Hard West

The benchmark data for Hard West on the Intel Core i7-14700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 combination provides a clear picture of how this mid-to-high-range setup handles the turn-based tactics title. Across 1080p, 1440p, and 4K resolutions, the measured FPS values (ranging from 33 to 211) indicate a system that can comfortably play the game at most settings but may need adjustments for 4K Ultra. The data also allows us to infer which component is responsible for bottlenecks, the best preset to use, and how the combo stacks against other tested configurations.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS values across Low, Medium, High, and Ultra presets at three resolutions give a straightforward ranking. At 1080p, every preset produces well over 100 frames per second (211 on Low, 173 on Medium, 133 on High, and 99 on Ultra). This means that even the highest quality setting is playable, but like many turn-based games, the visual fidelity is more important than raw frame rate. The Ultra preset at 1080p still maintains 99 FPS, so there is no performance reason to drop below it. However, for a game that does not require rapid reflexes, the gap between Medium (173 FPS) and Ultra (99 FPS) suggests that players who favor a higher resolution over saturation could choose Medium to free up headroom, but the difference is not critical.

At 2560x1440, the situation becomes more nuanced. Ultra drops to 63 FPS, High is 84 FPS, Medium is 109 FPS, and Low yields 133 FPS. For a turn-based title, 84 FPS is already above the typical 60 FPS target, and the visual difference between High and Ultra is often minimal. The data shows High at 1440p is the sweet spot, with 84 FPS that can easily handle smooth camera panning and effects. Ultra at 1440p, while still playable at 63 FPS, loses the high refresh rate advantage that High offers. For players with 144 Hz monitors, 84 FPS is already 58% of the refresh rate, but since the game is slow-paced, High is recommended.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly stretched. Ultra yields only 33 FPS, High 44 FPS, Medium 57 FPS, and Low 70 FPS. None of these settings provide a truly fluid 4K experience typical of an AAA game, but because Hard West is a grid-based tactical RPG, 44 FPS on High is arguably playable. Medium at 57 FPS is the safest choice if a player wants to avoid any judder during animations. Low at 70 FPS is still above baseline, but the graphical fidelity drop is substantial. Therefore, the recommended preset across all resolutions is Medium: it provides playable frame rates in every resolution, at 58 FPS at 4K, 109 FPS at 1440p, and 173 FPS at 1080p, while maintaining acceptable visuals.

GPU Role

The RTX 3070 is the defining component in this GPU-reliant scenario. The card comes with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The core clock runs at 1500 MHz base and 1725 MHz boost, and the GPU has 5888 shading units, 184 TMUs, 96 ROPs, and 420 tensor cores. For a title like Hard West, which is developed on a modest 3D engine, the GPU load at 1080p is not pushed to its limits, as evidenced by the 211 FPS average on Low and 173 FPS on Medium. The FPS difference between the 1080p and 1440p settings (e.g., High 133 FPS at 1080p vs. 84 FPS at 1440p) shows that the GPU is efficiently scaled with pixel count, indicating the RTX 3070 is the performance limiter once the resolution and quality settings increase.

The data further suggest that the 8 GB VRAM is sufficient for this game at all tested settings. Even at 4K Ultra, the measured 33 FPS, though low, does not imply a memory overflow; the scene complexity of Hard West remains modest. The GPU’s 61st percentile rating against all GPUs (present in the pack) places it above the majority of cards, and its nearest rivals show it is roughly 0.7% faster than the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT, 1% faster than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690, and 1.1% faster than the AMD Radeon HD 7970M, while lagging 1.5% behind the NVIDIA Tesla K40c. These small margins underline that the RTX 3070 sits in a middle tier of performance, which is consistent with its measured overall benchmark score of 207.5 (if expressed as a percentage of the top performance) – but the exact value is not needed for gameplay.

In this game, the GPU’s raw rasterization power is the main driver for frame rates above 60 FPS. The only scenario where the RTX 3070 does not fully deliver is 4K Ultra, where the 33 FPS falls below the general smoothness threshold, but this is a common trade-off across many modern titles.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings to use with an RTX 3070 for this game?

A: The Middle preset offers the best compromise across all resolutions. It delivers 173 FPS at 1080p, 109 FPS at 1440p, and 57 FPS at 4K, which are all playable. At 1080p, even Ultra (99 FPS) is fine, but Medium provides additional headroom.

Q: Can the RTX 3070 handle 4K at 60 FPS in this game?

A: No. At 4K, the measured FPS on the highest settings is only 33 FPS (Ultra) and 63 FPS (High). To attain 60+ FPS, one must drop to Medium (57 FPS) or Low (70 FPS). A 60 FPS target at 4K would require a more powerful GPU than the RTX 3070.

Q: Is the 1440p resolution the best performance mode?

A: That depends. At 1440p with High settings, the system yields 84 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold and provides enough detail for the game. Ultra is also playable at 63 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra is minor, so High is the recommended sweet spot.

Q: How does the RTX 3070 compare to other GPUs in the database?

A: The RTX 3070 ranks in the 61st percentile of all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 17208 places it close to several rivals. Notably, it is 0.7% behind the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT, 1.0% behind the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690, and 1.0% behind the AMD Radeon HD 7970M, while it leads by 1.5% over the NVIDIA Tesla K40c. This shows the RTX 3070 is just above the 66th percentile of commodity GPUs.

Q: Does the CPU limit the GPU in this game?

A: The data away from that. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 211 FPS, which is far above the game’s typical demand. The i7-14700KF has 20 cores and 28 threads and a boost clock of 5.6 GHz, ensuring that the GPU receives a constant stream of frames. At any resolution, the FPS is directly correlated with resolution, as seen from the drop from 211 to 133 to 70 at Low from 1080p to 1440p to 4K, meaning the GPU is the bottleneck, not the CPU.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-14700KF combined with the RTX 3070 has a rank of 4581 out of a tested suite of 3722 combinations. This places it in the upper-middle tier of the database. Specifically, 2141 combinations are slower, while 1580are faster. In other words, this configuration performs better than approximately 57.6% of all recorded combinations, yet it trails the top 42.4%. Such a ranking is expected for a mid-range GPU paired with a high-end (top 6% of all CPUs) processor. The i7-14700KF itself sits in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, with a R23 multi-core score of 44167 and a single-core score of 6235, while the RTX 3070 occupies the 61st percentile of GPUs. The pairing forms a combination where the CPU ensures not bottlenecking the GPU, but the GPU at 4K Ultra restricts overall performance. The ranking also reflects that while the CPU is among the best, the GPU’s performance is moderate, so many higher-end GPUs placed higher.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS demonstrate a predictable scaling pattern across the three resolutions. For each preset, the ratio of 1080p to 1440p to 4K frame rates closely matches the pixel differences. At High, the average drops from 133 at 1080p to 84 at 1440p (a reduction of 36.8%) and then to 44 at 4K (a further 47.6%). At Low, the drop is from 211 to 133 (36.6%) and then to 74 (44.4%). Similar percentage drops appear in Medium and Ultra. For example, Medium goes from 173 to 109 (37.0%) and then to 57 (47.7%). Ultra: 99 → 63 (36.4%) → 33 (47.6%). The consistently ~36% drop from 1080p to 1440p and ~48% from 1440p to 4K indicates that the FPS scales roughly linear with the pixel count, revealing that the convolution is GPU-bound. If the CPU were a bottleneck, the equivalent FPS would change much less with resolution, but here the drop is nearly proportional to pixel area. This is the classic signature of a GPU-limited scenario, where the RTX 3070’s shading power is the governing factor.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The tables below lists the exact average FPS (and, for Medium, also min and max) for each tested configuration:

| Resolution | Settings | Average FPS | Min | Max |

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

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 33 | – | – |

| 3840x2160 | High | 63 | – | – |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 57 | 49 | 66 |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 70 | – | – |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 63 | – | – |

| 2560x1440 | High | 84 | – | – |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 109 | 93 | 126 |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 133 | – | – |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 99 | – | – |

| 1920x1080 | High | 133 | – | – |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 173 | 147 | 198 |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 211 | – | – |

The Medium preset has the only min and max data points, providing insight into frame-time consistency. At 4K, the median frame drops to 48% of the average (57 FPS average but a 49 FPS minimum), leading to occasional moderate hitches. At 1440p, the minimum 111 FPS does not a drastic bottleneck, and at 1080p the minimum 216 FPS. All other presets have no min/max data, so the averages alone are used for analysis. The scaling from 211 FPS (1080p Low) to 33 FPS (4K Ultra) spans a 6.4 factor, demonstrating the RTX 3070’s ability to handle the game’s modest graphics for most settings, but not the same as a top-tier GPU.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF is a 20-processor, 28-thread part with a base speed of 3.40 GHz and a boost of 5.60 GHz. It uses the Coral Lake-R architecture, has a 33 MB shared L3 cache, and supports DDR5 memory. The CPU sits in the 94th percentile of all tested processors, with a highly impressive benchmark numbers: Cinebench R23 multi core 44167, single core 6235, Geekbench multi 21462, and PassMark multi 52425. In the context of Hard West, this CPU is overkill. The game is a turn-based tactic that uses minimal CPU work, and the measured FPS at 1080p Low shows 211 FPS, which is above the 240 Hz limit of many monitors. The CPU’s single-thread performance is sufficient to feed the GPU; the 33% drop in FPS from 1080p to material to 4K proves that not CPU cores are involved.

The nearest processing rivals are the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F (+0.2% score), AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (+0.4%), and AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (+0.9%), while the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K is -1% lower. The 14700KF’s performance is thus outstandingly close to these high-end AMD chips, meaning the CPU never creates a bottleneck in this build. Given the game’s low-threaded nature, the CPU is effective, and the only factor limiting total frame output is the RTX 3070’s GPU load.