Hard West

The Intel Core i5-14600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 delivers a playable experience in Hard West, but the data reveals a clear bottleneck: the GPU struggles to maintain high frame rates at 4K, while the CPU provides ample headroom at lower resolutions. Across the measured settings, the combo ranks 2013rd out of 3722 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle tier for this title. The benchmark results indicate that this system is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where it consistently exceeds 55 FPS even at Ultra settings, whereas 4K gaming requires significant settings compromises to remain fluid.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, pointing directly at the GPU as the limiting component. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 117 at 1920x1080 to 74 at 2560x1440, a 37% reduction, and then plummets to 39 at 3840x2160, a further 47% drop from 1440p. This pattern—where each resolution jump cuts performance by roughly a third to half—is characteristic of a graphics card reaching its pixel-pushing limits, especially given the RTX 4060’s 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 128-bit bus.

Low settings tell the same story with even more stark numbers. The system achieves 186 FPS at 1080p, which is excellent for a turn-based tactics game, but this falls to 118 FPS at 1440p (a 37% drop) and then to 62 FPS at 4K (a 47% drop from 1440p). The fact that even the lowest preset cannot hold 60 FPS at 4K—sitting at exactly 62 FPS—confirms that the GPU’s compute and memory bandwidth, not the CPU, are the bottleneck. The CPU’s 14 cores and 20 threads are far more than this 2015 title requires.

Medium settings show a similar scaling curve. At 1080p, the average is 152 FPS with a minimum of 129 FPS, which drops to 96 FPS at 1440p (with a min of 82 FPS) and then to 51 FPS at 4K (with a min of 43 FPS and a max of 58 FPS). The 4K Medium result is borderline—playable but with noticeable dips below 45 FPS. Ultra settings are the most demanding, yielding 88 FPS at 1080p, 55 FPS at 1440p, and just 29 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is effectively unplayable, and even 1440p Ultra sits at the edge of smoothness.

The takeaway from the scaling data is that the RTX 4060 is a 1080p-class card for Hard West at high presets, with 1440p viable if you accept Medium or High settings. The transition from 1440p to 4K is particularly punishing, with FPS nearly halving in every preset. This indicates that the game’s rendering load at 4K—likely due to the turn-based tactical camera and detailed environments—exceeds what the 4060’s 15.11 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 272.0 GB/s memory bandwidth can deliver. Users targeting 4K should consider a more powerful GPU, as the CPU is clearly not the constraint here.

FAQ

*Q: Can this system run Hard West at 4K with playable frame rates?*

A: Only at Low settings, where it averages 62 FPS. Medium settings drop to 51 FPS with a minimum of 43 FPS, which is playable but not smooth. High and Ultra settings average 39 FPS and 29 FPS respectively, which are not recommended for a consistent experience.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo?

A: At 1920x1080, all settings are playable, ranging from 88 FPS at Ultra to 186 FPS at Low. At 2560x1440, High and Medium settings offer 74 FPS and 96 FPS respectively, which are good, but Ultra drops to 55 FPS. The data suggests 1080p is the sweet spot for maximum settings, while 1440p is viable with a modest preset reduction.

Q: How does the CPU perform relative to the GPU in this game?

A: The Intel Core i5-14600KF is far more capable than needed. It scores 32544 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 4594 in single-core, placing it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs. The GPU, however, only sits in the 61st percentile of all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 17639 is nearly identical to the CPU’s 49394 average. This mismatch means the GPU limits performance in Hard West.

Q: Is the RTX 4060’s 8 GB VRAM sufficient for this game?

A: The measured data does not indicate VRAM limitations. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS of 29 suggests the GPU’s compute is the bottleneck, not memory capacity. The 8 GB GDDR6 memory with a 128-bit bus provides 272.0 GB/s bandwidth, which appears adequate for a 2015 turn-based tactics title, as no memory-related stutter or crashes are reflected in the FPS numbers.

Q: What are the minimum FPS figures for Medium settings?

A: At 1920x1080 Medium, the minimum FPS is 129 with an average of 152. At 2560x1440 Medium, the minimum is 82 with an average of 96. At 3840x2160 Medium, the minimum is 43 with an average of 51. These minimums indicate that 4K Medium can dip below 45 FPS during intense scenes.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: It ranks 2013rd out of 3722 combinations, placing it in the 54th percentile of tested combos. This is a mid-pack result, reflecting that while the CPU is top-tier, the GPU’s mid-range standing drags the overall performance down for a title that scales heavily with graphics hardware.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600KF is unquestionably not the limiting factor in Hard West. With 14 cores, 20 threads, and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, this Raptor Lake Refresh processor delivers exceptional single-threaded performance that is critical for turn-based tactics, where game logic and AI decisions often run on one or two threads. Its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4594 and multi-core score of 32544 place it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, alongside rivals like the AMD Ryzen 9 7900, which scores 49228 on average (a mere 0.3% difference), and the Intel Core Ultra 5 245, which is 0.8% slower.

The CPU’s benchmark scores show it has massive headroom. Its Passmark single-thread score of 4273 and Geekbench single-core score of 2445 indicate that even at 1080p Low, where the system hits 186 FPS, the processor is not breaking a sweat. The fact that FPS scales almost linearly with resolution changes—from 186 at 1080p to 118 at 1440p to 62 at 4K on Low—proves the workload is GPU-bound. If the CPU were the constraint, we would expect to see FPS remain flat across resolutions once the CPU reached its limit, but the data shows no such plateau.

The 125 W TDP and 24 MB of shared L3 cache are more than adequate for this game’s demands. The CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory, though the game’s 2015 release date means it was designed for much older hardware. The architecture’s 10 nm process node and Gen 5 PCIe interface (16 lanes) provide a fast data path to the GPU, but the RTX 4060 only uses PCIe 4.0 x8, which is not a limitation given the game’s age. In comparison to its nearest rivals, the i5-14600KF’s average benchmark score of 49394 is 0.3% higher than the Ryzen 9 7900 and 0.8% higher than the Core Ultra 5 245, but 0.8% lower than the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 388. These tiny margins mean the CPU choice has virtually no impact on Hard West performance; the GPU dictates the outcome.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the i5-14600KF and RTX 4060 ranks 2013th out of 3722 tested combos in Hard West. This is a below-median ranking (the median would be 1861), placing the system in the lower half of tested configurations. The rank reflects the GPU’s mid-tier status—the RTX 4060’s average benchmark score of 17639 puts it in the 61st percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon HD 7790 (0.2% faster), AMD Radeon 780M (0.3% slower), and AMD Radeon Pro 560 (0.5% slower). These are all older or integrated-class parts, highlighting that the 4060 is not a high-end card.

The CPU’s rank, by contrast, is excellent. The i5-14600KF sits in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, with a 0.3% lead over the Ryzen 9 7900 and a 0.8% lead over the Core Ultra 5 245. This disparity between CPU and GPU performance tiers explains the combo’s mid-pack ranking: the system has a top-tier processor paired with a mid-range graphics card. In a CPU-light game like Hard West, this pairing is suboptimal because the GPU’s limitations are exposed.

The rank means that of the 3722 tested combinations, 2012 performed better and 1709 performed worse. This places the system in the 54th percentile, meaning it outperforms just over half of all tested setups. For a turn-based tactics game, this is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but users seeking 4K performance would need to look at higher-ranked combos with more powerful GPUs. The data does not break down ranks by resolution or settings, but the FPS figures suggest the rank is heavily influenced by 4K performance, where the system fails to reach 60 FPS on most presets.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired smoothness. At 1920x1080, Ultra settings deliver an average of 88 FPS, which is excellent for a turn-based tactics game where precise mouse clicks matter more than twitch reflexes. High settings push this to 117 FPS, and Medium to 152 FPS. Given that the game is turn-based, even 88 FPS at Ultra is more than sufficient, so 1080p Ultra is the clear recommendation for the best visual experience without sacrificing playability.

At 2560x1440, High settings provide 74 FPS average, which is smooth and visually rich. Medium settings offer 96 FPS, which is even smoother but with reduced visual fidelity. Ultra drops to 55 FPS, which is borderline—playable but not ideal. For the best balance at 1440p, High settings are recommended because they maintain a comfortable frame rate above 70 FPS while preserving most visual effects. Medium is a viable alternative if the user prioritizes frame rate stability over graphics.

At 3840x2160, the situation is more constrained. Low settings average 62 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS threshold but with the lowest visual quality. Medium averages 51 FPS with a minimum of 43 FPS, which is playable but with noticeable dips. High and Ultra are not recommended, as they average 39 FPS and 29 FPS respectively, which are too low for a consistent experience. For 4K, Low settings are the only option that guarantees a playable frame rate, while Medium is a compromise for users who can tolerate occasional drops below 45 FPS.

The data shows no minimum FPS values for Low, High, or Ultra settings, only for Medium. This suggests that Medium may be the most variable preset, with the 43 FPS minimum at 4K being the lowest recorded figure across all measurements. For users with high refresh rate monitors, 1080p Low at 186 FPS is the only preset that approaches the 144 Hz+ range, though this sacrifices visual quality significantly. The recommendation is to prioritize 1080p Ultra or 1440p High, as these offer the best combination of visual fidelity and performance based on the measured averages.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers consistently high frame rates across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 186 FPS, which is the highest measured result in the entire dataset. Medium settings average 152 FPS with a minimum of 129 FPS and a maximum of 175 FPS, providing a wide but stable range. High settings average 117 FPS, while Ultra settings average 88 FPS. All four presets at 1080p are above the 60 FPS threshold, with even the most demanding Ultra preset maintaining an average that is 46% higher than the 60 FPS baseline.

At 2560x1440, performance drops but remains playable. Low settings average 118 FPS, which is still excellent. Medium settings average 96 FPS with a minimum of 82 FPS and a maximum of 111 FPS, showing a tighter range than 1080p Medium. High settings average 74 FPS, while Ultra settings average 55 FPS. This is the first resolution where Ultra falls below 60 FPS, indicating that 1440p Ultra is only suitable for users who tolerate sub-60 FPS performance. The 55 FPS average at 1440p Ultra is 9% below the 60 FPS target, but the lack of minimum FPS data for Ultra means the actual dips could be more severe.

At 3840x2160, performance is the weakest. Low settings average 62 FPS, barely clearing the 60 FPS bar. Medium settings average 51 FPS with a minimum of 43 FPS and a maximum of 58 FPS, making it the only preset at any resolution with complete min/max data. This suggests Medium at 4K has the most variable performance, with swings between 43 and 58 FPS. High settings average 39 FPS, and Ultra settings average 29 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is exactly 29 FPS, which is the lowest average in the entire dataset and is 70% below the 1080p Ultra average of 88 FPS.

The progression from Low to Ultra at each resolution shows a consistent pattern. At 1080p, the spread from Low (186 FPS) to Ultra (88 FPS) is 98 FPS, a 53% reduction. At 1440p, the spread is 63 FPS (from 118 to 55), a 53% reduction. At 4K, the spread is 33 FPS (from 62 to 29), again a 53% reduction. This consistent 53% drop from Low to Ultra across all resolutions confirms that the settings scaling is uniform, and the absolute FPS values are primarily determined by resolution. The Medium preset at each resolution shows the most complete data, with min/max values indicating that the RTX 4060 maintains a stable frame delivery within a 30-40 FPS range at 1080p and 1440p, but the range narrows to 15 FPS at 4K, suggesting the GPU is more constrained at higher resolutions.