Hard West

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-13400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 lands at rank 845 out of 1699 tested combinations in Hard West. That places this build squarely in the middle of the pack, which is a curious outcome for a 2025 GPU paired with a 2023 CPU. The data suggests this game, a turn-based tactics title from 2015, does not heavily reward modern hardware investments. The combo sits at the 50th percentile of all tested systems, meaning half of the configurations tested deliver better average frame rates.

Looking at the individual components, the RTX 5060 holds a 73rd percentile ranking among all GPUs, while the i5-13400F sits at an 82nd percentile among all CPUs. Both parts are above average individually, yet their combined result in Hard West is merely middle-of-the-road. This gap between component-level percentiles and the in-game combo rank hints at a bottleneck dynamic that is unusual — neither the GPU nor the CPU appears to be the clear limiting factor at every resolution. The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-13620H, which scores 0.1% higher on average, and the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D, which trails by 0.5%. On the GPU side, the RTX 5060 is essentially tied with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, showing a 0% delta, while the AMD Radeon RX 570 sits just 0.2% ahead in average benchmark score. These tight margins indicate that the performance envelope of this combo is well understood and consistent with similarly priced hardware.

The measured frame rates across all resolutions and settings reveal that this combo can push well over 190 FPS at 1080p Low, yet drops to 31.8 FPS at 4K Ultra. That wide spread — a 165.8 FPS difference between the fastest and slowest measured points — suggests the game scales dramatically with both resolution and graphical preset. For a turn-based tactics game, where visual fidelity often matters more than raw frame rate, the data implies that players can afford to prioritize image quality without sacrificing responsiveness, at least at lower resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows provide clear guidance on which preset offers the best experience. At 1080p, the High preset delivers 123.1 FPS, which is more than sufficient for smooth gameplay in a turn-based context. However, the Ultra preset drops to 92.2 FPS — still playable, but the 30.9 FPS penalty over High raises questions about whether the visual upgrade justifies the cost. The Medium preset at 160.4 FPS and Low at 197.6 FPS show that the game is extremely forgiving at 1080p, but for a game like Hard West, the extra frames beyond 120 FPS offer diminishing returns.

At 1440p, the High preset at 79.9 FPS is the sweet spot. It stays comfortably above 60 FPS while delivering most of the visual quality that Ultra provides at 60.2 FPS. The 19.7 FPS gap between High and Ultra at 1440p is significant enough that Ultra becomes a questionable choice unless the player values maximum detail over frame rate consistency. Medium at 103.7 FPS is also viable, offering a 23.8 FPS advantage over High, but the visual trade-off is noticeable in a game that relies on atmospheric lighting and shadow detail.

At 4K, the data tells a different story. The High preset at 41.5 FPS is borderline playable, but the Ultra preset at 31.8 FPS falls below the threshold where most players would consider the experience smooth. Low at 66.9 FPS is the only 4K preset that clears 60 FPS, but that requires sacrificing nearly all graphical fidelity. Given that Hard West is a turn-based game where reaction time is less critical, the 4K High preset at 41.5 FPS may still be acceptable for players who prioritize resolution over fluidity. The data suggests that 1440p High offers the best balance of visual quality and performance, while 1080p High is the safest choice for those who want headroom above 120 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals important information about which component limits performance. At High settings, the combo delivers 123.1 FPS at 1080p, 79.9 FPS at 1440p, and 41.5 FPS at 4K. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows a 43.2 FPS drop, while moving from 1440p to 4K costs another 38.4 FPS. This pattern — where each resolution step roughly halves the frame count — indicates that the GPU is the primary constraint at higher resolutions.

Looking at the Low preset, the scaling is even more pronounced. At 1080p, the combo hits 197.6 FPS, which drops to 122.3 FPS at 1440p and 66.9 FPS at 4K. The fact that even the Low preset cannot maintain high frame rates at 4K suggests that the RTX 5060's 8 GB of GDDR7 memory and 128-bit bus width become limiting factors when pixel count increases dramatically. The GPU's 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth is respectable, but at 4K, the sheer volume of pixels overwhelms the memory subsystem.

At Medium settings, the scaling from 1080p (160.4 FPS) to 1440p (103.7 FPS) shows a 56.7 FPS drop, while 4K Medium falls to 50.9 FPS. This is a 109.5 FPS total drop from 1080p to 4K, which represents a 68.3% reduction. The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling: 92.2 FPS at 1080p, 60.2 FPS at 1440p, and 31.8 FPS at 4K. The 60.4 FPS difference between 1080p and 4K Ultra indicates that this preset combination pushes the GPU to its absolute limits. The CPU, with its 10 cores and 16 threads, does not appear to be the bottleneck at any resolution — the frame rate consistently scales with resolution in a way that tracks GPU workload rather than CPU capability.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest performance across all presets. Low settings produce 197.6 FPS, Medium reaches 160.4 FPS, High achieves 123.1 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 92.2 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 105.4 FPS, which shows that Hard West's Ultra preset imposes a substantial rendering burden even at 1080p. The step from Medium to High costs 37.3 FPS, while the step from High to Ultra costs 30.9 FPS — both are meaningful sacrifices for incremental visual gains.

At 2560x1440, the numbers shift downward but remain playable. Low hits 122.3 FPS, Medium reaches 103.7 FPS, High delivers 79.9 FPS, and Ultra drops to 60.2 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra spread of 62.1 FPS is narrower than at 1080p, suggesting that the GPU is starting to become the limiting factor regardless of preset. The jump from Medium to High costs 23.8 FPS, while High to Ultra costs 19.7 FPS. Notably, the 1440p Ultra result at 60.2 FPS is almost exactly half of the 1080p Ultra result at 92.2 FPS, reinforcing the idea that pixel count drives performance more than preset complexity.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles to maintain high frame rates even on lower presets. Low delivers 66.9 FPS, Medium reaches 50.9 FPS, High achieves 41.5 FPS, and Ultra falls to 31.8 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra spread is 35.1 FPS, which is the smallest of any resolution. This compression indicates that at 4K, the GPU is saturated regardless of how many graphical features are enabled. The 4K Medium result at 50.9 FPS is particularly telling — it is only 9.1 FPS faster than 4K High, whereas at 1080p, the Medium-to-High gap was 37.3 FPS. This suggests that at 4K, the GPU's shading units and memory bandwidth are fully utilized even at Medium settings.

GPU Role

The RTX 5060's specifications explain much of its behavior in Hard West. The GPU features 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The 3840 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 48 ROPs provide a compute foundation that is competitive for its class, but the memory configuration appears to be the limiting factor at 4K. The GPU's 73rd percentile ranking among all GPUs — with a PassMark G3D score of 20891 — places it in the upper tier of graphics cards, yet its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, scores nearly identically at 30097 average benchmark points.

The clock speeds of 2280 MHz base and 2497 MHz boost are relatively modest, and the pixel rate of 119.9 GPixel/s combined with a texture rate of 299.6 GTexel/s suggests that the GPU can handle complex scenes at lower resolutions but struggles when pixel count explodes at 4K. The FP32 throughput of 19.18 TFLOPS is solid for a mid-range card, but Hard West's turn-based rendering — which likely relies on heavy shadow and lighting calculations — appears to stress the ROP and memory subsystems more than raw compute. The fact that the RTX 5060's PassMark DirectX 11 score of 200 is higher than its DirectX 12 score of 77 indicates that the game's rendering pipeline may not fully leverage newer API features, which could explain why the GPU's performance does not scale as well as its specifications might suggest.

The 8 GB VRAM capacity is adequate for 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K, the game's texture and geometry demands likely push against this limit. The 4K Low result of 66.9 FPS versus the 4K Ultra result of 31.8 FPS suggests that when texture quality and shadow resolution are reduced, the GPU can still manage playable frame rates. However, the bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s is modest for 4K workloads, and the 128-bit bus width means that memory access latency could be a contributing factor to the steep FPS drops at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F provides 10 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. This configuration, built on the Raptor Lake architecture with a 20 MB shared L3 cache, is more than capable of handling Hard West's turn-based logic and AI calculations. The CPU's 82nd percentile ranking among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 25236, places it in the upper tier of desktop CPUs. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-13620H, scores just 0.1% higher, indicating that the i5-13400F is exceptionally well-suited for gaming workloads.

In Hard West, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU. Evidence for this comes from the frame rate scaling: at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 197.6 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's maximum frame generation capability for this game. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see similar frame rates across resolutions at the same settings. Instead, the data shows significant FPS drops as resolution increases — for example, High settings drop from 123.1 FPS at 1080p to 41.5 FPS at 4K. This indicates that the GPU becomes the limiting factor well before the CPU's capabilities are exhausted.

The CPU's single-thread performance, as measured by a 3DMark single-thread score of 960 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3004, is strong enough to handle the game's turn-based decision-making without introducing noticeable stutter. The multi-thread performance, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21279, ensures that background AI calculations and pathfinding do not interfere with frame pacing. However, the fact that the CPU's nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D, scores 0.5% lower on average suggests that the i5-13400F is already near the top of its performance class for this type of workload. In a game like Hard West, where turns are discrete and computation is bursty rather than continuous, the CPU's 10 cores and 16 threads provide ample headroom that is rarely fully utilized.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo capable of running Hard West at 60 FPS on Ultra settings?

A: At 1080p, the combo achieves 92.2 FPS on Ultra, which is well above 60 FPS. At 1440p, Ultra delivers 60.2 FPS, barely clearing the threshold. At 4K, Ultra drops to 31.8 FPS, which is below 60 FPS.

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

A: The data shows that 1440p High delivers 79.9 FPS, which balances visual quality and performance. At 1080p, High reaches 123.1 FPS, offering more headroom, while 4K High falls to 41.5 FPS, which may be too low for some players.

Q: How does the RTX 5060 compare to its nearest GPU rival?

A: The RTX 5060's average benchmark score is 30109, while the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT scores 30097, showing a 0% difference. The AMD Radeon RX 570 scores 30158, which is 0.2% higher.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU in this game?

A: No. The frame rates scale significantly with resolution — from 197.6 FPS at 1080p Low to 66.9 FPS at 4K Low — indicating that the GPU becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases, not the CPU.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 4K?

A: At 4K, Low delivers 66.9 FPS while Ultra achieves 31.8 FPS, a difference of 35.1 FPS. This shows that the Ultra preset imposes a heavy rendering burden at 4K.

Q: How does the CPU's performance compare to its nearest rival?

A: The Intel Core i5-13400F has an average benchmark score of 25236. The Intel Core i7-13620H scores 25201, which is 0.1% higher, while the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D scores 25365, which is 0.5% higher.