Hard West

The Intel Core i7-14700F and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT pairing delivers a robust experience in Hard West, a turn-based tactics title from 2015. The combination of a high-core-count CPU and a flagship-class GPU ensures that the game runs exceptionally well, particularly at lower resolutions where frame rates exceed the refresh rates of most monitors. Benchmark data shows this combo ranks 304th out of 1,699 tested combinations, placing it in the top 18% of all systems evaluated for this specific title.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 2.10 GHz and can boost up to 5.40 GHz, which provides substantial single-thread performance for game logic. The CPU's 33 MB of shared L3 cache, along with 2 MB of L2 cache per core, helps maintain high data throughput. This processor sits in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, indicating that it outperforms the vast majority of installed processors. Its average benchmark score of 54,097 is nearly identical to that of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X, which scores 54,450, a mere 0.6% difference. The i7-14700F also edges out the Intel Xeon Phi 7290 by 1.2% and the AMD EPYC 7313P by 1.7%, showing it is competitive with workstation-class chips.

In Hard West, which is a turn-based tactics game, the CPU's role is primarily to handle the AI calculations for enemy movement and turn resolution. The high boost clock of 5.40 GHz ensures that these calculations are processed quickly, reducing wait times between turns. The multi-core performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35,443, means that background tasks and game threads are handled without causing frame drops. The processor's 20 cores are more than sufficient for a game of this genre, which typically does not scale beyond a few threads. The data suggests that at 1080p, the CPU is not a bottleneck, as frame rates at that resolution are exceptionally high across all settings.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is a high-end graphics card built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture using a 5 nm process at TSMC. It features 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 800.0 GB/s. The GPU has a base clock of 1387 MHz and a boost clock of 2394 MHz, with a game clock of 2025 MHz. The card's 5,376 shading units and 192 ROPs deliver a pixel rate of 459.6 GPixel/s. In terms of raw compute, it offers 51.48 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. This GPU sits in the 82nd percentile of all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 38,358. Interestingly, its nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile, which scores 38,349, showing a negligible 0% difference. The RX 7900 XT also leads the NVIDIA CMP 70HX by 0.3% and the RTX 4080 Mobile by 0.6%, while trailing the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 by 0.4%.

For Hard West, the GPU is responsible for rendering the isometric environments and character sprites. The game is not graphically demanding by modern standards, so the RX 7900 XT has ample headroom. The 20 GB of VRAM is far more than the game would ever need, but it ensures that even at 4K with Ultra settings, there is no memory pressure. The high boost clock of 2394 MHz allows the card to maintain high frame rates, as seen in the measured FPS data. The GPU's performance in this title is clearly not a limiting factor, as the frame rates at 1080p and 1440p are exceptionally high.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K. At 1080p with High settings, the combo achieves 176.3 FPS, which drops to 108.7 FPS at 1440p and further to 56.8 FPS at 4K. This represents a 38% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 68% drop from 1080p to 4K. The scaling is steeper at higher settings, indicating that the GPU becomes the limiting component as resolution increases.

At Low settings, the frame rates are extremely high, with 274.8 FPS at 1080p, 175.7 FPS at 1440p, and 92.4 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 36%, and from 1080p to 4K is 66%. This suggests that even at Low settings, the GPU is still the primary driver of performance, as the CPU is capable of maintaining these high frame rates without becoming a bottleneck. The difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p is 143.4 FPS, while at 4K, the difference is 48.9 FPS. This indicates that the GPU is more stressed at higher resolutions, where the pixel fill rate becomes more critical. The data clearly shows that the limiting component is the GPU, especially at 4K where the frame rate falls below 60 FPS on High settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four quality settings. The results are as follows:

At 3840x2160 (4K), the combo achieves 56.8 FPS on High, 92.4 FPS on Low, 74.8 FPS on Medium, and 43.5 FPS on Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra is 48.9 FPS, which is significant and shows that the GPU is the limiting factor at this resolution. The fact that Ultra settings dip below 45 FPS indicates that while the game is playable, it is not ideal for a smooth experience at maximum quality.

At 2560x1440 (1440p), the performance is much stronger. The combo delivers 108.7 FPS on High, 175.7 FPS on Low, 145.0 FPS on Medium, and 82.3 FPS on Ultra. The High setting provides a smooth experience above 100 FPS, while Ultra remains above 80 FPS. This resolution is the sweet spot for this combo, offering high frame rates without requiring the GPU to work as hard as at 4K.

At 1920x1080 (1080p), the frame rates are exceptionally high. The combo reaches 176.3 FPS on High, 274.8 FPS on Low, 226.9 FPS on Medium, and 131.4 FPS on Ultra. Even at Ultra settings, the frame rate is above 130 FPS, which is more than sufficient for any display. The Low setting at 274.8 FPS is likely beyond the refresh rate of most monitors, making the CPU the potential bottleneck at this point, though the frame rate is still excellent.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Hard West, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i7-14700F and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT ranks 304th out of 1,699 total combos. This places it in the 82nd percentile of all tested systems, meaning it outperforms roughly 82% of other combinations. The rank confirms the strength of both the CPU and GPU, as well as their compatibility in this game.

The top 18% of combos are likely dominated by newer, more expensive hardware, but this pairing offers a strong balance of CPU and GPU power. The CPU's 94th percentile ranking and the GPU's 82nd percentile ranking suggest that the combination is well-matched, with neither component being a significant bottleneck. The fact that the combo ranks higher than the GPU's individual percentile indicates that the CPU is strong enough to fully feed the GPU in this game. In comparison to other combos, this setup would likely outperform systems with lower-tier CPUs paired with the same GPU, as the i7-14700F's high single-thread performance is beneficial for game logic. The rank of 304 out of 1,699 is a solid result, confirming that this is a capable configuration for Hard West and similar turn-based tactics titles.