Hard West

The Intel Core i5-14400F and AMD Radeon RX 570 pairing ranks 1600th out of 1699 tested combos in Hard West, placing it in the bottom 6% of all configurations. This is a result that reflects the GPU's age and limited memory capacity more than the CPU's capability, as the benchmark data shows the processor is a strong performer in its own right. For a turn-based tactics game released in late 2015, the playability of this combo hinges entirely on resolution and settings, with the data showing a clear ceiling at 1080p and rapid degradation as pixel count climbs.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1600 out of 1699 combos places this system firmly in the lower percentile of tested hardware configurations for Hard West. This ranking is not a reflection of the CPU, which sits at the 88th percentile against all CPUs in general benchmark scores, but rather the GPU's position at the 74th percentile against all GPUs. The disparity between these two component percentiles indicates a significant bottleneck, where the graphics card cannot keep pace with what the processor can feed it. In practical terms, the data suggests that only 99 other tested hardware pairings perform worse in this specific title, meaning a substantial portion of the benchmark database will deliver higher frame rates. The average benchmark score for the CPU is 32508, which is nearly identical to its nearest rivals, including the Intel Core i7-12800H at 32513 and the AMD Ryzen 7 250 at 32584, all within a 0.2% delta. This means the processor is not the limiting factor; the RX 570's average benchmark score of 30158 places it in a tier where its nearest rivals are modern cards like the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 and AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, yet those cards achieve only 0.2% higher scores, which is a statistical tie. The low combo rank is therefore a direct consequence of the GPU's age and the game's demands at higher settings.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 570 operates with 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The card's base clock is 1168 MHz with a boost clock of 1244 MHz, and memory runs at 1750 MHz, translating to 7 Gbps effective. These specifications, combined with 2048 shading units and 32 ROPs, yield a pixel rate of 39.81 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 159.2 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance at 5.095 TFLOPS. In Hard West, the data shows this GPU struggles significantly at 4K, where even Low settings only produce 26.2 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to a nearly unplayable 9.7 FPS. The 4 GB memory capacity is likely a critical constraint at higher resolutions and settings, as the game's texture and geometry demands exceed what this card can cache locally. At 1080p, the GPU performs adequately, with Low settings achieving 75.2 FPS and High settings hitting 50.4 FPS, but the jump to 1440p reveals the card's limitations, as High settings fall to 32.5 FPS. The data indicates that the RX 570's performance in this title is heavily influenced by settings presets, with the gap between Low and Ultra at the same resolution being substantial, such as the 35.9 FPS difference at 1080p between Low and Ultra.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 60 FPS is only achievable at 1080p with Low settings, which produces 75.2 FPS. At Medium settings, the average drops to 62.3 FPS, so it is technically possible, but any resolution above 1080p or settings above Medium will not sustain 60 FPS.

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this hardware?

A: Based on the measured FPS, 1080p with Medium settings at 62.3 FPS is the highest quality preset that remains above 60 FPS. For a smoother experience, 1080p Low at 75.2 FPS offers the highest frame rate, while 1440p Low at 47.2 FPS is the only playable option at that resolution.

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

A: The Intel Core i5-14400F has an average benchmark score of 32508, which is effectively tied with the Intel Core i7-12800H at 32513 (0% delta) and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 at 32446 (0.2% delta). It is also within 0.2% of the AMD Ryzen 7 250 and Intel Core i7-13705H, making it a mid-pack performer in its immediate class.

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

A: Yes, the evidence is clear. The CPU ranks at the 88th percentile against all CPUs, while the GPU is at the 74th percentile against all GPUs. The combo rank of 1600 out of 1699 is far lower than either component's individual standing, indicating the GPU is the primary constraint on performance in Hard West.

Q: What is the impact of enabling Ultra settings?

A: Enabling Ultra settings has a severe negative impact. At 1080p, Ultra drops to 39.1 FPS, which is a 36.1 FPS reduction from Low settings. At 1440p, Ultra falls to 23.7 FPS, and at 4K, it plummets to 9.7 FPS, making the game effectively unplayable at that preset.

Q: Is this GPU's 4 GB VRAM sufficient for Hard West?

A: The data suggests it is insufficient at higher resolutions. At 4K, even Low settings only achieve 26.2 FPS, and the performance gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 16.5 FPS, which indicates the card is struggling with memory bandwidth and capacity. At 1080p, the VRAM is adequate, as the game runs smoothly at Medium settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of how this combo performs across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are 75.2 FPS on Low, 62.3 FPS on Medium, 50.4 FPS on High, and 39.1 FPS on Ultra. This represents a clear linear progression, with each settings tier costing roughly 12-13 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440, the averages drop to 47.2 FPS on Low, 41.0 FPS on Medium, 32.5 FPS on High, and 23.7 FPS on Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 23.5 FPS, which is proportionally similar to the 1080p gap. At 3840x2160, the performance collapses, with averages of 26.2 FPS on Low, 24.2 FPS on Medium, 18.5 FPS on High, and 9.7 FPS on Ultra. The difference between Low and Medium at 4K is only 2.0 FPS, suggesting the GPU is becoming compute-bound rather than memory-bound at this resolution. The data shows that 1080p Medium is the sweet spot for this hardware, offering a playable frame rate without sacrificing too much visual fidelity. At 1440p, only Low settings remain above 45 FPS, making it a marginal option for players who prioritize resolution over smoothness. The 4K results are uniformly poor, with no settings preset achieving even 30 FPS, confirming that this combo is not suited for 4K gaming in Hard West.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and reveals a GPU-bound system. From 1080p Low (75.2 FPS) to 1440p Low (47.2 FPS), the frame rate drops by 28.0 FPS, a 37.2% reduction. From 1440p Low to 4K Low (26.2 FPS), the drop is 21.0 FPS, a 44.5% reduction. This trend is consistent across all settings, with the most dramatic fall occurring between 1440p and 4K. For instance, at High settings, the frame rate goes from 50.4 FPS at 1080p to 32.5 FPS at 1440p (a 17.9 FPS drop) and then to 18.5 FPS at 4K (a 14.0 FPS drop). The scaling pattern indicates that the RX 570's fill rate and memory bandwidth are the limiting factors, as the pixel count increases by 2.25x from 1080p to 1440p and by 4x from 1080p to 4K. The CPU, with its 10 cores and 16 threads, is more than capable of handling the game's turn-based logic, so the frame rate degradation is almost entirely attributable to the GPU. The data shows that the combo is only viable at 1080p or, with significant settings compromises, at 1440p. At 4K, the system is completely hamstrung, and the difference between Medium (24.2 FPS) and Low (26.2 FPS) is minimal, indicating that the GPU is saturated regardless of visual quality settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. It features 20 MB of shared L3 cache and supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration. The CPU's benchmark scores are strong, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 21914 and a single-core score of 3093, as well as a Geekbench multicore score of 11209. In Hard West, the CPU's role is less demanding than in real-time strategy titles, as turn-based tactics games rely more on single-thread performance for AI calculations and pathfinding. The single-core performance of this CPU, evidenced by its Passmark single-thread score of 3723, is more than sufficient for the game's logic. The data shows that the CPU is not the bottleneck, as the combo rank is far lower than the CPU's individual percentile. The processor's nearest rivals in benchmark scores include the Intel Core i7-12800H and AMD Ryzen 7 250, with all deltas within 0.2%, indicating that any of these CPUs would perform identically in this game. The CPU's 65 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 compatibility make it a straightforward choice for a balanced build, but the GPU pairing holds back its potential in Hard West. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 75.2 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's maximum frame delivery for this game, but at higher resolutions, the GPU limits performance well below that threshold.