Hard West

# FAQ

Q: What is the overall performance ranking of the Intel Core i5-9400 + AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT combo in Hard West?

A: This combination ranks 591st out of 1,699 tested combos in the database for Hard West. That places it in the 65th percentile of all tested configurations, meaning it outperforms roughly two-thirds of the systems tested for this title.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in general benchmark scores?

A: The Intel Core i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2,305. Its closest competitor is the Intel Core Xeon E-2134 at 2,295, which is 0.4% slower. The Intel Core i3-10305 and i3-1125G4 both score 2,300 and 2,299 respectively, putting them 0.2% behind. Notably, the i7-8809G is 0.6% faster with a score of 2,319.

Q: What frame rates can be expected at 1080p with High settings?

A: At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo delivers an average of 144.5 FPS. This is a very playable frame rate for a turn-based tactics game, offering smooth camera panning and unit animations.

Q: How does the GPU's benchmark score compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Radeon RX 7900 XT has an average benchmark score of 38,358. It sits nearly level with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile (38,349, 0% difference) and the NVIDIA CMP 70HX (38,225, 0.3% behind). The GeForce MX570 is 0.4% higher at 38,494.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between 1080p Ultra and 4K Ultra?

A: At 1920x1080 Ultra, the combo achieves 132.8 FPS average. Dropping to 3840x2160 Ultra, the average falls to 46 FPS. This represents a 65% reduction in frame rate when moving from 1080p to 4K at the highest settings.

Q: Does the GPU have enough VRAM for this game's demands?

A: The Radeon RX 7900 XT features 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus with 800.0 GB/s bandwidth. Hard West, being a 2015-era turn-based title, does not stress this memory capacity, so VRAM is not a limiting factor in any of the measured configurations.

# How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT achieves a rank of 591 out of 1,699 tested combinations in Hard West. This places the system in the upper-middle tier of all tested configurations. The percentile position of 65th indicates that this setup beats 65% of all recorded combos while trailing the top 35%.

The CPU's general benchmark standing is exactly at the 50th percentile among all CPUs, with an average score of 2,305. The GPU, however, sits at the 82nd percentile among all GPUs with an average score of 38,358. This discrepancy suggests that the CPU is the weaker link in this pairing, a conclusion supported by the frame rate data at lower resolutions.

The nearest CPU rivals bracket the i5-9400 tightly. The i7-8809G edges ahead by 0.6% with a score of 2,319, while the i3-10305 and i3-1125G4 trail by 0.2% each. The Xeon E-2134 lags by 0.4%. This indicates that the i5-9400 sits in a highly competitive cluster of processors, with less than 1% separating the entire group.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals show even smaller deltas. The RTX 5080 Mobile matches the RX 7900 XT exactly at 0% difference, while the CMP 70HX is 0.3% behind and the MX570 is 0.4% ahead. This near-tie at the top of the GPU benchmark ladder suggests the RX 7900 XT is performing at the expected level for its class.

# Resolution Scaling

Examining the frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals where the bottleneck shifts between CPU and GPU. At High settings, the transition from 1920x1080 (144.5 FPS) to 2560x1440 (107.8 FPS) results in a 25% performance drop. Moving further to 3840x2160 (58.3 FPS) from 1440p produces an additional 46% reduction. The total scaling from 1080p to 4K at High settings is a 60% loss in frame rate.

The Low settings preset shows a similar pattern but with less severe drops. From 1080p Low (173.7 FPS) to 1440p Low (148.2 FPS), the decrease is 15%. Continuing to 4K Low (90.5 FPS) from 1440p Low yields a 39% reduction. The overall 1080p-to-4K scaling at Low is 48%.

Ultra settings exhibit the steepest scaling curve. At 1080p Ultra, the system produces 132.8 FPS. This drops to 84.8 FPS at 1440p Ultra, a 36% decrease. At 4K Ultra, the frame rate falls to 46 FPS, another 46% reduction from 1440p. The total loss from 1080p to 4K at Ultra is 65%.

The pattern across all settings indicates that at 1080p, the CPU is the primary limiter, as the frame rates cluster in the 132-174 FPS range regardless of settings. At 4K, the GPU becomes the dominant constraint, with the gap between settings widening significantly (46 FPS at Ultra versus 90.5 FPS at Low). This behavior is consistent with a system where the i5-9400's six threads cap performance at lower resolutions, while the RX 7900 XT's rendering load scales with resolution.

# Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average frame rates span from 132.8 FPS at Ultra to 173.7 FPS at Low. The Medium preset delivers 157.8 FPS, while High achieves 144.5 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 40.9 FPS, indicating that the CPU maintains a relatively high floor even when graphical settings are increased.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates compress slightly. Low settings produce 148.2 FPS, Medium reaches 138.6 FPS, High delivers 107.8 FPS, and Ultra drops to 84.8 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 63.4 FPS, showing that the GPU begins to exert more influence on performance as pixel count increases.

At 3840x2160, the scaling becomes more pronounced. Low settings yield 90.5 FPS, Medium achieves 76.2 FPS, High produces 58.3 FPS, and Ultra falls to 46 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra at 4K is 44.5 FPS, but the absolute values are much lower, confirming the GPU is now the primary constraint.

Comparing settings across resolutions, the Medium preset at 1440p (138.6 FPS) outperforms the High preset at 1080p (144.5 FPS) by only 4%, despite rendering 78% more pixels. This suggests that Hard West's visual effects at Medium settings impose a lighter load than the difference between Medium and High at the same resolution.

# GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT brings substantial hardware to this pairing. Its 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus delivers 800.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is far beyond what a 2015 turn-based tactics title requires. The GPU's 5,376 shading units, 336 texture mapping units, and 192 raster operations processors provide ample compute for Hard West's sprite-based and particle effects.

The clock behavior of the RX 7900 XT is notable. Its base clock of 1,387 MHz, game clock of 2,025 MHz, and boost clock of 2,394 MHz show a wide dynamic range. The memory operates at 2,500 MHz with 20 Gbps effective speed. These figures indicate that the GPU can scale its performance based on workload demand.

In the context of Hard West, the GPU's role shifts depending on resolution. At 1080p, the frame rates across all settings stay above 132 FPS, which suggests the GPU is not fully utilized. The 65th percentile combo rank and the CPU's 50th percentile standing support this interpretation. At 4K Ultra, the GPU's rendering load increases to the point where the 46 FPS average reflects the GPU's actual compute limits for this title.

The RX 7900 XT's benchmark results align with its 82nd percentile ranking. Its PassMark G3D score of 29,009 and Geekbench OpenCL score of 169,834 indicate strong raw compute capabilities. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5,623 further confirms its modern rendering performance. These metrics are consistent with a GPU that can handle Hard West's maximum settings at 1440p with ease.

# Settings Recommendations

For 1440p displays, the Medium preset at 138.6 FPS offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance. The jump from Medium to High at 1440p costs 30.8 FPS (a 22% reduction) while the visual difference in a turn-based game is unlikely to justify the frame rate loss. Ultra at 1440p drops to 84.8 FPS, which remains playable but provides diminishing returns for the additional GPU load.

At 1080p, the High preset at 144.5 FPS is the recommended choice. The Ultra preset at 132.8 FPS is only 8% slower while offering marginal visual improvements. The Low preset at 173.7 FPS exceeds the refresh rate of most standard monitors, making the extra performance unnecessary for typical 60Hz or 144Hz displays.

For 4K gaming, the situation is more nuanced. The Medium preset at 76.2 FPS provides a smooth experience for turn-based gameplay. The High preset at 58.3 FPS is acceptable for this genre, as the slower pace means occasional sub-60 FPS dips are less noticeable. The Ultra preset at 46 FPS is the only configuration that falls below the 60 FPS threshold, and given the CPU's 50th percentile standing, it is likely that the processor contributes to this limitation.

The Low preset at 4K (90.5 FPS) demonstrates that the system can handle 4K when visual effects are minimized, but the Medium preset's 76.2 FPS represents the best compromise between image quality and playability for users with 4K displays. Given that Hard West is a turn-based tactical game where precise frame timing is not critical, all settings above 46 FPS are viable, with Medium at 4K being the optimal choice for most users.