Hard West

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Hard West with the Intel Core i7-12700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER reveals a clear progression of performance as resolution increases. At 1080p with Low settings, the combination achieves 173.2 FPS, which drops to 108.6 FPS at 1440p, and further to 59.2 FPS at 4K. This represents a 37% reduction in frame rate when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and a 45% reduction when moving from 1440p to 4K. The scaling pattern indicates that at lower resolutions, the CPU is more likely to be the limiting factor, as the frame rates are high enough that the GPU has headroom to spare.

However, the picture changes dramatically when examining the Ultra settings. At 1080p Ultra, the combo produces 80.1 FPS, which drops to 52.8 FPS at 1440p, and then plummets to 25.6 FPS at 4K. The transition from 1440p to 4K at Ultra settings shows a 52% performance loss, which is steeper than the 37% loss seen at Low settings. This suggests that as graphical fidelity increases, the GPU becomes the dominant bottleneck. The RTX 2070 SUPER, with its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth, is being pushed to its limits at 4K Ultra, where the game demands more from the rendering pipeline than the card can deliver.

The data shows a consistent pattern: the gap between Low and Ultra settings widens as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 93.1 FPS (173.2 vs 80.1), while at 4K, the difference is only 33.6 FPS (59.2 vs 25.6). This narrowing at higher resolutions is a classic sign of GPU saturation. The turn-based tactical nature of Hard West may not require the same frame rate headroom as fast-paced shooters, but the benchmark results still indicate that players seeking smooth 4K performance will need to compromise on settings, while 1080p and 1440p offer more flexibility.

How This Combo Ranks

In the overall database of tested hardware combinations, this pairing of the Intel Core i7-12700K with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER ranks 1046 out of 1699 combos in Hard West. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the ranking distribution, which is notable given the individual components' standings. The CPU itself sits in the 89th percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 35684, while the GPU is in the 65th percentile among all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 22206. The discrepancy between the CPU's high percentile and the combo's relatively modest rank suggests that the GPU is the constraining factor in this pairing.

Looking at the CPU's nearest rivals, the Intel Core i7-12700K is nearly matched by the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845, which scores 35802, a delta of -0.3%. The Intel Core i7-13700T scores 35468, a 0.6% delta, and the Intel Core i7-13800H scores 35416, a 0.8% delta. These differences are negligible, indicating that the processor's performance is well within the expected range for its class. However, when examining the GPU's nearest rivals, the NVIDIA RTX A400 scores 22307, a -0.5% delta from the RTX 2070 SUPER, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z scores 22006, a 0.9% delta. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile scores 22729, a -2.3% delta, and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 scores 21670, a 2.5% delta. These close margins suggest that the RTX 2070 SUPER is competently positioned among its contemporaries, but the combined rank of 1046 out of 1699 indicates that many other configurations offer better performance in this specific title.

The rank percentile is particularly telling when compared to the individual component percentiles. A combo ranking in the 38th percentile (1046/1699) while the CPU sits in the 89th percentile and the GPU in the 65th percentile implies that Hard West may not scale perfectly with the raw compute power of these components, or that the game's engine has limitations that prevent the hardware from reaching its full potential.

FAQ

*Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable with this combo in Hard West?*

A: The highest recorded average FPS is 173.2, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

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

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the combo achieves an average of 25.6 FPS, which is below the generally accepted threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: What is the performance difference between 1080p and 1440p at High settings?

A: At High settings, the combo delivers 109.3 FPS at 1080p and 70.5 FPS at 1440p, representing a 35.5% reduction in frame rate.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be the bottleneck at lower resolutions?

A: At 1080p and Low settings, the high frame rate of 173.2 FPS suggests the CPU is more capable than the GPU, but the GPU still manages to keep up. The data indicates the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher settings and resolutions.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to all tested configurations?

A: It ranks 1046 out of 1699 combos, placing it in the lower-middle tier of all tested hardware combinations for this game.

Q: What is the frame rate at 1440p Medium settings?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the combo achieves an average of 92.5 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for Hard West with this hardware combination covers three resolutions and four quality settings. At 1920x1080, the combo achieves 173.2 FPS on Low, 143.6 FPS on Medium, 109.3 FPS on High, and 80.1 FPS on Ultra. These numbers demonstrate a smooth scaling curve, with each step up in settings costing roughly 20-30% of the frame rate. The 1080p results indicate that this configuration is more than capable of handling the game at high refresh rates, even at Ultra settings where it still exceeds 60 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drops predictably. Low settings yield 108.6 FPS, Medium produces 92.5 FPS, High delivers 70.5 FPS, and Ultra falls to 52.8 FPS. The 1440p results show that the combo remains playable at all settings except Ultra, which dips below the 60 FPS threshold. At 3840x2160, the performance takes a significant hit. Low settings produce 59.2 FPS, Medium delivers 45.5 FPS, High achieves 36.2 FPS, and Ultra drops to 25.6 FPS. These 4K numbers reveal that the RTX 2070 SUPER struggles to maintain playable frame rates at the highest resolution, even at Low settings where it barely exceeds 60 FPS.

The data shows a consistent pattern across all resolutions: the jump from Medium to High costs roughly 20-25% of the frame rate, while the jump from High to Ultra costs another 25-30%. This suggests that the graphical settings in Hard West have a substantial impact on GPU load, particularly at higher resolutions. The lack of min or max FPS data in the measurements means that frame time consistency cannot be assessed, but the average values provide a clear picture of overall performance.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER plays a critical role in determining the performance ceiling of this combination in Hard West. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, the card offers 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is essential for handling the texture and geometry data at higher resolutions. The GPU's base clock of 1605 MHz and boost clock of 1770 MHz are relatively modest by modern standards, but they are sufficient to push the card to a passmark G3D score of 18169 and a passmark GPU compute score of 7557.

The GPU's nearest rival, the NVIDIA RTX A400, scores slightly higher at 22307, a -0.5% delta, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z scores 22006, a 0.9% delta. These close margins indicate that the RTX 2070 SUPER is well-matched against its immediate competitors. However, the benchmark results for Hard West show that the GPU's 8 GB VRAM capacity is being stressed at 4K Ultra settings, where the frame rate drops to 25.6 FPS. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1651 further underscores the card's mid-range positioning in the current hardware landscape.

The GPU's architecture, based on Turing and manufactured on a 12 nm process at TSMC, provides 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. These specifications translate to a pixel rate of 113.3 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 283.2 GTexel/s, which are adequate for the turn-based tactical gameplay of Hard West. The card's 9.062 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 18.12 TFLOPS of FP16 performance (2:1 ratio) indicate that it has sufficient compute power for the game's rendering requirements, but the 4K Ultra results show that the card is operating at its limits. The 65th percentile ranking among all GPUs confirms that while the RTX 2070 SUPER is a capable card, it is not positioned to deliver high-end 4K performance in demanding titles.