Hard West

The Intel Core i7-14700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination delivers a wide range of frame rates in Hard West, a turn-based tactics game from 2015. Measured data across three resolutions and four quality presets shows how this pairing scales, and the results indicate a system that can handle the game at high refresh rates at 1080p and 1440p, while 4K requires careful settings selection.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. It carries 33 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 44,534 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 6,287 in single-core, along with 18,896 in Geekbench multi-core and 2,932 in single-core. Its Passmark multithread score is 52,392, and single-thread score is 4,472. The CPU sits in the 96th percentile of all processors, with an average benchmark score of 70,074. Its nearest rivals are the Intel Core i7-14700KF (delta 0%), AMD EPYC 9115 (delta 0.3%), AMD Ryzen 9 9950X (delta -0.5%), and Intel Xeon Platinum 8270 (delta -1.4%). This places the i7-14700K essentially tied with the KF variant, slightly behind the Ryzen 9 9950X, and ahead of the EPYC and Xeon parts.

For a turn-based tactics game like Hard West, the CPU’s high single-thread performance is more relevant than its massive multi-core throughput. The measured frame rates at 1080p Low reach 255.8 FPS, which indicates that the CPU is not a limiting factor at that setting. Even at 4K Ultra, where the GPU is heavily stressed, the CPU still manages to feed the GPU enough data to produce 37.5 FPS. The 20 cores and 28 threads are far more than this game requires, but the strong single-core score (6,287 in Cinebench R23) ensures that AI calculations and turn-based logic are handled without introducing stutter. The launch MSRP for this CPU is $409.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process. It features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU has a base clock of 1920 MHz and a boost clock of 2475 MHz, with memory running at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). In synthetic tests, it scores 3,854 in 3DMark Steel Nomad, 168,006 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 157,352 in Geekbench Vulkan. Its Passmark G3D score is 26,927, and GPU compute score is 14,720. The GPU ranks in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37,283. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (delta -0.6%), NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A (delta -1.9%), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (delta -2.2%), and AMD Radeon RX 5300M (delta 2.5%). This means the RTX 4070 is slightly below the first three rivals but ahead of the RX 5300M by 2.5%.

The 12 GB VRAM is ample for Hard West, a game from 2015 that does not demand high memory capacity. The GPU’s performance is the primary driver of resolution scaling, as seen in the measured FPS drops. The launch MSRP for this GPU is 599 USD.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a consistent pattern across all quality presets: as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 and then to 3840x2160, average frame rates drop substantially. For High settings, the average FPS falls from 158.4 at 1080p to 104.1 at 1440p, and then to 53.6 at 4K. Low settings drop from 255.8 to 163.9 to 83.8. Medium settings go from 209 to 133.2 to 68.7. Ultra settings go from 119.4 to 75.6 to 37.5. The relative drop between 1080p and 1440p is similar across presets, and the drop to 4K is even steeper. This pattern indicates that the GPU is the limiting component as resolution increases; the CPU’s performance remains constant, so the frame rate decline is attributable to the GPU’s rendering load. At 1080p, even Ultra maintains 119.4 FPS, showing that the CPU and GPU together are more than capable of high refresh rates at that resolution. At 4K, only Low and Medium presets stay above 68.7 FPS, while High and Ultra fall to 53.6 and 37.5 respectively.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table lists all measured average FPS values for the Intel Core i7-14700K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination in Hard West.

| Resolution | Settings | Average FPS |

|------------|----------|-------------|

| 3840x2160 | High | 53.6 |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 83.8 |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 68.7 |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 37.5 |

| 2560x1440 | High | 104.1 |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 163.9 |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 133.2 |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 75.6 |

| 1920x1080 | High | 158.4 |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 255.8 |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 209 |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 119.4 |

The data shows that at 1080p, all presets exceed 119 FPS, with Low reaching 255.8 FPS. At 1440p, High and Medium both exceed 104 FPS, while Ultra stays at 75.6 FPS. At 4K, only Low and Medium average above 68.7 FPS, with High at 53.6 and Ultra at 37.5.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The highest average FPS is 255.8, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: How does the Intel Core i7-14700K compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The i7-14700K has an average benchmark score of 70,074. It is 0% different from the Intel Core i7-14700KF, 0.3% higher than the AMD EPYC 9115, 0.5% lower than the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X, and 1.4% lower than the Intel Xeon Platinum 8270.

Q: What is the VRAM capacity of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070?

A: The RTX 4070 has 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s.

Q: At 4K, which settings yield the highest average FPS?

A: At 3840x2160, Low averages 83.8 FPS, Medium 68.7 FPS, High 53.6 FPS, and Ultra 37.5 FPS. Low and Medium are the only presets that average above 68.7 FPS.

Q: What is the combo's rank in Hard West?

A: The combination ranks 438 out of 1699 tested combos.

Q: What is the boost clock of the Intel Core i7-14700K?

A: The boost clock is 5.60 GHz.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, all presets deliver high frame rates, with Ultra still averaging 119.4 FPS. For users with high refresh rate displays, Ultra is the recommended choice at 1080p. At 2560x1440, High provides 104.1 FPS and Ultra 75.6 FPS; High is a solid balance between visual quality and smoothness, while Ultra remains playable for those who prioritize image fidelity. At 3840x2160, only Low and Medium average above 68.7 FPS (83.8 and 68.7 respectively), so these are the recommended presets for 4K. High at 4K still yields 53.6 FPS, which may be acceptable for a turn-based game where reaction time is less critical, but the data shows that Low and Medium are the only presets that maintain a higher average. For the best experience per the measured rows, choose Ultra at 1080p, High at 1440p, and Low or Medium at 4K.