Hard West

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates for Hard West with the Intel Core i7-14700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti show a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling as resolution increases. At 1080p with High settings, the combo delivers 188.6 FPS average. Moving to 1440p drops that to 123.2 FPS, a reduction of roughly 35% from the 1080p figure. At 4K, the average falls further to 63.3 FPS, which is about 66% lower than the 1080p result. This steep decline indicates that the rendering load is scaling heavily with pixel count, which is typical for a turn-based tactics title that is not particularly demanding on CPU threads.

The scaling behavior becomes more telling when comparing the Low and Ultra presets across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system produces 302.3 FPS, while at 4K Low it manages 99.4 FPS — a drop of 202.9 FPS. In contrast, at Ultra settings, 1080p yields 144.2 FPS and 4K yields 45.3 FPS, a drop of 98.9 FPS. The absolute delta is smaller at Ultra because the frame rate is already lower, but the percentage reduction is similar, hovering around 68-70% from 1080p to 4K regardless of preset. This consistency suggests that the limiting component is the GPU across all settings, with the CPU providing enough headroom even at lower resolutions.

At 1080p Low, the 302.3 FPS figure is exceptionally high and indicates that the i7-14700F's 20 cores and 28 threads are more than sufficient to feed the RTX 4070 Ti in this game. The CPU's 5.40 GHz boost clock and 33 MB of shared L3 cache likely contribute to this, but the game's turn-based mechanics do not appear to stress multi-threaded performance heavily. The data shows that even at 1080p Medium, the system holds 249.2 FPS, which is still far above typical display refresh rates. The GPU is the bottleneck at all measured points, as evidenced by the uniform scaling pattern.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 4K with High settings?

A: The measured average is 63.3 FPS at 3840x2160 with High settings. This is above the 60 FPS threshold commonly considered smooth for gameplay, though it leaves little headroom for demanding scenes.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i7-14700F has an average benchmark score of 54097, placing it 0.6% behind the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and 1.1% behind the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D. It is 1.2% ahead of the Intel Xeon Phi 7290 and 1.7% ahead of the AMD EPYC 7313P. The CPU sits in the 94th percentile of all tested processors.

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p gaming?

A: At 2560x1440, the High preset delivers 123.2 FPS, while Medium achieves 159.1 FPS and Low reaches 190.8 FPS. Ultra drops to 91.3 FPS. For most users, High offers a strong balance, but Medium provides a substantial frame rate advantage if visual fidelity can be slightly reduced.

Q: Is the RTX 4070 Ti capable of 4K Ultra in this game?

A: The measured average at 3840x2160 Ultra is 45.3 FPS. This is below the 60 FPS standard, suggesting that Ultra at 4K is playable but not ideal for smooth motion. The GPU ranks in the 85th percentile of all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 44900.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 4070 Ti's average score of 44900 is 0.6% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile and 1.5% behind the Intel Arc A730M. It is 1.6% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro 580 and 1.6% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT. These are close margins, indicating the GPU sits in a tightly contested performance band.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at 1080p?

A: The data suggests no. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 302.3 FPS, and at 1080p Ultra it still holds 144.2 FPS. These high figures indicate the i7-14700F's processing power is sufficient to keep the RTX 4070 Ti fully utilized even at lower resolutions where CPU load typically becomes more relevant.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-14700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti ranks 142nd out of 1699 tested combos in Hard West. This places it in the top 8.4% of all configurations, which is a strong showing for a game that is not particularly demanding on modern hardware. The percentile rankings of the individual components support this: the CPU sits in the 94th percentile of all processors, while the GPU sits in the 85th percentile of all graphics cards.

The rank is likely influenced by the game's low system requirements relative to the hardware's capabilities. Hard West is a turn-based tactics title from 2015, and its rendering workload is not comparable to modern AAA shooters. The high frame rates measured across all presets and resolutions reflect this, with even the most demanding 4K Ultra preset achieving 45.3 FPS. The combo's position at 142 suggests that many other configurations achieve similar or better performance, likely due to the game's modest demands rather than any deficiency in this pairing.

Compared to the CPU's nearest rivals, the i7-14700F's performance delta is minimal — within 1.7% of the AMD EPYC 7313P and within 1.1% of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D. The GPU's nearest rivals also show deltas within 1.6% of the RTX 4070 Ti. This tight clustering indicates that the combo's rank is not driven by exceptional component performance but rather by the game's ability to leverage the available hardware efficiently. The data shows that this pairing is well-matched for Hard West, with no obvious bottleneck in either direction.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance for optimal settings across different resolutions. At 1080p, all presets deliver frame rates above 144 FPS, with Low reaching 302.3 FPS and Ultra holding 144.2 FPS. For users with high refresh rate monitors, Medium at 249.2 FPS or High at 188.6 FPS are excellent choices, as they provide substantial visual improvements over Low while maintaining frame rates well above 144 FPS. Ultra is also viable at 1080p, though the 144.2 FPS average is closer to the 144 FPS threshold and may dip in complex scenes.

At 1440p, the High preset at 123.2 FPS is the recommended starting point for most users, as it balances visual quality with a frame rate that is smooth on 120 Hz displays. Medium at 159.1 FPS offers even more headroom and is preferable for those prioritizing frame rate consistency. Low at 190.8 FPS is available for competitive play, while Ultra at 91.3 FPS is acceptable for slower-paced tactics gameplay but may feel less fluid. The data shows that 1440p High is the sweet spot for this combo, with a 28% improvement over Ultra in frame rate while maintaining strong visual fidelity.

At 4K, the situation changes significantly. High at 63.3 FPS is the only preset that reliably exceeds 60 FPS, making it the clear recommendation for 4K displays. Medium at 80.4 FPS provides additional headroom and is also a strong choice, while Low at 99.4 FPS is suitable for users who prioritize performance above all else. Ultra at 45.3 FPS falls below the 60 FPS standard and should be avoided unless visual quality is the sole concern and frame rate dips are tolerable. The 4K data shows a clear trade-off between fidelity and smoothness, with High offering the best overall experience.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers four presets and three resolutions, providing a comprehensive view of performance. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are: Low 302.3 FPS, Medium 249.2 FPS, High 188.6 FPS, and Ultra 144.2 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra represents a 52.3% reduction in frame rate, which is substantial but expected given the increased rendering load at higher presets.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low 190.8 FPS, Medium 159.1 FPS, High 123.2 FPS, and Ultra 91.3 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across presets, with Low losing 111.5 FPS, Medium losing 90.1 FPS, High losing 65.4 FPS, and Ultra losing 52.9 FPS. This pattern reflects the increased pixel count at 1440p, which affects all presets proportionally.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low 99.4 FPS, Medium 80.4 FPS, High 63.3 FPS, and Ultra 45.3 FPS. The transition from 1440p to 4K results in further reductions of 91.4 FPS for Low, 78.7 FPS for Medium, 59.9 FPS for High, and 46.0 FPS for Ultra. The 4K Ultra figure of 45.3 FPS is the only measured average below 60 FPS, indicating that this is the most demanding configuration tested. Across all resolutions, the relative ordering of presets remains consistent, with Low always fastest and Ultra always slowest.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.10 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, with 33 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB of L2 cache per core. The CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration, and its launch MSRP is $359. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 35443 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 5003 in single-core, with a Geekbench multi-core score of 16571 and single-core score of 2711.

For Hard West, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU. The game's turn-based tactics genre does not typically require high single-thread performance, and the measured frame rates show no signs of CPU limitation. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 302.3 FPS, which is far beyond what most displays can show, indicating that the CPU is not a bottleneck even in the least GPU-intensive configuration. The 20 cores and 28 threads provide ample multi-threading capacity, but the game likely does not utilize all of them effectively due to its age and genre.

The CPU's benchmark scores relative to its nearest rivals are closely matched. The i7-14700F's average benchmark score of 54097 is 0.6% below the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X's 54450 and 1.1% below the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D's 54681. It is 1.2% above the Intel Xeon Phi 7290's 53469 and 1.7% above the AMD EPYC 7313P's 53206. These small differences suggest that the CPU's performance is competitive with its peers, but the gaming results in Hard West are more influenced by the GPU. The data shows that the i7-14700F provides sufficient processing power to avoid limiting the RTX 4070 Ti, with the GPU's 85th percentile ranking being the more relevant factor in determining frame rates.