Hard West

The Intel Core i5-14400F paired with the Intel Arc B570 delivers a playable but resolution-sensitive experience in Hard West, with performance scaling that clearly identifies the GPU as the primary bottleneck at higher settings. The data shows a dramatic drop in frame rates from 1080p to 4K, while the CPU’s strong multi-core and single-thread scores ensure it never becomes the limiting factor in this turn-based tactics title.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep performance curve as resolution increases, a classic indicator of GPU-bound rendering. At 1080p with High settings, the combo averages 84 FPS, but this falls to 53 FPS at 1440p and plummets to 28 FPS at 4K. That represents a 66.7% drop from 1080p to 4K at High settings, showing that the Arc B570’s rendering throughput is heavily taxed as pixel count rises.

The scaling pattern is consistent across all settings tiers. At Low settings, the frame rate goes from 134 FPS at 1080p to 85 FPS at 1440p and 44 FPS at 4K — a 67.2% reduction from the lowest to highest resolution. Medium settings follow the same trajectory: 110 FPS at 1080p, 69 FPS at 1440p, and 36 FPS at 4K. Ultra settings show the most severe drop, with 63 FPS at 1080p collapsing to 40 FPS at 1440p and just 21 FPS at 4K, a 66.7% decline.

This uniform scaling pattern — roughly a two-thirds performance loss when moving from 1080p to 4K regardless of settings — strongly indicates that the GPU’s fill rate and memory bandwidth are the limiting factors. The Arc B570’s 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus with 380.0 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K resolution demands more pixel throughput than the card’s 200.0 GPixel/s pixel rate can comfortably deliver at higher quality presets.

The fact that even Low settings at 4K only reach 44 FPS, while the same settings at 1080p hit 134 FPS, underscores that the resolution jump imposes a fixed cost that cannot be mitigated by reducing graphical fidelity alone. Players targeting 4K will need to accept sub-30 FPS at High or Ultra, which is marginal for a turn-based game where frame pacing matters less than in action titles.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F brings substantial processing headroom to this pairing. With 10 cores and 16 threads, this Raptor Lake-R part is well-equipped for the logical operations and AI calculations that drive turn-based tactics. The core configuration combines performance and efficiency cores, though the data does not specify the exact split — only that the total is 10 cores and 16 threads.

Clock speeds range from a 2.50 GHz base to a 4.70 GHz boost, providing strong single-thread performance that is critical for game logic. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU scores 3,055 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 21,645 in multi-core, placing it in the 83rd percentile against all CPUs. This percentile ranking means the processor outperforms 83% of tested CPUs, giving it ample margin for any game-level demands.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U (0.1% ahead), Intel Core i9-11900 (0.2% ahead), AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS (0.2% behind), and Intel Core i7-12800H (0.5% ahead). These deltas are all within 0.5%, indicating that the i5-14400F performs essentially on par with a broad range of competing processors from both AMD and Intel across different generations.

For Hard West, a 2015 turn-based tactics game, the CPU’s role is primarily managing unit turns, pathfinding, and combat calculations. The PassMark physics score of 1,523 and multithread score of 25,470 suggest robust computational capabilities. The data shows no scenario where the CPU becomes a bottleneck — even at 1080p Low with 134 FPS, the frame rate is likely capped by the GPU’s ability to process draw calls, not by the CPU’s logic throughput.

The processor’s 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB L2 per core provide adequate data locality for game assets, though this is more relevant for larger open-world titles than for the contained scenarios typical of Hard West. The 65 W TDP indicates efficient operation, and the CPU supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory, though the actual memory configuration used in testing is not specified.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 is the defining component in this combo’s gaming performance. Built on the Xe2-HPG architecture (Battlemage generation) using TSMC’s 5 nm process, this GPU packs 19,600 million transistors into a 272 mm² die. The 2,304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 80 ROPs provide the raw compute for rendering, with a boost clock of 2500 MHz delivering 11.52 TFLOPS of FP32 performance.

Memory configuration is a key factor in the resolution scaling observed. The 10 GB GDDR6 VRAM operates at 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective) across a 160-bit bus, yielding 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth. At 4K Ultra, the combination of high-resolution textures and effects likely stresses this bandwidth, contributing to the 21 FPS result. The 4K High score of 28 FPS and 4K Medium 36 FPS show that reducing settings helps, but the memory subsystem remains a limiting factor.

The GPU’s pixel rate of 200.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 360.0 GTexel/s are moderate for a modern card. In the PassMark G3D benchmark, the Arc B570 scores 14,195, placing it in the 65th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in average benchmark score are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (0.1% ahead), Intel Arc A750 (0.1% behind), NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (0.4% ahead), and AMD Radeon R9 M390X (0.5% behind). These close margins show the B570 sits in a competitive mid-range tier.

The GPU supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, ensuring broad API compatibility. For a game released in 2015 like Hard West, which likely relies on older DirectX paths, the card’s PassMark DirectX 10 score of 65 and DirectX 11 score of 118 indicate solid legacy performance. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2,649 reflects modern API capability, but this may not translate directly to older game engines.

With a 150 W TDP and a suggested 450 W PSU, the Arc B570 is power-efficient for its performance class. The dual-slot design and 272 mm length make it a standard-size card. The 18 ray tracing cores are present but unlikely to be utilized in Hard West, which predates widespread RT adoption.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a complete picture across three resolutions and four quality settings. At 1080p, the combo delivers strong performance: Low settings average 134 FPS, Medium 110 FPS (with a minimum of 93 and maximum of 126), High 84 FPS, and Ultra 63 FPS. This range means players can easily achieve smooth frame rates at any quality level on a 1080p display.

Moving to 1440p, the performance remains respectable but shows the GPU starting to strain. Low settings hit 85 FPS, Medium drops to 69 FPS (minimum 59, maximum 80), High falls to 53 FPS, and Ultra manages 40 FPS. These numbers suggest 1440p is viable for all settings, though Ultra dips below the 60 FPS threshold that many players consider ideal.

At 4K, the limitations become apparent. Low settings achieve 44 FPS, Medium 36 FPS (minimum 31, maximum 42), High 28 FPS, and Ultra 21 FPS. The Medium setting data is the only 4K entry with min/max values, showing a range of 31-42 FPS, which indicates some scene-to-scene variability. For a turn-based tactics game, 4K High at 28 FPS is playable but feels sluggish; 4K Ultra at 21 FPS is borderline.

The progression from Low to Ultra at each resolution shows consistent scaling. At 1080p, the spread is 71 FPS (from 63 to 134); at 1440p, the spread is 45 FPS (40 to 85); at 4K, the spread narrows to 23 FPS (21 to 44). This narrowing spread at higher resolutions further confirms GPU-bound behavior — when the pixel load is extreme, even lowering settings cannot fully compensate.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific configuration of Intel Core i5-14400F and Intel Arc B570 ranks 2,360 out of 2,949 tested combos for Hard West. This places it in the bottom 20% of all combinations tested, which is notable given the individual components’ mid-range positioning. The rank of 2,360 means 589 combos perform worse, while 2,359 perform better.

The ranking suggests that while this combo is perfectly playable at 1080p and acceptable at 1440p, it does not excel in this particular game compared to other hardware pairings. The CPU’s 83rd percentile ranking and the GPU’s 65th percentile ranking do not translate to a proportionally high combo ranking, indicating that Hard West may favor certain hardware configurations or that the GPU’s performance characteristics are not ideal for this title’s rendering demands.

The combo rank reflects the measured FPS data: strong 1080p performance (63-134 FPS depending on settings) but increasingly weak results at higher resolutions. For a game that is turn-based and does not require high frame rates for competitive play, this rank may be acceptable, but players seeking 4K Ultra performance would find this combo insufficient.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1080p is the sweet spot, with High settings averaging 84 FPS and Ultra hitting 63 FPS. At 1440p, High drops to 53 FPS and Ultra to 40 FPS, which is still playable but less smooth.

*Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Hard West?*

A: Yes, but with caveats. Low settings achieve 44 FPS, Medium 36 FPS, High 28 FPS, and Ultra 21 FPS. The 4K High and Ultra results fall below 30 FPS, making them less desirable for smooth gameplay.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this system?

A: The data clearly indicates the GPU is the limiting factor. Resolution scaling shows a 66-67% performance drop from 1080p to 4K across all settings, while the CPU’s 83rd percentile ranking and strong Cinebench scores suggest it has ample headroom.

Q: How does the Arc B570 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: In average benchmark score, the Arc B570 is within 0.5% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile, Intel Arc A750, NVIDIA Quadro M4000M, and AMD Radeon R9 M390X. Specifically, it is 0.1% behind the RTX 3070 Mobile and 0.1% ahead of the Arc A750.

Q: What is the frame rate range at 1080p Medium settings?

A: The combo averages 110 FPS at 1080p Medium, with a minimum of 93 FPS and a maximum of 126 FPS. This shows consistent performance without major frame drops.

Q: Is this combo ranked highly among tested configurations?

A: No, it ranks 2,360 out of 2,949 combos for Hard West, placing it in the bottom 20% of tested systems. This is despite the CPU ranking in the 83rd percentile and GPU in the 65th percentile individually.