Hard West

# How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i9-14900K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D places 5th out of 2,949 tested combos in Hard West. That top-0.2% finish puts this pairing in elite company, though the data suggests the game itself—a 2015 turn-based tactics title—doesn't fully stress either component. The combo's rank is more a reflection of raw hardware ceiling than of any optimization specific to Hard West.

What's notable is the gap between this combo's potential and the game's demands. The RTX 5090 D sits at the 92nd percentile among all GPUs, while the i9-14900K ranks at the 95th percentile among all CPUs. Both are near the top of their respective charts, yet Hard West's modest visual fidelity means the pairing is often waiting on the game's engine rather than pushing either component to its limit. The result is a combo that dominates the leaderboard but does so with considerable headroom to spare.

In practical terms, a 5th-place finish out of nearly 3,000 combinations means only four other pairings deliver higher average frame rates in this title. Those combinations are not listed in the data, but the implication is clear: this is a top-tier setup for anyone prioritizing Hard West performance, even if the game hardly demands such firepower. The rank also underscores that the i9-14900K and RTX 5090 D complement each other well, with neither introducing a bottleneck severe enough to drag the pairing down the standings.

# FAQ

Q: What rank does this CPU-GPU combo achieve in Hard West?

A: The Intel Core i9-14900K with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D ranks 5th out of 2,949 tested combos in Hard West, placing it in the top 0.2% of all configurations.

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded across all tested settings and resolutions?

A: The highest average FPS is 333 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. The next-best is 310 FPS at 1080p Medium, followed by 251 FPS at 2560x1440 Low.

Q: How does the RTX 5090 D's performance compare to its nearest rival in the GPU benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5090 D has an average benchmark score of 77,712, which is 1.1% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT's score of 76,904. It trails the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT by 1.6%, whose score is 78,940.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded in the measured data?

A: The lowest average FPS is 62 FPS, recorded at 3840x2160 resolution with Ultra settings. This is the only measurement below 83 FPS across all tested configurations.

Q: Does the RTX 5090 D support modern graphics APIs?

A: Yes, the RTX 5090 D supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, making it fully compatible with contemporary rendering APIs.

Q: How much VRAM does the RTX 5090 D have, and what type is it?

A: The RTX 5090 D features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s. This is ample for Hard West's textures and any future titles with higher VRAM demands.

# Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern: Hard West scales dramatically as resolution drops, but the scaling is not uniform across all settings. At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 62 FPS on Ultra to 131 FPS on Low. Dropping to 2560x1440 pushes those numbers to 118 FPS on Ultra and 251 FPS on Low. At 1920x1080, the range extends from 187 FPS on Ultra to 333 FPS on Low.

This scaling behavior tells a story about which component is the limiting factor. From 4K to 1440p, the Ultra preset jumps from 62 to 118 FPS—a 90% improvement. That's a massive gain tied directly to pixel count, indicating the RTX 5090 D is doing the heavy lifting at higher resolutions. The GPU's 32 GB of VRAM and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth are likely being taxed by 4K Ultra, even in a game as old as Hard West.

From 1440p to 1080p, the scaling compresses. Ultra goes from 118 to 187 FPS, a 58% gain, while Low goes from 251 to 333 FPS, a 33% gain. The diminishing returns at 1080p suggest the CPU begins to play a larger role. The i9-14900K's 24 cores and 32 threads with a 6.00 GHz boost clock are more than sufficient, but the game's engine—originally designed for 2015 hardware—likely caps how fast it can feed frames to the GPU at lower resolutions.

The most telling data point is the Medium preset, which includes min and max FPS values. At 4K Medium, the average is 108 FPS with a range of 92 to 124 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average jumps to 205 FPS with a range of 174 to 236 FPS. At 1080p Medium, the average reaches 310 FPS with a range of 263 to 356 FPS. The spread between min and max FPS widens as resolution drops—from 32 FPS at 4K to 62 FPS at 1440p to 93 FPS at 1080p. That widening variance is a classic sign of CPU-side frame pacing variability emerging when GPU load decreases.

# Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080:

• Low: 333 FPS average
• Medium: 310 FPS average (min 263, max 356)
• High: 249 FPS average
• Ultra: 187 FPS average

2560x1440:

• Low: 251 FPS average
• Medium: 205 FPS average (min 174, max 236)
• High: 158 FPS average
• Ultra: 118 FPS average

3840x2160:

• Low: 131 FPS average
• Medium: 108 FPS average (min 92, max 124)
• High: 83 FPS average
• Ultra: 62 FPS average

The data is consistent: every resolution follows the same ordering, with Low being fastest and Ultra slowest. At 1080p, even Ultra delivers 187 FPS, which is well above the refresh rate of most monitors. At 1440p, Ultra still manages 118 FPS, making it viable for high-refresh 1440p displays. At 4K, the picture changes—Ultra drops to 62 FPS, which is borderline for smooth gameplay, while High produces 83 FPS and Medium hits 108 FPS.

The Medium preset's min and max values provide the only variance data in the pack. At 1080p, the 263 to 356 FPS range shows a 93 FPS swing, which is substantial. At 1440p, the swing is 62 FPS (174 to 236). At 4K, the swing narrows to 32 FPS (92 to 124). This tightening at higher resolutions reinforces the interpretation that the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck at 4K, smoothing out the frame delivery, while at 1080p, the CPU and game engine introduce more variability.

For players targeting a locked 60 FPS experience, 4K Ultra is the only setting that dips close to that threshold, with an average of 62 FPS. Everything else clears 60 FPS with significant margin, and the 1080p results are so high that they suggest the RTX 5090 D is barely being exercised at that resolution.

# GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is a massive piece of silicon: 92,200 million transistors on a 750 mm² die fabricated on TSMC's 5 nm process. Its 21,760 shading units, 680 TMUs, and 176 ROPs provide the raw compute needed to drive Hard West's visuals at extreme frame rates. The card's 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is overkill for a turn-based tactics game, but it explains why the GPU rarely becomes a limiting factor below 4K.

Memory is where the RTX 5090 D truly flexes. With 32 GB of GDDR7 on a 512-bit bus, the card offers 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. Hard West, a 2015 title, likely uses only a fraction of that capacity, but the sheer bandwidth ensures texture streaming and draw calls are never constrained. The 1,636.8 GTexel/s texture rate and 423.6 GPixel/s pixel rate further underscore that this GPU is built for far more demanding workloads.

The clock behavior is also telling. The base clock is 2017 MHz, boosting to 2407 MHz. In a game like Hard West, where scenes are often static or slow-moving, the GPU's boost algorithm likely keeps clocks near the maximum for extended periods. The 575 W TDP is high, but the card's dual-slot design with a 16-pin power connector is engineered to handle that draw.

Looking at the benchmark scores, the RTX 5090 D averages 77,712 across its suite. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT, scores 76,904, a 1.1% deficit. The NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB scores 79,605, which is 2.4% higher. These are close margins, but in Hard West, the RTX 5090 D's advantage shows most clearly at 4K, where its memory bandwidth and compute resources are actually engaged.

The GPU's percentile rank of 92 among all GPUs places it in the top 8% globally. That's slightly below the CPU's 95th percentile, suggesting the i9-14900K is the stronger component relative to its peers. In practice, this means the RTX 5090 D is more likely to be the performance ceiling in Hard West at 4K Ultra, where it delivers 62 FPS, while the CPU has headroom to spare.

# CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K is a 24-core, 32-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. Its 3.20 GHz base clock and 6.00 GHz boost clock make it one of the fastest desktop CPUs available, and the 36 MB of shared L3 cache provides ample room for game data. The CPU's 125 W TDP is modest given its core count, though the actual power draw under full load can exceed that.

In Hard West, the CPU's role is less about raw throughput and more about frame pacing. The game's turn-based nature means scenes are often static, but camera movements and AI calculations still require CPU work. The i9-14900K's 32 threads ensure that even the most complex turn resolutions are handled without stutter. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 39,399.5 and single-core score of 2,262.5 indicate a processor that excels at both multi-threaded and single-threaded workloads, the latter being particularly relevant for older game engines.

The CPU's benchmark scores paint a picture of dominance. Its PassMark single-thread score of 4,697 is exceptional, and its Geekbench single-core score of 2,655 reinforces that. In a game like Hard West, which likely relies on a few primary threads, the i9-14900K's single-core strength is the more important metric. The 95th percentile ranking among all CPUs confirms it's a top-tier part.

Comparing to its nearest rivals, the i9-14900K scores 79,097 on average. The Intel Core i9-14900KF scores 79,371, a -0.3% difference, meaning the KF is marginally faster—likely due to the lack of integrated graphics overhead. The AMD EPYC 7413 scores 80,041, which is -1.2% higher, and the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 scores 77,740, a 1.7% deficit for the i9. These are tight margins, but in gaming, the i9-14900K's high boost clock and responsive single-core performance give it an edge.

At 1080p, where the GPU is less stressed, the i9-14900K's role becomes more apparent. The 333 FPS Low setting and 310 FPS Medium setting suggest the CPU is feeding frames as fast as the engine allows. The 263 to 356 FPS range at 1080p Medium indicates the CPU can push frames well above 300 FPS but with variance tied to game logic complexity. At 4K, the CPU's job is easier—the GPU is the bottleneck, and the i9-14900K has plenty of headroom to maintain consistent frame delivery.

The CPU's 32 threads are overkill for Hard West, but they ensure that background tasks, OS overhead, and game logic never compete for resources. The 36 MB L3 cache also helps by keeping frequently accessed game data close to the cores, reducing memory latency. Overall, the i9-14900K is not the limiting factor in this combo—it's the enabler that lets the RTX 5090 D stretch its legs at high resolutions.