Hard West

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Hard West with the Intel Core i5-13400F and Intel Arc B370 reveals a steep performance curve as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo averages 79 FPS, which drops to 50 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 26 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 37% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a 48% reduction from 1440p to 4K at Low settings. The scaling pattern is consistent across all settings presets, indicating that the GPU is the primary bottleneck as pixel count rises.

At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 49 FPS at 1080p to 31 FPS at 1440p (a 37% drop) and then to 16 FPS at 4K (a 48% drop from 1440p). The Medium preset shows similar proportional declines: 64 FPS at 1080p, 41 FPS at 1440p, and 21 FPS at 4K. Ultra settings produce the lowest absolute numbers, with 37 FPS at 1080p, 23 FPS at 1440p, and just 12 FPS at 4K. The consistency of these percentage drops across presets suggests that the limiting component is not the CPU but rather the graphics subsystem, which struggles to maintain playable frame rates as the rendering load increases.

The data indicates that 4K resolution is largely impractical for this combination. Even at Low settings, the 26 FPS average falls below the threshold commonly considered acceptable for smooth gameplay. The 1440p resolution offers a more balanced experience, with Medium settings providing 41 FPS and Low reaching 50 FPS. At 1080p, the combo shows its best behavior, with Low and Medium presets exceeding 60 FPS, while High sits at 49 FPS and Ultra at 37 FPS.

The frame time consistency, where available, reinforces this interpretation. At 4K Medium, the minimum FPS is 18 and maximum is 25, producing a narrow 7 FPS range. At 1440p Medium, the range widens to 12 FPS (35-47), and at 1080p Medium it extends to 19 FPS (55-74). This widening range at lower resolutions suggests that as the GPU becomes less saturated, frame delivery becomes more variable, potentially due to CPU or driver overhead becoming more visible in the frame time distribution.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal experience depends heavily on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers 64 FPS average, which represents the best balance between visual quality and smoothness. The jump from Low to Medium costs 15 FPS (from 79 to 64), but the visual improvement typically justifies this trade for most players. High at 49 FPS remains playable but begins to approach the lower boundary of smooth gameplay, while Ultra at 37 FPS is noticeably less fluid.

For 2560x1440, the data suggests Low settings at 50 FPS as the primary recommendation. Medium at 41 FPS is still acceptable for turn-based tactics, where the pace of gameplay is slower and slightly lower frame rates are less detrimental. High at 31 FPS and Ultra at 23 FPS both fall below the 30 FPS threshold that many consider the minimum for comfortable play, making them less advisable unless the player prioritizes visuals over responsiveness.

At 3840x2160, none of the presets achieve even 30 FPS. Low at 26 FPS is the only option that approaches playability, and even that may feel sluggish. Medium at 21 FPS, High at 16 FPS, and Ultra at 12 FPS all represent increasingly poor experiences. For 4K, the recommendation is to either lower the resolution or accept that the game will run at reduced visual fidelity with compromised smoothness.

The measured data shows a clear pattern: the Medium preset consistently offers the best compromise between the Low and High presets across all three resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the 64 FPS average with a 55-74 FPS range indicates stable performance. At 1440p Medium, the 41 FPS average with a 35-47 FPS range remains within acceptable bounds for the genre. The Ultra preset provides diminishing returns in visual quality while exacting a significant performance penalty—roughly 42% lower FPS compared to High at both 1080p and 1440p.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 operates with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz. Its memory configuration is System Shared, meaning the GPU relies on the host system's memory rather than dedicated VRAM. The memory bandwidth is listed as System Dependent, which introduces variability in performance based on the platform's memory subsystem. This shared memory architecture likely contributes to the pronounced resolution scaling observed in the data, as the GPU must compete with the CPU for memory access.

The GPU's compute specifications include 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 raster output units. The pixel rate is 48.00 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 96.00 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is 6.144 TFLOPS, with FP16 at 12.29 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio). These figures place the Arc B370 in a modest performance tier, consistent with its 5th percentile ranking among all GPUs in the benchmark database.

The GPU's benchmark score from 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 is 1184, which positions it near the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186, deltaPct -0.2), ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190, deltaPct -0.5), AMD Radeon HD 7650M (1192, deltaPct -0.7), and AMD FirePro M2000 (1168, deltaPct 1.4). These rivals represent older or lower-tier hardware, confirming that the Arc B370 is not a high-performance part. The GPU's TDP is 25 W, and it uses an IGP bus interface with no power connectors, indicating it is designed for integrated or low-power implementations.

The GPU supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, which ensures compatibility with modern graphics APIs. However, the hardware capabilities, as reflected in the benchmark scores and percentile ranking, suggest that the Arc B370 is better suited for lighter workloads or older games like Hard West, which was released in 2015. The measured FPS data confirms this interpretation: the GPU can handle 1080p at medium settings but struggles at higher resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the lowest resolution tested, the combo achieves its highest frame rates. Low settings produce an average of 79 FPS, which is the best result in the entire dataset. Medium settings yield 64 FPS with a minimum of 55 and maximum of 74, showing reasonably consistent frame delivery. High settings drop to 49 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 37 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 42 FPS, a 53% reduction, indicating that the Ultra preset imposes a substantial rendering cost.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drops across all presets. Low settings average 50 FPS, Medium averages 41 FPS with a range of 35 to 47, High averages 31 FPS, and Ultra averages 23 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 27 FPS, or 54% of the Low value. Compared to 1080p, the 1440p results show a consistent reduction of approximately 37-38% for each preset, suggesting that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are the limiting factors.

At 3840x2160, the results become marginal. Low settings average 26 FPS, Medium averages 21 FPS with a range of 18 to 25, High averages 16 FPS, and Ultra averages 12 FPS. The reduction from 1440p to 4K is approximately 48% for each preset, consistent with the increase in pixel count. The 4K Medium data provides the only complete frame time information in this resolution: a minimum of 18 and maximum of 25, showing tight frame delivery but at an unacceptably low level.

The pattern across all resolutions is that the Medium preset provides the most informative data point, as it is the only setting with complete min/max values at every resolution. The frame time ranges at Medium are 19 FPS at 1080p, 12 FPS at 1440p, and 7 FPS at 4K. This compression of frame time variability at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU becomes consistently saturated, reducing the impact of scene complexity variations.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-13400F and Intel Arc B370 combination ranks 2721 out of 2949 tested combos in Hard West. This places the combo in the bottom 8% of all configurations, reflecting the GPU's limited performance relative to other hardware combinations. The GPU's 5th percentile ranking among all GPUs strongly influences this result, as the CPU is comparatively stronger.

The CPU alone performs at the 77th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 25292. Its nearest rivals in CPU benchmarks include the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS (25284, deltaPct 0), Intel Core 5 120 (25362, deltaPct -0.3), AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D (25365, deltaPct -0.3), and AMD Ryzen 7 6800H (25201, deltaPct 0.4). These rivals are all within 0.4% of the i5-13400F's score, indicating that the CPU is competitive with mid-range mobile and desktop processors.

The discrepancy between the CPU's strong relative standing and the combo's poor overall rank highlights the GPU as the bottleneck. In a turn-based tactics game like Hard West, where the CPU handles game logic and AI calculations, the i5-13400F's 10 cores and 16 threads provide ample processing power. However, the Arc B370's limited graphics throughput constrains the overall experience, resulting in the combo ranking near the bottom of the database.

The combo's rank of 2721 out of 2949 suggests that most other tested configurations deliver better performance in this game. This is primarily due to the GPU's low benchmark score and percentile ranking. The data indicates that pairing the i5-13400F with a stronger GPU would likely move the combo significantly higher in the rankings, as the CPU's performance headroom is not the limiting factor.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Hard West with this combo?

A: The measured data shows that 1920x1080 provides the highest frame rates across all settings. At Medium settings, the combo achieves 64 FPS average, which is the recommended configuration for smooth gameplay.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K resolution?

A: No. At 3840x2160, even Low settings only produce 26 FPS average, and Ultra settings drop to 12 FPS. None of the 4K presets reach 30 FPS, making 4K impractical for this hardware combination.

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

A: The Intel Core i5-13400F has an average benchmark score of 25292, which is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS (25284, deltaPct 0) and within 0.4% of the AMD Ryzen 7 6800H (25201). It trails the Intel Core 5 120 by 0.3% and the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D by 0.3%.

Q: What is the GPU's benchmark performance relative to other GPUs?

A: The Intel Arc B370 scores 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, placing it at the 5th percentile of all GPUs. It is nearly identical to the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186) and ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190).

Q: Does the Ultra preset provide a worthwhile improvement over High?

A: Based on the measured data, no. At 1080p, Ultra averages 37 FPS compared to High's 49 FPS, a 24% reduction. At 1440p, Ultra drops to 23 FPS from High's 31 FPS, and at 4K, Ultra delivers just 12 FPS versus High's 16 FPS.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 1440p?

A: The reduction is consistent across presets. At Low settings, performance drops from 79 FPS to 50 FPS, a 37% decrease. Medium falls from 64 FPS to 41 FPS (36%), High from 49 FPS to 31 FPS (37%), and Ultra from 37 FPS to 23 FPS (38%).

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F features 10 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. The processor is built on Intel's 10 nm process with a die size of 215 mm², and it uses the LGA 1700 socket. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 20 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration, with PCIe Gen 5 providing 16 lanes.

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU demonstrates strong multi-threaded performance. The Cinebench R23 multicore score is 22604, while the single-core score is 3191. Geekbench results show 11068 for multicore and 1996 for single-core. The 3DMark tests show scaling from 1880 in the 2-thread test to 7314 in the 16-thread test, indicating good thread scaling. The Passmark multithread score is 25032, with a single-thread score of 3634.

For Hard West, a turn-based tactics game released in 2015, the CPU's role is primarily to handle game logic, pathfinding, and AI calculations. The game's turn-based nature means that frame rates are less dependent on CPU performance than in real-time strategy or action games. However, the CPU's 10 cores and 16 threads provide substantial headroom for any computational demands the game might place on it.

The CPU's 77th percentile ranking among all CPUs indicates that it is a capable processor for gaming workloads. Its nearest rivals in benchmark scores are all within a narrow band, showing that the i5-13400F offers competitive performance in its segment. The 65 W TDP and active production status suggest it remains a relevant choice for modern systems.

In the context of this specific combo, the CPU's performance is not the limiting factor. The measured FPS data shows consistent scaling with resolution changes, which is characteristic of GPU-bound scenarios. The i5-13400F's strong single-thread performance, as evidenced by the 3191 Cinebench R23 single-core score, ensures that even if the game relies heavily on a single thread, the CPU can maintain adequate performance. The data indicates that upgrading the GPU would yield the most significant improvement in Hard West performance for this combo.