Hard West

The Intel Core i5-13400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER delivers a playable experience in Hard West, a turn-based tactics title from 2015. Benchmark data shows this combination achieves strong frame rates at 1080p, remains fluid at 1440p, and becomes taxing at 4K, particularly with higher graphical presets. The data indicates a system where the CPU provides ample headroom, allowing the GPU to become the primary performance determinant as resolution and settings increase.

FAQ

*Q: What is the combo's overall standing among tested configurations in Hard West?*

A: This specific pairing ranks 1185 out of 1699 tested combos in the game's database, placing it in the lower-middle portion of all results. This suggests that while it handles the game competently, many other hardware configurations achieve higher average frame rates.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rivals in general benchmark scores?

A: The Intel Core i5-13400F has an average benchmark score of 25236. This is nearly identical to the Intel Core i7-13620H, which scores 25201 (a 0.1% difference), and the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D, which scores 25365 (0.5% higher). It also edges out the AMD EPYC 9474F by 0.5% and the AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO 340 by 0.5%.

Q: What is the GPU's performance percentile relative to all other graphics cards?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER falls into the 63rd percentile of all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 19774 puts it slightly ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070, which scores 19680 (a 0.5% difference), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN, which scores 19706 (0.3% lower).

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for a smooth experience?

A: For a consistently smooth experience, 1080p with High settings is a strong choice, yielding an average of 101.1 FPS. At 1440p, the High preset still delivers a very playable 63 FPS average. Users seeking higher fidelity at 4K will need to compromise, as the Ultra preset drops to 27.1 FPS.

Q: How significant is the frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K?

A: The performance hit is substantial. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 101.1 FPS at 1080p to 34.8 FPS at 4K, representing a drop of approximately 65%. This indicates the GPU is heavily taxed at higher resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is the primary component driving frame rates in Hard West. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides a 448.0 GB/s bandwidth, which is sufficient for the game's asset streaming. The GPU's core clocks, with a base of 1470 MHz and a boost of 1650 MHz, determine its raw processing throughput. The data shows that as the resolution increases, the demand on these resources grows, and the GPU becomes the limiting factor.

This is clearly illustrated in the benchmark results. At 1080p, the GPU is not fully saturated, allowing for high frame rates across all settings. However, at 4K, the pixel count quadruples, and the GPU's 7.181 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is stretched thin. The average frame rate at 4K Ultra (27.1 FPS) is less than a fifth of what is seen at 1080p Low (154.6 FPS). This demonstrates that the RTX 2060 SUPER is capable of handling the game's geometry and effects at lower resolutions, but its limits are exposed when rendering at 4K. The GPU's 64 ROPs and 136 TMUs are also factors in its ability to fill pixels and apply textures at these higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 1185 out of 1699 tested combinations places it in the 30th percentile of all systems tested in Hard West. This is a noteworthy position, indicating that while the system is not a top performer, it is far from being an outlier. The data suggests that many other combos, likely featuring more powerful GPUs, achieve higher average frame rates.

This ranking, however, must be viewed in context with the game's age. Hard West was released in 2015, and the hardware in this combo is from a later generation. The CPU's general performance, as indicated by its 82nd percentile ranking against all CPUs, is robust and not a bottleneck. The GPU, while in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs, is the component that holds the combo back from a higher rank in this specific title. The deltaPct values for the GPU's nearest rivals are all under 1.3%, showing that the RTX 2060 SUPER is very closely matched with other high-end cards from its era, but these are all outclassed by newer generations that likely populate the top of the combo ranking list.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of performance scaling. At 1920x1080, the system is highly capable. The Low preset achieves an average of 154.6 FPS, which drops to 126.8 FPS on Medium and 101.1 FPS on High. The Ultra preset still delivers a smooth 75.4 FPS, showing the CPU and GPU combination has significant headroom at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain very playable. The Low preset averages 96.9 FPS, Medium 79.2 FPS, and High 63 FPS. The Ultra preset, at 49.8 FPS, is still within a playable range but shows the GPU beginning to feel the load. The data indicates a clear progression where each step up in settings costs roughly 15-20% performance at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's limitations are clearly evident. The Low preset yields an average of 55.2 FPS, which is playable. However, the Medium preset drops to 43.8 FPS, and High falls to 34.8 FPS. The Ultra preset becomes challenging, with an average of only 27.1 FPS, which is below the threshold for a consistently smooth experience. This breakdown shows that for 4K play, users must be willing to use lower settings.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K is steep and reveals the system's bottleneck. At High settings, the average frame rate at 1080p is 101.1 FPS. This drops to 63 FPS at 1440p, a 37.7% decrease. Moving to 4K, the frame rate falls to 34.8 FPS, a further 44.8% decrease from the 1440p result and a 65.6% decrease from 1080p.

This pattern is consistent across all settings. The frame rate drops are not linear, indicating that the GPU is running out of processing power as the pixel count increases. The 4K resolution requires four times the pixel fill rate of 1080p, and the RTX 2060 SUPER's resources are simply insufficient for this task at higher settings. The data strongly suggests that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is the definitive limiting component in this configuration. The Intel Core i5-13400F provides more than enough performance, as evidenced by the high frame rates at 1080p, but the GPU's scaling curve is the primary factor in the system's overall performance profile. Users targeting 4K will find the experience compromised, while those at 1080p will find the system offers a substantial performance buffer.