Hard West

# Hard West: Intel Core i5-12600KF + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D

The combination of Intel's Core i5-12600KF and NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 5090 D delivers exceptional performance in Hard West, a turn-based tactics title from 2015. The measured data shows this pairing achieves a combo rank of 44 out of 2,949 tested configurations, placing it in the top 1.5% of all combos for this game. Benchmark results across three resolutions and four quality presets reveal a system that is heavily GPU-limited at higher settings, while at lower resolutions and quality levels, the CPU becomes increasingly relevant. The RTX 5090 D, with its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, provides substantial headroom even in a game that is not graphically demanding by modern standards, while the i5-12600KF's 10-core, 16-thread design ensures adequate processing power for the game's turn-based logic and AI calculations.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound behavior as resolution increases. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 235 FPS at 1920x1080 to 158 FPS at 2560x1440, a 32.8% reduction, and then to 83 FPS at 3840x2160, a 47.5% further reduction from the 1440p figure. This steep decline indicates that the rendering load at 4K is substantial enough to push even the RTX 5090 D to its limits in this title, though the absolute numbers remain well above playable thresholds.

At Low settings, the scaling pattern is even more pronounced. The average FPS at 1080p is 278, dropping to 238 at 1440p (a 14.4% decrease) and then to 131 at 4K (a 44.9% decrease from 1440p). The relatively modest drop from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings suggests that the CPU is becoming a limiting factor at 1080p, where the GPU can render frames faster than the processor can feed it data. The larger drop from 1440p to 4K reflects the GPU becoming the primary bottleneck at higher pixel counts.

The Medium preset shows a similar trend, with 258 FPS at 1080p, 205 FPS at 1440p (down 20.5%), and 108 FPS at 4K (down 47.3% from 1440p). The Ultra preset, which is the most demanding configuration tested, delivers 187 FPS at 1080p, 118 FPS at 1440p (down 36.9%), and 62 FPS at 4K (down 47.5% from 1440p). The consistent 47-48% reduction from 1440p to 4K across Medium, High, and Ultra settings indicates that pixel throughput is the dominant factor at 4K, regardless of the complexity of the scene being rendered.

How This Combo Ranks

The combined i5-12600KF and RTX 5090 D configuration achieves a combo rank of 44 out of 2,949 tested combinations in Hard West. This places the system in the 98.5th percentile of all tested combos, meaning it outperforms roughly 2,905 other configurations. The high ranking is primarily attributable to the RTX 5090 D's raw rendering power, which dominates the benchmark despite the game's age.

The CPU component of this pairing, the i5-12600KF, holds a percentile rank of 79 against all CPUs tested across the database, with an average benchmark score of 27,799. Its nearest rivals in the CPU benchmark hierarchy include the Intel Core i9-10900K (average score 27,872, a 0.3% difference), the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D (average score 27,896, a 0.3% difference), and the AMD Ryzen 7 6800U (average score 27,887, a 0.3% difference). These deltaPct values are remarkably small, indicating that the i5-12600KF sits in a tightly clustered performance band among high-end processors.

The GPU, the RTX 5090 D, holds a percentile rank of 92 against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 77,712. Its nearest rivals in the GPU benchmark hierarchy include the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT (average score 76,904, a 1.1% difference), the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (average score 78,940, a -1.6% difference), and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB (average score 79,396, a -2.1% difference). The RTX 5090 D's ranking in the 92nd percentile confirms its position as a top-tier graphics solution, though the deltaPct values show that its benchmark scores are not dramatically higher than some mobile and workstation alternatives.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF is built on the Alder Lake architecture using a 10 nm process node, featuring 10 cores and 16 threads. Its base clock is 3.70 GHz with a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, and it carries a 20 MB shared L3 cache alongside 1.25 MB L2 cache per core and 80 KB L1 cache per core. The processor supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, and it connects to the system via PCIe Gen 4 with 20 CPU-only lanes.

In Hard West, a turn-based tactics game, the CPU's role extends beyond frame rendering to include game logic, AI pathfinding, and unit turn calculations. The measured FPS data provides indirect evidence of CPU involvement at lower resolutions. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves 278 FPS, but at 1440p Low it drops to 238 FPS. The relatively small 14.4% reduction from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings suggests the CPU is capable of sustaining high frame rates even when the GPU has less work to do.

The i5-12600KF's benchmark scores support its capability for this workload. In Cinebench R23, it scores 23,391 points in multicore and 3,302 points in single-core tests. The single-core performance is particularly relevant for turn-based tactics, where game logic often runs on fewer threads. The 3DMark tests show a progression from 1,016 points in single-thread to 7,956 points in 16-thread workloads, indicating good scaling across cores. The PassMark physics score of 1,539 and integer math score of 87,830 further demonstrate the processor's ability to handle the computational demands of game simulation.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. Low preset averages 278 FPS, Medium averages 258 FPS with a minimum of 220 FPS and maximum of 297 FPS, High averages 235 FPS, and Ultra averages 187 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 91 FPS, representing a 32.7% reduction in performance when moving from the least to most demanding preset.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show a clearer separation between presets. Low averages 238 FPS, Medium averages 205 FPS with a minimum of 174 FPS and maximum of 236 FPS, High averages 158 FPS, and Ultra averages 118 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 120 FPS, a 50.4% reduction. The Medium preset's minimum FPS of 174 at 1440p indicates that even in demanding scenes, the system maintains smooth performance.

At 3840x2160, the system still delivers playable frame rates across all settings. Low averages 131 FPS, Medium averages 108 FPS with a minimum of 92 FPS and maximum of 124 FPS, High averages 83 FPS, and Ultra averages 62 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 69 FPS, a 52.7% reduction. The Ultra preset's 62 FPS average at 4K is notably close to the 60 FPS threshold, suggesting that this is the most demanding configuration where the system begins to show strain.

The Medium preset is the only one with complete minimum and maximum FPS data across all resolutions. At 1080p, the range is 220-297 FPS; at 1440p, it is 174-236 FPS; and at 4K, it is 92-124 FPS. The narrowing of the FPS range as resolution increases indicates that frame time variance is more consistent at higher resolutions, likely due to the GPU becoming the dominant bottleneck.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is a Blackwell 2.0 architecture GPU built on a 5 nm process at TSMC, featuring 92,200 million transistors on a 750 mm² die. It operates at a base clock of 2017 MHz with a boost clock of 2407 MHz, and its memory runs at 1750 MHz with 28 Gbps effective speed. The GPU is equipped with 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth.

The RTX 5090 D's compute capabilities are substantial, with 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 raster operations pipelines. It includes 170 ray tracing cores and 680 tensor cores, enabling feature sets aligned with DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The GPU achieves a pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance of 104.8 TFLOPS.

In Hard West, the GPU's role is primarily to render the game's visual elements, including the dark, western-themed environments and character models. The measured FPS data shows that at 4K Ultra, the system produces 62 FPS, which is the lowest result across all tested configurations. This suggests that even the RTX 5090 D encounters significant workload at maximum settings and resolution. The GPU's 32 GB VRAM capacity is far beyond what Hard West requires, indicating that memory capacity is not a limiting factor in this title.

The GPU benchmark scores reflect its high-end positioning. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it scores 14,326 points, and in Geekbench Vulkan, it achieves 376,915 points. The PassMark G3D score of 44,065 and GPU compute score of 28,396 further quantify its performance. The RTX 5090 D's percentile rank of 92 against all GPUs confirms its position among the top graphics cards available.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Hard West with this combo for maximum frame rates?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system achieves an average of 278 FPS, which is the highest measured result. For those prioritizing frame rate above all else, this is the optimal configuration.

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 4K with Ultra settings?

A: Yes, but barely. The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 62 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS threshold. The Medium preset at 4K provides a more comfortable margin with 108 FPS average.

Q: How does the i5-12600KF compare to its nearest CPU rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The i5-12600KF scores 27,799 on average, which is within 0.3% of the Intel Core i9-10900K (27,872), AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D (27,896), and AMD Ryzen 7 6800U (27,887). The performance differences are negligible.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking and how does it compare to rivals?

A: The RTX 5090 D ranks in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 77,712. It is 1.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT and 1.6% behind the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to limit performance at 1080p?

A: At 1080p Low settings, the FPS of 278 suggests CPU involvement becomes more significant, as the GPU can render frames quickly. The smaller FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p (14.4% at Low) compared to larger drops at higher settings supports this interpretation.

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking in Hard West?

A: This configuration ranks 44th out of 2,949 tested combos, placing it in the top 1.5% of all tested systems for this game.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance across all resolutions. At 1080p, Medium delivers 258 FPS average with a minimum of 220 FPS, providing a substantial cushion above typical display refresh rates. At 1440p, Medium maintains 205 FPS average with a 174 FPS minimum, ensuring smooth gameplay even in demanding scenes. At 4K, Medium achieves 108 FPS average with a 92 FPS minimum, comfortably exceeding the 60 FPS standard for high-refresh displays.

For users with 60 Hz displays at 4K, the High preset at 83 FPS average is a viable option that provides better visual fidelity than Medium while still maintaining frame rates above 60 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K, with its 62 FPS average, is only recommended for those who prioritize maximum visual quality and can tolerate minor frame rate fluctuations near the 60 FPS threshold.

At 1440p, the High preset at 158 FPS average is an excellent choice for high-refresh-rate monitors, offering a significant visual upgrade over Medium while still delivering frame rates well above 144 Hz. The Ultra preset at 118 FPS average remains playable on 120 Hz displays and provides the full visual experience.

For 1080p users, even the Ultra preset at 187 FPS average exceeds the capabilities of most displays, so users can select any preset based on visual preference without worrying about frame rate limitations. The data indicates that the Medium preset provides the most consistent frame times, as evidenced by the measured minimum FPS values, making it the safest recommendation for a stutter-free experience across all resolutions.