Hard West

The Intel Core i7-14700F is a 20-core, 28-thread processor from the Raptor Lake Refresh architecture, with a base clock of 2.10 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. Its 33 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support for DDR4 and DDR5 make it a high-end desktop part, sitting in the 94th percentile against all CPUs in synthetic benchmarks. For a turn-based tactics title like Hard West, the CPU’s role is primarily about maintaining a stable frame pacing floor rather than pushing peak frame rates, since the game’s logic and AI calculations are serialized. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo reaches 145.4 FPS, which is far beyond what a turn-based game requires, indicating that the processor is not a bottleneck at lower settings. However, the i7-14700F’s multi-threaded strength, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35443 and a Passmark multithread score of 41765, ensures that even when the game’s turn resolution triggers heavy background computations, the frame time variance remains low. Compared to its nearest rivals, the i7-14700F trails the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X by only 0.6% in average benchmark score, and sits 1.2% ahead of the Intel Xeon Phi 7290, which places it in a performance tier where CPU-induced stutters are unlikely in this genre.

The GPU role is more pronounced in Hard West, as the game’s visual effects and shadow rendering scale heavily with graphics hardware. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 features 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth, with a base clock of 1365 MHz and a boost clock of 1680 MHz. Its Turing architecture includes 1920 shading units and 30 RT cores, though ray tracing is irrelevant for this title. The GPU’s Passmark G3D score of 14111 places it in the 58th percentile against all GPUs, and it sits just 0.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 7600S in average benchmark score, while trailing the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 by 1.7%. In Hard West, the 6 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K Ultra, the measured average FPS drops to 21.2, suggesting that the memory bandwidth and shading throughput become strained. The GPU’s FP32 performance of 6.451 TFLOPS is adequate for the game’s deferred rendering, but the frame rate scaling from Low to Ultra settings reveals that the GPU is the primary limiter at higher resolutions and presets, especially when comparing the 1080p Low score of 145.4 FPS to the 4K Ultra score of 21.2 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows show that the Medium preset offers the best balance between visual fidelity and performance across all tested resolutions. At 1080p, Medium delivers 120.1 FPS, which is more than sufficient for smooth turn-based gameplay, while High drops to 90.4 FPS and Ultra falls to 69.2 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium at 1080p costs 25.3 FPS (from 145.4 to 120.1), but the visual improvement in texture filtering and shadow quality is substantial for a game with a noir aesthetic. At 1440p, Medium maintains a playable 73.8 FPS, while High dips to 59.7 FPS and Ultra becomes borderline at 44 FPS. The data indicates that Medium is the sweet spot for this combo, as it keeps frame rates above 60 FPS at 1440p and above 120 FPS at 1080p, without the steep performance penalty that Ultra incurs. At 4K, even Low only manages 48.6 FPS, and Medium drops to 42.1 FPS, so players targeting 4K should stick to Low or Medium, but the 6 GB VRAM and 192-bit bus will struggle to maintain consistent frame pacing. For the best experience per the measured rows, selecting Medium at 1080p or 1440p is recommended, as it provides a 40% performance headroom over Ultra at those resolutions, which is critical for maintaining stable turn transitions.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-14700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 ranks 1350 out of 1699 tested combos in Hard West, placing it in the bottom 20% of all configurations. This ranking is surprising given the CPU’s high percentile, but it reflects the GPU’s mid-range standing and the game’s GPU-bound nature at higher settings. The combo’s position suggests that the RTX 2060 is the limiting factor, as the i7-14700F’s nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X, would likely score similarly with the same GPU. The data shows that this pairing is not optimized for Hard West’s higher presets, where the GPU’s 6 GB VRAM and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth become bottlenecks. Comparatively, the combo’s 1080p High score of 90.4 FPS is respectable, but the rank indicates that many other tested combos with more powerful GPUs achieve significantly higher frame rates at 4K Ultra. The ranking also implies that for a turn-based tactics game, where frame rates above 60 FPS are unnecessary, this combo is adequate, but it does not leverage the CPU’s full potential. The percentile gap between the CPU (94th) and GPU (58th) highlights an imbalance, and the combo rank reflects that the GPU is dragging down the overall performance ceiling.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear GPU bottleneck. At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 120.1 at 1080p to 73.8 at 1440p, a 38.6% reduction, and then to 42.1 at 4K, a further 42.9% reduction. This non-linear scaling indicates that the RTX 2060’s memory bandwidth and pixel fill rate are insufficient for 4K, as the pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K, but the frame rate does not quarter. At Low settings, the scaling is slightly better: 145.4 FPS at 1080p falls to 89.4 at 1440p (38.5% drop) and 48.6 at 4K (45.6% drop). The fact that Low settings at 4K (48.6 FPS) is still below 60 FPS while High at 1440p (59.7 FPS) is nearly playable suggests that resolution has a larger impact on performance than settings. This points to the GPU being the limiting component, as the CPU’s 20 cores and 5.40 GHz boost clock would not struggle with the game’s logic at any resolution. The scaling pattern, where the 1440p to 4K drop is steeper than the 1080p to 1440p drop, is characteristic of a GPU running out of memory bandwidth, as the 192-bit bus and 336.0 GB/s cannot sustain the data throughput required at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers a wide range of frame rates depending on settings. Low settings achieve 145.4 FPS, which is the highest measured score across all configurations, demonstrating that the CPU is not holding back the GPU at this resolution. Medium settings produce 120.1 FPS, High produces 90.4 FPS, and Ultra drops to 69.2 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra is 76.2 FPS, indicating that the GPU’s shading units and texture units are heavily taxed by the Ultra preset’s effects. At 2560x1440, the scores scale down proportionally: Low hits 89.4 FPS, Medium hits 73.8 FPS, High hits 59.7 FPS, and Ultra falls to 44 FPS. The 1440p Ultra score of 44 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold, making it less ideal for smooth gameplay, but the game’s turn-based nature means that 44 FPS is still playable. At 3840x2160, the performance collapses further: Low manages 48.6 FPS, Medium drops to 42.1 FPS, High falls to 31 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 21.2 FPS. The 4K Ultra score is less than one-sixth of the 1080p Low score, highlighting the GPU’s limitations. The data shows that the combo is best suited for 1080p gaming, where it can handle Ultra settings above 60 FPS, and for 1440p with Medium or High settings. At 4K, only Low settings approach playability, and even then, the frame rate is below 60 FPS. The measured FPS breakdown reinforces that this pairing is a 1080p-focused configuration, with the RTX 2060’s 6 GB VRAM acting as a hard ceiling for higher resolutions.