Hard West

The Intel Core i9-14900K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 delivers a performance profile in Hard West that is heavily dictated by resolution and graphical presets. At 1080p, the combination produces frame rates well beyond display refresh rates for most monitors, while 4K Ultra pushes the system to its limits. The data reveals a classic balance where the RTX 3070’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and GA104 chip become the primary constraint at higher resolutions, while the i9-14900K’s 24 cores and 32 threads ensure the CPU never becomes a bottleneck in this turn-based tactics title.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and predictable scaling curve as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo achieves an average of 135.9 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 at High, the average drops to 84.4 FPS, representing a 37.9% reduction. Further scaling to 3840x2160 at High yields 42 FPS, which is a 69.1% drop from the 1080p baseline. This steep decline indicates that the rendering load is scaling significantly with pixel count, a pattern consistent with the GPU being the limiting factor.

The scaling behavior differs notably across settings presets. At Low settings, the drop from 1080p (209.8 FPS) to 1440p (134.7 FPS) is a 35.8% reduction, and then to 4K (72.2 FPS) is a 65.6% reduction from 1080p. The Ultra preset shows an even more aggressive decline: 101.1 FPS at 1080p, 62.5 FPS at 1440p, and 33.6 FPS at 4K. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is substantial, with Ultra delivering only 46.5% of the Low preset’s frame rate. This suggests that the higher presets introduce effects that disproportionately tax the GPU’s 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 20.31 TFLOPS FP32 compute.

The data also indicates that the CPU headroom is ample. At 1080p Low, the system produces 209.8 FPS, which is far above what the GPU can sustain at higher resolutions. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect frame rates to plateau rather than decline so sharply with resolution. Instead, the i9-14900K’s boost clock of 6.00 GHz and 36 MB of shared L3 cache provide sufficient single-thread performance for the game’s logic, allowing the GPU to be the sole determinant of performance scaling.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this specific combination of the Intel Core i9-14900K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 holds a combo rank of 768 out of 1699 tested combinations in Hard West. This places it in the upper-middle tier of all tested systems, meaning it outperforms more than half of the combinations but falls short of the top-tier configs that likely feature higher-end GPUs. The percentile placement is consistent with the RTX 3070’s individual GPU percentile of 72, which indicates it ranks above 72% of all GPUs tested in the database.

The CPU component is notably stronger on its own. The i9-14900K has a percentile vs all CPUs of 97, and its average benchmark score of 79824 places it very close to its nearest rivals. The AMD EPYC 7413 scores 80041, which is a delta of -0.3% relative to the i9-14900K, meaning the EPYC is marginally faster. The Intel Core i9-14900KF scores 79245 (delta 0.7%), and the Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF scores 79240 (delta 0.7%). These differences are within a single percentage point, indicating that the i9-14900K’s raw compute performance is essentially tied with its closest competitors.

The GPU’s ranking is less dominant. The RTX 3070 has an average benchmark score of 28238, with its nearest rival being the AMD FirePro S7150 at 28409 (delta -0.6%), which is slightly faster. The AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT scores 27985 (delta 0.9%), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti scores 27956 (delta 1%). This places the RTX 3070 in a tight cluster where a 1% difference separates it from older and newer competitors. The combo rank reflects this balance: the strong CPU drags the overall ranking upward, but the GPU’s mid-tier performance prevents the combo from breaking into the top percentile.

FAQ

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1440p with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 2560x1440 with High settings is 84.4 FPS. This is well above the 60 FPS threshold and provides a smooth experience for turn-based gameplay.

Q: Is the Intel Core i9-14900K the bottleneck in this configuration?

A: No. The data shows that frame rates scale dramatically with resolution and settings, which indicates the GPU is the limiting component. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 209.8 FPS, far exceeding any CPU constraint.

Q: How does the RTX 3070 compare to its nearest rivals in this game?

A: The RTX 3070’s average benchmark score is 28238, which is 0.6% lower than the AMD FirePro S7150 (28409) and 0.9% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT (27985). The performance difference is minimal.

Q: What is the performance drop from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings?

A: At Ultra settings, the average FPS drops from 101.1 at 1920x1080 to 33.6 at 3840x2160. This is a 66.8% reduction in frame rate.

*Q: Does the CPU’s 24-core configuration matter for Hard West?*

A: The game is turn-based tactics, which typically relies more on single-thread performance. The i9-14900K’s boost clock of 6.00 GHz and single-core benchmark scores (e.g., 7040 in Cinebench R23 single-core) provide ample headroom.

Q: Is 4K playable with this combo?

A: At 4K High settings, the average FPS is 42, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action. At 4K Low, it reaches 72.2 FPS, which is smoother. Ultra at 4K drops to 33.6 FPS, which is borderline.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates: 209.8 FPS on Low, 173.2 FPS on Medium, 135.9 FPS on High, and 101.1 FPS on Ultra. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a 51.8% reduction in frame rate, indicating that the Ultra preset imposes a significant additional load.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 134.7 FPS on Low, 110.1 FPS on Medium, 84.4 FPS on High, and 62.5 FPS on Ultra. The drop from Low to Ultra here is 53.6%, consistent with the 1080p pattern. The transition from 1080p to 1440p at each setting shows a reduction of roughly 36-38% across all presets, confirming that pixel count is the dominant factor.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 72.2 FPS on Low, 58.9 FPS on Medium, 42 FPS on High, and 33.6 FPS on Ultra. The Ultra preset at 4K is the only configuration that falls below 40 FPS, making it the least playable option. The data shows that the RTX 3070 can handle 4K Low comfortably but struggles with higher presets. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 38.6 FPS, a 53.5% reduction, which mirrors the scaling seen at lower resolutions. This consistency suggests that the game’s rendering pipeline scales linearly with both resolution and preset complexity.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K is a 24-core, 32-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel’s 10 nm process. It features a base clock of 3.20 GHz and a boost clock of 6.00 GHz, with a TDP of 125 W. 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 delivers exceptional multi-threaded performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 49872 and Geekbench multi-core score of 20370.

For Hard West, a turn-based tactics title from 2015, the CPU’s role is primarily to handle game logic, AI calculations, and scene management. The game does not utilize the full 24 cores, but the i9-14900K’s high single-core performance is beneficial. Its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7040 and Passmark single-thread score of 4697 indicate strong per-thread capability. The boost clock of 6.00 GHz is particularly relevant for ensuring that frame times remain consistent, even when the GPU is producing high frame rates at 1080p.

The CPU’s benchmark scores place it at the 97th percentile vs all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 79824. Its nearest rivals, such as the AMD EPYC 7413 (80041) and Intel Core i9-14900KF (79245), are within a 1% delta, showing that the i9-14900K is at the top of the performance hierarchy. However, in this game’s context, the CPU’s advantage is largely theoretical, as the measured FPS data indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor at all resolutions above 1080p. The CPU’s 32 threads and 36 MB L3 cache ensure that it never becomes a bottleneck, even when the GPU is stressed at 4K Ultra. This allows the system to deliver consistent performance that is solely determined by the RTX 3070’s capabilities.