Hard West

Hard West, a turn-based tactics title from 2015, presents a unique benchmark scenario for the Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 7600 combination. The data indicates a system that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, yet capable of delivering very high frame rates at 1080p. The measured performance shows a clear hierarchy across settings, with the RX 7600 providing a robust experience for this older title, though the 8 GB VRAM and specific architectural characteristics of the card play a definable role in the final frame rates.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average frame rate achieved by this combo in Hard West?

A: The highest measured average frame rate is 157 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K resolution with Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the combo produces an average of 25 FPS, which is the lowest average frame rate recorded in the data.

Q: What is the difference in average FPS between Medium and High settings at 2560x1440?

A: At 2560x1440, the Medium preset yields an average of 82 FPS, while the High preset yields an average of 63 FPS, a difference of 19 FPS in favor of Medium.

Q: Is the system more limited by the CPU or GPU in this game?

A: The data suggests the system becomes more GPU-limited as resolution increases. For instance, at 1080p the frame rate scales significantly with settings, but at 4K the frame rates drop substantially across all presets, indicating the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions.

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

A: This particular combo ranks 2575 out of 3722 tested combinations in the database for Hard West.

Q: Does the RX 7600's performance in Hard West align with its general benchmark standing?

A: The RX 7600's average benchmark score is 15171, placing it in the 57th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM, has a nearly identical score with a delta of -0.2%, suggesting similar expected performance in this title.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7600's role in Hard West is defined by its memory configuration and clock speeds. The GPU comes equipped with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s. In a game from 2015, this memory capacity is generally sufficient, but the data shows that performance scaling from Medium to High and Ultra is not linear, pointing to other GPU limits.

The card's boost clock is listed at 2655 MHz, with a game clock of 2250 MHz. These high frequencies are typical of the RDNA 3.0 architecture and contribute to the high frame rates seen at 1080p. The GPU also features 2048 shading units and 64 ROPs, which are tasked with rendering the game's visuals. The pixel rate is 169.9 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 339.8 GTexel/s, figures that help explain the card's ability to handle the game's sprite-based and environmental effects.

However, the GPU's performance is not uniform across all settings. At 1080p, the jump from Low (157 FPS) to Ultra (74 FPS) represents a 53% performance drop. This significant reduction suggests that while the GPU has the raw compute power for high frame rates, the higher presets introduce effects that heavily tax the shading units and memory subsystem. The 4K results are even more telling, with the Ultra preset dropping to 25 FPS. This indicates that at 3840x2160, the RX 7600 is thoroughly saturated, and the 8 GB VRAM may also be a limiting factor, as the higher resolution and texture details demand more memory. The data confirms that the GPU is the dominant component in this pairing for Hard West, with its clock speeds and memory bandwidth directly influencing the final output.

Resolution Scaling

The benchmark data for this combo shows a very clear relationship between resolution and performance. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 on High settings, the average frame rate drops from 99 FPS to 63 FPS, a 36% decrease. This is a substantial drop, but it is expected as the pixel count increases by roughly 78%. The scaling is more severe when moving to 3840x2160, where the High preset yields only 33 FPS. This represents a 67% reduction from the 1080p High result, indicating that the GPU is struggling to maintain performance at 4K.

This scaling pattern reveals that the limiting component changes with resolution. At 1080p, the frame rates are high enough that the CPU, with its 6 cores and 6 threads, can feed the GPU adequately. However, the RX 7600 is not powerful enough to maintain high frame rates at 4K, as evidenced by the 4K Low preset only achieving 52 FPS. The fact that even Low settings cannot break 60 FPS at 4K strongly suggests that the GPU's pixel throughput and memory bandwidth are the bottlenecks.

The data also shows that the performance penalty for increasing settings is more pronounced at lower resolutions. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 83 FPS. At 1440p, that difference is 53 FPS. At 4K, the difference is only 27 FPS. This is because at higher resolutions, the GPU is already so heavily loaded that the additional work from higher settings has a proportionally smaller impact on the absolute frame rate, but the overall experience becomes less playable. The results indicate that for smooth gameplay, 1080p and 1440p are the viable resolutions, with 4K being a stretch goal that requires significant compromises in visual fidelity.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For a standard 60 FPS experience, the data supports using High settings at 2560x1440, which yields an average of 63 FPS. This is a good balance, providing enhanced visuals while maintaining a frame rate above the 60 FPS threshold. At 1920x1080, High settings are more than sufficient, with an average of 99 FPS, and even Ultra settings maintain a playable 74 FPS.

For players prioritizing maximum frame rates for a competitive edge or smoother motion, the Low preset at 1080p offers the highest possible performance at 157 FPS. At 1440p, the Low preset still delivers a very high 100 FPS. However, the visual quality trade-off is significant. The Medium preset at 1440p provides a middle ground, with an average of 82 FPS and a minimum of 69 FPS, ensuring a consistent experience. This is likely the best option for a high-refresh-rate 1440p monitor.

At 3840x2160, the data suggests that this combo is not well-suited for a high-quality experience. The Medium preset at 4K averages 43 FPS, which is not smooth enough for most players. The Low preset at 4K achieves 52 FPS, but the visual downgrade is substantial. Ultimately, the best experience per the measured rows is either High settings at 1440p for a balanced 60+ FPS, or Medium settings at 1080p for a fluid and visually acceptable experience. The Medium preset at 1080p yields 129 FPS average with a minimum of 110 FPS, providing a large and stable performance buffer.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080: The data shows excellent performance at this resolution. With Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 157 FPS. Moving to Medium, the average drops to 129 FPS, with a minimum of 110 FPS and a maximum of 148 FPS. The High preset yields an average of 99 FPS. Finally, the Ultra preset produces an average of 74 FPS. This shows a clear and consistent scaling where each step up in settings costs a significant number of frames.

2560x1440: Performance remains strong at this resolution. The Low preset achieves an average of 100 FPS. The Medium preset delivers an average of 82 FPS, with a minimum of 69 FPS and a maximum of 94 FPS. The High preset sees the average drop to 63 FPS. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, with an average of 47 FPS. The scaling here is similar to 1080p, but the absolute numbers are lower.

3840x2160: This is where the GPU struggles. The Low preset is the only one to reach an average above 50 FPS, at 52 FPS. The Medium preset averages 43 FPS, with a minimum of 36 FPS and a maximum of 49 FPS. The High preset drops to an average of 33 FPS. The Ultra preset brings the system to its knees with an average of just 25 FPS. These figures indicate that 4K gaming is not a practical option for this combo unless the player is willing to accept a sub-30 FPS experience on the lowest settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor from the Coffee Lake family, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. In the context of Hard West, this CPU is more than adequate to keep up with the GPU at most settings. The game's turn-based nature means that the CPU is likely not under the same stress as in a real-time strategy or first-person shooter. The benchmark results support this, as the frame rates at 1080p are exceptionally high, suggesting that the CPU is not a primary bottleneck.

Looking at its general performance, the i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2254, placing it in the 47th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-1068NG7, has a score of 2259, a delta of -0.2%, showing that they are statistically equivalent in general compute tasks. This suggests that in a game like Hard West, which is not heavily multithreaded, the i5-9400's six physical cores are sufficient to handle the game logic and AI calculations without issue.

The CPU's memory bandwidth is listed at 42.7 GB/s, which is modest by modern standards. However, for a 2015 title, this is not a limiting factor. The high frame rates observed in the data, particularly at 1080p, indicate that the CPU is capable of processing the game's instructions faster than the GPU can render frames. The bottleneck analysis points to the GPU as the limiting component, especially at higher resolutions like 1440p and 4K, where the CPU has more time between frames to complete its tasks. The data confirms that the i5-9400 provides a stable and capable foundation for this gaming combo, not holding back the RX 7600 in most scenarios.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Hard West, this pairing of the Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 7600 has a combined rank of 2575 out of 3722 combos. This places it in the lower third of all tested systems, which might seem counterintuitive given the high frame rates observed at 1080p. However, this rank is a global comparison that includes systems with much more powerful components, such as high-end CPUs and GPUs that can achieve significantly higher frame rates at 4K resolution.

The rank suggests that while this combo is very capable for 1080p and 1440p gaming, it is not a top-tier performer in absolute terms. The GPU's 57th percentile ranking and the CPU's 47th percentile ranking combine to place this system in a mid-to-low tier for overall performance in this game. The RX 7600's performance is closely matched by the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM, which has a delta of -0.2%, indicating that these two GPUs would likely produce nearly identical results in Hard West.

The combo's rank of 2575 is a reflection of the hardware's capabilities. It's a pairing that offers a solid, playable experience at mainstream resolutions, but it does not compete with the top-tier combinations that feature more powerful CPUs and GPUs. The data shows that the system's performance is ultimately constrained by the GPU, particularly at higher resolutions. This rank is a useful metric for understanding where this combo stands in the broader ecosystem of tested hardware, confirming that it is a competent mid-range option, well-suited for 1080p gaming and capable of handling 1440p with adjusted settings.