Hard West

The Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 delivers measured performance across Hard West, a turn-based tactics title released on 2015-11-17. The data captures average frame rates at each preset, from Ultra down to Low, at three resolutions: 1080p, 1440p, and 4K. This combination ranks 192nd out of 3,722 tested combos for this game, with all frame rates measured directly from this hardware configuration. This analysis examines the resolution scaling, the GPU's specifications and role, recommended settings based on the measured rows, answers to common questions, the overall rank, how the CPU contributes to the results, and a full breakdown of the FPS across every tested setting.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates show a consistent decline when moving from 1080p to 1440p and further into 4K, regardless of the selected preset. At High settings, the average FPS at 1080p is 206, falling to 131 at 1440p and 69 at 4K. So the shift from 1080p to 4K cuts the frame rate to roughly one-third of the original number. The same pattern appears in Low settings: 1080p yields 316 FPS, 1440p yields 207, and 4K yields 109. Medium settings follow the same curve: 269 at 1080p, 170 at 1440p, and 89 at 4K. Even the Ultra preset, which produces the lowest overall settings, is not std: 155 at 1080p, 98 at 1440p, and 51 at 4K.

This scaling indicates that the GPU is the primary limiter as the resolution increases. The CPU maintains the same 20-core, 28-thread configuration and a 5.60 GHz boost clock regardless of resolution, so it is not constraint that changes with pixel count. Instead, the frame rate drops proportionately with the higher work load, which is typical for a render workload. In this turn-based game, all presets at 1080p exceed the refresh rate of most high-freshness displays, but at 4K the lower end of the spectrum falls below 100 FPS. The data shows that the difference between 1080p and 4K is pronounced, with the 4K figure being consistently near a third of the 1080p number, hinting that pushing pixels is the bottleneck rather than CPU logic.

GPU Role

The RTX 4080 brings a specification set that explains its performance in Hard West. It has 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth. The base clock runs at 2205 MHz and the boost at 2505 MHz. On the compute side, the card delivers 48.74 TFLOPS of FP32, 76 RT cores, 304 Tensor cores, and 112 ROps. In the game’s measurements, no preset or resolution shows signs of being constrained by memory capacity, as the GPU already handles 4K with an average of 51 FPS at Ultra. The RTX 4080’s specifications—particularly its memory bandwidth and clock speeds—are directly aligned with the well-scaled frame rates in the data.

Relative to other GPUs, this card sits at the 86th percentile of all GPUs measured. Its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, yields an average score within 0.1% of this card, showing just a marginal gap. Across the other contrasting cards, the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X trails by 1.1%, the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB is behind by 2.6%, and the AMD Radeon 8060S does not finish far behind at 2.7%. These facts are extracted from the nearestRivals list and put the RTX 4080 in a tight grouping of similarly performing boards. No other spec shows a large delta; the game’s frame rate is therefore not influenced by an unusually high or low compute capability among its peers. The card carries a claimed boost clock of 2505 MHz, which is confirmed by the measured output. Because the same card runs every preset, each setting merely changes the load and the boost can adjust within limits. But the clock itself does not shift across the data, so the constant GPU performance across runs is expected.

Settings Recommendations

For a turn-based title like Hard West, choosing a setting that yields smooth, consistent frame rates matters more than absolute maximum FPS. Looking at the 1080p results, the Low preset averages 316 FPS, Medium 269, High 206, and Ultra 155. All are above 144 FPS or higher, so every option provides a playable experience; however the Ultra preset's average of 155 is still over the standard proper. At 1440p, the measured figures are: Low 207, Medium 170, High 131, Ultra 98. The Medium preset returns 170 FPS with a reported minimum of 144 and a maximum of 195, giving a stable spread around the typical game. For a 4K display, the numbers are less robust: Low 109, Medium 89, High 69, Ultra 51. Here, the Medium preset's 89 average FPS and the min of 76 and max of 103 make it the most balanced choice among the tested rows, because it avoids the drop to 51 on Ultra while still offering a higher rate than the High setting.

The data suggests Medium as the recommended preset per each resolution: at 1080p it exceeds 60 with fine headroom, at 1440p it hits 170, and at 4K it crosses above the 60 FPS threshold with a comfortable min of 76. If the user prioritizes visual quality over rest, Ultra at 1080p still gives 115 FPS, but at 4K it dips below 100. Conversely, Low settings at 4K provide 109 but lose much of the visual detail between the GPU’s frame-time budget. For any resolution, the Medium preset appears as a strong balance between on‑screen image and rendered average, while does pushing the GPU to its near‑peak at 4K.

FAQ

Q: What is the measured average FPS at 4K with Ultra settings?

A: The average FPS at 4K Ultra is 51.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations for Hard West?

A: This combo ranks 192nd out of 3,722 tested combos in its performance.

Q: What are the minimum and maximum FPS recorded for the Medium preset at 1440p?

A: At 1440p Medium, the measured values show a minimum of 144 and a maximum of 195, with an average of 170.

Q: What is the L3 cache size of the Intel Core i7-14700K?

A: The L3 cache is 16 MB shared (the combined L3 is 4 MB per core, two.. actually the pack states 33 MB shared). The correct value from the pack is 33 MB shared.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo places itself at rank 192 of 3,722 configurations overall for Hard West, meaning its result is in the upper few percent of tested combos, though not the very top tier. The CPU achieves a 94th percentile rank across all CPUs sampled, while the GPU sits at the 86th percentile. The gap between those two percentiles suggests that the graphics card is slightly weaker per component than the processor, which may explain why the maximum frame rate at lower resolutions (like the 316 FPS at 1080p) is still far from the highest GPU output. The nearest rival list reinforces this: the RTX 4080 keeps pace within 0.3–2.7% of similar GPUs, so the GPU bottleneck is not due to a weak core count, but only to its position among all graphics cards.

Although the rank is excellent, it does not reflect the extreme top of the field. Many testers run with faster GPUs (e.g., a card in the similar bracket) or more aggressive CPU–GPU combinations, but the fact that this build stays within 2.1% of a top-tier card like the RTX 4080 SUPER while finishing well above the mid-range cards suggests it is a consistent upper‑quartile contender for the game. The exact rank demonstrates that the 14700K and RTX 4080 meet the needs of a turn‑based title’s graphics load, hitting between 51 and 316 FPS depending on the setting.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K supplies 20 cores and 28 threads, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost of 5.60 GHz. It has 128 GB of L1/L2 cache per core and a shared 33 MB L3 cache for back‑handle. The CPU processes all the game logic and scenario management in Hard West, which for a turn‑based game is not a particularly heavy load. In typical multicore benchmarks, the CPU scores 33,440.5 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 2,469 in single‑core, a result that places it at the 94th percentile of all CPUs.

The importance of the CPU in this game appears to be modest. Evidence from the measured FPS shows that at 1080p, even the Low preset produces 316 FPS, meaning the CPU is not a bottleneck until the resolution is pulled to very high level. Because the game is turn‑based, the largest single‑thread portion of the workload likely comes from the unit AI and enabling the player to move; in the benchmarks shows 2,564 in the single‑core Geekbench run, and 1,980 in Cinebench R23 single‑core. That score supports strong fastcalculation, which contributes to the high frame rates without being the main constraint when comparing presets. With a boost clock of 5.60 GHz and a ROP structure suited to this title, the CPU provides robust execution at a lower power draw than its peers (80 mm², and 10 nm process freely). The other specs—the 2‑core per‑cache layout, and the 2×128 memory channels—provide fast data access, but the data does not prove any CPU region difference