Hard West

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 delivers a strong turn-based tactics experience in Hard West, but the performance profile is heavily dictated by resolution and settings. At 1080p, the combo is overwhelmingly CPU-bound at lower presets, while at 4K, the GPU becomes the clear limiting factor. The data indicates that the RTX 4070’s 12 GB VRAM and Ada Lovelace architecture are sufficient for high refresh rates at 1440p, but the most demanding Ultra preset at 4K will challenge the system.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a classic resolution scaling curve that shifts the bottleneck between components. At 1080p with Low settings, the system produces 257.1 FPS, which drops to 164.5 FPS at 1440p (a 36% reduction) and further to 88.1 FPS at 4K (a 66% reduction from 1080p). This steep decline at higher resolutions is the signature of a GPU-limited scenario; the RTX 4070 is being pushed harder as pixel count increases.

Conversely, the gap between 1080p and 1440p at High settings is less severe: 163.6 FPS versus 103.5 FPS, a 37% drop. The pattern suggests that at 1080p Low, the Intel Core i7-12700KF with its 12 cores and 20 threads is capable of feeding frames faster than the GPU can render them, making the RTX 4070 the constraint. At 4K Ultra, the system falls to 39.7 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, indicating that the GPU’s compute resources are saturated.

The scaling from Medium to High at 4K is notable: 68.7 FPS to 56.1 FPS, an 18% performance hit for higher visual fidelity. This implies that the game’s shading and texture workloads at 4K are substantial enough to erode the RTX 4070’s headroom. For a turn-based tactics title, the 88.1 FPS at 4K Low is still playable, but the data shows that 1440p is the sweet spot for balancing frame rate and quality.

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database, this specific CPU-GPU combination ranks 385th out of 1699 tested combos for Hard West, placing it in the top 23% of all systems. This rank reflects a capable pairing that outperforms the majority of configurations, though it is not at the extreme high end. The CPU itself sits in the 89th percentile versus all CPUs, while the GPU is in the 81st percentile versus all GPUs, indicating a balanced system where neither component is disproportionately weak.

The CPU’s nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-14400 (deltaPct 0.1), Intel Core i7-13800H (deltaPct -0.2), and Intel Core i9-12900HX (deltaPct 0.2). The i7-12700KF’s average benchmark score of 35355 is statistically tied with these chips, meaning the in-game rank is more influenced by the GPU and game-specific optimization than raw processor power. For the GPU, the RTX 4070’s nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (deltaPct -0.6), NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A (deltaPct -1.9), and RTX 4080 Mobile (deltaPct -2.2). These deltas are small, suggesting that the RTX 4070’s performance in Hard West is within a few percent of these alternatives, which is surprising given the architectural differences.

The combo rank of 385 out of 1699 means that 1314 other combinations deliver higher FPS in this game, likely due to more powerful GPUs or CPUs. However, for a turn-based tactics game released in 2015, this rank is more than adequate, as the genre does not require the extreme frame rates demanded by fast-paced shooters.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 2560x1440 as the optimal resolution. At High settings, it delivers 103.5 FPS, which is well above 60 FPS, while 4K High only achieves 56.1 FPS.

Q: How does the Ultra preset affect performance at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Ultra settings yield 120.2 FPS. This is 47 FPS lower than High settings (163.6 FPS), showing a significant cost for the highest visual quality.

Q: Is the RTX 4070’s 12 GB VRAM sufficient for 4K?

A: Yes, based on the measured 4K results. The GPU achieves 88.1 FPS at Low and 39.7 FPS at Ultra, indicating VRAM is not a limiting factor, but compute performance is.

Q: How does this combo compare to the RTX 4070’s nearest rival?

A: The RTX 4070’s average benchmark score is 37283, which is 0.6% lower than the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56’s 37507. This is a negligible difference in synthetic tests, but in-game results may vary.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1440p Medium?

A: The measured average FPS at 2560x1440 with Medium settings is 130.9 FPS, which is smooth and responsive for turn-based gameplay.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 1080p Low?

A: The 257.1 FPS at 1080p Low suggests the GPU is the limiting factor, as the i7-12700KF’s 20 threads are not fully utilized at this low graphical load.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience, the data strongly favors the High preset at 2560x1440. This combination yields 103.5 FPS, which is above the 100 FPS threshold and provides a significant visual upgrade over Medium (130.9 FPS) without the steep cost of Ultra (78.6 FPS). The delta between High and Medium is 27.4 FPS, but the visual fidelity gain from Medium to High is typically more noticeable in a tactics game where static scenes are scrutinized.

At 1080p, High is also recommended, delivering 163.6 FPS. This is 43.8 FPS lower than Low (257.1 FPS) but 43.4 FPS higher than Ultra (120.2 FPS). The High preset offers the best balance of quality and performance, as Ultra’s 120.2 FPS is still playable but does not justify the 27% performance loss over High. For 4K, the choice is more constrained: Ultra’s 39.7 FPS is below the 60 FPS standard, so High at 56.1 FPS is the highest quality preset that approaches playability. Medium at 68.7 FPS is the recommended 4K preset for those who prioritize frame rate stability.

The data indicates that the game is not demanding enough to require Low settings on this hardware. Even at 4K, Low delivers 88.1 FPS, which is more than sufficient for turn-based tactics. Therefore, users should avoid Low and Medium presets except when targeting extremely high refresh rates (above 144 Hz) at 1080p.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the average FPS scales from 39.7 at Ultra to 88.1 at Low, with Medium at 68.7 and High at 56.1. The progression is nearly linear, with each step down in settings providing a 12-20 FPS improvement. This indicates that the GPU is the primary constraint, as reducing graphical load directly translates to higher frame rates.

At 2560x1440, the numbers are 78.6 FPS at Ultra, 103.5 at High, 130.9 at Medium, and 164.5 at Low. The jump from High to Medium is 27.4 FPS, which is the largest single-step gain, suggesting that High settings introduce a significant computational burden. The 1440p Low result of 164.5 FPS is close to the 1080p High result of 163.6 FPS, reinforcing that the GPU is scaling with resolution.

At 1920x1080, the values are 120.2 FPS at Ultra, 163.6 at High, 207.8 at Medium, and 257.1 at Low. The difference between Low and Medium is 49.3 FPS, while the difference between Medium and High is 44.2 FPS, and High to Ultra is 43.4 FPS. This near-uniform spacing suggests that each preset tier adds a consistent workload, and the CPU is not a bottleneck at this resolution, as even the highest settings exceed 120 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF features 12 cores and 20 threads, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. Its architecture is Alder Lake, which combines performance and efficiency cores, and it has 25 MB of shared L3 cache. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 28979 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 4091 in single-core, placing it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs.

In Hard West, the CPU’s role is minimal at higher resolutions because the game is not thread-heavy. The 1080p Low result of 257.1 FPS shows that the CPU can push beyond 250 FPS, but the RTX 4070 cannot keep up, resulting in the GPU being the bottleneck. The 3dmark 16-thread score of 9282 and max-thread score of 9983 indicate strong multi-threaded performance, but a turn-based tactics game from 2015 is unlikely to utilize all 20 threads effectively.

The CPU’s nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i5-14400 (deltaPct 0.1) and Intel Core i9-12900HX (deltaPct 0.2), have nearly identical average scores. This means that in Hard West, the choice of CPU among these models would have a negligible impact on FPS, as the GPU is the determining factor. The 5.00 GHz boost clock ensures that single-threaded game logic runs smoothly, but the data suggests that even a lower-clocked CPU would produce similar results.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process, featuring 5888 shading units and 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus. Its memory bandwidth is 504.2 GB/s, and it has a boost clock of 2475 MHz. The GPU scores 26927 in Passmark G3D and 14720 in Passmark GPU Compute, placing it in the 81st percentile of all GPUs.

In Hard West, the GPU is the primary performance driver at 1440p and 4K. The 4K Ultra result of 39.7 FPS highlights the GPU’s limits, as the 12 GB VRAM is not the constraint but rather the compute throughput. The 4K Low result of 88.1 FPS shows that the GPU can deliver high frame rates when the load is reduced. The GPU’s nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (deltaPct -0.6), has a similar average score, but the RTX 4070’s modern architecture provides better efficiency.

The RTX 4070’s 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores are not relevant for Hard West, as the game does not use ray tracing or DLSS. The 158.4 GPixel/s pixel rate and 455.4 GTexel/s texture rate are more indicative of its rasterization performance. The data shows that the GPU is well-matched to the CPU for this game, as neither component severely bottlenecks the other at the recommended 1440p High settings.