Hard West

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Hard West with the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti reveals a clear pattern of performance scaling as resolution increases. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo delivers 173.7 FPS, which drops to 139.2 FPS at 1440p and further to 72.5 FPS at 4K. This represents a 58.3% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, indicating that the GPU becomes increasingly stressed as pixel count grows.

The scaling behavior becomes more pronounced when examining the High preset. At 1080p High, the system produces 138.8 FPS. Moving to 1440p High yields 90 FPS, a 35.2% drop, while 4K High falls to 43.6 FPS, a 68.6% reduction from the 1080p figure. This steep decline at 4K suggests that the RTX 3070 Ti's 8 GB of GDDR6X memory and 608.3 GB/s bandwidth are being pushed to their limits, though the architecture remains capable of playable frame rates.

Ultra settings show the most dramatic scaling curve. The 1080p Ultra result of 103.9 FPS drops to 68 FPS at 1440p and then to 36.6 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra figure sits below the 40 FPS threshold typically considered smooth for turn-based tactics, indicating that this combination is not ideal for maximum visual fidelity at native 4K resolution. The data suggests that the limiting component at 4K is the GPU, as the CPU's 6 cores and 6 threads provide consistent performance across resolutions.

The delta between Low and Ultra at 4K is 35.9 FPS (72.5 versus 36.6), while at 1080p the same comparison shows a 69.8 FPS gap (173.7 versus 103.9). This narrowing delta at higher resolutions confirms that the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck, as the per-frame cost of higher settings grows relative to the total render time.

Settings Recommendations

For the Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the RTX 3070 Ti in Hard West, the Medium preset offers the most balanced experience across all tested resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the system achieves 160.3 FPS, which is 92.4% of the Low preset's performance while providing substantially improved visual quality. At 1440p Medium, the 116.8 FPS result remains well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, and even at 4K Medium, the 62.6 FPS figure is comfortably playable.

The High preset represents a reasonable alternative for users prioritizing visual fidelity over raw frame rate. At 1080p High, 138.8 FPS remains high, and 1440p High's 90 FPS is still excellent. However, the 4K High result of 43.6 FPS dips below the 60 FPS mark, making Medium the safer choice for 4K displays. The Ultra preset, while delivering the best image quality, produces 103.9 FPS at 1080p, 68 FPS at 1440p, and 36.6 FPS at 4K — the latter being the only tested configuration that falls below 40 FPS.

Benchmark results indicate that the performance gap between Medium and High is smaller than the gap between High and Ultra. At 1080p, Medium to High costs 21.5 FPS, while High to Ultra costs 34.9 FPS. This pattern holds at 1440p (26.8 FPS versus 22 FPS) and at 4K (19 FPS versus 7 FPS). The data suggests that Ultra provides diminishing returns relative to its performance cost, making Medium the recommended preset for most users, with High as a viable option for those with 1080p or 1440p displays.

FAQ

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

A: Yes, at 4K Medium the system produces 62.6 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold. The 4K High preset drops to 43.6 FPS, while 4K Ultra falls to 36.6 FPS, so Medium is the recommended setting for 4K displays.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: The Low preset delivers 173.7 FPS, while Ultra produces 103.9 FPS. The difference of 69.8 FPS represents a 40.2% reduction in frame rate when moving from the lowest to the highest quality preset.

Q: Is the RTX 3070 Ti the limiting component at 1080p?

A: The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system reaches 173.7 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's rendering limit for this game. The Intel Core i5-9400's 6 cores and 6 threads may cap performance, as the GPU has substantial headroom given its 21.75 TFLOPS of FP32 compute.

Q: How does 1440p performance compare to 1080p?

A: At 1440p, the system loses approximately 20-35% of its 1080p frame rate depending on settings. The Medium preset drops from 160.3 FPS to 116.8 FPS, while High falls from 138.8 FPS to 90 FPS.

Q: Should I use the Ultra preset for Hard West?

A: The Ultra preset is only recommended for 1080p displays, where it achieves 103.9 FPS. At 1440p it drops to 68 FPS, and at 4K it falls to 36.6 FPS, which may feel sluggish for turn-based tactics requiring frequent camera movement.

Q: What frame rate can I expect with the High preset at 1440p?

A: The High preset at 1440p produces 90 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold and represents a good balance between visual quality and performance for this resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti combination ranks 794th out of 1,699 tested combos in Hard West, placing it in the 53rd percentile of all configurations. This mid-pack ranking reflects the balanced nature of the pairing, where neither component dramatically outperforms the other in this specific title.

The CPU's benchmark percentile of 50 places it at the median of all tested processors, with an average benchmark score of 2,305. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i3-10305 (2,300, 0.2% faster), the Intel Core i3-1125G4 (2,299, 0.2% faster), and the Intel Xeon E-2134 (2,295, 0.4% faster). The Intel Core i7-8809G trails by 0.6% with a score of 2,319. These small deltas indicate that the i5-9400 sits in a tightly clustered performance band, meaning CPU-side variability is minimal.

The GPU's percentile of 74 positions it above the majority of tested graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 30,849. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 590 GME (30,755, 0.3% faster), the AMD Radeon RX 6700 (31,112, 0.8% slower), and the NVIDIA Quadro M5000 (31,142, 0.9% slower). The NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q trails by 1.2% with a score of 31,220. The GPU's stronger relative position suggests that the combo's mid-pack game ranking stems more from the CPU's median performance than from any GPU limitation.

The game's turn-based tactical nature likely reduces the importance of raw frame rate, as the measured FPS figures exceed 60 at most settings and resolutions. The combo's rank of 794 out of 1,699 indicates that roughly half of tested configurations perform better, but the practical gameplay experience remains smooth across the majority of tested settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti brings 8 GB of GDDR6X memory running at 19 Gbps effective, delivering 608.3 GB/s of bandwidth across a 256-bit bus. This memory configuration is sufficient for Hard West's needs, as the game's 2015 release date predates the high-resolution textures common in modern titles. The GPU's 6,144 shading units, 192 texture mapping units, and 96 render output units provide substantial compute capability, evidenced by its 21.75 TFLOPS of FP32 performance.

The GPU's clock speeds of 1,575 MHz base and 1,770 MHz boost are modest for the Ampere architecture, yet the measured frame rates show that this configuration handles Hard West efficiently. The 8 nm process node from Samsung allows for 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 44.4M per mm². The GPU's 48 ray tracing cores and 192 tensor cores are present but largely unused in this game, as Hard West does not employ ray-traced effects.

The RTX 3070 Ti's PassMark G3D score of 23,356 places it in the 74th percentile of all GPUs, and its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3,478 indicates strong modern API performance. The GPU's OpenCL score of 137,518 and Vulkan score of 130,778 from Geekbench confirm its compute versatility. For Hard West, the GPU's role is primarily to handle resolution scaling and settings-dependent effects, as the CPU manages the turn-based logic and AI calculations.

The 8 GB VRAM capacity is adequate for this title, as even at 4K Ultra, the game does not appear to exceed this limit based on the measured performance. The GPU's memory bandwidth of 608.3 GB/s provides ample headroom for texture streaming and scene complexity, though the 4K Ultra result of 36.6 FPS suggests that raw compute or shading rate becomes the limiting factor at maximum settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. Low achieves 173.7 FPS, Medium produces 160.3 FPS, High reaches 138.8 FPS, and Ultra drops to 103.9 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 69.8 FPS, with each settings tier costing between 21.5 and 34.9 FPS relative to the previous tier.

At 2560x1440, performance remains strong but shows the expected reduction. Low yields 139.2 FPS, Medium delivers 116.8 FPS, High produces 90 FPS, and Ultra falls to 68 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra here is 71.2 FPS, slightly wider than at 1080p, indicating that resolution scaling amplifies the cost of higher settings.

At 3840x2160, the GPU begins to show its limits. Low achieves 72.5 FPS, Medium produces 62.6 FPS, High reaches 43.6 FPS, and Ultra drops to 36.6 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 35.9 FPS, substantially narrower than at lower resolutions, as the pixel count itself becomes the dominant factor. The 4K Medium result of 62.6 FPS is the only 4K configuration above 60 FPS, making it the practical ceiling for smooth gameplay at this resolution.

The data shows consistent ordering across all resolutions: Low > Medium > High > Ultra. The relative performance gaps between settings remain proportional, though the absolute differences shrink at 4K. At 1080p, the Medium-to-High gap is 21.5 FPS, while at 4K the same comparison yields 19 FPS. This consistency suggests that the settings hierarchy is well-balanced, with each tier providing meaningful visual improvements at predictable frame rate costs.