Hard West

Hard West is a turn-based tactics title from 2015, and the benchmark data for the Intel Core i7-14700F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9060 shows a configuration that scales predictably across resolutions and settings. With the processor sitting in the 91st percentile among all CPUs and the graphics card in the 59th percentile among all GPUs, this combo lands at rank 1706 out of 2949 tested combinations. The measured frames per second reveal a system that is clearly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, while the CPU’s strong multi-threaded and single-threaded performance ensures that even at 1080p, the graphics card remains the primary constraint.

FAQ

Q: What is the combo rank of the Intel Core i7-14700F and AMD Radeon RX 9060 in Hard West?

A: The combination ranks 1706 out of 2949 tested combos, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database for this specific game.

Q: How does the RX 9060 compare to its nearest rival in raw GPU benchmarks?

A: The RX 9060’s average benchmark score is 16014, which is 0.7% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti’s score of 16129. It also sits 1% ahead of both the AMD Radeon R9 370X and the AMD Radeon RX 7700.

Q: What is the best average FPS recorded for this combo at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 172 avg FPS. The Medium preset delivers 141 avg FPS, while High reaches 109 avg FPS.

Q: Does the i7-14700F bottleneck the RX 9060 at lower resolutions?

A: No, the data indicates the opposite. At 1080p Low, the system hits 172 avg FPS, which is a 58% increase over 1440p Low’s 109 avg FPS, showing the GPU is the limiting factor even at lower resolutions.

Q: What is the highest playable average FPS at 4K for this setup?

A: At 3840x2160 with Low settings, the combo records 57 avg FPS. Medium drops to 47 avg FPS, and High falls to 36 avg FPS. Ultra is the only preset below 30 avg FPS at 27.

Q: How does the i7-14700F’s multi-core performance compare to the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X?

A: The i7-14700F has an average benchmark score of 53620, which is 0.6% higher than the Ryzen 9 7900X’s score of 53288. The Intel chip also edges out the AMD EPYC 7313P by 0.8%.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 is built on the RDNA 4.0 architecture with a Navi 44 chip, manufactured on a 4 nm process by TSMC. It packs 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s. The GPU’s base clock is 1700 MHz, with a game clock of 2400 MHz and a boost clock of 2990 MHz. Memory runs at 2250 MHz, which translates to 18 Gbps effective. These specs place the card in the 59th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 16014.

In Hard West, the GPU’s role is dominant across all measured resolutions. The most telling evidence comes from the scaling between 1080p and 4K. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 172 at 1920x1080 to 57 at 3840x2160, a 67% reduction. This steep decline indicates that the RX 9060’s 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory interface become increasingly strained as pixel count rises. The card’s 1792 shading units and 64 ROPs are sufficient for 1080p gameplay, but the 4K results show clear limitations.

The GPU’s nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, scores 0.7% higher on average, meaning the RX 9060 is essentially performance-equivalent in synthetic tests. However, in Hard West specifically, the measured FPS reveals how the GPU handles the game’s turn-based visuals. At 1440p High, the combo produces 69 avg FPS, which is smooth for the genre. The 4K Ultra result of 27 avg FPS is the only instance where the GPU falls below playable thresholds, suggesting that the card’s memory bandwidth becomes a bottleneck at extreme settings.

The GPU’s FP32 compute of 21.43 TFLOPS and texture rate of 334.9 GTexel/s are respectable for the mid-range segment, but the 8 GB VRAM capacity is the limiting factor at higher resolutions. Hard West’s art style, which uses detailed environments and lighting, appears to scale heavily with GPU load rather than CPU load. The data shows no scenario where the i7-14700F’s 20 cores and 28 threads become the constraint, as even the lowest GPU-bound frame rates at 4K Ultra remain above the CPU’s ability to bottleneck.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data across resolutions provides a clear picture of how this combo scales. At 1920x1080, the system delivers 172 avg FPS on Low, 141 avg FPS on Medium, 109 avg FPS on High, and 81 avg FPS on Ultra. Moving to 2560x1440, those numbers drop to 109, 89, 69, and 51 respectively. At 3840x2160, the averages fall to 57, 47, 36, and 27.

The percentage drops between 1080p and 1440p are consistent across settings. Low settings lose 36.6% of performance (172 to 109), Medium loses 36.9% (141 to 89), High loses 36.7% (109 to 69), and Ultra loses 37% (81 to 51). This uniformity suggests a purely GPU-bound scenario, where the resolution increase directly impacts pixel throughput without introducing CPU limitations.

Between 1440p and 4K, the drops become more severe. Low settings fall from 109 to 57, a 47.7% reduction. Medium drops from 89 to 47, a 47.2% loss. High goes from 69 to 36, a 47.8% decrease. Ultra falls from 51 to 27, a 47.1% reduction. The consistent ~47% drop across all settings indicates that the RX 9060’s memory bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s is the primary constraint at 4K, as doubling the pixel count from 1440p to 4K overwhelms the 128-bit bus.

The scaling pattern reveals that the limiting component is unequivocally the GPU. The i7-14700F’s single-core score of 4958 in Cinebench R23 and multi-core score of 35122 would easily handle the game’s turn-based logic, which is not computationally intensive. Even at 1080p Low, where the CPU would theoretically have the most headroom, the 172 avg FPS is below what the processor could deliver if paired with a faster GPU. The data shows no CPU bottleneck at any resolution or setting, with the GPU consistently determining the frame rate ceiling.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1706 out of 2949 tested combinations places this setup in the 57.9th percentile of all tested hardware pairings for Hard West. This ranking reflects the GPU’s mid-tier positioning in the database, as the RX 9060’s 59th percentile among all GPUs is the primary driver of the combo’s standing. The i7-14700F’s 91st percentile CPU ranking does not boost the combo further because the game is not CPU-intensive.

Comparing the CPU’s nearest rivals, the i7-14700F edges out the Intel Xeon 6505P by 0.2% in average score, while the Xeon Phi 7290 trails by 0.3%. The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X is 0.6% behind, and the AMD EPYC 7313P is 0.8% behind. These margins are negligible in gaming contexts, confirming that the processor choice has minimal impact on Hard West’s performance.

For the GPU, the RX 9060’s nearest rival is the RTX 3060 Ti, which is 0.7% faster on average. The Radeon R9 370X and RX 7700 are both 1% slower, while the Radeon Pro W5500 is 2.1% slower. In the context of Hard West, these synthetic benchmark differences translate to small FPS variations. The measured data shows the RX 9060 achieving 109 avg FPS at 1080p High, which would likely be a few frames higher or lower depending on which rival GPU is used.

The rank of 1706 out of 2949 suggests that many combos with higher-end GPUs will outperform this setup, particularly at 4K where the RX 9060’s 8 GB VRAM becomes a limiting factor. However, the rank also reflects that the combo is far from the bottom, with 1243 tested combinations performing worse. For a turn-based tactics game like Hard West, where frame rates above 60 are not essential for gameplay, this rank is adequate for most users.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, all presets are playable, with Low delivering 172 avg FPS, Medium at 141, High at 109, and Ultra at 81. For a 60 FPS target, High is the best choice as it provides a comfortable margin above the threshold while maintaining visual quality. Ultra also exceeds 60 FPS, but the 33% performance drop from High to Ultra (109 to 81) may not justify the visual gains in a turn-based game where motion smoothness is less critical.

At 2560x1440, the recommendation shifts. Low settings produce 109 avg FPS, Medium 89, High 69, and Ultra 51. For a 60 FPS target, High is the only preset that comfortably exceeds it, with 69 avg FPS. Medium also works at 89 avg FPS, but High offers better visuals with only a 22% reduction from Medium. Ultra falls below 60 FPS, making it less desirable unless the user prioritizes image quality over frame rate.

At 3840x2160, the choices are more constrained. Low settings achieve 57 avg FPS, which is just below the 60 FPS threshold. Medium drops to 47 avg FPS, High to 36, and Ultra to 27. For a playable experience, Low is the only viable option, though it still misses the 60 FPS mark. Users with 4K displays should consider lowering the resolution to 1440p for a better balance, as the 1440p High preset at 69 avg FPS is significantly smoother than 4K Low at 57 avg FPS.

The data suggests that the best overall experience is 1440p High, which delivers 69 avg FPS with a minimum of 76 FPS and a maximum of 103 FPS (from the Medium preset’s range, though High lacks min/max data). This provides a robust frame rate for a turn-based tactics game while maintaining high visual fidelity. At 1080p, High at 109 avg FPS is also excellent and leaves headroom for other applications running in the background.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 172 avg FPS
• Medium: 141 avg FPS, with a minimum of 120 and maximum of 162
• High: 109 avg FPS
• Ultra: 81 avg FPS

The 1080p results show a linear scaling pattern. Moving from Low to Medium costs 18% of performance, Medium to High costs 22.7%, and High to Ultra costs 25.7%. The Medium preset’s measured range of 120-162 FPS indicates frame time consistency, with no severe dips below the average.

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 109 avg FPS
• Medium: 89 avg FPS, with a minimum of 76 and maximum of 103
• High: 69 avg FPS
• Ultra: 51 avg FPS

At 1440p, the scaling is similar to 1080p but with lower absolute numbers. Low to Medium represents an 18.3% drop, Medium to High is 22.5%, and High to Ultra is 26.1%. The Medium preset’s minimum of 76 FPS shows that even in demanding scenes, the frame rate stays comfortably above 60.

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 57 avg FPS
• Medium: 47 avg FPS, with a minimum of 40 and maximum of 54
• High: 36 avg FPS
• Ultra: 27 avg FPS

The 4K results highlight the GPU’s limitations. Low to Medium is a 17.5% drop, Medium to High is 23.4%, and High to Ultra is 25%. The Medium preset’s minimum of 40 FPS indicates that frame pacing can become inconsistent at this resolution, with a 14 FPS gap between minimum and maximum.

The full dataset shows that the combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming. At 1080p, every preset exceeds 60 FPS, with Low reaching 172 avg FPS. At 1440p, only Ultra falls below 60 FPS at 51 avg. At 4K, even Low settings fail to sustain 60 FPS, with 57 avg FPS being the best achievable result. The i7-14700F’s strong single-threaded performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4958, ensures that the CPU never limits frame rates in this turn-based tactics game, allowing the GPU’s characteristics to fully dictate performance across all measured configurations.