Hard West

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear pattern: Hard West becomes progressively more GPU-bound as resolution climbs, but the RTX 4090's raw throughput keeps even the heaviest preset playable. At 1080p Ultra, the combo delivers 173.2 FPS, which drops to 108.5 FPS at 1440p and further to 56.8 FPS at 4K. That is a 67% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings, indicating that the game's visual effects scale aggressively with pixel count.

The Low preset tells a different story. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 284 FPS, while 1440p Low still manages 229.1 FPS, and 4K Low hits 121.4 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 4K at Low is 57%, a slightly smaller decline than at Ultra. This suggests that at Low settings, the CPU's 12 cores and 20 threads can keep feeding frames at very high rates, but the GPU still bears the brunt of higher resolutions. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 64.6 FPS, whereas at 1080p that gap is 110.8 FPS — the RTX 4090's 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and 384-bit bus help mitigate the memory bandwidth pressure at 4K, but the shading workload still limits performance.

The limiting component shifts based on preset. At 1080p Low, the 284 FPS result approaches the practical ceiling for many displays, and the CPU's single-thread performance (3dmark_single_thread score of 1043) suggests it is not the bottleneck at lower resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the 56.8 FPS result is nearly half the 1080p Ultra figure, confirming that the GPU's 16,384 shading units and 512 TMUs are the primary constraint. The data points to a system that is GPU-limited at 4K across all presets, CPU-limited only at 1080p Low where frame rates exceed what most monitors can display.

FAQ

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

A: The 1440p High setting delivers 143.9 FPS, which balances visual fidelity with a frame rate well above 120 FPS. At 4K High, the system still achieves 76.7 FPS, but the 1440p High result offers a smoother experience without sacrificing much detail.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at the same resolution?

A: At 4K, Ultra drops to 56.8 FPS versus 76.7 FPS on High, a 26% reduction. At 1440p, Ultra runs at 108.5 FPS compared to 143.9 FPS on High, and at 1080p, Ultra hits 173.2 FPS versus 226.9 FPS. The Ultra preset costs roughly 30-35% performance across resolutions.

Q: Is the RTX 4090 overkill for this game?

A: At 1080p Low, the system produces 284 FPS, which exceeds the refresh rate of most monitors. The GPU's 91st percentile ranking among all GPUs and its 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 throughput are far beyond what Hard West requires at lower settings, but the 4K Ultra result of 56.8 FPS shows that the game can still stress top-tier hardware at maximum settings.

Q: Does the CPU matter for this game's performance?

A: The i7-12700K's 3dmark_max_threads score of 9979 and Cinebench R23 multicore score of 29241 indicate strong multi-threaded capacity. However, at 1080p Low, the 284 FPS result suggests the CPU is not a limiting factor, as frame rates are extremely high. The CPU's 89th percentile ranking among all CPUs puts it above average but not at the top.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Medium settings?

A: At 1080p, Low runs at 284 FPS and Medium at 264.6 FPS, a 19.4 FPS difference. At 1440p, Low hits 229.1 FPS and Medium 190.4 FPS. At 4K, Low reaches 121.4 FPS and Medium 97.8 FPS. The gap widens at higher resolutions, indicating Medium adds more GPU load.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: This setup ranks 30th out of 1,699 tested combos in Hard West, placing it in the top 2% of all configurations. The rank reflects the combination of the RTX 4090's high GPU score and the i7-12700K's strong CPU performance.

GPU Role

The RTX 4090's specifications explain the measured FPS results across Hard West's presets. Its 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus provides 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for 4K rendering. The 4K High result of 76.7 FPS and 4K Ultra of 56.8 FPS show that the game's higher presets demand substantial memory throughput, and the GPU's bandwidth is sufficient to keep frame rates playable at 4K.

The clock speeds matter for lower resolutions. The base clock of 2235 MHz and boost clock of 2520 MHz allow the GPU to maintain high utilization at 1080p, where the 226.9 FPS High result and 284 FPS Low result are achieved. The 10,240 CUDA cores (implied by the 16,384 shading units) process the game's geometry efficiently, and the 176 ROPs handle pixel output at high rates. The 443.5 GPixel/s pixel rate and 1,290.2 GTexel/s texture rate directly correlate with the game's ability to sustain high FPS at 1440p Medium (190.4 FPS) and 1440p High (143.9 FPS).

The GPU's 91st percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 66,473, places it well above typical hardware. Its nearest rivals include the Tesla T4 (0.4% lower avg score) and the Quadro P6000 (1.3% lower), but the RTX 4090's gaming-specific architecture — including 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores — is not directly leveraged by Hard West's turn-based mechanics. Instead, the raw rasterization power drives the results. The 5 nm process node and 76,300 million transistors allow for the high clock speeds and massive shader count, which translate to the measured FPS gains from Low to Ultra settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates across all presets. Low runs at 284 FPS, Medium at 264.6 FPS, High at 226.9 FPS, and Ultra at 173.2 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra is a 39% drop, indicating that the Ultra preset's additional effects — likely more detailed shadows and post-processing — cost 110.8 FPS at 1080p. The 1440p results show a similar pattern but with lower absolute numbers: Low at 229.1 FPS, Medium at 190.4 FPS, High at 143.9 FPS, and Ultra at 108.5 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 120.6 FPS, a larger absolute difference than at 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates drop significantly. Low produces 121.4 FPS, Medium 97.8 FPS, High 76.7 FPS, and Ultra 56.8 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 64.6 FPS, which is smaller in absolute terms than at lower resolutions, but the percentage drop is more severe. The 4K results show that the game's GPU load scales non-linearly with resolution; going from 1440p to 4K at High settings reduces FPS from 143.9 to 76.7, a 47% decrease. At Ultra, the same resolution change drops FPS from 108.5 to 56.8, a 48% reduction.

The data reveals that Medium settings offer a balanced middle ground. At 4K, Medium's 97.8 FPS is 21.4 FPS higher than High, and at 1440p, Medium's 190.4 FPS is 46.5 FPS higher than High. The performance difference between Low and Medium is smaller than between Medium and High, suggesting that the High preset introduces a significant rendering cost. The RTX 4090's 1.01 TB/s bandwidth and 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 performance are sufficient to keep Medium playable at 4K, but the Ultra preset's demands push the GPU to its limits.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data points to Medium as the optimal preset for most users, particularly at 1440p and 4K. At 1440p Medium, the system delivers 190.4 FPS, which is high enough for any modern display and only 38.7 FPS less than Low. At 4K Medium, the 97.8 FPS result is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, and it is 40.9 FPS higher than 4K Ultra's 56.8 FPS. The visual difference between Medium and High is likely noticeable, but the performance gain from choosing Medium over High is substantial: 46.5 FPS at 1440p and 21.4 FPS at 4K.

For users with 1080p displays, High settings at 226.9 FPS are the best choice, as the frame rate is already far above refresh rate limits, and the jump to Ultra only costs 53.7 FPS while providing diminishing returns. At 1440p, High at 143.9 FPS is also viable for 144Hz monitors, but Medium offers a larger safety margin. The Ultra preset is only recommended for users with 4K displays who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate, as the 56.8 FPS result is still playable for a turn-based tactics game where reaction time is not critical.

The Low preset is not recommended unless frame rate is the absolute priority, as the 284 FPS at 1080p and 121.4 FPS at 4K come at the cost of reduced visual quality. The data shows that Medium provides the best balance of performance and fidelity across all resolutions, with the 97.8 FPS at 4K being a particularly strong result for a game of this type. The GPU's 24 GB memory capacity ensures that even at Medium settings, texture quality remains high without risk of VRAM overflow.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K's 12 cores and 20 threads provide ample processing power for Hard West's turn-based logic and AI calculations. The CPU's 3dmark_16_threads score of 9276 and max_threads score of 9979 indicate strong multi-threaded performance, which is relevant for a game that may use multiple threads for enemy turn processing. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 29241 places the CPU in the top tier of desktop processors, and its 89th percentile ranking among all CPUs confirms this.

The single-thread performance is equally important for frame pacing. The 3dmark_single_thread score of 1043 and Cinebench R23 singlecore score of 4128 show that the CPU can handle the game's main thread efficiently. This is evidenced by the 1080p Low result of 284 FPS, which is so high that the CPU's processing speed becomes the potential bottleneck. The base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 5.00 GHz allow the CPU to ramp up quickly during intense scenes, and the 25 MB of shared L3 cache reduces memory latency for frequently accessed game data.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 (0.3% lower avg score) and the Intel Core i7-13700T (0.6% higher avg score), showing that the i7-12700K is competitive with newer and alternative parts. The 10 nm process node and Alder Lake architecture provide efficiency that supports sustained boost clocks. However, in Hard West, the CPU's role is secondary to the GPU at higher resolutions. The 4K results show only a modest FPS drop from 1080p at the same settings, indicating that the CPU is not the limiting factor at 4K. The data suggests that the i7-12700K is more than sufficient for this game, and any frame rate limitations at 4K Ultra come from the GPU's rendering load rather than CPU processing.

How This Combo Ranks

This configuration of the Intel Core i7-12700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 30th out of 1,699 tested combos in Hard West, placing it in the top 1.8% of all systems. The rank reflects the combination of the RTX 4090's 91st percentile GPU score and the i7-12700K's 89th percentile CPU score. While neither component is the absolute highest-ranked in its category, their combination produces excellent results in this game.

The GPU's average benchmark score of 66,473 is 0.4% higher than the Tesla T4 and 0.5% lower than the Tesla P40, but for gaming, the RTX 4090's architecture is better suited to the rasterization-heavy workload of Hard West. The CPU's average benchmark score of 35,684 is 0.3% lower than the Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 and 0.6% higher than the Core i7-13700T, showing that the i7-12700K is competitive with its immediate rivals. The combo's rank of 30 indicates that there are 29 other configurations that perform better, likely featuring higher-end CPUs or multiple GPUs, but the data shows that this setup is well within the high-performance tier.

The measured FPS results support the high rank. At 1440p High, the 143.9 FPS result is more than double the 60 FPS standard, and even at 4K Ultra, the 56.8 FPS result is only slightly below the 60 FPS threshold. The combo's ability to maintain playable frame rates at 4K across all presets is a strong indicator of its overall capability. The rank of 30 out of 1,699 combos means that 98.2% of tested systems perform worse in this game, making this a top-tier configuration for Hard West. The data confirms that the i7-12700K and RTX 4090 pairing is well-matched, with no significant bottleneck at any resolution or preset.