Hard West

The Intel Core i5-14400F paired with the Intel Arc B370 produces a severely constrained gaming experience in Hard West, ranking in the bottom 8% of all tested combinations. The data shows this combo is fundamentally GPU-limited, with the Arc B370's performance percentile sitting at 5, meaning it outperforms only a tiny fraction of all GPUs tested. While the CPU is a strong modern part, the integrated-class graphics solution drags the entire system down to unplayable frame rates at higher resolutions and settings.

FAQ

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

A: The measured data shows 1920x1080 is the only resolution where the combo achieves consistently playable frame rates, with an average of 79 FPS at Low settings and 64 FPS at Medium settings. At 2560x1440, even Low settings drop to 50 FPS average, while 3840x2160 never exceeds 26 FPS average at any setting.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B370 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B370 has an average benchmark score of 1184, placing it within 0.7% of the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186), ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190), and AMD Radeon HD 7650M (1192). It trails the AMD FirePro M2000 by 1.4% (1168 score), meaning all four rivals are statistically tied in raw compute performance.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-14400F a bottleneck in this configuration?

A: No. The CPU's 83rd percentile ranking against all CPUs and its strong multi-threaded scores (21,645 in Cinebench R23 multi-core) indicate it is far more capable than the GPU demands. The Arc B370's 5th percentile ranking makes it the clear performance ceiling, as evidenced by the massive frame rate drops when increasing graphical settings.

Q: What settings preset provides the best balance of visual quality and performance?

A: At 1920x1080, Medium settings deliver 64 FPS average with a minimum of 55 FPS, which is the highest settings tier that maintains a minimum above 60 FPS. High settings at the same resolution drop to 49 FPS average, while Ultra falls to 37 FPS average.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations?

A: The combo ranks 2721st out of 2949 total tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 7.7% of all systems. This ranking is consistent with the GPU's low percentile and the measured poor performance at higher resolutions.

Q: Does this combo support modern graphics APIs?

A: Yes, the Arc B370 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. However, the hardware's raw performance is so limited that these API features provide no practical benefit in Hard West at playable settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor from the Raptor Lake architecture, running on the Intel Socket 1700 platform. It has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, with a 65W TDP and 20 MB of shared L3 cache. This is a desktop-class processor released in January 2024 with an active production status, indicating it is a mainstream, current-generation part.

In Hard West, a turn-based tactics game, the CPU's role is primarily to handle game logic, AI pathfinding, and unit turn processing. The benchmark data shows the i5-14400F is exceptionally well-suited for these tasks. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21,645 and single-core score of 3,055 place it in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs. The PassMark multi-thread score of 25,470 and single-thread score of 3,701 further confirm that this processor has ample headroom for the computational demands of a 2015-era tactics title.

The CPU's nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U (32,233 vs 32,279, +0.1% for the Intel) and the Intel Core i9-11900 (32,226, +0.2% for the Intel). It also edges out the AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS by 0.2% (32,354 vs 32,279) and leads the Intel Core i7-12800H by 0.5% (32,121 vs 32,279). These deltas are all within 0.5%, indicating that the i5-14400F provides comparable computational power to a range of high-end laptop and desktop chips from both Intel and AMD.

Crucially, the benchmark results indicate the CPU is never the limiting factor in this combo. When comparing 1920x1080 Low (79 FPS) to 3840x2160 Ultra (12 FPS), the frame rate collapses by 85% despite the CPU workload remaining largely unchanged. This pattern is a classic indicator of GPU saturation, where the Arc B370 cannot keep up with the increased pixel count and shading complexity. The i5-14400F's 10 cores and 16 threads are more than sufficient to feed the GPU, even at the lowest resolution where CPU overhead would be most apparent.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is a mobile/integrated graphics processor based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on a 3 nm process node. It features 1,280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 raster output units, along with 10 ray tracing cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 300 MHz with a boost clock of 2400 MHz, delivering 6.144 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 12.29 TFLOPS of FP16 performance. Its memory configuration is system-shared, meaning it relies on the host system's RAM rather than dedicated VRAM.

The Arc B370's benchmark results are remarkably weak. Its single 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1,184 places it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs, meaning 95% of tested graphics cards are faster. Its nearest rivals are all legacy ATI/AMD parts: the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1,186, -0.2% delta), ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1,190, -0.5% delta), and AMD Radeon HD 7650M (1,192, -0.7% delta). The only GPU it beats is the AMD FirePro M2000 (1,168, +1.4% delta). These comparisons place the Arc B370's raw compute power at roughly the level of graphics cards from the late 2000s and early 2010s.

In Hard West, this GPU limitation is starkly visible in the measured FPS data. At 3840x2160, the GPU manages only 26 FPS at Low settings, 21 FPS at Medium, 16 FPS at High, and 12 FPS at Ultra. The scaling from Low to Ultra represents a 54% performance drop (26 to 12 FPS), which is typical of a GPU that is severely overworked by pixel fill-rate demands. The 25W TDP and system-shared memory further exacerbate the issue, as the GPU must compete with the CPU for memory bandwidth.

The GPU's texture fill rate of 96.00 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s are the theoretical limits, and the measured data shows these are insufficient for 1440p and 4K gaming. Even at 2560x1440, the best case is 50 FPS at Low settings, which drops to 23 FPS at Ultra. The only viable playing field is 1920x1080, where the GPU can muster 79 FPS at Low and 64 FPS at Medium, but falls to 49 FPS at High and 37 FPS at Ultra.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-14400F + Intel Arc B370 combination ranks 2721st out of 2,949 total tested combos in Hard West. This places the system in the bottom 7.7% of all configurations, a position that aligns perfectly with the GPU's 5th percentile ranking. The CPU's 83rd percentile ranking is effectively wasted, as the GPU cannot translate the processor's computational strength into playable frame rates at higher settings.

This ranking disparity between CPU and GPU performance creates a unique profile. The combo is not balanced; it is a high-end CPU paired with an entry-level GPU. In the context of Hard West, this means the system behaves like a much older machine. The 1920x1080 Low setting performance of 79 FPS is comparable to what a mid-range GPU from several generations ago might achieve, while the 3840x2160 Ultra performance of 12 FPS is effectively a slideshow.

The rank of 2721 out of 2949 indicates that only 228 tested combos perform worse. This is a sobering statistic for a system built around a 2024 desktop processor. The data suggests that users of this combo should treat Hard West as a low-resolution, low-settings game. The GPU's system-shared memory architecture means there is no dedicated VRAM to fall back on, so any increase in texture resolution or shadow quality will directly impact system RAM bandwidth, further degrading performance.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear hierarchy of playable settings for this combo. The only configuration that consistently delivers smooth gameplay is 1920x1080 with Medium settings, which produces an average of 64 FPS with a minimum of 55 FPS and maximum of 74 FPS. This is the recommended sweet spot, as it maintains a minimum frame rate above 60 FPS, which is the standard for responsive turn-based gameplay.

At 1920x1080 Low settings, the combo achieves 79 FPS average, which is the highest frame rate in the entire dataset. However, the visual quality reduction from Low to Medium is substantial in a tactics game where reading unit details and environmental cues matters. The Medium preset at 1080p is the best compromise, offering a 23% performance buffer over the High preset (64 vs 49 FPS) while still providing better visuals than Low.

For users who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate, 1920x1080 High at 49 FPS average is playable but not ideal, especially during camera pans or when multiple units are on screen. The Ultra preset at 37 FPS average is borderline, with noticeable stutter possible. At higher resolutions, the data shows no settings are recommended: 2560x1440 Medium drops to 41 FPS average (35 min), while 3840x2160 Low is only 26 FPS average. These are below the 30 FPS threshold for acceptable playability in most cases, and even 2560x1440 Low at 50 FPS average is risky due to the lack of minimum frame data.

The measured Medium presets include min/max values across all resolutions, providing a reliability snapshot. At 1080p Medium, the 55-74 FPS range is stable. At 1440p Medium, the 35-47 FPS range shows significant frame time variance, which would be noticeable as judder. At 4K Medium, the 18-25 FPS range is unplayable. This data confirms that 1080p Medium is the only settings preset that offers both acceptable performance and visual quality.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080: The combo delivers its best performance at this resolution. Low settings produce 79 FPS average, which is the highest measured value in the entire dataset. Medium settings yield 64 FPS average with a range of 55 to 74 FPS. High settings drop to 49 FPS average, and Ultra settings fall to 37 FPS average. The progression from Low to Ultra represents a 53% performance reduction (79 to 37 FPS), showing that the GPU is highly sensitive to settings changes at this resolution.

2560x1440: Performance degrades significantly at 1440p. Low settings manage 50 FPS average, which is 37% lower than the same settings at 1080p. Medium settings produce 41 FPS average with a range of 35 to 47 FPS, which is a 36% drop from 1080p Medium. High settings achieve 31 FPS average, and Ultra settings drop to 23 FPS average. The Low to Ultra spread is 54% (50 to 23 FPS), similar to the 1080p scaling, but all absolute values are too low for comfortable play.

3840x2160: At 4K, the combo is effectively non-functional for gaming. Low settings produce only 26 FPS average, which is a 67% drop from 1080p Low. Medium settings yield 21 FPS average with a range of 18 to 25 FPS. High settings achieve 16 FPS average, and Ultra settings drop to 12 FPS average. The Low to Ultra scaling is 54% (26 to 12 FPS), consistent with the other resolutions, but the absolute numbers are all well below playability thresholds.

The data also reveals that the Arc B370's performance scales almost linearly with pixel count. From 1080p to 1440p, the Low setting performance drops from 79 to 50 FPS (a 37% decrease for a 78% increase in pixels). From 1440p to 4K, it drops from 50 to 26 FPS (a 48% decrease for a 125% increase in pixels). This indicates the GPU is bandwidth-limited rather than compute-limited, consistent with its system-shared memory architecture. Users should remain firmly at 1080p for any meaningful Hard West session.