Hard West

The Intel Core i7-14700KF and Intel Arc B570 combination presents a clear picture in Hard West: it is a pairing where the graphics card dictates the experience at higher resolutions, while the processor’s strong single-threaded performance ensures headroom at lower settings. The measured data shows a performance curve that is heavily influenced by resolution scaling, with the Arc B570’s capabilities becoming the primary bottleneck as pixel count increases.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K demonstrates a steep and predictable drop in frame rates across all quality presets. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system achieves 134 FPS, but this falls to 85 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 44 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 67% reduction in average FPS from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, indicating that the GPU is being pushed substantially harder as resolution increases. The pattern is consistent across presets: High settings drop from 84 FPS at 1080p to 53 FPS at 1440p, then to 28 FPS at 4K—a 67% decline. Medium settings follow the same trajectory, moving from 110 FPS at 1080p to 69 FPS at 1440p and finally to 36 FPS at 4K, a 67% drop. Ultra settings show the most severe scaling, falling from 63 FPS at 1080p to 40 FPS at 1440p and then to 21 FPS at 4K, a 67% reduction.

The consistency of these percentage drops across all presets is telling. It suggests that the limiting component at higher resolutions is the GPU’s fill rate and memory bandwidth, not the CPU. The Intel Core i7-14700KF, with its 20 cores and 28 threads, has ample compute headroom for a turn-based tactics title like Hard West, which is not heavily multithreaded. The data shows that the CPU is not the constraining factor even at 1080p Low, where the system reaches 134 FPS—a figure that would likely be lower if the processor were struggling. The scaling pattern points to the Arc B570’s 160-bit memory bus and 380.0 GB/s bandwidth being the key factor in the 4K performance collapse, as the GPU must process four times the pixels compared to 1080p.

What is particularly notable is the difference between Low and Ultra at each resolution. At 1080p, the gap between Low (134 FPS) and Ultra (63 FPS) is 71 FPS, a 53% reduction. At 1440p, the gap narrows to 45 FPS (85 FPS vs 40 FPS), a 53% reduction. At 4K, the gap is 23 FPS (44 FPS vs 21 FPS), again a 53% reduction. This consistent proportional gap suggests that the settings are affecting the GPU workload in a linear fashion, and the GPU’s relative performance ceiling is hit at every resolution. The data indicates that 4K is only viable for Low settings, and even then, the 44 FPS average is below what most players would consider smooth for a turn-based game.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Hard West, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i7-14700KF and Intel Arc B570 ranks 2360 out of 2949 tested combos. This places it in the 20th percentile of all tested systems, which is a relatively low position for a modern CPU and GPU pairing. The rank reflects the Arc B570’s position in the GPU hierarchy more than the CPU’s capabilities. The Core i7-14700KF itself sits in the 94th percentile of all CPUs tested in the database, with an average benchmark score of 70163. This is a high-performing processor, but the combo rank is dragged down by the GPU’s performance class.

The GPU’s own percentile ranking is 65th among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20556. This puts the Arc B570 in the mid-range tier, and its performance in Hard West aligns with that positioning. The combo rank of 2360 out of 2949 indicates that many other combinations—likely those with higher-end GPUs—achieve better frame rates in this game. However, it is important to note that this rank is specific to Hard West, a game from 2015 that is not graphically demanding by modern standards. The relatively low rank suggests that the Arc B570 is the limiting factor, and pairing it with a different CPU would not significantly improve the results.

The nearest rivals to the CPU in synthetic benchmarks provide context for its performance. The Intel Core i7-14700KF scores 0.2% higher than the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F, 0.4% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX, and 0.9% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X. It scores 1.0% lower than the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K. These margins are negligible in real-world gaming, meaning any of these CPUs would produce nearly identical results in Hard West when paired with the same GPU. The bottleneck is clearly the graphics card.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile, which scores 0.1% higher than the Arc B570, and the Intel Arc A750, which scores 0.1% lower. The NVIDIA Quadro M4000M scores 0.4% higher, and the AMD Radeon R9 M390X scores 0.5% lower. These are all older or mobile parts, indicating that the Arc B570 sits in a performance tier that is competitive with previous-generation mid-range hardware. In Hard West, this translates to playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, but not at 4K with high settings.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 is built on the Xe2-HPG architecture and uses the BMG-G21 chip manufactured on a 5 nm process by TSMC. It has 19,600 million transistors on a 272 mm² die, giving it a transistor density of 72.1M per mm². The GPU operates at a fixed clock speed of 2500 MHz for both base and boost, which is an unusual specification that suggests a locked power/performance target. The memory runs at 2375 MHz, translating to 19 Gbps effective, across a 160-bit bus. This yields a total bandwidth of 380.0 GB/s, which is moderate for a card in this class.

The GPU has 10 GB of GDDR6 memory, which is sufficient for Hard West’s needs, as the game is from 2015 and has modest VRAM requirements. However, the 160-bit bus width is the primary constraint at higher resolutions. The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the system only achieves 21 FPS, which is likely due to the memory bandwidth being insufficient to handle the increased pixel throughput. The GPU’s pixel rate is 200.0 GPixel/s and its texture rate is 360.0 GTexel/s, which are respectable figures, but the bandwidth limitation becomes apparent as resolution increases.

The Arc B570’s compute capabilities are also relevant. It has 2304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 80 ROPs, along with 18 ray tracing cores. Its FP32 performance is 11.52 TFLOPS, and FP16 is 23.04 TFLOPS. These numbers indicate a mid-range GPU that is capable of handling modern games at 1080p and 1440p, but the measured FPS in Hard West suggests that the GPU’s memory subsystem is the bottleneck at 4K. The card supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, which are all compatible with Hard West’s requirements.

The GPU’s synthetic benchmark scores reflect its mid-range positioning. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it scores 2649, and in Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan, it scores 83514 and 96844, respectively. The Passmark G3D score is 14195, with a GPU compute score of 7281. These figures are consistent with a card that performs well in traditional rasterization but is not top-tier. In Hard West, this translates to strong performance at 1080p, acceptable performance at 1440p, and weak performance at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of the system’s performance across all settings and resolutions. At 1920x1080, the system achieves 134 FPS on Low, 110 FPS on Medium, 84 FPS on High, and 63 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset has a min FPS of 93 and a max FPS of 126, showing a stable frame time distribution. The 1080p results are all playable, with even Ultra settings maintaining a smooth 63 FPS average.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates drop significantly. Low settings produce 85 FPS, Medium produces 69 FPS (with a min of 59 and max of 80), High produces 53 FPS, and Ultra produces 40 FPS. The 1440p results are still acceptable for a turn-based game, with Ultra dipping to 40 FPS but remaining playable. The Medium preset offers a good balance of visual quality and performance, staying above 60 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles. Low settings produce 44 FPS, Medium produces 36 FPS (with a min of 31 and max of 42), High produces 28 FPS, and Ultra produces 21 FPS. None of these results reach 60 FPS, and even Low settings fall below the traditional smoothness threshold. The 4K data shows that the Arc B570 is not capable of providing a consistently smooth experience at this resolution for Hard West, regardless of settings.

The pattern across all resolutions is clear: Low settings provide roughly 60% higher FPS than Ultra settings. At 1080p, Low is 134 FPS vs Ultra’s 63 FPS. At 1440p, Low is 85 FPS vs Ultra’s 40 FPS. At 4K, Low is 44 FPS vs Ultra’s 21 FPS. This consistent ratio indicates that the GPU’s workload scales predictably with settings, and the performance ceiling is determined by the GPU’s raw throughput.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Hard West at 4K with playable frame rates?

A: The data shows that at 3840x2160, the system achieves 44 FPS on Low settings and 21 FPS on Ultra settings. For a turn-based tactics game, 44 FPS may be acceptable, but it falls below the 60 FPS threshold. High and Ultra settings are not recommended at 4K.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combination to achieve 60+ FPS?

A: At 1920x1080, all settings from Low (134 FPS) to Ultra (63 FPS) maintain an average above 60 FPS. At 2560x1440, only Low (85 FPS) and Medium (69 FPS) exceed 60 FPS. For a consistent 60 FPS experience, 1080p is the safest choice.

Q: How does the Intel Core i7-14700KF’s performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The CPU’s average benchmark score of 70163 is 0.2% higher than the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F, 0.4% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX, and 0.9% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X. It is 1.0% lower than the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K.

Q: Is the Intel Arc B570 the bottleneck in this system for Hard West?

A: Yes, the data suggests this. The CPU has a 94th percentile ranking, while the GPU has a 65th percentile ranking. The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario, and the combo rank of 2360 out of 2949 is driven by the GPU’s performance class.

Q: What is the difference in FPS between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings produce 85 FPS, while Ultra settings produce 40 FPS. This is a 45 FPS difference, or a 53% reduction in performance when moving from the lowest to the highest quality preset.

Q: How much VRAM does the GPU have, and is it sufficient for this game?

A: The Intel Arc B570 has 10 GB of GDDR6 memory. Hard West is a 2015 title, and the memory bandwidth of 380.0 GB/s is the limiting factor at 4K, not the capacity. The 10 GB is more than sufficient for this game’s texture requirements.

Settings Recommendations

For players targeting 1080p, the Ultra preset is the clear choice, as it delivers a 63 FPS average while providing the best visual quality. The High preset also works well at 84 FPS, but Ultra gives the full experience without sacrificing smoothness. If the goal is to maximize frame rates, Low settings at 134 FPS are available, but the visual compromise is substantial for a game that is not heavily action-oriented.

At 1440p, the Medium preset offers the best experience, with a 69 FPS average and a minimum of 59 FPS. This keeps the frame rate close to 60 FPS while providing a reasonable level of visual detail. High settings at 53 FPS are playable but may feel slightly less smooth. Low settings at 85 FPS are an option for those who prioritize frame rate stability over visuals.

For 4K, the data strongly suggests that this combination is not suited for the task. The Low preset at 44 FPS is the only option that approaches playability, but it still falls below 60 FPS. Medium at 36 FPS and High at 28 FPS are too slow for a responsive experience. Ultra at 21 FPS is effectively unplayable. Players with a 4K display should either lower the resolution or reduce the settings to Low, but even then, the experience will be compromised.

The measured data indicates that the ideal configuration is 1080p with Ultra settings, as this provides the full visual experience at a playable frame rate. For those with 1440p monitors, Medium settings offer the best balance of quality and performance. The 4K results are not recommended for this pairing.

In summary, the Intel Core i7-14700KF is a high-end CPU, but the Intel Arc B570 limits the system’s performance in Hard West to 1080p and 1440p gaming. The 4K results are poor, and the best experience is achieved at 1080p Ultra, where the system delivers 63 FPS. The data confirms that this is a GPU-limited pairing, and the CPU has ample headroom for this title.