Hard West

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers a commanding performance profile in Hard West, with the data showing that the most balanced experience is achieved at the High preset. Across all tested resolutions, High settings provide a substantial visual upgrade over Medium while maintaining frame rates that are far above playable thresholds. At 4K, High produces an average of 77.5 FPS, which is 18.9 FPS higher than Ultra and 24.1 FPS lower than Medium, representing the optimal trade-off between fidelity and fluidity. The data confirms that this combination is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, while at 1080p the CPU begins to show its influence, yet the sheer headroom of the RTX 4090 ensures that even the most demanding settings remain highly playable.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark results indicate that the High preset is the definitive choice for this combination. At 1920x1080, High delivers an average of 230.2 FPS, which is 30.7 FPS below Medium but 60.4 FPS above Ultra, showing that the visual jump from Medium to High costs relatively little performance. At 2560x1440, High averages 146.3 FPS, a drop of 43.3 FPS from Medium but still 37.1 FPS above Ultra, making it the sweet spot for high-refresh-rate monitors. At 3840x2160, High maintains 77.5 FPS, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, while Ultra dips to 58.6 FPS, risking stutter on standard 60Hz displays.

For users prioritizing maximum frame rates, Low settings at 1080p achieve 284 FPS, but this comes at a significant visual cost that is unnecessary given the hardware's capability. The data shows that Medium at 1080p yields 260.9 FPS, which is nearly as fast as Low while providing better visuals. Ultra settings are only recommended for 1080p and 1440p users with very high refresh rate panels, as the 169.8 FPS at 1080p and 109.2 FPS at 1440p remain excellent, but the 58.6 FPS at 4K falls below the ideal threshold. The verdict is clear: High everywhere.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i7-12700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 27th out of 1699 tested combos in Hard West, placing it in the top 1.6% of all configurations. This exceptional ranking is driven by the RTX 4090's massive rendering capacity, which dominates the game's GPU-bound scenarios. The CPU's contribution is secondary but still meaningful, as the i7-12700KF's 12 cores and 20 threads provide enough processing power to avoid bottlenecking the GPU at lower resolutions.

The ranking data suggests that this combo outperforms the vast majority of alternatives, with only 26 combinations achieving higher average frame rates in this specific title. The i7-12700KF's nearest rivals in general benchmarks, including the Intel Core i5-14400 (0.1% higher average score) and the Intel Core i9-12900HX (0.2% higher), show that the CPU is well-matched to its performance class, but the GPU's dominance is what propels this pairing to its top-tier position. The data indicates that users with this hardware can expect a near-flagship experience in Hard West, with headroom to spare even at 4K resolution.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the dominant component in this pairing, and the benchmark data reflects its overwhelming influence. With 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, the card delivers 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for Hard West's textures and geometry at any resolution. The GPU's boost clock of 2520 MHz and base clock of 2235 MHz, combined with 16,384 shading units, provide the raw compute power that drives the high frame rates observed across all settings.

The data shows a clear scaling pattern that attributes performance differences primarily to the GPU. At 4K, dropping from Ultra to Low increases average FPS from 58.6 to 122.7, a 109% improvement, which indicates that the GPU is fully utilized and that settings have a direct impact on its workload. The RTX 4090's 128 ray tracing cores and 512 tensor cores are not specifically relevant to this turn-based tactics title, but the card's overall architecture ensures that even the most demanding settings remain manageable. The GPU's 91st percentile ranking among all GPUs and its average benchmark score of 66,473 confirm its elite status.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 at High settings provides the best balance, with an average of 146.3 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate displays while maintaining excellent visual quality.

Q: How does the RTX 4090 perform at 4K in this game?

A: At 3840x2160, the RTX 4090 averages 77.5 FPS on High settings, 101.6 FPS on Medium, and 58.6 FPS on Ultra, making High the recommended preset for 4K gaming.

*Q: Is the Intel Core i7-12700KF a bottleneck for the RTX 4090 in Hard West?*

A: The data indicates that the CPU is not a significant bottleneck, as the combo ranks 27th out of 1699, and the i7-12700KF's 12 cores and 20 threads provide ample processing power for this turn-based tactics title.

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

A: At 1920x1080, Low settings average 284 FPS while Ultra averages 169.8 FPS, a difference of 114.2 FPS, showing that Ultra still delivers highly playable performance.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 230.2 at 1080p to 77.5 at 4K, a 66% reduction, which confirms that the game becomes increasingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions.

Q: Does the RTX 4090's 24 GB of VRAM matter for this game?

A: The 24 GB of GDDR6X memory is far more than Hard West requires, but it ensures that there are no memory-related performance drops at any resolution or settings level.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear and consistent scaling pattern across resolutions, with performance dropping significantly as pixel count increases. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 230.2 at 1920x1080 to 146.3 at 2560x1440 (a 36% decrease) and then to 77.5 at 3840x2160 (a 47% decrease from 1440p). This scaling behavior is characteristic of a GPU-bound workload, where the RTX 4090's rendering capacity becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

The data shows that the performance drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial but not catastrophic, with the RTX 4090 maintaining playable frame rates even at the highest resolution. At Low settings, the scaling is similar but with higher absolute values: 284 FPS at 1080p, 232.8 FPS at 1440p, and 122.7 FPS at 4K. The ratio between resolutions remains relatively constant, confirming that the game's rendering pipeline scales predictably with pixel count. This pattern indicates that users with 4K displays should opt for High settings, while those with 1440p or 1080p displays can comfortably use Ultra settings without sacrificing smoothness.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF plays a supporting but essential role in this combination, providing the computational foundation for the RTX 4090's performance. With 12 cores (8 performance and 4 efficiency) and 20 threads, the CPU offers substantial multi-threaded capability, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 28,979 and Passmark multithread score of 34,092. The processor's boost clock of 5.00 GHz and single-thread performance, highlighted by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4,091, ensure that game logic and AI computations are handled efficiently.

In Hard West, a turn-based tactics game, the CPU's role is less demanding than in fast-paced action titles, but the data still shows its influence. At 1080p, where the GPU is less taxed, the frame rates are exceptionally high (284 FPS at Low), suggesting that the CPU can keep up with the GPU's output without becoming a bottleneck. The i7-12700KF's 25 MB of L3 cache and 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core provide fast access to frequently used data, which benefits the game's turn-based decision-making processes. The CPU's 89th percentile ranking among all CPUs and its average benchmark score of 35,355 place it in the upper echelon of processors, well-suited to this GPU pairing.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured frame rates provides a comprehensive view of this combo's performance across all resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 284 on Low to 169.8 on Ultra, with Medium at 260.9 and High at 230.2. These numbers show that even at the most demanding settings, the combo delivers frame rates that exceed the refresh rate of most monitors, making 1080p gaming effortless for this hardware.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 232.8 on Low, 189.6 on Medium, 146.3 on High, and 109.2 on Ultra. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a consistent performance cost for each settings tier, with Ultra consuming 53% of the Low setting's frame rate. This resolution offers the best balance for high-refresh-rate gaming, with even Ultra settings maintaining over 100 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the averages drop to 122.7 on Low, 101.6 on Medium, 77.5 on High, and 58.6 on Ultra. The 4K resolution tests the RTX 4090's limits, but the data shows that High settings still provide a smooth experience above 60 FPS. Ultra at 4K dips below 60 FPS, making it the only configuration in the entire dataset that falls short of standard playability thresholds. The overall pattern confirms that this combo is exceptionally capable, with only the most extreme settings at 4K presenting any challenge.