Hard West

The Intel Core i5-13400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER delivers exceptional performance in Hard West, ranking in the top 8% of all tested combos for this title. With a combo rank of 293 out of 3722 tested configurations, this system is positioned far above the median, indicating that players can expect a highly fluid experience across all settings and resolutions. The data shows that the combination excels particularly at high refresh rate gaming in 1440p, while still maintaining solid playability at 4K Ultra, making it a versatile pairing for this turn-based tactics game.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank in game for the Core i5-13400F and RTX 4080 SUPER is 293 out of 3722 total tested configurations, placing it in the 92nd percentile of all systems tested with Hard West. This means the pairing outperforms the vast majority of other CPU-GPU combinations in this game, reflecting both the strong single-threaded performance of the i5-13400F and the raw rasterization power of the RTX 4080 SUPER.

The CPU, with its 10 cores and 16 threads, achieves an average benchmark score of 25292 across all tested workloads, which puts it in the 77th percentile of all CPUs. This is nearly identical to several close rivals: the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS scores 25284, showing a 0% delta, while the Intel Core 5 120 and AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D both score 25362 and 25365 respectively, each showing a delta of -0.3 percent relative to the i5-13400F. The AMD Ryzen 7 6800H trails slightly at 25201, a 0.4% positive delta. These numbers indicate that the i5-13400F is right at the top of its class for overall CPU performance, with no meaningful gap between it and these similarly performing rivals.

For the GPU, the RTX 4080 SUPER scores 54209 on average, placing it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs. The closest rival is the standard RTX 4080 with a score of 54247, a -0.1 percent delta, meaning the SUPER variant is effectively the same performance as the base model in aggregate. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X is 1.1% behind, while the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB and AMD Radeon 8060S are 2.7% and 2.8% below respectively. This places the RTX 4080 SUPER at the top of the high-end stack without much competition, especially considering its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 736.3 GB/s bandwidth.

The combination of a 77th percentile CPU and an 86th percentile GPU results in a combo that ranks 293rd out of 3722, which is actually better than either component's individual percentile ranking, suggesting that the pairing is particularly well-suited for Hard West. The game's turn-based tactics genre tends to rely more on single-threaded performance than on extreme multi-core scaling, yet the i5-13400F's 16 threads still provide enough headroom to avoid any CPU bottleneck at high frame rates.

Given the measured FPS data, the combo maintains an average frame rate above 50 FPS even at 4K Ultra settings, which is the most demanding configuration tested. The data reveals that the limiting factor at 1080p is primarily the CPU, as frame rates exceed 200 FPS on High settings, while the GPU is still capable of producing those numbers at 1440p and beyond. Overall, this is a high-end combo that provides a premium experience for this title.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for this combo in Hard West?

A: The data shows that the Medium preset at 1080p yields an average of 240 FPS, which is the highest average among the tested presets at that resolution while also providing a minimum FPS of 204. However, if you prioritize visual quality, the High preset is also excellent, offering 205 FPS average at 1080p. The Ultra preset still hits 154 FPS, but the Medium preset offers the highest average FPS with a solid minimum, so it is the best balance between image quality and performance.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 SUPER perform at 4K compared to 1080p?

A: At 4K Ultra settings, the average FPS is 51, which drops below a typical 60 FPS threshold, but the High and Medium settings are more comfortable at 68 and 89 FPS respectively. At 1080p on Medium, the average rises to 240 FPS, showing that the GPU scales well with resolution, but the CPU and GPU combination still delivers high performance even at 4K.

Q: Which component is more limiting in this pairing?

A: The data shows that the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS drops to 51. At 1080p the average FPS reaches 258 on Low, indicating that the CPU is still able to drive high frame rates without bottlenecking, but the GPU will cap out at lower resolutions due to the high frame rates.

Q: What is the CPU's overall benchmark percentile?

A: The Intel Core i5-13400F has an average benchmark score of 25292, placing it in the 77th percentile of all CPUs. The single-core score is 3634 in Passmark, which reflects strong per-thread performance, important for a game like Hard West that uses a turn-based logic.

Q: What is the GPU's memory configuration and how does it affect 4K?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has 16 GB of GDDR6X memory with a 256-bit bus and 736.3 GB/s bandwidth. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS of 51 shows that the GPU's memory bandwidth and capacity is sufficient to maintain a playable frame rate even at the highest settings, though it may not reach the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: Is this combo still future-proof for newer games?

A: While the combo ranks in the top 8% for Hard West, the GPU is based on the Ada Lovelace architecture with 80 RT cores and 320 Tensor cores, and it supports DirectX 12 Ultimate. The CPU's 10 cores and 16 threads, along with a PCIe Gen 5 interface, ensure that it can handle future titles that are more demanding, but the data here is only for Hard West.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience with this combo, the Medium settings preset is the recommended choice. At 1080p Medium, the average frame rate is a staggering 240 FPS, with a minimum of 204 FPS and a maximum of 276 FPS, ensuring a perfectly smooth experience on high refresh rate monitors. At 1440p Medium, the average remains at 169 FPS with a minimum of 144 FPS, which is still well above the refresh rate of most standard displays. At 4K Medium, the average is 89 FPS with a minimum of 75 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS target for most users.

The High preset is also excellent for those who prefer higher visual fidelity without sacrificing too much performance. At 1080p High, the average is 205 FPS, and at 1440p High, it's 130 FPS. However, at 4K High, the average drops to 68 FPS, which is still playable but not as fluid as Medium. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, delivering 154 FPS at 1080p, 97 FPS at 1440p, and only 51 FPS at 4K, making it less ideal for 4K unless you can tolerate frame rates below 60.

Given these numbers, the Medium preset offers the best balance between visual quality and frame rate, especially at 4K where it provides a 74% increase over Ultra (89 vs 51). It is also noteworthy that the Low preset at 1080p reaches 258 FPS, but Medium is still the best to maximize quality while maintaining high performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a comprehensive look at how the combo performs across three resolutions and four settings.

1920x1080:

• Low: 258 FPS average.
• Medium: 240 FPS average, with a minimum of 204 and a maximum of 276.
• High: 205 FPS average.
• Ultra: 154 FPS average.

2560x1440:

• Low: 206 FPS average.
• Medium: 169 FPS average, with a minimum of 144 and a maximum of 194.
• High: 130 FPS average.
• Ultra: 97 FPS average.

3840x2160:

• Low: 108 FPS average.
• Medium: 89 FPS average, with a minimum of 75 and a maximum of 102.
• High: 68 FPS average.
• Ultra: 51 FPS average.

At 1080p, the system is generally CPU-bound, as the difference between Low and Medium is small (258 vs 240 FPS), but the gap between Medium and High is a 13% drop, and then to Ultra a 25% drop from Medium. The 1440p results show a similar pattern: Low and Medium are still above 160 FPS, while High is at 130 and Ultra at 97. The 4K results show a heavy GPU dependency, with the Ultra setting dropping to 51 FPS, a 27% drop from High's 68 FPS.

The minimum frame rates are only provided for Medium settings, showing 204 at 1080p, 144 at 1440p, and 75 at 4K, which are all well above the 60 FPS target. This indicates that the combo is capable of maintaining a stable frame rate at these settings without significant drops, which is important for a turn-based tactics game where smoothness may be less critical but still appreciated.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K is heavily dependent on the settings preset. Looking at Medium settings, the frame rate drops from 240 FPS at 1080p to 169 FPS at 1440p (a 30% drop) and then to 89 FPS at 4K (a 47% drop from 1440p, and a 63% drop from 1080p). This indicates that the GPU is the main limiting factor when moving up to higher resolutions, as the resolution scaling is not linear and the GPU's workload increases significantly.

For High settings, the scaling is similar: from 205 FPS at 1080p to 130 FPS at 1440p (a 37% drop) and then to 68 FPS at 4K (a 48% drop from 1440p, and 67% drop from 1080p). The Ultra preset shows the largest absolute drop, going from 154 FPS at 1080p to 97 FPS at 1440p (37% drop) and then to 51 FPS at 4K (47% drop from 1440p, 67% from 1080p). This pattern indicates that the RTX 4080 SUPER's performance scales predictably with resolution, but the CPU is not a bottleneck at any resolution, as the frame rates continue to drop as resolution increases.

The data suggests that the CPU is not the limiting factor at 4K, as the frame rates at 4K are still high enough to show GPU dependency. At 1080p, the high frame rates indicate that the CPU is still able to feed the GPU enough data, but the large drops at 4K as expected. The fact that 4K Ultra only manages 51 FPS, while 4K Medium hits 89 FPS, shows that the GPU's raw performance is the limiting component when pushing the highest settings at high resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, running on the LGA1700 socket. Its base clock is 2.5 GHz and it boosts to 4.6 GHz, with 20 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU's benchmark scores are strong: it achieves 3634 in Passmark single-thread and 25032 in multithread, as well as a Geekbench single-core score of 1996 and a multi-core of 11068. These numbers place it in the 77th percentile of all CPUs, and its nearest rivals are all close in performance.

In Hard West, the CPU's role is primarily to handle the game's logic, AI, and turn-based calculations. The game's engine is likely to be more dependent on single-thread performance, and the i5-13400F delivers a Passmark single-thread score of 3634 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3191, which is among the top 20% of all CPUs. The 16 threads also help with background tasks, but the game's frame rates at 1080p suggest that the CPU is not a bottleneck, as the average FPS of 258 on Low and 240 on Medium are close, indicating that the CPU can handle the game's logic with ease.

The CPU's 10 cores (6 performance and 4 efficiency) are more than enough for this game, and the low FPS at 4K is largely due to the GPU's load. The 65W TDP and the lack of overclocking support (since the multiplier is locked) are minor points, but the boost clock of 4.6 GHz still provides strong single-thread performance. The i5-13400F's performance in this game is consistent with its overall CPU ranking, and the pairing with the RTX 4080 SUPER is well-balanced, as the CPU does not limit the GPU's performance at any resolution, as evidenced by the high frame rate at 1080p.