Hard West

Hard West is a turn-based tactics title from 2015, and with the Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, the benchmark data shows a system that is brutally overpowered for the game's engine. The measured FPS results are extraordinarily high across all settings, indicating that this combination is not a test of the hardware's limits, but rather a demonstration of how a modern flagship platform can obliterate an older title. The data reveals that the primary bottleneck at lower resolutions is the game's own CPU logic, while the GPU only begins to show meaningful load at 4K with the heaviest presets.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K is telling. At the Low preset, the average frame rate drops from 315.9 FPS at 1920x1080 to 230.1 FPS at 2560x1440, and then sharply down to 122.5 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 61% reduction from 1080p to 4K, which is a massive hit. However, even the 4K Low result of 122.5 FPS is exceptionally high, meaning the game remains fluid regardless. The pattern changes when moving to the Ultra preset. The 1080p Ultra average is 171.9 FPS, which drops to 107 FPS at 1440p and further to 58.9 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1440p to 4K on Ultra is about 45%, which is a smaller relative decline than the Low preset's 47% drop from 1440p to 4K.

This data suggests a dual bottleneck scenario. At 1080p and 1440p with Low settings, the frame rates are so high (230-315 FPS) that the Core i7-14700K's single-thread performance is likely the limiting factor, as the GPU has very little work to do. The game engine, likely built around a single primary game thread, cannot feed the GPU fast enough. As resolution increases, the GPU load rises, and the scaling becomes more consistent with a GPU-bound scenario. The fact that the 1080p Medium (294.3 FPS) and 1080p High (226.7 FPS) results are much closer to each other than the Low to Medium jump suggests that there is a hard ceiling around 300 FPS where the CPU cannot push further. The 4K Ultra result of 58.9 FPS is the only data point where the RTX 4090's raw power is genuinely being taxed, confirming that the GPU becomes the clear limiting component only at the highest resolution and preset combination.

FAQ

Q: Is the Core i7-14700K a bottleneck for the RTX 4090 in Hard West?

A: At 1080p and 1440p with Low settings, yes. The data shows frame rates of 315.9 FPS and 230.1 FPS respectively, which are so high that the CPU's processing speed is the limiting factor. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 58.9, which is a GPU-bound result, indicating the CPU has enough headroom to let the RTX 4090 work fully.

Q: What is the best resolution to play at with this combo?

A: For maximum smoothness, 1440p Ultra is the sweet spot, delivering an average of 107 FPS while maintaining high visual fidelity. If you prioritize frame rate over all else, 1080p Low gives 315.9 FPS, but the 1440p Medium result of 186.4 FPS offers a better balance of speed and quality.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High?

A: The Ultra preset is significantly more demanding. At 4K, Ultra averages 58.9 FPS compared to High's 74.2 FPS, a drop of 15.3 FPS. At 1440p, the difference is 37.8 FPS (107 vs 144.8). The performance cost of the Ultra preset is substantial across all resolutions.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Hard West?

A: Yes, easily. Even the most demanding preset, Ultra, maintains an average of 58.9 FPS at 4K. Lower presets are much faster, with Low hitting 122.5 FPS at 4K. The RTX 4090's 24 GB of GDDR6X memory is more than sufficient for the game's textures.

Q: Is the game more CPU-intensive or GPU-intensive?

A: The data indicates that at lower resolutions, the game is CPU-intensive, as frame rates plateau around 300 FPS on 1080p Medium and High. However, at 4K Ultra, the workload shifts to the GPU, as evidenced by the 58.9 FPS result, which is a classic sign of a GPU bottleneck in a modern title.

Q: What is the performance difference between the Low and Ultra presets?

A: The gap is huge. At 1080p, Low runs at 315.9 FPS, while Ultra runs at 171.9 FPS, a 144 FPS difference. At 4K, the difference is 63.6 FPS (122.5 vs 58.9). The Ultra preset roughly halves the frame rate compared to Low at every resolution.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the most powerful consumer GPU in the data set, with a boost clock of 2520 MHz and a 384-bit memory bus delivering 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth. Its 24 GB of GDDR6X memory is far beyond what a 2015 turn-based tactic game requires. In this title, the GPU's role is almost entirely about resolving the final image. The benchmark results show that the card is rarely challenged. At 1080p, the average FPS exceeds 170 on all presets, meaning the GPU is idling most of the time, waiting for the CPU to send draw calls.

The GPU's massive FP32 throughput of 82.58 TFLOPS and 16,384 shading units are overkill for the game's simple geometry and lighting. However, the data shows that the GPU does have an impact at higher resolutions. The 4K Ultra result of 58.9 FPS is the only point where the card's fill rate and memory bandwidth are meaningfully utilized. The transition from 1440p Ultra (107 FPS) to 4K Ultra (58.9 FPS) shows a 45% performance drop, which is a typical scaling curve for a GPU-bound scenario. This indicates that the RTX 4090 is the limiting factor at this specific setting, but its raw power ensures that even this "worst-case" scenario is playable. The card's 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores are irrelevant here, as the game does not use ray tracing or DLSS, but they do not hinder performance either.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-14700K and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 18th out of 1,699 tested combos in Hard West. This places it in the top 1.1% of all systems tested, which is an exceptional result. The ranking is likely limited not by the hardware's performance, but by the game's engine and its ability to utilize multiple threads. The CPU's benchmark scores show it is a top-tier processor, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44,534 and a single-core score of 6,287, placing it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs. The GPU also ranks high, in the 91st percentile of all GPUs.

The ranking of 18th suggests that a few other combinations, likely with even higher-clocked CPUs, can achieve marginally better frame rates in this specific game. The nearest CPU rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X, show a delta of -0.5% in average benchmark score, indicating they are essentially equal in processing power. However, in a game that is heavily single-threaded at high FPS, the slight differences in boost behavior could account for the 18th place finish. The data confirms that this combo is not just "fast enough" but is among the fastest possible configurations for this game, with the only potential improvements coming from platform-specific optimizations.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the results are staggering. The Low preset averages 315.9 FPS, which is the highest score in the entire data set. Moving to Medium, the average drops to 294.3 FPS, and High further drops to 226.7 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1080p averages 171.9 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is only 21.6 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is 67.6 FPS, suggesting that the High preset introduces a significant new visual effect that costs performance.

At 2560x1440, the scaling is more consistent. Low averages 230.1 FPS, Medium 186.4 FPS, High 144.8 FPS, and Ultra 107 FPS. The Ultra preset is the only one that falls below 120 FPS at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the results show the GPU finally working. Low averages 122.5 FPS, Medium 101.1 FPS, High 74.2 FPS, and Ultra 58.9 FPS. The performance drop from High to Ultra at 4K is 15.3 FPS, which is significant. The data shows a clear pattern: the game is playable at 4K on all presets, but the Ultra preset is the only one that drops below the 60 FPS threshold, making High the highest preset that guarantees a consistently smooth experience at 4K.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data suggests that the "Ultra" preset is not worth the performance penalty on this system. At 1440p, dropping from Ultra to High increases the average frame rate from 107 FPS to 144.8 FPS, a 35% improvement, with likely minimal visual differences in a turn-based game. At 4K, the choice is more critical: Ultra averages 58.9 FPS, which is close to the edge of 60 FPS, while High averages 74.2 FPS, providing a comfortable margin.

For a 4K display, the High preset is the recommended choice. It offers a 15.3 FPS advantage over Ultra, and the visual fidelity is still excellent. For 1440p, the High preset is also recommended, as it provides a fluid 144.8 FPS experience. If you have a 240Hz or higher refresh rate monitor, the Low or Medium presets at 1080p will push frame rates above 294 FPS, but this is likely overkill for a turn-based tactics game where reaction time is not critical. The data indicates that the Medium preset at 4K (101.1 FPS) is a better option than Ultra (58.9 FPS) if you want to maximize frame rate without sacrificing too much visual quality. Ultimately, the High preset at 1440p or 4K provides the best balance of performance and image quality, as it consistently delivers high frame rates without the steep performance cost of the Ultra preset.