Hard West

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER delivers a highly playable experience in Hard West, a turn-based tactics title from 2015. The measured data shows this combination is well-suited for high-refresh-rate monitors at 1080p, while remaining capable at higher resolutions with appropriate settings adjustments. The benchmark results indicate a clear scaling pattern across resolutions and presets, with the system demonstrating its strengths in lower and medium settings, where frame rates exceed 100 FPS at mainstream resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

The optimal settings preset depends primarily on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the data shows that the High preset offers the best balance, achieving an average of 101.8 FPS. This is a significant jump from the Medium preset's 127.4 FPS, but the High preset still provides a smooth experience well above the 60 FPS threshold. While the Ultra preset at 1080p yields 76.1 FPS, which is still playable, the High preset provides a substantial performance buffer for a relatively minor visual compromise, making it the recommended choice for most users.

For 2560x1440, the Medium preset is the sensible recommendation, delivering an average of 82 FPS. This maintains fluidity while offering a noticeable visual upgrade over the Low preset, which achieves 100.1 FPS. The High preset at this resolution drops to 59.6 FPS, which is borderline for smooth gameplay, and the Ultra preset falls to 47.1 FPS, which may feel less responsive. The Medium preset ensures the frame rate remains comfortably above 60 FPS, providing the best experience per the measured rows.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles to maintain high frame rates across all presets. The Low preset is the only one that approaches playability, with an average of 52.6 FPS. The Medium preset drops to 46 FPS, and the High preset falls to 35.9 FPS. The Ultra preset is effectively unplayable at 24.1 FPS. Therefore, for 4K gaming, the Low preset is the only viable option for a somewhat consistent experience, though users may prefer to lower the resolution to 1440p for a better balance of visual quality and performance.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER plays a pivotal role in determining the frame rates observed in Hard West. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, is more than sufficient for a game of this era, ensuring that memory capacity is not a bottleneck at any of the tested settings. The GPU's Turing architecture, with its base clock of 1470 MHz and boost clock of 1650 MHz, provides the raw processing power needed for the game's rendering demands.

The benchmark data shows a clear correlation between GPU load and performance scaling. As resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, the average frame rates across all presets drop significantly, indicating that the GPU is the limiting factor at higher pixel counts. For instance, at the High preset, the average FPS falls from 101.8 at 1080p to 59.6 at 1440p, and further to 35.9 at 4K. This pattern is consistent across all settings, demonstrating that the RTX 2060 SUPER is well-matched for 1080p and 1440p gaming but is outpaced by the demands of 4K resolution in this title.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i7-12700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER achieves a combo rank of 1181 out of 1699 combos. This places it in the lower third of all tested system configurations, suggesting that while it is a capable setup, there are many more powerful combinations available. The ranking reflects the GPU's mid-range positioning, as the CPU is a high-end part, but the overall system is held back by the graphics card's performance ceiling.

The CPU itself, the i7-12700KF, is a top-tier processor, ranking in the 89th percentile against all CPUs. Its nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i5-14400 and Intel Core i9-12900HX, are within a 0.3% performance delta, indicating that the CPU is not a bottleneck in this system. Conversely, the RTX 2060 SUPER sits in the 63rd percentile against all GPUs, with its nearest rivals including the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070, which is only 0.5% faster. This data suggests that the GPU is the limiting factor in the combo's overall ranking, and the system's performance in Hard West is likely constrained by the graphics card's capabilities rather than the processor.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a comprehensive look at performance across three resolutions and four quality presets. At 1920x1080, the system delivers excellent results. The Low preset achieves an average of 155.9 FPS, making it exceptionally smooth for fast-paced action. The Medium preset is also highly playable at 127.4 FPS, while the High preset drops to 101.8 FPS, still a very strong result. The Ultra preset, at 76.1 FPS, remains above the 60 FPS threshold, but the performance cost is evident.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates scale down proportionally. The Low preset produces an average of 100.1 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors. The Medium preset follows at 82 FPS, providing a smooth experience. The High preset delivers 59.6 FPS, which is just below the ideal 60 FPS mark, while the Ultra preset falls to 47.1 FPS, a significant drop that may affect gameplay fluidity. The data shows a clear performance tiering, with the gap between Medium and High being more pronounced at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the system is clearly pushed to its limits. The Low preset manages an average of 52.6 FPS, which is playable but not ideal. The Medium preset drops to 46 FPS, and the High preset further reduces to 35.9 FPS. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, yielding just 24.1 FPS, which is not a viable setting for a smooth experience. The scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a reduction of roughly 50% or more in frame rates across all presets, highlighting the GPU's limitations at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this system to maintain over 100 FPS?

A: At 1920x1080, both the Low and Medium presets achieve over 127 FPS, with the Low preset reaching 155.9 FPS. At 2560x1440, only the Low preset exceeds 100 FPS, posting 100.1 FPS.

Q: Can this system handle Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: The data shows that the Ultra preset at 2560x1440 yields an average of 47.1 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay. It is playable but may not provide a consistently fluid experience.

Q: How does the CPU performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core i7-12700KF has an average benchmark score of 35355, which is within 0.3% of its nearest rivals, including the Intel Core i5-14400 and Intel Core i9-12900HX. This indicates the CPU is a high-performing part.

Q: Is the GPU a bottleneck at 4K resolution?

A: Yes, the benchmark results indicate that at 3840x2160, even the Low preset only achieves 52.6 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 24.1 FPS. This suggests the GPU is the limiting factor at this resolution.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between High and Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the High preset averages 101.8 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 76.1 FPS. This represents a performance gap of approximately 25 FPS between the two settings.

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

A: This combination of the Intel Core i7-12700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER ranks 1181st out of 1699 tested combos, placing it in the lower third of all configurations in the database.