear scaling pattern across thread counts. The 3DMark scores progress from 909 in single-thread testing to 1,699 in 2-thread, 3,067 in 4-thread, 4,779 in 8-thread, and 5,895 in 16-thread, with a max-thread score of 5,912. This near-linear scaling up to 6 cores and then a plateau suggests the chip's physical core count is well-utilized. Cinebench results follow a similar trajectory: R15 scores of 244 single-core and 1,759 multi-core, R20 scores of 985 and 6,980, and R23 scores of 1,680 and 12,380. Geekbench shows 1,964 single-core and 9,472 multi-core.

For Hard West, a turn-based tactics game from 2015, the CPU requirements are modest. The game's AI and turn processing are unlikely to stress even a single high-performance core, let alone six. The i5-12400F's single-thread performance of 909 in 3DMark single-thread and 1,680 in Cinebench R23 single-core is more than sufficient. The PassMark results reinforce this: single-thread score of 3,481, multithread score of 19,433, and physics score of 1,202. The data encryption score of 11,679 and floating-point math score of 46,759 show the chip handles computational workloads well, but these are unlikely to be bottlenecks in a turn-based tactics context.

The fact that this CPU sits at the 73rd percentile among all processors, with its nearest rivals being mobile chips like the Ryzen 5 7535HS and Core i5-1335U, indicates that for Hard West, the CPU is not a limiting factor. The game simply does not require the kind of multi-threaded performance that would differentiate these processors.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is a flagship-class graphics card from the GeForce 50-series, built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with the GB202 chip using a 5 nm process. It packs 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, delivering 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. The GPU runs at a base clock of 2,017 MHz and boosts to 2,407 MHz, with memory clocked at 1,750 MHz (28 Gbps effective). The chip contains 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 ROPs, along with 170 RT cores and 680 tensor cores.

The GPU's synthetic benchmark results are impressive but show some variation across test types. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it scores 14,326. Geekbench results show 310,674 in OpenCL and 376,915 in Vulkan. PassMark results are more varied: DirectX 9 scores 434, DirectX 10 scores 231, DirectX 11 scores 371, and DirectX 12 scores 219. The G2D score is 1,487, G3D is 44,065, and GPU compute is 28,396.

For Hard West, the RTX 5090 D's role is clearly dominant. The GPU sits at the 92nd percentile among all graphics cards, and its nearest rivals in the database are actually mobile GPUs (RX 6650M XT, RX 6850M XT) and datacenter parts (Tesla P100 variants). This grouping is unusual and suggests that the benchmark database may not have extensive coverage of the RTX 5090 D's actual gaming performance, or that the synthetic benchmarks favor different workload types.

The 32 GB of VRAM and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth are far beyond what a 2015 turn-based tactics game would need. Hard West's textures and geometry are not demanding by modern standards, so the GPU is likely operating well below its full capacity in most scenarios. The measured frame rates confirm this: even at 4K Ultra, the system maintains 62 FPS average, which is above the typical 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers exceptional performance across all settings. Low settings yield 247 FPS average, Medium produces 230 FPS with a minimum of 196 and maximum of 265, High settings give 209 FPS, and Ultra still manages 187 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 60 FPS, or roughly 24% performance degradation from the lowest to highest settings. This indicates the GPU is not heavily stressed at 1080p, as even Ultra settings leave substantial headroom above 144 Hz refresh rates.

Moving to 2560x1440, frame rates remain high but show a noticeable step down. Low settings produce 212 FPS, Medium yields 198 FPS with a range of 168 to 227, High settings deliver 158 FPS, and Ultra drops to 118 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 94 FPS, or about 44% lower performance at Ultra compared to Low. This is a larger relative drop than at 1080p, suggesting the GPU is beginning to feel the resolution increase.

At 3840x2160, the performance curve steepens. Low settings maintain 131 FPS, Medium produces 108 FPS with a range of 92 to 124, High settings yield 83 FPS, and Ultra drops to 62 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 69 FPS, or roughly 53% lower performance at Ultra. Notably, the Ultra setting at 4K is the only configuration that dips below 90 FPS across the entire tested range, but it still maintains playable frame rates.

The Medium settings at each resolution provide the most complete data, with minimum and maximum frame times recorded. At 1080p Medium, the range is 196-265 FPS, a spread of 69 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the range is 168-227 FPS, a spread of 59 FPS. At 4K Medium, the range is 92-124 FPS, a spread of 32 FPS. This narrowing range at higher resolutions indicates more consistent frame pacing as the GPU becomes more uniformly loaded.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear pattern of GPU limitation. At Low settings, the system delivers 247 FPS at 1080p, 212 FPS at 1440p, and 131 FPS at 4K. That is a 14% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a 47% drop from 1440p to 4K. At High settings, the progression is 209 FPS at 1080p, 158 FPS at 1440p, and 83 FPS at 4K, representing a 24% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 47% drop from 1440p to 4K.

The scaling behavior at Medium settings shows a similar pattern: 230 FPS at 1080p, 198 FPS at 1440p, and 108 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p drop is 14%, while the 1440p to 4K drop is 45%. At Ultra settings, the progression is 187 FPS at 1080p, 118 FPS at 1440p, and 62 FPS at 4K, with drops of 37% and 47% respectively.

Across all settings, the transition from 1440p to 4K consistently costs roughly 45-47% of frame rate, which is close to what would be expected from the pixel count increase alone (4K has 2.25 times the pixels of 1440p, which would suggest a 56% drop if purely pixel-bound). The slightly smaller observed drop suggests some portion of the workload is not purely resolution-dependent. The 1080p to 1440p transition shows more variance, with drops ranging from 14% at Low and Medium settings to 24% at High and 37% at Ultra.

This scaling pattern indicates that at lower resolutions and lower settings, the system is partially CPU-limited or at least not fully GPU-bound. The relatively modest drops from 1080p to 1440p at Low and Medium settings suggest the CPU or memory subsystem is providing some constraint. However, at 4K across all settings, the GPU becomes the clear limiting factor, with consistent 45-47% frame rate reductions that align with the increased pixel workload.

FAQ

Q: How does this combo rank for Hard West specifically?

A: This combination ranks 93rd out of 2,949 tested combos, placing it in the top 3% of all systems. The CPU is at the 73rd percentile and the GPU at the 92nd percentile among their respective categories.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 1080p with this setup?

A: At 1080p, the system delivers 247 FPS on Low, 230 FPS on Medium, 209 FPS on High, and 187 FPS on Ultra settings. All configurations exceed 180 FPS, providing smooth gameplay on high-refresh displays.

Q: Is the RTX 5090 D overkill for a 2015 game like Hard West?

A: The data shows the GPU is heavily underutilized at lower resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 247 FPS, while at 4K Ultra it drops to 62 FPS, indicating the GPU only becomes fully engaged at the highest resolution and settings.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core i5-12400F has an average benchmark score of 19,039, nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS at 19,047 (0% delta). It is slightly behind the Intel Core 3 201E at 19,056 (-0.1% delta) and slightly ahead of the Intel Core i5-1335U at 18,982 (0.3% delta).

Q: What is the performance gap between 1080p and 4K at Ultra settings?

A: At Ultra settings, the system delivers 187 FPS at 1080p and 62 FPS at 4K, representing a 67% reduction in frame rate. The drop from 1440p to 4K is 47%, which is consistent across all settings.

Q: Does this system maintain playable frame rates at 4K Ultra?

A: Yes, the 4K Ultra setting produces an average of 62 FPS, which meets the standard 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay. Only the 4K Medium setting has recorded minimum frame times, showing a 92 FPS minimum.