Hard West

Hard West is a turn-based tactics title from 2015, and the benchmark data for the Intel Core i5-14600K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination shows a system that is dramatically overqualified for the game's engine. The measured results indicate that this pairing delivers extremely high frame rates across all resolutions, with the primary bottleneck shifting from the GPU at 4K to the CPU at 1080p. The data reveals a performance curve that is typical for a game with a lower graphical ceiling, where the RTX 4080 SUPER's immense rasterization power is only fully utilized when the resolution is pushed to its limits.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K clearly illustrates where the performance ceiling lies for this combo. At the Ultra preset, the average FPS drops from 156.7 at 1920x1080 to 96.2 at 2560x1440, and then further to 50.7 at 3840x2160. This represents a 67.6% reduction in frame rate when moving from 1080p to 4K, a steep decline that indicates the GPU is becoming the limiting factor at higher resolutions. The data shows that the RTX 4080 SUPER is being pushed much harder at 4K, as the game's visual complexity scales with pixel count.

However, the scaling pattern changes drastically at lower settings. When comparing the Low preset, the average FPS at 1080p is 304.1, which drops to 207.6 at 1440p, and then to 110.8 at 4K. The relative drop from 1080p to 4K is 63.6%, which is slightly less severe than at Ultra, but the absolute numbers are far higher. This suggests that at 1080p Low, the CPU is likely the primary constraint, as the GPU is capable of rendering far more frames than the processor can feed. The fact that the 1080p Low score of 304.1 is more than double the 4K Ultra score of 50.7 highlights the massive headroom available in this pairing.

The data suggests that the game's engine is not particularly demanding on modern hardware. The transition from 1440p to 4K at High settings shows a drop from 129.6 to 65.7 FPS, which is a 49.3% reduction. This is a significant performance hit, but the resulting frame rate is still highly playable. The scaling indicates that for a game like Hard West, the RTX 4080 SUPER provides a comfortable experience at 4K, but the true performance potential of the card is only revealed at lower resolutions where the CPU becomes the bottleneck.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER, with its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus and a bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s, plays a decisive role in the higher-resolution results. The GPU's 10240 shading units and boost clock of 2550 MHz provide the raw compute power necessary to maintain fluid frame rates. At 4K Ultra, the combo achieves 50.7 FPS, which is a demanding scenario that relies heavily on the card's 52.22 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. The data indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor at this resolution and settings, as the frame rate drops to nearly half of the 1440p Ultra score.

The VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for Hard West, a game from 2015 that will not tax the 16 GB buffer even at 4K. The memory bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s ensures that texture streaming and data transfer are not bottlenecks. The benchmark results show that the GPU's performance scales predictably with settings; the Ultra preset at 4K (50.7 FPS) is significantly more demanding than the High preset (65.7 FPS), indicating that the Ultra settings likely introduce effects that heavily impact the render pipeline. The card's performance relative to its nearest rivals, such as the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, shows a delta of 0.2%, meaning the RTX 4080 SUPER is essentially on par in synthetic benchmarks, yet the measured game data shows it is more than capable of handling this title with ease.

The GPU's architecture, Ada Lovelace, is built on a 5 nm process and features 45,900 million transistors. This hardware is designed for modern, high-fidelity games, making it an exceptional match for an older title like Hard West. The data shows that even at the most demanding settings, the GPU never becomes a severe bottleneck until 4K, and even then, the frame rates remain above 50 FPS. The passmark G3D score of 34245 places it in the 88th percentile of all GPUs, confirming its high-end status.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i5-14600K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER achieves a combo rank of 75 out of 1699 total combos. This places it in the top 4.4% of all tested pairings, which is a strong result given the game's age. The rank indicates that while there are more powerful combinations, this setup is far above the median, delivering a high-performance experience. The data shows that the CPU's position relative to its nearest rivals is tight; the Intel Core i5-14600K is 0.2% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and 1% ahead of the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H in average benchmark scores.

This high rank is attributable to the balance between the CPU's strong single-threaded performance and the GPU's raw power. The i5-14600K has a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4642, which is crucial for a game that may not be heavily multithreaded. The combination's rank of 75 suggests that the CPU is not holding back the GPU in most scenarios, except perhaps at the very highest frame rates seen at 1080p Low. The presence of faster combos above it likely includes those with even more powerful CPUs that can push the frame rate higher at low resolutions, but for the vast majority of gaming scenarios, this combo is exceptionally well positioned.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved by this combo?

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 304.1 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K with the High preset?

A: At 3840x2160 with the High preset, the combo achieves an average of 65.7 FPS, which is a smooth and playable experience for a turn-based tactics game.

Q: Is the GPU or CPU the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the data suggests the CPU is likely the limiting factor, as the frame rates are extremely high (over 200 FPS) and the GPU has significant headroom, evidenced by the steep drop in performance when moving to 1440p.

Q: What is the difference in performance between the Medium and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Medium preset yields an average of 168.5 FPS, while the Ultra preset yields 96.2 FPS. This represents a 42.9% reduction in frame rate when switching to Ultra settings.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested combinations for this game?

A: The Intel Core i5-14600K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination ranks 75th out of 1699 tested combos for Hard West.

Q: How does the frame rate scale from 1080p to 4K on the High preset?

A: On the High preset, the average frame rate drops from 203.2 FPS at 1080p to 129.6 FPS at 1440p, and finally to 65.7 FPS at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 304.1 FPS, while Medium yields 269 FPS, High produces 203.2 FPS, and Ultra drops to 156.7 FPS. These numbers indicate that even at the highest settings, the frame rate is far above what is necessary for a smooth experience, highlighting the CPU's role in limiting the maximum frame rate.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scales down proportionally. The Low preset achieves 207.6 FPS, Medium yields 168.5 FPS, High produces 129.6 FPS, and Ultra drops to 96.2 FPS. The delta between presets is consistent, with Ultra being roughly 53.6% slower than Low. At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the dominant factor. The Low preset yields 110.8 FPS, Medium delivers 88.1 FPS, High produces 65.7 FPS, and Ultra drops to 50.7 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 4K is a 54.2% reduction, showing that the GPU is being fully utilized to render the game's visuals. The data confirms that this combo is capable of delivering high frame rates even at 4K, with the Ultra preset being the only configuration that dips below the 60 FPS threshold.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600K, with its 14 cores and 20 threads, provides substantial processing power that is largely underutilized by Hard West. The CPU's boost clock of 5.30 GHz is a key factor in its strong single-threaded performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4642. This is critical for a game like Hard West, which likely relies on a single primary thread for game logic and AI, even if it is turn-based. The data shows that the CPU's performance is more than adequate for the game, as the frame rates at 1080p are extremely high, suggesting that the game's logic is not a bottleneck.

The CPU's 24 MB of shared L3 cache and support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory ensure that data is fed to the cores efficiently. The benchmark results show that the CPU is the limiting factor only at the lowest resolution and settings, where the GPU can render frames faster than the CPU can process the game state. The CPU's percentile rank of 93 against all CPUs indicates its high performance level. When compared to its nearest rivals, the i5-14600K is 0.2% behind the Intel Core i5-14600KF and 0.9% behind the AMD EPYC 4345P, showing that it is in the same performance tier. For this game, the CPU's role is to ensure that the GPU is never starved of data, and at 4K, this is certainly the case, as the GPU's rendering workload dominates the frame time.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend heavily on the target resolution. For 4K gaming, the High preset is the recommended choice, delivering an average of 65.7 FPS. This provides a smooth experience without the significant performance cost of the Ultra preset, which drops to 50.7 FPS. The data shows that the jump from High to Ultra at 4K incurs a 22.8% performance penalty, which may not be worth the visual gains in a turn-based game where fluidity is less critical than in an action title.

At 1440p, the Ultra preset is a viable option, as it maintains an average of 96.2 FPS, which is well above the threshold for smooth gameplay. For users with high refresh rate monitors, the Medium preset at 1440p offers an excellent balance, providing 168.5 FPS. At 1080p, the Ultra preset delivers 156.7 FPS, which is more than sufficient for any display. The data suggests that users should prioritize the High preset at 4K to maintain a stable frame rate, while at lower resolutions, the Ultra preset is the best choice to maximize visual fidelity without sacrificing performance. The Low preset is only necessary for users seeking the absolute highest frame rates, which is unnecessary for this genre. The Medium preset provides a solid middle ground, but for the best overall experience on this hardware, the High preset at 4K or Ultra at 1440p are the most balanced options.