Hard West

The Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 delivers a strong performance profile in Hard West, a turn-based tactics title from 2015. The data indicates that this combination is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, while the six-core processor provides sufficient headroom at lower settings. Across all tested configurations, the system produces playable frame rates, with the most balanced experience found at 1440p on Medium settings, which offers a high average framerate while maintaining visual fidelity.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data suggests that the optimal experience for this combo is achieved at 2560x1440 with Medium settings. This configuration yields an average of 133 FPS, which is comfortably above the threshold for smooth gameplay, and provides the only fully bracketed frame time data in the entire dataset—with minimum and maximum values of 113 and 153 FPS respectively. This stability indicates that the Medium preset at 1440p avoids the bottlenecks that appear at higher settings while still leveraging the GPU’s capability.

For users prioritizing maximum visual quality, the 2560x1440 High preset is a viable alternative, producing an average of 102 FPS. This represents a 23% reduction in average frame rate compared to Medium at the same resolution, but it remains smooth and is the best option for those who want enhanced effects without dropping to 1080p. At 4K, High settings drop to 54 FPS, which is borderline for fast-paced action; however, given the turn-based genre, this remains acceptable for those with 4K displays.

The data clearly shows that Ultra settings are not recommended, particularly at higher resolutions. At 1440p Ultra, the average FPS drops to 76, which is a 43% decrease from Medium. At 4K Ultra, the average plummets to 40 FPS, which can introduce perceptible stutter in camera movements or animations. The performance cost of Ultra over High is substantial—a 25% reduction at 1440p and a 26% reduction at 4K—without a correspondingly large improvement in gameplay clarity for a tactical title. For the best balance of framerate and visual stability, Medium at 1440p is the clear winner, with High at 1440p serving as the premium alternative.

FAQ

Q: Does this CPU and GPU combo achieve 60 FPS at 4K resolution?

A: Yes, but only at specific settings. At 4K with Low settings, the average FPS is 85, and at Medium it is 70. However, at High, the average drops to 54 FPS, and at Ultra it falls to 40 FPS, indicating that the system cannot maintain 60 FPS at the highest quality presets.

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

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 172 FPS, while the Ultra preset achieves 121 FPS. This represents a 51 FPS difference, or roughly a 30% reduction in average frame rate when moving from the lowest to the highest quality preset.

Q: Is the frame rate stable at 1440p Medium?

A: The data suggests it is very stable. The 1440p Medium configuration is the only one in the dataset with both minimum and maximum FPS values recorded, showing a range from 113 to 153 FPS around the 133 average. This tight variance indicates consistent frame pacing.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Intel Core i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2254. Its closest rival, the Intel Core i7-1068NG7, scores 2259, which is 0.2% higher. The AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 scores 2246, which is 0.4% lower, placing the i5-9400 in a tightly contested mid-range bracket.

Q: What is the GPU's benchmark percentile ranking?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 sits in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37648. It outperforms the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 by 0.4% in average score.

Q: Does the game scale well with resolution on this hardware?

A: The scaling is typical for a GPU-bound scenario. Moving from 1080p to 1440p on High settings reduces the average FPS from 145 to 102, a 30% drop. Moving from 1440p to 4K on High reduces it from 102 to 54, a 47% drop, showing that the 4K resolution places significant stress on the GPU.

Resolution Scaling

The benchmark results show a classic pattern of resolution scaling that identifies the GPU as the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. At the High preset, the average frame rate drops from 145 FPS at 1920x1080 to 102 FPS at 2560x1440, a 30% decrease. This is a substantial hit, but it is expected given that 1440p contains 78% more pixels than 1080p. The drop from 1440p to 3840x2160 is even more severe, falling from 102 FPS to 54 FPS, a 47% reduction, as 4K packs 2.25 times the pixel count of 1440p.

This scaling behavior suggests that the RTX 4070 is being pushed to its limits at 4K. While the GPU has robust specifications—including 5888 shading units and a boost clock of 2475 MHz—the pixel throughput demands at 4K overwhelm the processing power. The fact that the CPU is not the bottleneck becomes evident when examining the lower settings. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 172 FPS, and at 1440p Low it still manages 147 FPS. The relatively small gap between these two (a 15% drop) compared to the gap at High settings (a 30% drop) indicates that at lower quality presets, the CPU is beginning to limit performance, preventing the GPU from fully stretching its legs.

The data reveals that the sweet spot for this combo is 1440p. At this resolution, the GPU is sufficiently loaded to produce high frame rates without hitting the severe degradation seen at 4K. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is manageable, and the scaling from 1440p to 4K is punishing, which is a clear indicator that the RTX 4070, while powerful, is best paired with a 1440p display for this title. Users attempting 4K will need to compromise significantly on settings, as the average FPS at 4K High (54) is barely above the minimum threshold for smooth play.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system demonstrates high performance across all presets. Low settings produce an average of 172 FPS, making it the fastest configuration tested. Medium settings yield 160 FPS, with a recorded range of 136 to 184 FPS. High settings average 145 FPS, and Ultra settings still deliver a solid 121 FPS. The spread between the lowest and highest presets is 51 FPS, which is significant but leaves even the Ultra preset well above the 60 FPS threshold.

At 2560x1440, the performance hierarchy remains consistent but the margins tighten. Low settings average 147 FPS, which is only a 15% drop from the 1080p Low result—a smaller relative decrease than at higher settings, confirming the CPU’s growing influence. Medium settings average 133 FPS, with the full frame range of 113 to 153 FPS recorded. High settings average 102 FPS, a 30% drop from 1080p High, while Ultra settings fall to 76 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p is the first configuration that dips below the 100 FPS mark, indicating that the GPU is starting to struggle with the pixel load.

At 3840x2160, the results show a dramatic performance cliff. Low settings average 85 FPS, which is respectable but represents a 42% drop from 1440p Low. Medium settings average 70 FPS, with a range of 59 to 80 FPS, making it the only 4K preset with recorded frame variance. High settings average 54 FPS, dipping below the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay. Ultra settings average 40 FPS, which is the lowest score in the entire dataset and is likely to feel sluggish for most users. The progression from Low to Ultra at 4K shows a 45 FPS drop, highlighting that the GPU is the definitive bottleneck at this resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-9400 with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination holds a combo rank of 1282 out of 3722 tested combinations in Hard West. This places the system in the upper third of all tested configurations, specifically in the 65.5th percentile (calculated as 1 - (1282/3722)). This ranking is notably strong considering the age of the CPU, which was released in late 2018, and the fact that the game itself is a turn-based tactics title that is not particularly demanding on modern hardware.

The rank indicates that while this combo is not at the top of the leaderboard—which would be occupied by the latest high-end CPUs paired with flagship GPUs—it outperforms the majority of systems. The GPU’s 81st percentile ranking among all GPUs contributes significantly to this position, as the RTX 4070’s average benchmark score of 37648 is 0.1% higher than the NVIDIA Tesla P4 and 0.4% higher than the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56. The CPU, however, is less influential in this ranking, as its 47th percentile among all CPUs places it firmly in the mid-range, with its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-1068NG7, being only 0.2% faster in average score.

Given that Hard West is a turn-based strategy game, the frame rates achieved are likely more than adequate for the gameplay mechanics, which do not require twitch reflexes. The combination’s rank of 1282 reflects a system that is capable of handling the game with ease at most settings, and the measured data confirms that the only challenges arise at 4K with maxed-out settings. For the vast majority of gaming scenarios, this combo provides a high-quality experience that is well above the median performance level of all tested systems.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a six-core, six-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture, fabricated on Intel’s 14 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The processor features a shared 9 MB L3 cache and supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with a bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 6629 points in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 935 points in single-core, placing it in the 47th percentile of all CPUs.

In the context of Hard West, the CPU’s role is secondary to the GPU, as evidenced by the frame rate scaling. At 1080p Low, the system produces 172 FPS, which is a high frame rate that suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough draw calls to maintain performance. However, the diminishing returns when moving from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings (a 15% drop) compared to the drop at High settings (a 30% drop) indicates that the CPU is nearing its limit at lower resolutions. The six cores and six threads are adequate for this game, which likely does not utilize more than a few threads, but the lack of hyper-threading could be a limiting factor in more CPU-intensive scenarios.

The processor’s benchmark scores provide context for its performance. Its Cinebench R20 multi-core score of 2784 and single-core score of 392 are indicative of a mid-range desktop CPU from its era. The nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (scoring 2259, 0.2% higher) and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 (scoring 2246, 0.4% lower), show that the i5-9400 is competitively positioned. For Hard West, this CPU is sufficient to avoid being a bottleneck at 1440p and below, but at 4K, the GPU becomes the clear limiting factor, as the CPU’s workload does not increase significantly with resolution. The data shows that the i5-9400 provides a solid foundation for the RTX 4070, allowing the GPU to deliver high frame rates without being starved of data, although it does prevent the system from achieving the highest possible frame rates at 1080p.