Hard West

The Intel Core i5-12600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER delivers a predictable performance profile in Hard West, a turn-based tactics title from 2015. The data shows a system that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions but capable of very high frame rates at 1080p. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS figures, examines the scaling behavior across resolutions, and contextualizes the CPU and GPU roles using benchmark data and the combo's overall rank.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with High settings for this combo?

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings is 107.2. This indicates a smooth experience for the vast majority of displays, as the frame rate comfortably exceeds the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K with Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS drops to 25.1. This is below the standard 30 FPS playability threshold, suggesting that maximum settings at 4K are not viable for a consistently smooth experience.

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

A: At 2560x1440, the average FPS ranges from 106.9 on Low settings down to 52.4 on Ultra settings. This represents a drop of 54.5 FPS, or roughly a 51% reduction in frame rate when moving from the lowest to the highest preset.

Q: Is the system more limited by the CPU or the GPU in this game?

A: The benchmark results indicate a GPU limitation. The FPS drops significantly as resolution increases (from 175.5 at 1080p Low to 56 at 4K Low), which is a classic sign of the graphics card becoming the bottleneck, while the CPU has ample headroom.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival, the Intel Core i9-10900K?

A: The Intel Core i5-12600KF has an average benchmark score of 27827, which is essentially identical to the Intel Core i9-10900K's score of 27829, showing a deltaPct of 0%. Their performance is statistically indistinguishable in synthetic benchmarks.

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

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER falls into the 65th percentile when compared to all GPUs in the database. This places it in the upper-middle tier of graphics cards, which is consistent with its performance in this game's benchmarks.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is the primary driver of performance in Hard West, especially as resolution and settings increase. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides a 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth, which is sufficient for the game's textures and geometry at 1440p. The GPU's 2560 shading units and 64 ROPs are responsible for the pixel and texture fill rates that dictate high-resolution performance.

The GPU's behavior in the measured FPS data shows a clear pattern. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 175.5 FPS, but this falls to 79.7 FPS at 1080p Ultra. This scaling suggests that the GPU's compute units are being fully utilized at higher settings. The RTX 2070 SUPER's boost clock of 1770 MHz and base clock of 1605 MHz provide the raw speed needed for these calculations. Its average benchmark score of 22206 places it in the 65th percentile, and it sits close to rivals like the NVIDIA RTX A400 (deltaPct -0.5%) and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 (deltaPct 2.5%), indicating its mid-range positioning. The data shows that the GPU is the limiting factor when pushing for higher frame rates at 4K, as the CPU has more than enough power to feed it.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data demonstrates a classic resolution scaling curve that points to a GPU-bound system. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 with High settings, the average FPS drops from 107.2 to 70.4, a decrease of 36.8 FPS. This is a substantial hit, but the frame rate remains playable. The scaling continues at 4K, where High settings yield an average of 35.9 FPS, a further drop of 34.5 FPS from the 1440p result.

This pattern is more pronounced at lower settings. At Low settings, the system produces 175.5 FPS at 1080p, 106.9 FPS at 1440p, and 56 FPS at 4K. The relative drop from 1080p to 4K at Low is about 68%, while at High settings, the drop is about 67%. The consistency of this drop across settings confirms that the resolution is the dominant factor, not the graphical complexity. The data suggests that the RTX 2070 SUPER's fill rate and bandwidth are being saturated as pixel count increases, making it the primary constraint. The CPU's performance, which remains constant regardless of resolution, does not exhibit this bottleneck.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested hardware combinations, this pairing of the Intel Core i5-12600KF and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER holds a rank of 1052 out of 1699 total combos. This places it in the lower half of all tested systems, which is a useful reference point for understanding its overall standing. The rank is not solely determined by this game's performance, but it provides a general indicator of the system's capability.

The rank reflects the GPU's mid-tier status. The RTX 2070 SUPER is an end-of-life product from the GeForce 20-series, and its performance is outclassed by newer generations. The CPU, however, is a modern part with strong benchmark results. The 12600KF's percentile of 84th among all CPUs shows it is a high-performing processor, but the combo's overall rank is dragged down by the GPU. This suggests that in Hard West, the GPU is the limiting factor, preventing the system from achieving a top-tier rank. The system's performance is still respectable, but it does not compete with modern high-end configurations.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture. With a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, it provides substantial processing power for game logic and AI calculations. Its 20 MB of shared L3 cache helps reduce latency when accessing frequently used data. In Hard West, a turn-based tactics game, the CPU's single-thread performance is particularly important for handling unit actions and pathfinding calculations.

The CPU's synthetic benchmark scores are robust. It achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 23444 and a single-core score of 3309, and its PassMark multi-thread score is 27575. These figures indicate that the CPU has a significant amount of headroom in this game. The measured FPS scaling with resolution confirms this: at 1080p Low, the system hits 175.5 FPS, but the CPU is not the constraint because the frame rate drops to 56 FPS at 4K Low despite the CPU's workload remaining largely unchanged. The 12600KF's average benchmark score of 27827 is nearly identical to the Intel Core i9-10900K (27829), showing that it offers comparable multi-threaded performance to a previous-generation flagship. This CPU is more than capable of handling Hard West; the GPU is the bottleneck.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of the system's performance across all settings and resolutions.

At 1920x1080, the system is very fast. The average FPS is 175.5 on Low, 144.7 on Medium, 107.2 on High, and 79.7 on Ultra. These figures are all well above the 60 FPS threshold, meaning the game will run smoothly on any standard monitor. The step from High to Ultra costs 27.5 FPS, showing a significant performance hit for the highest settings.

At 2560x1440, performance remains strong but begins to show the GPU's limits. The average FPS is 106.9 on Low, 91.9 on Medium, 70.4 on High, and 52.4 on Ultra. The drop from High to Ultra is 18 FPS, and the Ultra setting falls below 60 FPS. For a 1440p monitor, High settings appear to be the sweet spot for maintaining a comfortable frame rate.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck. The average FPS is 56 on Low, 48.6 on Medium, 35.9 on High, and 25.1 on Ultra. Only the Low setting achieves a frame rate that is near the 60 FPS target, and it still falls short. High and Ultra settings are not playable at a consistent level. The data shows that 4K gaming with this combo requires significant compromises in visual quality to achieve acceptable performance.