Hard West

# Hard West Performance Analysis: Intel Core i9-14900K + Intel Arc B390

The Intel Core i9-14900K paired with the Intel Arc B390 delivers playable frame rates at 1080p in Hard West, but the combination struggles significantly at higher resolutions. Benchmark data shows this combo ranks 2614th out of 2949 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 11.4% of all tested systems. The Arc B390's integrated graphics design, with system-shared memory and a 9th percentile GPU ranking, creates a clear bottleneck that limits the substantial CPU headroom offered by the 24-core i9-14900K.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K reveals a system almost entirely constrained by the graphics processor. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 87 at 1920x1080 to 55 at 2560x1440, then to 29 at 3840x2160 — a cumulative drop of 66.7% from 1080p to 4K. This scaling pattern is characteristic of a GPU-limited scenario, where increasing pixel count directly translates to reduced throughput.

The High settings curve tells a similar story: 55 FPS at 1080p drops to 35 FPS at 1440p (a 36.4% reduction), then to 18 FPS at 4K (a 67.3% reduction from 1080p). The Medium settings data, which includes min/max frame values, shows 71 FPS average at 1080p with a minimum of 61 FPS, falling to 45 FPS average at 1440p with a minimum of 38 FPS, and finally 24 FPS at 4K with a minimum of 20 FPS.

Ultra settings produce the steepest scaling curve. The average frame rate drops from 41 FPS at 1080p to 26 FPS at 1440p (a 36.6% reduction), and finally to 14 FPS at 4K (a 65.9% reduction from 1080p). The 4K Ultra result of 14 FPS is effectively unplayable, while even 1080p Ultra barely maintains a playable threshold.

The resolution scaling data indicates that Hard West's demands scale nearly linearly with pixel count, which suggests the Arc B390's compute and memory bandwidth are the limiting factors. The i9-14900K, with its 24 cores and 6.00 GHz boost clock, would have ample headroom to feed a more powerful discrete GPU at these resolutions. The system-shared memory architecture of the Arc B390 means that bandwidth is system-dependent, and the data shows this creates a hard ceiling even at 1080p.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of Intel Core i9-14900K and Intel Arc B390 achieves rank 2614 out of 2949 tested combos in Hard West. This places the system in the bottom 11.4% of all tested configurations, which is a remarkably low position for a CPU that ranks in the 95th percentile among all processors.

This ranking disparity between CPU and GPU performance is the defining characteristic of this combo. The i9-14900K's average benchmark score of 79097 places it above the AMD EPYC 7413 (80041 average score, 1.2% higher) and just below the Intel Core i9-14900KF (79371 average score, 0.3% higher). The CPU alone competes with server-class and flagship desktop processors.

The Arc B390, conversely, ranks in the 9th percentile among all GPUs with an average 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482. Its nearest rivals are all legacy NVIDIA parts: the GeForce GT 520MX (1463 average score, 1.3% lower), GeForce 800M (1460 average score, 1.5% lower), GeForce GT 625 OEM (1446 average score, 2.5% lower), and GeForce GT 710 (1443 average score, 2.7% lower). This positions the B390's graphics performance alongside decade-old entry-level mobile and OEM parts.

The combo rank of 2614 reflects this severe GPU bottleneck. In a turn-based tactics game like Hard West, which prioritizes CPU logic for AI and game state calculations, the GPU still becomes the limiting factor because the rendering pipeline must deliver every frame. The data indicates that this combo effectively wastes the CPU's potential in gaming workloads, as the GPU cannot translate the CPU's compute capability into frame rate.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K brings substantial processing capability to this combination. With 24 cores and 32 threads across its Raptor Lake architecture, the CPU operates at a base clock of 3.20 GHz and boosts to 6.00 GHz. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 36 MB of shared L3 cache. This configuration produces a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 39399.5 and a single-core score of 2262.5, with a Geekbench multi-core score of 21697.

In Hard West, a turn-based tactics title from 2015, the CPU's role is primarily to manage game logic: enemy AI, turn order, pathfinding, and state transitions between combat encounters. The i9-14900K's multi-threaded performance, demonstrated by a Passmark multi-thread score of 58674 and a Passmark physics score of 3140, provides substantial headroom for these workloads. However, the measured FPS data shows that this CPU headroom does not translate into higher frame rates because the GPU becomes the bottleneck.

The CPU's 95th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 79097, places it within 1.2% of the AMD EPYC 7413 and within 0.3% of the Intel Core i9-14900KF. This indicates that the i9-14900K is near the top of the desktop CPU hierarchy. Yet in Hard West, the combo's rank of 2614 out of 2949 demonstrates that CPU performance alone cannot overcome GPU limitations.

The processor's memory support for both DDR4 and DDR5, with a dual-channel memory bus, provides flexibility for system configuration. The 125W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 platform compatibility make this a standard high-end desktop part. The UHD Graphics 770 integrated GPU is present but not utilized in this combo, as the Arc B390 handles all graphics output.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best results across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 87 FPS, Medium produces 71 FPS with a minimum of 61 FPS and maximum of 82 FPS, High produces 55 FPS, and Ultra produces 41 FPS. The 1080p Low result of 87 FPS is the highest average across all tested configurations, indicating that at the lowest graphical load, the system can approach smooth gameplay.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates drop noticeably. Low settings average 55 FPS, Medium averages 45 FPS with a minimum of 38 FPS and maximum of 52 FPS, High averages 35 FPS, and Ultra averages 26 FPS. The 1440p results show that even Low settings barely maintain 60 FPS, while Ultra settings fall below 30 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles to maintain playability. Low settings average 29 FPS, Medium averages 24 FPS with a minimum of 20 FPS and maximum of 27 FPS, High averages 18 FPS, and Ultra averages 14 FPS. None of the 4K results reach 30 FPS, and the Ultra setting produces an average below 15 FPS, which is effectively a slideshow for interactive gameplay.

The frame data reveals consistent scaling between settings at each resolution. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 46 FPS (87 versus 41), while at 1440p it is 29 FPS (55 versus 26), and at 4K it is 15 FPS (29 versus 14). The absolute gap narrows as resolution increases, which is consistent with GPU-bound behavior where the rendering cost per frame dominates.

The Medium settings data provides the only min/max frame information across all resolutions. At 1080p, the 61 to 82 FPS range indicates relatively stable frame pacing. At 1440p, the 38 to 52 FPS range shows similar stability relative to the average. At 4K, the 20 to 27 FPS range suggests that frame times remain consistent even at low performance levels.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is the primary limiting factor in this combo. This integrated graphics processor, built on the Panther Lake chip with Xe3-LPG architecture, operates at a base clock of 300 MHz and boosts to 2500 MHz. The GPU features 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster operations units, along with 12 ray tracing cores. The pixel rate is 60.00 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 120.0 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance of 7.680 TFLOPS.

The memory configuration is entirely system-shared, with no dedicated VRAM. Memory type, bus width, and bandwidth are all listed as "System Shared" or "System Dependent," which means the GPU relies on the system's main memory for all graphics data. This architecture is typical of integrated graphics solutions and inherently limits performance compared to discrete GPUs with dedicated memory.

The B390's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 places it in the 9th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are all entry-level NVIDIA parts from previous generations: the GeForce GT 520MX scores 1463 (1.3% lower), the GeForce 800M scores 1460 (1.5% lower), the GeForce GT 625 OEM scores 1446 (2.5% lower), and the GeForce GT 710 scores 1443 (2.7% lower). This grouping demonstrates that the B390's raw graphics performance is comparable to decade-old entry-level hardware.

In Hard West, the GPU's role is to render the game's visual scene, including character models, environments, and effects. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low, the GPU can push 87 FPS, but this drops to 41 FPS at 1080p Ultra. The 4K Ultra result of 14 FPS indicates that the GPU reaches its absolute limits when pixel count and graphical complexity both increase.

The GPU's 80W TDP and IGP slot width confirm its integrated nature, with no power connectors required and display outputs dependent on the portable device. The DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4 API support indicates modern feature compatibility, but the hardware cannot deliver the performance to utilize these features effectively at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Hard West?

A: The highest average FPS is 87, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. At the same resolution with Medium settings, the average is 71 FPS with a minimum of 61 FPS and maximum of 82 FPS.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems in Hard West?

A: This combo ranks 2614th out of 2949 tested combinations. This places it in the bottom 11.4% of all tested systems, despite the CPU ranking in the 95th percentile among all processors.

Q: What is the difference in performance between 1080p and 4K at Ultra settings?

A: At Ultra settings, the average FPS drops from 41 at 1920x1080 to 26 at 2560x1440, and finally to 14 at 3840x2160. This represents a 65.9% reduction in average FPS from 1080p to 4K.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B390 has an average 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463 score, 1.3% lower), GeForce 800M (1460 score, 1.5% lower), GeForce GT 625 OEM (1446 score, 2.5% lower), and GeForce GT 710 (1443 score, 2.7% lower).

Q: What is the CPU's level of performance relative to other processors?

A: The Intel Core i9-14900K has an average benchmark score of 79097, placing it in the 95th percentile among all CPUs. It scores 39399.5 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 2262.5 in single-core, with a Geekbench multi-core score of 21697.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded at 4K Medium settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the minimum FPS is 20, with an average of 24 FPS and a maximum of 27 FPS. This is the only 4K configuration with reported min/max values in the measured data.