Hard West

# Hard West — Intel Core i7-14700F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D

Hard West is a turn-based tactics title from 2015, and the benchmark data shows this modern CPU-GPU pairing delivers exceptional performance across all tested settings and resolutions. With the RTX 5090 D's 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and the i7-14700F's 20 cores, the measured frame rates suggest the game is rarely a bottleneck for this hardware combination. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS data, component roles, and how this combo positions itself relative to other tested configurations.

FAQ

Q: What is the combo's overall rank among tested configurations in Hard West?

A: The Intel Core i7-14700F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D combination ranks 20th out of 2,949 tested combos, placing it in the top 1% of all configurations tested for this game.

Q: What frame rates does this combo achieve at 1080p with High settings?

A: At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo delivers an average of 249 FPS. With Medium settings at the same resolution, it reaches 281 FPS average, while Low settings push it to 302 FPS average.

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

A: The i7-14700F scores 35,122 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 4,958 in single-core. Among its nearest rivals, it trails the Intel Xeon 6505P by 0.2% and the Intel Xeon Phi 7290 by 0.3%, while leading the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X by 0.6% and the AMD EPYC 7313P by 0.8% in average benchmark score.

Q: What is the GPU's synthetic performance relative to its nearest competitors?

A: The RTX 5090 D's average benchmark score is 77,712, which is 1.1% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT (76,904) but 1.6% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (78,940). It sits 2.1% behind the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB and 2.4% behind the Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB.

Q: Does the combo show any signs of CPU limitation at lower resolutions?

A: The scaling from 1080p to 1440p to 4K suggests the game becomes GPU-bound at higher resolutions. At 1080p High (249 FPS) versus 1440p High (158 FPS), the 36.5% drop indicates the GPU is taking on more load, while the CPU's strong single-thread performance (4,958 in Cinebench R23) keeps frame rates high even at 1080p.

Q: What is the best-performing settings preset across all resolutions?

A: Low settings consistently produce the highest average frame rates across every resolution: 302 FPS at 1080p, 251 FPS at 1440p, and 131 FPS at 4K. However, Medium settings offer a more balanced trade-off, with 281 FPS at 1080p and 108 FPS at 4K while providing better visuals.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is the primary driver of frame rates in Hard West, particularly at higher resolutions. This GPU features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, delivering 1.79 TB/s of memory bandwidth. The base clock runs at 2017 MHz with a boost clock of 2407 MHz, and the memory operates at 1750 MHz with 28 Gbps effective speed. These specifications translate to substantial pixel throughput (423.6 GPixel/s) and texture rate (1,636.8 GTexel/s), which directly impact how quickly the GPU can render scenes in a turn-based tactics game.

The GPU's 21,760 shading units and 176 ROPs are more than sufficient for Hard West's visual demands. The FP32 performance of 104.8 TFLOPS means the GPU has ample compute headroom for the game's rendering tasks. Benchmark scores reinforce this capability: the GPU achieves 44,065 in Passmark G3D and 14,326 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. Its 92nd percentile ranking among all GPUs places it well above the median, though interestingly its nearest rivals in average benchmark score are mobile and data-center parts rather than desktop gaming cards.

In Hard West specifically, the GPU's role becomes more pronounced as resolution increases. At 1080p, the frame rates exceed 249 FPS even at High settings, suggesting the GPU is not fully saturated. Moving to 1440p, the GPU begins to work harder, and at 4K the frame rates drop to levels that indicate GPU-bound performance. The memory capacity of 32 GB is far beyond what a 2015 turn-based tactics game requires, so VRAM capacity is never a limiting factor in this title. The GPU's clock speeds, while modest compared to its raw compute potential, are sufficient to maintain high frame rates throughout the tested settings range.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F provides the processing foundation for this combo, with 20 cores and 28 threads running at a 2.10 GHz base clock and 5.40 GHz boost clock. This Raptor Lake-R architecture CPU, built on a 10 nm process, has a 33 MB shared L3 cache and 2 MB L2 cache per core, which supports the game's logic and AI calculations. The CPU's 91st percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 53,620, places it in the upper echelon of processors available for gaming.

Synthetic benchmarks reveal the CPU's strengths: Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35,122 and single-core score of 4,958 demonstrate balanced performance. Geekbench results show 19,620 multi-core and 2,429 single-core. The Passmark suite further illustrates this, with a multithread score of 41,317 and a single-thread score of 4,257. The CPU's nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the Intel Xeon 6505P (53,701, 0.2% higher), Intel Xeon Phi 7290 (53,469, 0.3% lower), AMD Ryzen 9 7900X (53,288, 0.6% lower), and AMD EPYC 7313P (53,206, 0.8% lower). This places the i7-14700F in a tight cluster of high-performance processors where deltas are minimal.

In Hard West, the CPU's role is supporting the game's turn-based logic, pathfinding, and unit management. The game's age means it does not stress modern multi-core processors heavily, but the i7-14700F's high boost clock ensures single-threaded tasks are handled quickly. The 65 W TDP indicates efficient power usage, and the CPU's support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory provides flexibility in system configuration. The data shows that at 1080p Low settings, the combo reaches 302 FPS, suggesting the CPU is not a limiting factor even at low resolutions where CPU overhead typically becomes more visible.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions and four settings presets, providing a complete picture of performance. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates: Low settings average 302 FPS, Medium settings average 281 FPS (with a minimum of 239 and maximum of 323), High settings average 249 FPS, and Ultra settings average 187 FPS. These numbers indicate that even at the most demanding preset, the game remains highly playable at 1080p.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain strong but show the expected decline with increased pixel count. Low settings average 251 FPS, Medium settings average 205 FPS (minimum 174, maximum 236), High settings average 158 FPS, and Ultra settings average 118 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p ranges from 16.9% at Low settings to 36.5% at High settings, with Medium and Ultra showing drops of 27.0% and 36.9% respectively.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates reflect the significant GPU load at 4K resolution. Low settings average 131 FPS, Medium settings average 108 FPS (minimum 92, maximum 124), High settings average 83 FPS, and Ultra settings average 62 FPS. These numbers show that even at 4K, the combo maintains playable frame rates across all settings, with Ultra settings dipping below the 60 FPS threshold only slightly. The minimum FPS data available for Medium settings at each resolution (239 at 1080p, 174 at 1440p, 92 at 4K) provides insight into frame time consistency, suggesting no major stuttering issues.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals important information about where the bottleneck lies in this combo. Comparing High settings across resolutions: 249 FPS at 1080p drops to 158 FPS at 1440p (a 36.5% decrease) and then to 83 FPS at 4K (a 47.5% decrease from 1440p). This consistent decline with resolution increases indicates GPU-bound performance, as the CPU's workload does not change significantly with resolution while the GPU's pixel processing load scales directly.

At Low settings, the scaling pattern is similar but slightly less steep: 302 FPS at 1080p falls to 251 FPS at 1440p (16.9% decrease) and then to 131 FPS at 4K (47.8% decrease from 1440p). The smaller drop from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings suggests that at 1080p Low, the CPU may be providing a minor constraint, though the frame rates are so high that this is not practically relevant.

Medium settings show the most complete data with min/max FPS values. At 1080p, the average is 281 FPS with a range of 239-323. At 1440p, the average drops to 205 FPS (range 174-236), and at 4K it falls to 108 FPS (range 92-124). The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is 27.0%, and from 1440p to 4K is 47.3%. This pattern indicates that the GPU is the limiting component across all resolutions, with the CPU providing sufficient headroom to avoid becoming a bottleneck.

The data collectively shows that Hard West scales as expected with resolution, and the RTX 5090 D's performance curve is smooth. The 4K Ultra setting at 62 FPS represents the heaviest load tested, and the fact that it still clears 60 FPS average indicates this combination is well-suited for high-resolution play.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings preset depends on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1080p, all settings presets deliver exceptional performance, with even Ultra averaging 187 FPS. The Medium preset at 1080p offers a compelling balance: 281 FPS average with a minimum of 239 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay with better visual quality than Low settings. For players with high-refresh-rate monitors at 1080p, High settings at 249 FPS would be the recommended choice.

At 1440p, the Medium preset delivers 205 FPS average (174 minimum), which is well above the threshold for smooth gameplay. High settings at 158 FPS also provide excellent performance. Ultra at 118 FPS remains viable for players prioritizing visual quality. The data suggests Medium or High at 1440p provides the best experience, as both exceed 150 FPS while maintaining good visuals. Ultra at 118 FPS is acceptable but represents a noticeable drop from the other presets.

At 4K, the choice becomes more nuanced. Medium settings average 108 FPS with a minimum of 92 FPS, which is ideal for 4K gaming. High settings at 83 FPS are still smooth, and even Ultra at 62 FPS remains playable. Given that this is a turn-based tactics game where precise frame timing is less critical than in fast-action titles, players could reasonably choose High or Ultra at 4K. However, the Medium preset's combination of 108 FPS average and 92 FPS minimum makes it the safest recommendation for maintaining consistent performance.

Overall, the Medium settings preset provides the best balance across all resolutions, with frame rates ranging from 281 at 1080p to 108 at 4K, and the available min/max data shows stable frame delivery.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-14700F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D combo ranks 20th out of 2,949 tested combinations in Hard West, placing it in the 99.3rd percentile of all tested configurations. This high ranking reflects the exceptional performance demonstrated in the measured FPS data across all resolutions and settings.

The CPU's contribution to this ranking is supported by its 91st percentile standing among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 53,620. Its nearest rivals in CPU benchmark scores are all within 1% of its performance, indicating a tightly grouped field at this performance level. The GPU's 92nd percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 77,712, similarly places it among the top performers. Its nearest rivals show deltas of -2.4% to +1.1%, meaning the RTX 5090 D is competitive with but not dramatically ahead of its closest alternatives in synthetic benchmarks.

The combination of a top-tier CPU and top-tier GPU results in a combo that is well-positioned for Hard West. The game's 2015 release date means it does not push modern hardware to its limits, and this combo's high ranking reflects how well it handles the game's rendering and logic demands. The rank of 20 out of 2,949 suggests that only a handful of other configurations deliver higher frame rates in this title, and those are likely to be combinations with even more extreme hardware.

The data confirms this combo is highly capable for Hard West, delivering frame rates that exceed the requirements for smooth gameplay at all tested settings and resolutions. The only scenario where performance dips near the 60 FPS threshold is at 4K Ultra, and even then it remains above that level with a 62 FPS average.