Hard West

The Intel Core i5-14600KF paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7600 delivers a playable experience in Hard West, but the data reveals a clear performance ceiling. The measured frames per second (FPS) drop significantly as resolution scales, indicating that the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor beyond 1080p. This combination ranks in the 69th percentile of tested combos, placing it ahead of the majority of systems but far from the top tier.

Resolution Scaling

The benchmark results show a steep and predictable decline in average FPS as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At the High preset, the system delivers 99 FPS at 1080p, which drops to 63 FPS at 1440p, and further to 33 FPS at 4K. This represents a 36% loss from 1080p to 1440p, and a 67% loss from 1080p to 4K. The pattern is consistent across all settings, confirming that the rendering load scales heavily with pixel count.

The Low preset demonstrates the same trend but from a higher starting point. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 157 FPS, falling to 100 FPS at 1440p and 52 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are similar to High, suggesting the GPU is the bottleneck. If the CPU were the constraint, the FPS would remain relatively flat across resolutions, but the data shows a clear decline, indicating the RX 7600’s 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 128-bit bus are struggling to feed the framebuffer at higher resolutions.

The Medium preset provides the only complete dataset with minimum and maximum FPS values. At 1080p Medium, the average is 129 FPS with a minimum of 110 and maximum of 148. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 82 FPS with a range of 69 to 94. At 4K Medium, the average is 43 FPS with a range of 36 to 49. The minimum FPS at 4K Medium (36 FPS) is below the 60 FPS threshold, indicating noticeable stutter during demanding scenes.

Ultra settings are the most demanding, and the data shows the system is not viable at 4K with this preset. The average FPS at 4K Ultra is just 25 FPS, which is below playable standards for most users. At 1440p Ultra, the average is 47 FPS, and at 1080p Ultra, it is 74 FPS. The resolution scaling at Ultra is brutal, with a 66% drop from 1080p to 4K, further confirming the GPU is the limiting component. The CPU’s 14 cores and 20 threads are not the constraint here; the Radeon RX 7600’s 2048 shading units and 64 ROPs simply cannot sustain high frame rates at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank in Hard West is 2575 out of 3722 tested combinations. This places it in the bottom 31% of all systems, which is surprising given the individual component benchmarks. The CPU ranks in the 90th percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 49394. The GPU ranks in the 57th percentile among all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 15171. The disparity between these two percentiles explains the combo’s mid-to-low ranking in this specific game.

The CPU’s nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 7900, which has an average score of 49228 (0.3% lower), and the Intel Core Ultra 5 245, which scores 48995 (0.8% lower). The GPU’s nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM, which scores 15199 (0.2% higher), and the AMD Radeon 680M, which scores 15270 (0.7% higher). These close margins suggest the combo is well-matched in terms of raw compute, but Hard West appears to favor certain architectures.

The game’s turn-based tactics genre typically does not demand high frame rates, but the measured data shows the combo struggles to maintain 60 FPS at 4K on any preset except Low. At 1440p, the combo exceeds 60 FPS on High and Medium, but falls short on Ultra. At 1080p, all presets except Ultra exceed 74 FPS. The rank of 2575 suggests that many other combos, likely with more powerful GPUs, achieve higher frame rates at 4K, which is the resolution where this system falls behind.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience at 1920x1080, the High preset is the recommended choice. It delivers an average of 99 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold, and it provides better visual fidelity than Low or Medium. The Ultra preset at 1080p is also viable at 74 FPS, but the visual gains over High may not justify the 25% performance drop. For players who prefer maximum frame rates, the Low preset at 157 FPS is an option, but it sacrifices visual quality significantly.

At 2560x1440, the High preset is again the best balance. It achieves 63 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS target, and it maintains good visual quality. The Medium preset offers a safer margin at 82 FPS, but the difference between Medium and High is often subtle in turn-based games. The Ultra preset at 47 FPS is not recommended, as it falls below the smoothness threshold and the visual improvements are marginal. The Low preset at 100 FPS is playable but looks noticeably worse than High.

At 3840x2160, the system is not capable of delivering a consistently smooth experience on high-quality presets. The Medium preset at 43 FPS is the highest quality option, but the minimum FPS of 36 indicates occasional stutter. The Low preset at 52 FPS is the only option that consistently stays above 40 FPS, but it still falls short of 60 FPS. For 4K gaming, the data suggests dropping to Low or Medium settings, or reducing the resolution to 1440p for a better experience.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the system’s performance across all resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 157 at Low to 74 at Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 110 and maximum of 148, indicating a stable frame rate with only minor fluctuations. The High preset averages 99 FPS, which is suitable for most gaming scenarios.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS ranges from 100 at Low to 47 at Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 69 and maximum of 94, which indicates a wider variance than at 1080p. The High preset averages 63 FPS, which is close to the 60 FPS target but may dip below during intensive scenes. The Ultra preset at 47 FPS is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 52 at Low to 25 at Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 36 and maximum of 49, which is the only 4K dataset with min/max values. The High preset averages 33 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 25 FPS, both of which are below playable standards. The Low preset at 52 FPS is the only 4K option that approaches playability, but it still does not reach 60 FPS.

The data shows a clear hierarchy: 1080p is fully playable on all presets, 1440p is playable on Low through High, and 4K is only playable on Low and Medium with compromises. The GPU’s 8 GB memory and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth are likely the limiting factors at 4K, as the textures and geometry required at that resolution exceed the available resources.

FAQ

*Q: Can this combo run Hard West at 4K with 60 FPS?*

A: No. The highest average FPS at 3840x2160 is 52 FPS on the Low preset, which falls short of 60 FPS. All other presets at 4K average below 43 FPS.

Q: Which resolution provides the best balance of visual quality and performance?

A: The data indicates that 2560x1440 on the High preset is the best balance, delivering 63 FPS average. At 1080p, the High preset offers 99 FPS, but the visual improvement at 1440p is significant for turn-based games.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in this system?

A: The Intel Core i5-14600KF has an average benchmark score of 49394, which is 0.3% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 and 0.8% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 5 245. It is also 0.8% lower than the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 388.

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

A: The resolution scaling data shows the GPU is the primary bottleneck. FPS drops by 67% from 1080p to 4K on the High preset, while the CPU’s strong multi-core and single-core benchmark scores indicate it is not limiting performance.

Q: What is the combo’s rank among all tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 2575 out of 3722 tested combinations in Hard West. This places it in the bottom 31% of systems, despite the CPU ranking in the 90th percentile.

Q: Are the Ultra settings worth using at any resolution?

A: At 1080p, Ultra averages 74 FPS, which is playable. At 1440p, Ultra averages 47 FPS, which is borderline. At 4K, Ultra averages 25 FPS, which is not recommended.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600KF is a 14-core, 20-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, built on a 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, with a 125 W TDP. The CPU’s cache hierarchy includes 80 KB L1 per core, 2 MB L2 per core, and 24 MB shared L3 cache. These specifications are robust for gaming, and the benchmark results confirm this: the CPU scores 32544 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 4594 in single-core, ranking in the 90th percentile among all CPUs.

In Hard West, the CPU’s role is secondary to the GPU, as evidenced by the resolution scaling. The game’s turn-based tactics genre is not CPU-intensive, and the 14 cores and 20 threads are more than sufficient for the game’s logic and AI. The CPU’s boost clock of 5.30 GHz ensures high single-thread performance, which is important for game logic, but the measured FPS data shows that the GPU is the limiting factor at all resolutions above 1080p.

The CPU’s nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 7900, which has a similar average score (0.3% difference), and the Intel Core Ultra 5 245, which is 0.8% slower. The CPU’s high percentile ranking (90th) means it is unlikely to bottleneck any GPU in this game. The 24 MB shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support (DDR4 and DDR5) provide ample bandwidth for the GPU to feed data, but the RX 7600’s 8 GB memory capacity and 128-bit bus are the limiting factors at 4K. The data shows that the CPU is not the constraint; the GPU’s performance at higher resolutions is the primary reason the combo ranks 2575 out of 3722.