Hard West

The Intel Core i5-14600K paired with the Intel Arc B570 produces a performance profile that is heavily dictated by resolution in Hard West. At 1080p, the combination delivers smooth, high-refresh-rate gameplay, but the frame rate drops precipitously as resolution increases, revealing a clear GPU bottleneck at 4K. The data indicates this is a capable 1080p and 1440p setup for this turn-based tactics title, but 4K Ultra demands more graphical horsepower than this GPU can provide.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a stark and predictable decline as resolution scales from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 84 FPS at 1080p to 53 FPS at 1440p, a 37% reduction, and then falls further to 28 FPS at 4K, which is a 67% reduction from the 1080p baseline. This pattern of significant scaling losses indicates that the Intel Arc B570 is the primary limiting component as pixel count increases.

The scaling from 1440p to 4K is particularly punishing. The 53 FPS average at 1440p High drops to 28 FPS at 4K High, a 47% loss. This is a larger relative drop than the 1080p to 1440p transition, which suggests the GPU is exhausting its memory bandwidth and raw compute resources. The Arc B570 has a 160-bit memory bus and 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for 1080p and even 1440p, but the 4K pixel workload of 8.3 million pixels overwhelms it.

At Low settings, the scaling is more forgiving in absolute terms but still severe. The frame rate goes from 134 FPS at 1080p to 85 FPS at 1440p (a 37% drop) and then to 44 FPS at 4K (a 67% drop from 1080p). The fact that even Low settings cannot maintain playable 4K frame rates confirms that the bottleneck is primarily the GPU's fill rate and memory subsystem, not the game's shader complexity.

The Medium settings rows provide the most complete data with min and max FPS recorded. At 1080p Medium, the average is 110 FPS with a minimum of 93 FPS and maximum of 126 FPS. At 1440p Medium, this drops to 69 FPS average (59 min, 80 max), and at 4K Medium, it falls to 36 FPS average (31 min, 42 max). The 1440p to 4K transition at Medium settings shows a 48% performance loss, again highlighting that the GPU is the sole constraint at higher resolutions.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 is built on the Xe2-HPG architecture and the BMG-G21 chip, fabricated on a 5 nm TSMC process. It operates at a fixed 2500 MHz base and boost clock, with 2304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 80 ROPs. The GPU's raw throughput is rated at 11.52 TFLOPS for FP32 operations, which is a modest figure for modern games, but it is paired with 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus.

The memory configuration is crucial to understanding the 4K performance. The 10 GB capacity is adequate for Hard West at any resolution, but the 380.0 GB/s bandwidth and 200.0 GPixel/s pixel rate are the limiting factors. At 4K, the GPU must fill over 8 million pixels per frame, and the 200.0 GPixel/s rate translates to roughly 24 frames per second of theoretical fill-rate capability if the pixel pipeline were the only constraint. The measured 28 FPS at 4K High and 21 FPS at 4K Ultra align closely with this theoretical ceiling, indicating the ROPs and memory bandwidth are saturated.

The GPU's benchmark scores place it in the 65th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20556. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (deltaPct 0.1), Intel Arc A750 (deltaPct -0.1), NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (deltaPct 0.4), and AMD Radeon R9 M390X (deltaPct -0.5). All of these rivals are within 0.5% of the Arc B570's average score, indicating that the GPU is positioned in a tightly competitive mid-range segment.

The DirectX benchmark scores show a peculiar pattern with PassMark results: DirectX 9 scores 164, DirectX 11 scores 118, DirectX 12 scores 72, and DirectX 10 scores 65. This inverted scaling suggests that the GPU's driver overhead or architecture favors older API paths in synthetic tests, but the game's measured performance at 1080p High (84 FPS) and Low (134 FPS) shows that real-world DirectX usage is more than adequate for this title.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600K is a 14-core, 20-thread processor from the Raptor Lake-R architecture, based on a 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, with 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB of L2 cache per core. The CPU's benchmark scores are strong, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 24491 and a single-core score of 2064, placing it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs.

In Hard West, the CPU is clearly not the bottleneck at any resolution. The fact that frame rates scale so dramatically with resolution — from 134 FPS at 1080p Low to 44 FPS at 4K Low — indicates that the CPU can feed the GPU far more frames than the GPU can render at high resolutions. The i5-14600K's single-thread performance, as evidenced by its Geekbench single-core score of 2491 and PassMark single-thread score of 4270, is more than sufficient for this turn-based tactics game, which typically relies on a few heavily loaded threads for game logic and AI.

The CPU's nearest rivals in the benchmark database are the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (deltaPct -0.2), AMD EPYC 4345P (deltaPct 0.3), Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX (deltaPct 0.7), and Intel Core Ultra 5 245 (deltaPct -0.8). All are within 1% of the i5-14600K's average benchmark score of 48618, confirming that the CPU is well-positioned against contemporary and server-class alternatives.

At 1080p, the frame rates are high enough that CPU overhead could theoretically become a factor, but the measured 134 FPS at Low settings suggests the CPU still has headroom. The game's genre — turn-based tactics — typically has lower per-frame CPU demands than fast-paced shooters or simulations, and the i5-14600K's 5.30 GHz boost clock ensures rapid single-threaded execution. The 20 threads also provide ample capacity for background tasks and game engine threads, though Hard West is unlikely to utilize more than a handful of cores effectively.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the combo's performance across all settings and resolutions. Starting at 1080p, the lowest setting delivers an average of 134 FPS, which is well above the threshold for smooth gameplay. Medium settings reduce this to 110 FPS average (93 min, 126 max), High drops to 84 FPS, and Ultra brings the average down to 63 FPS. All 1080p settings produce playable frame rates, with even Ultra maintaining above 60 FPS.

At 1440p, the performance is still respectable but begins to show the GPU's limitations. Low settings achieve 85 FPS average, which is smooth, while Medium drops to 69 FPS (59 min, 80 max). High settings produce 53 FPS average, which is borderline for smooth gameplay but acceptable for a turn-based game where reaction time is less critical. Ultra settings at 1440p fall to 40 FPS average, which is playable but not ideal.

The 4K results are the most challenging. Low settings yield 44 FPS average, Medium drops to 36 FPS (31 min, 42 max), High falls to 28 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 21 FPS. The minimum FPS of 31 at 4K Medium indicates that even the best-case scenarios at this resolution struggle to maintain 30 FPS consistently. The 4K Ultra result of 21 FPS is below the threshold for comfortable gameplay, even for a slow-paced tactics title.

The spread between Low and Ultra settings widens with resolution. At 1080p, the difference between Low (134 FPS) and Ultra (63 FPS) is 71 FPS. At 1440p, the spread narrows to 45 FPS (85 vs 40). At 4K, it narrows further to 23 FPS (44 vs 21). This convergence suggests that at higher resolutions, the GPU's pixel throughput limits performance regardless of the visual complexity settings, confirming that the ROPs and memory bandwidth are the primary constraints.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Hard West with this CPU and GPU combo?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 provides the most comfortable experience, with all settings from Low (134 FPS) to Ultra (63 FPS) exceeding 60 FPS average. At 2560x1440, only Low (85 FPS) and Medium (69 FPS) settings maintain above 60 FPS, while High (53 FPS) and Ultra (40 FPS) drop below that threshold. At 3840x2160, no setting achieves 60 FPS, with the highest being Low at 44 FPS.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-14600K or Intel Arc B570 the limiting factor in this game?

A: Benchmark results indicate the GPU is the clear bottleneck. The frame rate drops by 67% from 1080p to 4K at both Low and High settings, while the CPU's strong single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2064) and multi-core capability (24491) suggest it has ample headroom. The GPU's 200.0 GPixel/s pixel rate closely matches the observed 4K frame rates, confirming the pixel pipeline as the constraint.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B570 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Arc B570 has an average benchmark score of 20556, placing it in the 65th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (20534, deltaPct 0.1), Intel Arc A750 (20582, deltaPct -0.1), NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (20480, deltaPct 0.4), and AMD Radeon R9 M390X (20662, deltaPct -0.5). All of these are within 0.5% of the Arc B570's score, indicating they perform nearly identically in synthetic tests.

Q: What settings should be used for a 60 FPS target at 1440p?

A: The measured data shows that Medium settings at 2560x1440 produce an average of 69 FPS (59 min, 80 max), which is the highest setting that maintains an average above 60 FPS. High settings at this resolution drop to 53 FPS average, which is below the 60 FPS target. Therefore, Medium is the recommended preset for a 1440p 60 FPS experience.

Q: Does the 10 GB VRAM capacity of the Arc B570 limit performance in Hard West?

A: No, the 10 GB GDDR6 memory capacity is not the limiting factor. The performance degradation from 1080p to 4K is consistent with the GPU's 380.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 200.0 GPixel/s pixel rate, not memory capacity. The game is turn-based with relatively simple assets, so 10 GB is more than sufficient for any resolution tested.

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

A: This combination ranks 2360 out of 2949 tested combos in Hard West, placing it in the bottom 20% of all configurations. This ranking reflects the GPU's mid-range position (65th percentile) and the game's heavy reliance on GPU throughput at higher resolutions, despite the CPU's strong 90th percentile ranking.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience with this combo, the optimal preset depends on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, Ultra settings provide 63 FPS average, which is above the 60 FPS threshold and offers the highest visual quality. The data shows that even at Ultra, the minimum FPS was not recorded as problematic, and the overall experience should be smooth given the turn-based nature of the game.

At 2560x1440, the recommended preset is Medium, which delivers 69 FPS average (59 min, 80 max). This is the only setting above 1080p that maintains an average above 60 FPS while offering improved visual fidelity over Low. High settings at 1440p drop to 53 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target but may still be acceptable for a tactics game; however, Medium provides a better balance of performance and visual quality.

For 3840x2160, the recommendation is Low settings, which yields 44 FPS average. This is the highest frame rate achievable at 4K with this combo. Medium settings at 4K produce 36 FPS average (31 min, 42 max), which is below 40 FPS and risks noticeable stutter. Given that the game is turn-based, 44 FPS at Low settings is the most playable option, though players prioritizing visual fidelity over frame rate may prefer Medium at 36 FPS.

The data suggests that the "sweet spot" for this combo is 1080p Ultra, where the GPU can leverage its full capabilities without hitting the pixel throughput wall. At 1440p, Medium is the pragmatic choice, and 4K is only viable at Low settings. The performance gap between Low and Ultra narrows from 71 FPS at 1080p to 23 FPS at 4K, meaning that at higher resolutions, the visual quality settings have diminishing returns on frame rate, so players should prioritize resolution over settings for a more consistent experience.

How This Combo Ranks

This Intel Core i5-14600K + Intel Arc B570 combination ranks 2360 out of 2949 tested combos in Hard West, placing it in the 20th percentile of all configurations. This ranking is notably lower than the individual component percentiles — the CPU is in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, and the GPU is in the 65th percentile of all GPUs — which indicates that the game's performance is disproportionately limited by the GPU.

The combination's modest ranking is primarily due to the GPU's mid-range positioning. The Arc B570's average benchmark score of 20556 places it in a tight cluster with rivals like the RTX 3070 Mobile (20534) and Arc A750 (20582), all within 0.5% of each other. However, in Hard West, the GPU's 200.0 GPixel/s pixel rate becomes a hard ceiling at higher resolutions, causing the combo to underperform relative to what the CPU could otherwise deliver.

The CPU's high percentile ranking does not translate to a high combo ranking because Hard West is not CPU-intensive. The i5-14600K's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 24491 and single-core score of 2064 are strong, but the game's frame rates are dictated by the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth. At 1080p, the combo performs admirably, but the ranking is dragged down by the 4K results, where the GPU cannot maintain playable frame rates.

The gap between the combo's rank (2360 of 2949) and the GPU's percentile (65th) suggests that the game's rendering demands are higher than the GPU's synthetic benchmark average would imply. The PassMark DirectX 12 score of 72 and DirectX 11 score of 118 are relatively low, and while Hard West's actual performance is better than these synthetic figures suggest, the 4K results (21-44 FPS) corroborate the GPU's limitations. Overall, this combo is best suited for 1080p or 1440p gaming, and the ranking reflects that it is not a top-tier configuration for this title at higher resolutions.