Hard West

# How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-13700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 ranks 667th out of 3,722 tested combos in Hard West, placing it in the top 18% of all system configurations. This is a strong showing for a turn-based tactics title that rarely stresses modern hardware to its limits.

The combination's position reflects a balanced pairing where neither component dramatically bottlenecks the other in this specific game. With the CPU sitting at the 89th percentile among all processors and the GPU at the 82nd percentile among all graphics cards, the system delivers a level of performance that comfortably exceeds what Hard West requires for smooth gameplay at most settings.

What stands out is that the GPU's average benchmark score of 40,377 places it nearly identical to the AMD Radeon Pro 580 (40,318, a 0.1% delta) and the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 (40,063, a 0.8% delta). The RTX 5070 edges out these rivals by margins that are effectively negligible in real-world terms, though it trails the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 by 1.2% and the NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile by 2%. These tight margins suggest that in Hard West, the GPU's raw compute capabilities are not the primary differentiator at lower resolutions.

The CPU side shows a similar pattern. The Core i7-13700K's average benchmark score of 46,881 is bracketed by the AMD Ryzen 9 5900 (46,971, -0.2% delta) and the AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX (46,654, 0.5% delta). This places the Intel chip in a virtual tie with its closest competitors, indicating that processor choice has minimal impact on frame rates in this title once a reasonably modern CPU is in place.

GPU Role

The RTX 5070 brings 12 GB of GDDR7 memory across a 192-bit bus, delivering 672.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory runs at 1750 MHz with 28 Gbps effective speed, complemented by a base clock of 2325 MHz and a boost clock of 2512 MHz. These specifications are more than adequate for Hard West, a game from 2015 that was designed around far less capable graphics hardware.

In benchmark terms, the GPU scores 29,137 in Passmark G3D and 15,787 in Passmark GPU Compute. Its Vulkan score of 178,923 and OpenCL score of 172,660 from Geekbench suggest strong API versatility, though Hard West's age means it likely relies on older DirectX paths. The Passmark DirectX 11 score of 277 and DirectX 12 score of 108 indicate that the card handles legacy workloads competently, with the DirectX 10 score of 180 showing adequate support for the era when this game launched.

The 82nd percentile ranking among all GPUs means the RTX 5070 outperforms the vast majority of installed graphics cards. In Hard West specifically, the measured frame rates show the GPU becoming the limiting factor primarily at 4K resolution with higher quality presets. At 1080p, the card produces frame rates well beyond what any display can show, with the lowest measured average being 129 FPS at Ultra settings.

The 48 ray tracing cores and 192 tensor cores are architectural features that Hard West does not utilize, given its pre-2015 engine. Similarly, the 6,144 shading units and 192 texture mapping units deliver raw throughput that the game's simple geometry and lighting models cannot fully exploit. The 80 raster output units provide the pixel pushing capability that becomes relevant at 4K, where the 43 FPS average at Ultra settings indicates the card is working harder to fill those pixels.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear scaling pattern across resolutions. At 1080p, the system delivers 274 FPS at Low settings, 224 FPS at Medium, 172 FPS at High, and 129 FPS at Ultra. Moving to 1440p, these numbers drop to 173 FPS at Low, 142 FPS at Medium, 109 FPS at High, and 82 FPS at Ultra. At 4K, the frame rates fall further to 91 FPS at Low, 74 FPS at Medium, 57 FPS at High, and 43 FPS at Ultra.

The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows roughly a 37% reduction in frame rates across all settings, while the jump from 1440p to 4K produces about a 48% reduction. This pattern indicates that the system becomes progressively more GPU-bound as resolution increases, which is expected behavior for a turn-based tactics game that relies heavily on scene complexity rather than dynamic effects.

At 1080p Low, the 274 FPS average suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU far more frames than the graphics card can render, but the GPU still manages to process them all. The fact that 1080p Ultra produces 129 FPS while 4K Low produces 91 FPS demonstrates that resolution has a more significant impact on performance than quality settings in this title. Going from Low to Ultra at 1080p costs 145 FPS, while going from 1080p to 4K at Low costs 183 FPS.

The 4K Ultra result of 43 FPS is the only measurement that falls below the 60 FPS threshold typically considered smooth gameplay. This suggests that the limiting component at 4K Ultra is the GPU, as the CPU's performance headroom becomes irrelevant when the GPU is struggling to fill 8.3 million pixels per frame. At 1080p and 1440p, the system has ample performance for Hard West regardless of settings, with even the most demanding configuration at 1440p producing 82 FPS.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for playing Hard West with this hardware?

A: The data shows that 1440p offers an excellent balance, with 109 FPS at High settings and 82 FPS at Ultra. At 1080p, frame rates exceed 129 FPS even at Ultra, while 4K drops to 57 FPS at High and 43 FPS at Ultra, which may be less desirable for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the RTX 5070 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in overall performance?

A: The RTX 5070's average benchmark score of 40,377 is nearly identical to the AMD Radeon Pro 580 (40,318, 0.1% delta) and the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 (40,063, 0.8% delta). It trails the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 (40,870, -1.2% delta) and the NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile (39,568, 2% delta) by small margins.

Q: Is the Core i7-13700K a bottleneck for the RTX 5070 in Hard West?

A: Benchmark results indicate no significant bottleneck. The CPU's 89th percentile ranking and 16 cores with 24 threads provide substantial headroom. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 274 FPS, suggesting the CPU can push frame rates far beyond what most displays can show, and the GPU becomes the limiting factor only at 4K.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 4K with medium settings?

A: The measured data shows 74 FPS average at 4K Medium, with minimum frame rates of 63 FPS and maximum of 86 FPS. This is playable and represents a good compromise between visual quality and smoothness for those who prioritize 4K resolution.

Q: How does the CPU's multi-threaded performance compare to its rivals?

A: The Core i7-13700K scores 30,745 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 45,887 in Passmark multithread. Its average benchmark score of 46,881 is within 0.5% of the AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX (46,654) and Intel Xeon w3-2535 (46,653), and within 0.3% of the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375 (47,022).

Q: Does Hard West benefit more from CPU or GPU upgrades?

A: Based on the resolution scaling data, the GPU becomes the limiting factor at 4K, where frame rates drop to 43 FPS at Ultra. At 1080p and 1440p, the system delivers high frame rates across all settings, indicating that the current GPU is sufficient and further CPU upgrades would yield minimal gains in this game.

Settings Recommendations

For 4K displays, the Medium preset at 74 FPS average offers the best experience among the measured configurations. It maintains frame rates above 60 FPS with minimums of 63 FPS, providing smooth gameplay without the 43 FPS penalty of Ultra settings. The High preset at 57 FPS is marginally below the 60 FPS threshold, making Medium the clear choice for 4K users who want consistent performance.

At 1440p, the Ultra preset at 82 FPS average delivers the full visual experience while remaining comfortably above 60 FPS. Users with high refresh rate monitors may prefer the High preset at 109 FPS, which still provides excellent visual quality while nearly doubling the refresh headroom. The Medium preset at 142 FPS is suitable for those prioritizing maximum smoothness, though it sacrifices some visual fidelity.

For 1080p, even the Ultra preset at 129 FPS provides ample performance for high refresh rate displays. The High preset at 172 FPS is the recommended starting point for most users, as it balances visual quality with the frame rate headroom needed for 144Hz or 165Hz monitors. The Medium preset at 224 FPS and Low preset at 274 FPS offer diminishing returns for competitive play, but Hard West is a turn-based tactics game where such extreme frame rates provide no gameplay advantage.

The measured data shows that the Low preset at any resolution produces playable frame rates, with 91 FPS at 4K, 173 FPS at 1440p, and 274 FPS at 1080p. However, given the game's age and the hardware's capability, there is little reason to use Low settings unless targeting specific minimum frame rate goals. The Medium preset provides the best balance of visual fidelity and performance across all resolutions, with the High preset being a reasonable alternative for those who prioritize image quality over frame rate headroom.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K features 16 cores and 24 threads, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.40 GHz. This Raptor Lake-S architecture processor, built on Intel's 10 nm process, includes 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 2 MB of L2 cache per core, and 30 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory across a dual-channel bus, with 20 PCIe Gen 5 lanes available for expansion.

In synthetic benchmarks, the processor demonstrates strong multi-threaded performance with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 30,745 and a single-core score of 2,116. The 3DMark suite shows scaling from 1,136 in single-thread tests to 12,412 in max-thread tests, with 16-thread performance at 10,717. Passmark results reinforce this pattern, with a multi-thread score of 45,887 and single-thread score of 4,333.

For Hard West specifically, the CPU's role is largely secondary to the GPU. The game's turn-based nature means that frame rates are less sensitive to CPU performance than in real-time genres. The measured data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 274 FPS, which suggests the CPU is delivering frames faster than the GPU can render them. This indicates that the Core i7-13700K has significant headroom even in scenarios designed to minimize GPU load.

The processor's 89th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 46,881, places it in elite company. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 5900 (46,971, -0.2% delta) and the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375 (47,022, -0.3% delta), both of which perform within statistical noise of the Intel chip. The Intel Xeon w3-2535 and AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX trail by 0.5%, further confirming that this processor is not a limiting factor in Hard West.

The 125 W TDP and unlocked multiplier allow for overclocking potential, though the measured performance already exceeds the game's requirements. The integrated UHD Graphics 770 provides a fallback display output, though the discrete RTX 5070 handles all rendering duties in this configuration. With 24 threads available, the CPU can easily manage any background tasks while maintaining high frame rates in Hard West, making it a suitable foundation for this gaming build.