Hard West

The Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT delivers a playable experience in Hard West, but the data reveals a clear performance ceiling that shifts depending on your target resolution. At 1080p, this combo is exceptionally strong, but as pixel count climbs, the frame rate drops off sharply, indicating a GPU-bound workload at higher settings. The benchmark results show a wide performance spread across the four tested presets, giving you a solid range of options to balance visuals against smoothness.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates show a predictable and steep decline as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At the High preset, the average FPS drops from 104 at 1080p to 66 at 1440p, and then plunges to 34 at 4K. This represents a 36.5% reduction when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 48.5% drop from 1440p to 4K. The scaling pattern indicates that the game becomes increasingly reliant on the GPU as resolution rises, which is typical for a turn-based tactics title with a modest CPU load.

Looking at the Low preset, the trend is even more pronounced. At 1080p, the combo reaches 165 average FPS, which drops to 104 at 1440p and 55 at 4K. The 4K Low result is still comfortably above the 30 FPS threshold, but the gap between 1080p and 4K is substantial—a 66.7% reduction in average frame rate. This suggests that even at the lowest settings, the RX 7600 XT is working hard to fill those 8.3 million pixels at 4K resolution.

The Ultra preset tells the most telling story about the limiting component. At 1080p, the average FPS is 78, which falls to 49 at 1440p and 26 at 4K. Crossing below 30 FPS at 4K Ultra confirms that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at this resolution and settings combination. The CPU, with its six cores and six threads, appears to have ample headroom at 1080p, as evidenced by the high frame rates, but it is not the limiting factor here. The data points to the GPU being the constraint at higher resolutions, particularly when settings are cranked up.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with a Navi 33 chip, and its specifications directly influence the measured results. It features a base clock of 1980 MHz, a game clock of 2470 MHz, and a boost clock of 2755 MHz. The 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is a crucial asset for 4K textures. The GPU also carries 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, with a pixel rate of 176.3 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 352.6 GTexel/s.

These specs translate to strong raw performance, as reflected in the GPU's benchmark scores. The Passmark G3D score of 17132 puts it in the 60th percentile among all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 17083 places it in close competition with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690, which scores 17037 (a 0.3% delta), and the AMD Radeon HD 7970M at 17019 (a 0.4% delta). The nearest rival above it is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 at 17208, which is only 0.7% faster. This indicates that the RX 7600 XT sits in a tight performance band, and the measured FPS in Hard West aligns with that positioning.

The 16 GB VRAM capacity is noteworthy for a game like Hard West, which may not be texture-heavy by modern standards, but the high memory bandwidth helps maintain consistent frame pacing at 4K. The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2348 and Geekbench Vulkan score of 48366 further confirm its DirectX 12 and Vulkan capabilities, though the game's performance is more dependent on raw rasterization power than ray tracing or compute features. The 60th percentile ranking suggests that this GPU is a solid mid-range option, and the measured FPS in this game reflects that positioning.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i5-9400 and the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT holds a combo rank of 2368 out of 3722 tested combos for Hard West. This places it in the 36th percentile of all combinations, meaning roughly 64% of tested setups deliver higher frame rates in this game. The rank is influenced by both components, but given that the GPU is the likely bottleneck at higher resolutions, the combo's position is more heavily weighted toward the graphics card's performance tier.

The CPU's own benchmark scores provide context for its role in this ranking. The i5-9400 achieves a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 6629 and a single-core score of 935, with a Geekbench multicore score of 5141. Its average benchmark score of 2254 places it in the 47th percentile of all CPUs, with nearest rivals including the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (2259, -0.2% delta) and the Intel Core i3-10305 (2264, -0.4% delta). These scores indicate that the CPU is a mid-pack performer, which is sufficient for a turn-based tactics game that does not heavily tax multi-threaded workloads.

The combo rank of 2368 out of 3722 suggests that while this setup is far from the top, it is not at the bottom either. The measured FPS at 1080p High (104 average) is well above playable thresholds, and even at 4K Medium (45 average) the game remains smooth enough for the genre's slower pacing. The ranking reflects a balanced system that prioritizes GPU performance over CPU muscle, which is appropriate for this title.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Hard West?*

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 provides the highest frame rates across all settings, with an average of 165 FPS at Low and 104 FPS at High. At 2560x1440, the High preset still delivers a smooth 66 average FPS, while 4K High drops to 34 average FPS. For consistent 60+ FPS gameplay, 1440p High is the ceiling.

Q: How does the RX 7600 XT compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score of 17083 is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 (17037, a 0.3% delta) and the AMD Radeon HD 7970M (17019, a 0.4% delta). It trails the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 (17208) by only 0.7%, showing that it competes in a tight performance band.

Q: Is the i5-9400 holding back the RX 7600 XT in this game?

A: Benchmark results indicate the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at most settings. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 165 average FPS, which is likely near the game's engine limit. The CPU's 47th percentile ranking (average score 2254) is adequate for turn-based tactics, and the GPU becomes the limiting factor at 4K Ultra where FPS drops to 26.

Q: What settings preset offers the best balance of visuals and performance at 1440p?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 yields an average of 85 FPS with a minimum of 73 FPS and maximum of 98 FPS, providing a comfortable margin above 60 FPS. The High preset at 66 average FPS is also viable, but Medium offers more headroom for demanding scenes.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K across different presets?

A: At 4K, the Low preset averages 55 FPS, Medium averages 45 FPS (min 38, max 51), High averages 34 FPS, and Ultra drops to 26 FPS. Only Low and Medium maintain averages above 30 FPS, making Medium the highest preset recommended for 4K.

Q: What does the combo's rank of 2368 out of 3722 mean for gameplay?

A: This rank places the setup in the lower-middle tier of all tested combos for Hard West. While it is not a top performer, the measured FPS at 1080p and 1440p shows that it is fully capable of smooth gameplay, and the rank reflects the GPU's mid-range position rather than any fundamental deficiency.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a six-core, six-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture, manufactured on a 14 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU features 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 256 KB of L2 per core, and 9 MB of shared L3 cache. Memory support is DDR4 with dual-channel configuration and a bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s, which is sufficient for feeding the GPU in a game like Hard West.

In synthetic benchmarks, the i5-9400 posts a Cinebench R20 multicore score of 2784 and a single-core score of 392, with a Geekbench single-core score of 1389. Its percentile ranking of 47 indicates it sits just below the median of all CPUs, and its nearest rivals—the Intel Core i7-1068NG7, Intel Core i7-10710U, AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500, and Intel Core i3-10305—all have average scores within 0.4% of each other. This tight clustering shows that the CPU's performance is unremarkable but adequate.

For Hard West, the CPU's role is secondary to the GPU. The game's turn-based nature means it does not push sustained multi-threaded workloads, and the measured FPS at 1080p Low (165 average) suggests the CPU is not a limiting factor at lower resolutions. However, the 6-core, 6-thread configuration lacks hyper-threading, which could be a constraint in newer titles, but it does not appear to hamper performance here. The CPU's 47th percentile rank aligns with the combo's overall 36th percentile ranking, indicating that the GPU is the more influential component in determining this system's position.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance for optimizing the experience. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers an average of 135 FPS with a minimum of 115 FPS, offering a smooth and responsive experience ideal for a tactics game. The High preset at 104 average FPS is also excellent, and even Ultra maintains 78 average FPS, making 1080p the resolution where the full visual spectrum is accessible without compromise.

Moving to 2560x1440, the recommendations shift. The Medium preset yields 85 average FPS with a tight frame range (73-98 FPS), which is the best balance of fidelity and smoothness at this resolution. The High preset at 66 average FPS is acceptable, but the minimum frame rate is not recorded, so Medium is the safer choice for consistent pacing. The Ultra preset at 49 average FPS is playable but leaves less headroom for complex scenes.

At 3840x2160, the options are more limited. The Medium preset at 45 average FPS (min 38, max 51) is the highest setting that maintains a playable frame rate, and it is the recommended choice for 4K. The Low preset at 55 average FPS is smoother but sacrifices visual detail. The High preset at 34 average FPS is borderline, and Ultra at 26 average FPS falls below the 30 FPS threshold, making it unsuitable for consistent gameplay.

For the best overall experience, the 1440p Medium preset stands out as the sweet spot, providing 85 average FPS with a documented minimum of 73 FPS. This combination offers a significant visual upgrade over 1080p while maintaining frame rates well above the 60 FPS target. If 4K is the priority, Medium is the only preset that balances quality and performance, and the GPU's 16 GB VRAM ensures that texture memory is not a concern at this resolution.