Hard West

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates across the three tested resolutions reveal a classic GPU-bound scaling curve, but with an unusually wide spread between the lowest and highest quality presets. At 1080p, the Intel Core i5-14600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination delivers between 151.5 FPS (Ultra) and 302.5 FPS (Low). The jump from Low to Ultra at 1080p represents a 50% reduction in average frame rate, which suggests that even at this modest resolution, the graphics card is the primary limiter rather than the processor.

Moving to 1440p, the same pattern holds but with the entire range compressed. Low settings produce 207.9 FPS, while Ultra drops to 96.2 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 111.7 FPS, compared to 151.0 FPS at 1080p. This compression indicates that the GPU is beginning to saturate as pixel count rises, but the combination still maintains playable frame rates across all presets at this resolution.

At 4K (3840x2160), the scaling becomes more dramatic. Low settings yield 107.1 FPS, Medium drops to 91.1 FPS, High falls to 66.1 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 50.6 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 56.5 FPS — a 53% reduction. This is the clearest evidence that the RTX 4080 SUPER's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 736.3 GB/s bandwidth are being taxed heavily at 4K, particularly with the Ultra preset's additional effects.

The data indicates that this game's engine scales predictably with resolution. The 1080p-to-4K drop at High settings goes from 206.4 FPS to 66.1 FPS, a 68% decrease. At Low settings, the drop is from 302.5 FPS to 107.1 FPS, a 65% decrease. These consistent percentages suggest the game's rendering pipeline is well-optimized for resolution scaling, with no unexpected bottlenecks emerging at any preset level.

For turn-based tactics, where frame rates above 60 FPS are generally unnecessary for smooth gameplay, this combination provides headroom even at 4K Ultra. The 50.6 FPS average at 4K Ultra is borderline, but the 66.1 FPS at 4K High offers a comfortable margin. Players targeting 144Hz displays will find 1440p Medium or High the sweet spot, as both exceed 130 FPS.

FAQ

Q: Can this combination run Hard West at 4K with maximum settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the measured average frame rate is 50.6 FPS. This is playable for turn-based tactics, though not ideal for fast-paced action. Dropping to High settings improves the average to 66.1 FPS.

Q: What is the best resolution for high refresh rate displays?

A: At 1920x1080, every preset exceeds 150 FPS, with Low reaching 302.5 FPS and High hitting 206.4 FPS. At 2560x1440, High delivers 131.9 FPS and Medium 171.2 FPS, both suitable for 144Hz monitors.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 SUPER compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 53610, placing it 0.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (53489), 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (53414), and 2.9% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti (52086).

Q: What is the processor's multi-core performance relative to its nearest competitors?

A: The i5-14600KF scores 49367 on average, which is 0.4% higher than the i5-14600K (49166), 0.6% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X (49062), and 1.4% higher than the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (48698). The AMD EPYC 4345P scores 0.5% higher at 49595.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to bottleneck this game at 1080p?

A: The data suggests the GPU is the limiting component even at 1080p. The 50% frame rate reduction from Low to Ultra at 1080p indicates graphics load dominates, though the CPU's 14 cores and 20 threads provide ample headroom for turn-based AI calculations.

Q: What frame rates can players expect with the Low preset at each resolution?

A: Low settings produce 302.5 FPS at 1080p, 207.9 FPS at 1440p, and 107.1 FPS at 4K. These numbers indicate the game becomes increasingly GPU-bound as resolution rises, even at minimal graphical load.

How This Combo Ranks

Among 1699 tested combinations for this game, the Intel Core i5-14600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER ranks 74th. This places the combination in the top 5% of all tested configurations, which is notable for a turn-based tactics title that typically does not demand extreme hardware.

The high ranking is explained by the individual component performance. The CPU sits at the 93rd percentile against all processors, while the GPU ranks at the 88th percentile against all graphics cards. Both components are in the upper echelon of their respective categories, and their combination in this game produces frame rates that exceed the needs of the genre.

The rank of 74 out of 1699 means that roughly 1625 tested combos deliver lower average frame rates in Hard West. This is consistent with the measured FPS data, which shows the combination exceeding 60 FPS at 4K High and 50 FPS at 4K Ultra. For a game released in November 2015, this modern hardware pairing provides substantial performance overhead.

The delta between this combo and the top-ranked configurations is likely driven by GPUs with higher raw compute throughput, as the RTX 4080 SUPER's 52.22 TFLOPS FP32 performance is strong but not class-leading. However, for actual gameplay in this turn-based strategy title, the 74th position out of 1699 combinations represents excellent real-world performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080 (Full HD):

• Low: 302.5 FPS average
• Medium: 269.1 FPS average
• High: 206.4 FPS average
• Ultra: 151.5 FPS average

At 1080p, the combination is clearly GPU-bound. The difference between Low and Medium is 33.4 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is 62.7 FPS. The largest single drop occurs moving from High to Ultra, a 54.9 FPS reduction. Every preset delivers well above 144 FPS, making this resolution overkill for standard displays.

2560x1440 (Quad HD):

• Low: 207.9 FPS average
• Medium: 171.2 FPS average
• High: 131.9 FPS average
• Ultra: 96.2 FPS average

At 1440p, the frame rates remain high but show the expected scaling. Low to Medium drops by 36.7 FPS, Medium to High by 39.3 FPS, and High to Ultra by 35.7 FPS. The consistent ~35-40 FPS drops between presets indicate balanced graphical scaling. Ultra still maintains nearly 100 FPS, which is exceptional for this resolution.

3840x2160 (4K UHD):

• Low: 107.1 FPS average
• Medium: 91.1 FPS average
• High: 66.1 FPS average
• Ultra: 50.6 FPS average

At 4K, the GPU's 16 GB memory buffer and bandwidth become the primary constraint. The drop from Low to Medium is 16.0 FPS, Medium to High is 25.0 FPS, and High to Ultra is 15.5 FPS. The Ultra preset's 50.6 FPS average is the only setting that approaches the lower bound of playability, though for turn-based tactics this remains acceptable.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600KF brings 14 cores and 20 threads to this configuration, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. These specifications place the processor firmly in the high-performance desktop segment, and its Cinebench R23 scores of 32889 multi-core and 4643 single-core reflect that positioning.

In Hard West, a turn-based tactics title, the CPU's role extends beyond frame rendering to encompass AI pathfinding, turn order calculations, and game state updates. The 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache provide ample storage for game logic, while the dual-channel DDR4/DDR5 memory support ensures the CPU can feed the GPU without stalling.

The processor's benchmark results show it outperforming its nearest rivals in most metrics. Against the Intel Core i5-14600K, the KF variant scores 0.4% higher on average. The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X trails by 0.6%, and the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H is 1.4% behind. Only the AMD EPYC 4345P edges ahead by 0.5%.

For this game specifically, the CPU's single-thread performance is particularly relevant. The PassMark single-thread score of 4273 and Geekbench single-core score of 2778 indicate strong per-core performance, which matters for games that rely on a primary simulation thread. The 5.30 GHz boost clock ensures that even older games with limited thread utilization can run at high frame rates.

The CPU's 93rd percentile ranking against all processors, combined with the GPU's 88th percentile, explains why this combination ranks 74th out of 1699 in Hard West. The processor provides enough compute headroom that it never becomes the bottleneck, even at 1080p Low where the GPU produces 302.5 FPS. The data indicates that the i5-14600KF is more than sufficient for this title, with the RTX 4080 SUPER being the performance limiter across all tested resolutions and settings.