Hard West

Hard West is a turn-based tactics title from 2015, and the measured results for the Intel Core i7-14700KF paired with the Intel Arc B370 show a configuration that is heavily constrained by its graphics component. The data indicates a system where the CPU has ample headroom, but the GPU's performance floor limits the overall experience, particularly at higher resolutions and settings. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS to explain where the bottleneck lies and what settings offer the most practical path to playable frame rates.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data shows a clear and predictable pattern of decline as resolution increases, but the magnitude of that decline tells a story about the limiting component. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 79 FPS. Moving to 1440p drops that average to 50 FPS, a significant 36.7% reduction. Pushing further to 4K results in an average of 26 FPS, which is a 67.1% drop from the 1080p figure. This steep scaling curve is a hallmark of a GPU-bound scenario; the rendering workload is increasing faster than the graphics processor can handle, and the CPU is not the limiting factor.

The trend persists across all settings. For High settings, the average FPS goes from 49 at 1080p, to 31 at 1440p, and finally to 16 at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 36.7%, and the drop from 1080p to 4K is 67.3%. Similarly, with Medium settings, the averages are 64, 41, and 21 FPS for 1080p, 1440p, and 4K respectively. The consistency of these percentage drops across different quality presets reinforces that the resolution itself is the primary stressor, not the specific visual features enabled by the settings.

The data strongly suggests that the Intel Arc B370 is the definitive bottleneck. The Intel Core i7-14700KF, with its 20 cores and 28 threads, is a high-end desktop processor that sits in the 94th percentile for all CPUs. Its average benchmark score of 70163 places it slightly ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, which has a score of 69515 and a deltaPct of 0.9. In a turn-based tactics game like Hard West, which is not known for demanding physics or massive simulation counts, the CPU is likely idle for much of the time. The fact that FPS drops so sharply with resolution indicates that the GPU's fill rate and shading capacity are being saturated, while the CPU waits for the next frame to be rendered.

The implication is that players should not expect to run this game at high resolutions with this combo. The 4K results are uniformly poor, with the best-case scenario being 26 FPS on Low settings. This is below the threshold for smooth, responsive gameplay. The 1440p results are playable at Low (50 FPS) and Medium (41 FPS) settings, but the system struggles to maintain 60 FPS at any setting at this resolution. The 1080p results are the only ones that approach playable standards across the board, with Low and Medium settings exceeding the 60 FPS mark.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF is a powerhouse that is not being fully utilized in this configuration. Its specifications are substantial: 20 cores, 28 threads, a base clock of 3.40 GHz, and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. It features a large 33 MB of shared L3 cache and supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 44167 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 6235 in single-core, placing it in the 94th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F, which is 0.2% slower, and the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K, which is 1% faster.

In the context of Hard West, this CPU has far more capability than the game requires. Turn-based tactics titles typically rely more on single-thread performance for game logic and AI, and the i7-14700KF's single-core score of 6235 in Cinebench R23 is very strong. The data does not show a CPU bottleneck at any resolution or setting. If the CPU were struggling, we would expect to see similar FPS numbers at 1080p and 1440p, as the CPU workload would be the constant limiting factor. Instead, the FPS drops consistently as resolution increases, which is a clear indication of a GPU limit.

The fact that the CPU is not the bottleneck is good news for system longevity, but it does not help the current situation. The processor's high core count and clock speeds are irrelevant when the graphics card cannot deliver frames fast enough. The measured FPS data confirms the GPU's limitations, not the CPU's. The i7-14700KF is simply waiting for the Intel Arc B370 to produce the next frame, and at higher resolutions, that wait becomes increasingly long. The CPU's performance percentile, while impressive, does not translate into higher FPS here because the workload is not CPU-bound.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is the clear performance limiter in this pairing. Its benchmark results are extremely low, with a score of 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. This places the GPU in the 5th percentile of all GPUs, indicating that it is one of the slowest graphics processors on the market. Its nearest rivals in the benchmark database are legacy parts like the ATI Radeon HD 5770 and the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570, which have scores of 1190 and 1186 respectively. The Arc B370's score is only 0.2% faster than the HD 5570 and 0.5% slower than the HD 5770.

The GPU's specifications point to a design intended for low-power, integrated use cases. It has a 25 W TDP and uses system shared memory, meaning its performance is also dependent on the system's memory bandwidth. The core clock boosts up to 2400 MHz, but with only 1280 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 20 ROPs, the raw computational throughput is limited. It offers a pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s, but these figures are not sufficient for demanding resolutions.

The measured FPS data directly reflects these limitations. At 4K Ultra, the combo manages an average of only 12 FPS, which is not a playable experience. Even at 1080p Ultra, the average is just 37 FPS, which is below the standard for smooth gameplay. The GPU's performance is so low that it struggles to maintain playable frame rates even at lower settings. The data shows that the Arc B370 is a significant bottleneck that prevents the i7-14700KF from delivering its full potential. This is a classic case of an imbalanced build where the graphics card is several orders of magnitude less powerful than the processor.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the choice of settings is a trade-off between visual fidelity and playable frame rates. The data shows that the "Low" preset offers the best chance of achieving smooth performance, but it comes at the cost of visual quality. At 1080p, the Low preset achieves 79 FPS, which is excellent. The Medium preset at 1080p achieves 64 FPS, which is also very good and likely offers a noticeably better visual experience than Low.

The High preset at 1080p drops to 49 FPS, which is still playable for a turn-based tactics game, but it is starting to approach the lower limit of what is acceptable. The Ultra preset at 1080p is the worst of the 1080p options, with an average of 37 FPS. For a game that is not action-heavy, 37 FPS might be tolerable for some, but it is not ideal. The sweet spot for this combo at 1080p appears to be the Medium preset, which provides a solid balance of visual quality and performance.

At 1440p, the situation becomes more constrained. The Low preset delivers 50 FPS, which is acceptable, and the Medium preset delivers 41 FPS, which is playable but not ideal. The High preset at 31 FPS and the Ultra preset at 23 FPS are less desirable for a smooth experience. At 4K, no preset provides a satisfactory frame rate; the Low preset's 26 FPS is the best option, but it is still marginal.

The data suggests that the best experience for this combo is to play at 1080p with the Medium preset. This yields an average of 64 FPS, with a minimum of 55 FPS and a maximum of 74 FPS, according to the measured data. This provides a stable and responsive frame rate that should be suitable for the game's mechanics. If the player prioritizes frame rate over visuals, the Low preset at 1080p offers a significant boost to 79 FPS. For players who want to play at 1440p, dropping to Low settings is recommended to stay near the 50 FPS mark. However, the data indicates that playing at 4K is not a viable option for a good experience with this graphics card.

How This Combo Ranks

The overall ranking for this specific combo in Hard West is notably low. According to the data, this configuration ranks 2721 out of 2949 tested combos. This places it in the bottom 8% of all tested systems, which is a direct consequence of the GPU's low performance. The high-performing CPU is unable to compensate for the graphics card's limitations in this game.

This ranking makes sense given the performance metrics. The Intel Arc B370's 5th percentile ranking among all GPUs is a strong indicator that it will be a severe bottleneck in most gaming scenarios. The fact that the CPU is in the 94th percentile does little to change the overall outcome when the GPU is this slow. The combo's rank is a reflection of the weakest link in the chain, and in this case, the GPU is a very weak link.

The data shows that this is not a balanced configuration for gaming. The CPU has the potential to drive much higher frame rates, but the GPU simply cannot keep up. The rank of 2721 out of 2949 is a clear warning that this pairing will result in a subpar gaming experience in Hard West, particularly at higher resolutions and settings. It is a combination that prioritizes CPU compute power at the expense of graphics performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following is the complete list of measured FPS data for this configuration in Hard West.

1920x1080 (1080p)

• Ultra: Average FPS of 37.
• High: Average FPS of 49.
• Medium: Average FPS of 64, with a minimum of 55 and a maximum of 74.
• Low: Average FPS of 79.

2560x1440 (1440p)

• Ultra: Average FPS of 23.
• High: Average FPS of 31.
• Medium: Average FPS of 41, with a minimum of 35 and a maximum of 47.
• Low: Average FPS of 50.

3840x2160 (4K)

• Ultra: Average FPS of 12.
• High: Average FPS of 16.
• Medium: Average FPS of 21, with a minimum of 18 and a maximum of 25.
• Low: Average FPS of 26.

The data confirms a linear scaling pattern. At 1080p, the system is capable of playable frame rates on Medium and Low settings. At 1440p, playable frame rates are only achievable on Low settings. At 4K, the system fails to deliver a smooth experience on any setting. The performance difference between the Low and Ultra presets is substantial, with a 42 FPS gap at 1080p and a 14 FPS gap at 4K.