Hard West

# Hardware Analysis: Intel Core i7-12700KF + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 in Hard West

This combo of the Intel Core i7-12700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 delivers a fundamentally playable experience in Hard West, a turn-based tactics title from 2015. The benchmark data shows a pairing where the CPU's substantial headroom — it sits in the 89th percentile of all CPUs — contrasts with a GPU that lands in the 58th percentile, creating a system that is clearly GPU-limited at higher resolutions but capable of smooth frame rates at 1080p across most settings.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this system in Hard West?*

A: The data shows 1920x1080 at High settings delivers 92.6 FPS average, which is smooth. However, 1440p at High (57.9 FPS) is also viable, though 1440p Ultra dips to 41 FPS, suggesting High is the sweet spot for quality versus fluidity.

Q: How does the frame rate scale when moving from 1080p to 4K?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 92.6 at 1080p to 57.9 at 1440p (a 37.5% reduction) and then to 30.3 at 4K (a further 47.7% reduction from 1440p). This steep decline indicates the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck as pixel count increases.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to limit performance in this game?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor. The i7-12700KF scores 28,979 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 4,091 in single-core, placing it far above the requirements of a 2015 tactical title. The RTX 2060, with its 6 GB GDDR6 memory and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth, is the component that struggles at 4K Ultra, where FPS falls to 22.2.

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

A: At 1920x1080, Low settings produce 142 FPS average, while Ultra produces 69.3 FPS. This represents a 51.2% performance drop when moving from the absolute minimum to maximum quality presets, indicating the game scales heavily with visual fidelity settings.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations?

A: The combo ranks 1394th out of 1699 tested combinations. This places it in the lower half of all systems tested, which is consistent with the RTX 2060's moderate position relative to modern GPUs, despite the CPU's high percentile ranking.

*Q: Is the RTX 2060's 6 GB VRAM sufficient for Hard West at high resolutions?*

A: The data suggests yes, as the game runs at 4K High with 30.3 FPS average. However, the significant frame rate drop from 4K Medium (40.1 FPS) to 4K Ultra (22.2 FPS) hints that memory bandwidth or capacity may contribute to the Ultra preset's poor performance.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF is a 12-core, 20-thread processor based on Alder Lake architecture, built on a 10 nm process. Its base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 5.00 GHz provide substantial single-thread performance, as evidenced by its Geekbench single-core score of 2,526 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4,091. For a turn-based tactics game like Hard West, which typically relies more on single-thread performance for AI pathfinding and game logic, this CPU is severely overqualified.

The data supports this assessment. The CPU's multi-threaded scores, such as 28,979 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 34,092 in Passmark multithread, are far beyond what a 2015 title would utilize. The nearest rivals — Intel Core i5-14400 (deltaPct 0.1%), Intel Core i7-13800H (deltaPct -0.2%), Intel Core i9-12900HX (deltaPct 0.2%), and Intel Core i5-13600T (deltaPct 0.3%) — all have nearly identical average benchmark scores, confirming the i7-12700KF sits in a performance plateau where small differences are negligible.

In Hard West, the CPU's role is to ensure the game never becomes processor-bound. With 20 threads and a high boost clock, the i7-12700KF can easily handle the game's logic, turn calculations, and any background tasks. The measured FPS data shows no scenario where the CPU appears to bottleneck — even at 1080p Low with 142 FPS average, the game remains fluid, suggesting the CPU has ample headroom. The 25 MB shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4/DDR5 memory support further ensure that memory latency is not an issue for this workload.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 1394th out of 1699 tested combinations, placing it in the 18th percentile of all systems in the database. This low ranking is striking given the CPU's strong individual performance (89th percentile of all CPUs). The discrepancy highlights the GPU's role as the limiting factor. The RTX 2060's 58th percentile ranking among GPUs, combined with its average benchmark score of 16,074, drags the overall combo ranking down significantly.

The nearest GPU rivals — AMD Radeon RX 7600S (deltaPct 0.5%), AMD Radeon Pro 5600M (deltaPct -1.7%), AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (deltaPct -1.7%), and AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (deltaPct 1.8%) — all have similar average scores, indicating the RTX 2060 is in a crowded mid-range segment. For a game like Hard West, this ranking is not necessarily a problem; the combo still delivers playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p. However, the 4K Ultra result of 22.2 FPS average shows the system's limitations at the absolute maximum settings.

The ranking also reflects the age of the components relative to modern hardware. The CPU was released on 2021-11-03, while the GPU launched on 2019-01-06. Both are EOL or approaching it (GPU is marked end-of-life), which explains why this combo sits lower in the rankings compared to newer configurations.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system performs admirably across all presets. Low settings produce 142 FPS average, Medium delivers 116.4 FPS, High achieves 92.6 FPS, and Ultra drops to 69.3 FPS. All of these are above the 60 FPS threshold, making 1080p a fully playable resolution regardless of settings. The gap between Low and Ultra is 72.7 FPS, showing that the game's visual settings have a substantial impact on performance.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain respectable but begin to show strain. Low settings deliver 91.1 FPS, Medium produces 75.6 FPS, and High achieves 57.9 FPS. Ultra drops to 41 FPS, which is below the ideal 60 FPS target. The transition from High to Ultra at this resolution costs 16.9 FPS, a 29.2% reduction that may not justify the visual gains.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles with higher presets. Low settings produce 44.4 FPS, Medium delivers 40.1 FPS, and High achieves 30.3 FPS. Ultra drops to 22.2 FPS, which is borderline unplayable for most users. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 22.2 FPS, exactly half the 1080p difference, indicating the GPU is being overwhelmed at this resolution.

The data shows a consistent pattern: each increase in resolution results in a roughly 50% reduction in FPS at the same settings, confirming the GPU is the dominant performance constraint.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is based on the TU106 chip, built on TSMC's 12 nm process with 10,800 million transistors. It features 1,920 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 48 ROPs, with a base clock of 1365 MHz and boost clock of 1680 MHz. The 6 GB GDDR6 memory runs at 14 Gbps effective across a 192-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s. The GPU supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), which is more than sufficient for a 2015 title like Hard West.

The RTX 2060's benchmark scores show its mid-range position. Its Passmark G3D score of 14,111 and Geekbench OpenCL score of 71,278 place it below more modern GPUs. The nearest rivals all have similar average scores, with the AMD Radeon RX 7600S being just 0.5% ahead. For Hard West, the GPU's 6 GB VRAM is adequate, as the game does not appear to exceed this capacity even at 4K Ultra, though the low FPS at that setting suggests the GPU's compute power is the limiting factor.

The GPU's role in Hard West is to handle the game's rendering, including the dark, moody Western environments and character models. The data shows the GPU can comfortably handle 1080p at all settings and 1440p at Low through High. However, 4K Ultra proves too demanding, with the 22.2 FPS average indicating the GPU is fully saturated. The GPU's 1x 8-pin power connector and 160 W TDP suggest it is a modest power draw, but this does not affect in-game performance.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience, the data points to 1920x1080 at High settings as the optimal balance of visual quality and performance. At 92.6 FPS average, this configuration provides smooth gameplay that exceeds the 60 FPS target, while High settings offer a significant visual upgrade over Medium (116.4 FPS) without the steep performance penalty of Ultra (69.3 FPS). The 23.2 FPS difference between High and Ultra at 1080p is substantial, and the visual gains from Ultra may not justify the frame rate drop.

For users prioritizing maximum frame rates, 1920x1080 at Low settings delivers 142 FPS, which is ideal for competitive play — though Hard West is a turn-based tactics game where such high FPS is less critical. Alternatively, 2560x1440 at High settings (57.9 FPS) is a viable option for users with 1440p monitors, providing a sharper image while remaining near the 60 FPS threshold. The data suggests avoiding Ultra settings at 1440p (41 FPS) and 4K (22.2 FPS), as the performance drops below acceptable levels.

The 4K resolution should only be considered with Low settings (44.4 FPS) or Medium (40.1 FPS), and even then, the frame rates are below ideal. For most users, 1080p High or 1440p High will provide the best overall experience.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals clear insights into the system's bottleneck. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 92.6 at 1080p to 57.9 at 1440p (a 37.5% decrease) and then to 30.3 at 4K (a 47.7% decrease from 1440p). This nearly linear decline as pixel count increases is the hallmark of a GPU-limited system. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rates would remain similar across resolutions, as the CPU workload stays constant regardless of resolution.

The data confirms the GPU is the limiting component. The RTX 2060's 336.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 6.451 TFLOPS FP32 performance are simply not sufficient to maintain high frame rates at 4K, especially at Ultra settings where the frame rate falls to 22.2 FPS. The CPU, with its 89th percentile ranking and robust benchmark scores, has ample headroom that remains untapped in this game.

This scaling behavior implies that users with 4K displays should stick to Low or Medium settings, while those with 1080p or 1440p displays can enjoy higher presets. The system's overall ranking of 1394th out of 1699 combos reflects this GPU limitation, but for a game like Hard West, the combination of a strong CPU and mid-range GPU still delivers a playable experience across most of the tested configurations.