Hard West

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 places at rank 2013 out of 3722 tested combinations for Hard West. This positions the combo in the 54th percentile of all tested systems, meaning roughly 46% of tested combos deliver higher average frame rates in this turn-based tactics title. The rank reflects a mid-pack standing, which is notable given the individual component rankings: the CPU sits in the 94th percentile among all processors, while the GPU rests in the 61st percentile among all graphics cards. The substantial gap between component percentiles suggests the graphics card is the limiting factor in this pairing for Hard West.

Benchmark results indicate the combo's measured FPS spans from 29 frames per second at 4K Ultra to 186 FPS at 1080p Low. The spread of 157 FPS across the tested settings matrix shows a wide operating range that depends heavily on resolution and quality preset. At 1080p, the combo delivers playable frame rates across all presets, with even the most demanding Ultra setting maintaining 88 FPS. Moving to 1440p, performance remains solid, with the Low preset hitting 118 FPS and Ultra dropping to 55 FPS. The 4K results reveal the system's limitations: only the Low preset achieves 62 FPS, while High and Ultra fall to 39 and 29 FPS respectively.

The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the AMD EPYC 9115, which scores 0.1% higher, and the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X at 0.2% lower. The GPU's nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon HD 7790 at 0.2% lower and the AMD Radeon 780M at 0.3% higher. These narrow deltas in aggregate benchmark scores do not translate directly to Hard West performance, as the game's turn-based nature may not stress components the same way synthetic tests do.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Hard West at 60 FPS in 4K?

A: Only at Low settings, where the measured average is 62 FPS. The Medium preset drops to 51 FPS, High to 39 FPS, and Ultra to 29 FPS, so 60 FPS at 4K requires the lowest quality settings.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Hard West?

A: At 1440p, the combo achieves 74 FPS on High and 96 FPS on Medium, with Low hitting 118 FPS. This resolution provides a balanced experience where even the Ultra preset maintains 55 FPS, making it the highest resolution with playable performance across all settings.

Q: How does the CPU's core count affect Hard West performance?

A: The i7-14700K has 20 cores and 28 threads, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.60 GHz. Hard West is a turn-based tactics game from 2015, which typically does not scale with high core counts. The benchmark data shows the combo's rank is 2013 out of 3722, suggesting the GPU is more influential in determining frame rates.

Q: Is the RTX 4060's 8 GB VRAM sufficient for Hard West?

A: The 8 GB GDDR6 memory with 272.0 GB/s bandwidth proves adequate at all tested settings. The game runs at 88 FPS at 1080p Ultra, which indicates VRAM capacity is not a bottleneck for this title. The GPU's 128-bit bus width and 15.11 TFLOPS FP32 performance are more relevant to the frame rates observed.

Q: What FPS can I expect at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured average is 117 FPS. This is above the 88 FPS seen at Ultra and below the 152 FPS at Medium. The High preset offers a strong balance for smooth gameplay on standard monitors.

Q: How does this combo compare to the GPU's nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 4060's aggregate benchmark score of 17639 is 0.3% higher than the AMD Radeon 780M and 0.5% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro 560. In Hard West, the combo's rank of 2013 out of 3722 reflects the GPU's mid-tier standing, with the CPU providing ample headroom that the graphics card cannot fully utilize.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data indicates that the Medium preset offers the best experience across all resolutions, as it is the only setting tier with complete min/max FPS data. At 1080p Medium, the combo delivers 152 FPS average with a minimum of 129 FPS and maximum of 175 FPS. This consistency suggests stable frame pacing. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 96 FPS with a range of 82 to 111 FPS, which remains comfortably above typical display refresh rates. Even at 4K Medium, the 51 FPS average with 43 FPS minimum and 58 FPS maximum provides a playable experience, though it falls short of 60 FPS.

For users prioritizing higher visual quality, the High preset is a viable alternative at 1080p and 1440p, delivering 117 and 74 FPS respectively. However, the lack of min/max data for High settings means frame consistency is unverified. The Ultra preset is only recommended at 1080p where it maintains 88 FPS, as the 1440p Ultra drops to 55 FPS and 4K Ultra falls to 29 FPS. The Low preset provides the highest frame rates—186 FPS at 1080p, 118 FPS at 1440p, and 62 FPS at 4K—but sacrifices visual fidelity.

Given the data, Medium settings at 1440p represent the optimal balance of visual quality and performance. The 96 FPS average with an 82 FPS minimum ensures smooth gameplay, while the 111 FPS maximum shows headroom for less demanding scenes. At 4K, Medium is the only preset that maintains playable frame rates above 50 FPS, making it the recommended choice for high-resolution displays.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest performance. Low settings produce 186 FPS average, Medium 152 FPS with a 129-175 FPS range, High 117 FPS, and Ultra 88 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 98 FPS drop, with each step from Low to Medium costing 34 FPS, Medium to High 35 FPS, and High to Ultra 29 FPS. The relatively even spacing suggests the GPU handles each quality tier's additional workload consistently.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance scales down predictably. Low settings average 118 FPS, Medium 96 FPS with an 82-111 FPS range, High 74 FPS, and Ultra 55 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra is 63 FPS, with the largest single drop occurring between High and Ultra at 19 FPS. The Medium preset's min FPS of 82 indicates the system maintains playable performance even during demanding scenes.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles to maintain high frame rates. Low settings average 62 FPS, Medium 51 FPS with a 43-58 FPS range, High 39 FPS, and Ultra 29 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 11 FPS, Medium to High is 12 FPS, and High to Ultra is 10 FPS. This compression of frame rates at 4K suggests the GPU is reaching its bandwidth or compute limits, as the settings changes have diminishing returns on FPS impact.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows clear resolution scaling patterns. At Low settings, performance drops from 186 FPS at 1080p to 118 FPS at 1440p (a 36.6% reduction) and then to 62 FPS at 4K (a 47.5% reduction from 1440p). At Medium settings, the progression is 152 FPS at 1080p, 96 FPS at 1440p (36.8% drop), and 51 FPS at 4K (46.9% drop). High settings show 117 FPS at 1080p, 74 FPS at 1440p (36.8% drop), and 39 FPS at 4K (47.3% drop). Ultra settings follow similarly: 88 FPS at 1080p, 55 FPS at 1440p (37.5% drop), and 29 FPS at 4K (47.3% drop).

The consistent percentage drops across settings tiers indicate that resolution scaling is uniform regardless of quality preset. The roughly 37% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and 47% reduction from 1440p to 4K aligns with the pixel count increases: 1440p has 1.78 times the pixels of 1080p, and 4K has 2.25 times the pixels of 1440p. The FPS drops are proportionally larger than pixel increases, suggesting the GPU's memory bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s becomes a limiting factor at higher resolutions. The 128-bit memory bus and 8 GB VRAM capacity appear sufficient for this turn-based tactics game, but the bandwidth constraint shows in the scaling behavior.

The limiting component is clearly the GPU. The CPU's 94th percentile ranking and high clock speeds (5.60 GHz boost) provide ample processing power, yet the combo's 54th percentile rank in-game indicates the graphics card cannot translate that CPU strength into frame rates. The resolution scaling data confirms this: if the CPU were the bottleneck, FPS would not drop as dramatically with resolution increases.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K features 20 cores and 28 threads, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.60 GHz. This Raptor Lake-R architecture CPU, built on Intel's 10 nm process, has 33 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB L2 per core. Its synthetic benchmark scores are strong: 33440.5 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, 2160 in single-core, and 52392 in Passmark multithread. The CPU's 94th percentile ranking among all processors reflects its high-end positioning.

For Hard West, a 2015 turn-based tactics title, the CPU's extensive core count is largely unnecessary. Turn-based games typically use only a few threads for game logic and AI calculations, meaning the i7-14700K's 28 threads provide significant headroom. The high single-core performance (4472 Passmark single-thread score) is more relevant, as the game's turn resolution likely depends on single-thread speed. The 5.60 GHz boost clock ensures the CPU never becomes a bottleneck in this title.

The CPU's nearest rivals in aggregate benchmarks—AMD EPYC 9115 at 0.1% higher, Ryzen 9 7950X at 0.2% lower, Ryzen 9 7940HX at 0.7% lower, and Ryzen 7 9700F at 0.9% lower—show that the i7-14700K performs within a tight band of high-end processors. However, in Hard West, the combo's rank of 2013 out of 3722 suggests the CPU's strengths are underutilized. The data indicates the CPU is not the limiting factor: at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 186 FPS, which is far above typical display refresh rates and suggests the CPU can feed the GPU effectively at lower resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 272.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Ada Lovelace architecture GPU, built on TSMC's 5 nm process, has 3072 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. Its boost clock of 2460 MHz delivers 15.11 TFLOPS FP32 performance, while the 24 RT cores and 96 tensor cores support modern rendering features. The GPU's 61st percentile ranking among all graphics cards places it in the mid-range tier.

The GPU's aggregate benchmark score of 17639 is remarkably close to its nearest rivals: the AMD Radeon HD 7790 scores 0.2% lower, while the AMD Radeon 780M scores 0.3% higher. This tight clustering indicates the RTX 4060 sits at a performance tier where minor architectural differences determine ranking. In Hard West, the GPU's role is dominant, as evidenced by the resolution scaling data. The frame rates at 4K—ranging from 29 FPS at Ultra to 62 FPS at Low—demonstrate the GPU's bandwidth and compute limitations at high pixel counts.

The 8 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for this game, as even at 4K Ultra, the combo delivers playable frame rates without apparent memory-related stuttering. The 128-bit memory bus is more concerning, as the 272.0 GB/s bandwidth becomes the likely constraint at 4K. The measured FPS drops from 1080p to 1440p (37%) and 1440p to 4K (47%) align with the GPU's inability to maintain fill rates at higher resolutions. The GPU's 118.1 GPixel/s pixel rate and 236.2 GTexel/s texture rate suggest adequate throughput for this turn-based tactics game, but the memory subsystem limits 4K performance.