Hard West

Intel Core Ultra 5 225 paired with Intel Arc B370 produces a deeply constrained experience in Hard West, a turn-based tactics title from 2015. The benchmark data shows this combo ranks 2721 out of 2949 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 8% of all systems. Across all resolutions and settings, the average frame rates range from a low of 12 FPS at 4K Ultra to a high of 79 FPS at 1080p Low. The data indicates a system that struggles to maintain playable frame rates at higher presets, though it can approach smooth gameplay only at the lowest settings and resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 is a desktop processor built on the Arrow Lake-S architecture, featuring 10 cores and 10 threads. It operates with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, drawing a 65 W TDP. The chip uses a 3 nm process node from TSMC, with a die size of 243 mm² and 17,800 million transistors. Its cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and a shared 20 MB L3 cache. Memory support is limited to DDR5 over a dual-channel bus, providing 102.4 GB/s of bandwidth.

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU demonstrates strong single-threaded performance, scoring 368 in Cinebench R15 single-core and 891 in Cinebench R20 single-core. Multi-threaded scores are equally respectable, with 2609 in Cinebench R15 multi-core and 6317 in Cinebench R20 multi-core. The Cinebench R23 results show 3655 single-core and 25891 multi-core. PassMark tests reveal a single-thread score of 4412 and a multithread score of 30459.

The CPU sits at the 85th percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 36938. Its nearest rivals are separated by less than one percent: the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F matches at 0% delta (36945), the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D trails by 0.2% (37018), the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 trails by 0.4% (37093), and the Intel Core i9-12900T trails by 0.5% (37112). These margins are negligible, meaning the Ultra 5 225 is essentially tied with those parts in raw compute.

For Hard West, the CPU's role is secondary. The game's turn-based tactics genre relies on discrete logic calculations rather than continuous physics or AI loops, so the 10-core configuration is more than adequate. The data shows no CPU bottleneck at any tested setting; instead, the frame rate collapses when GPU load increases. At 1080p Low, the system hits 79 FPS, which is the highest measured result. This suggests the CPU can feed frames quickly, but the integrated-class GPU cannot sustain that throughput at higher settings. The core clock boost of 4.90 GHz helps with the game's single-threaded decision-making, but it does not compensate for the graphics deficit.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated graphics processor based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on Intel's 3 nm process. It uses the Panther Lake chip and is classified as an IGP with a 25 W TDP. The GPU has 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 raster output units, along with 10 ray tracing cores. Its clocks run at a base of 300 MHz and a boost of 2400 MHz, producing a pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s. The FP32 throughput is 6.144 TFLOPS, with FP16 at 12.29 TFLOPS using a 2:1 ratio.

Memory is entirely system-shared, with no dedicated VRAM. The memory type, bus width, and bandwidth are all listed as system dependent, meaning the GPU borrows from the CPU's DDR5 pool. This is a critical limitation for Hard West, which was designed for discrete GPUs with dedicated memory. The GPU's only benchmark result is a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184, placing it at just the 5th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are older parts: the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 scores 1186 (-0.2%), the ATI Radeon HD 5770 scores 1190 (-0.5%), the AMD Radeon HD 7650M scores 1192 (-0.7%), and the AMD FirePro M2000 scores 1168 (+1.4%). The B370 is effectively in the same performance tier as these decade-old mobile and entry-level desktop cards.

In Hard West, the GPU is the dominant limiting factor. The measured frame rates drop dramatically as settings increase, which is a classic sign of GPU-bound rendering. At 1080p, the average FPS falls from 79 at Low to 49 at High, a 38% reduction. The Ultra preset further cuts performance to 37 FPS. The GPU's low fill rate and shared memory bandwidth cannot handle the game's lighting, shadows, and texture loads at higher presets. Even at 1080p Medium, the frame rate averages 64 FPS, which is playable but not smooth, with minimums dipping to 55 FPS. The data suggests that any setting above Low at 1080p will produce inconsistent frame pacing.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep decline as resolution increases, confirming the GPU's inability to scale. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 49 FPS at 1080p to 31 FPS at 1440p, a 37% drop, and then to 16 FPS at 4K, a further 48% drop from 1440p. The pattern is consistent across all presets.

At Low settings, the system achieves 79 FPS at 1080p, which is the only configuration that approaches a smooth 60+ FPS experience. Moving to 1440p Low drops the average to 50 FPS, a 37% reduction, and 4K Low falls to 26 FPS, another 48% reduction. The Medium preset shows a similar trajectory: 64 FPS at 1080p, 41 FPS at 1440p, and 21 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, starting at 37 FPS at 1080p, falling to 23 FPS at 1440p, and bottoming out at 12 FPS at 4K.

These scaling curves indicate that the limiting component is the GPU, not the CPU. The resolution scaling is nearly linear with pixel count. From 1080p to 1440p, the pixel count increases by 78%, and the frame rate drops by roughly 37-38% across settings. From 1440p to 4K, the pixel count doubles, and the frame rate drops by approximately 48-50%. This is consistent with a GPU that is fully saturated at all resolutions. The CPU, which would show non-linear scaling if it were the bottleneck, does not exhibit that pattern here. The conclusion is clear: the Arc B370 cannot handle Hard West at 1440p or 4K with any reasonable frame rate, and even 1080p requires Low settings to stay fluid.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of this combo's performance across three resolutions and four settings presets.

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its best results. Low settings produce an average of 79 FPS, which is the highest score in the entire dataset. Medium settings average 64 FPS, with a minimum of 55 FPS and a maximum of 74 FPS. High settings average 49 FPS, and Ultra settings average 37 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 42 FPS, or 53%, indicating that the GPU struggles significantly as graphical complexity increases.

At 2560x1440, performance degrades noticeably. Low settings average 50 FPS, which is still playable but below the ideal 60 FPS threshold. Medium settings average 41 FPS, with a minimum of 35 FPS and a maximum of 47 FPS. High settings drop to 31 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 23 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra is 27 FPS, a 54% reduction. None of the 1440p presets offer a consistently smooth experience, as even the Low preset will dip below 60 FPS in demanding scenes.

At 3840x2160, the system becomes largely unusable. Low settings average 26 FPS, which is below playable standards. Medium settings average 21 FPS, with a minimum of 18 FPS and a maximum of 25 FPS. High settings average 16 FPS, and Ultra settings average just 12 FPS. The entire 4K range falls below 30 FPS, making the game effectively a slideshow. The minimum FPS at 4K Medium is 18, which is far below the threshold for acceptable gameplay in a turn-based tactics title, where player input requires visual feedback.

The data shows a consistent pattern: each resolution increase halves the frame rate at equivalent settings. For example, High settings produce 49 FPS at 1080p, 31 FPS at 1440p, and 16 FPS at 4K, a perfect halving at each step. This is characteristic of a GPU with insufficient shading and memory bandwidth. The combo rank of 2721 out of 2949 confirms that this system is in the bottom tier for Hard West, with only 228 other combinations performing worse.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution and settings for this system in Hard West?*

A: The data shows that 1080p Low is the only configuration that exceeds 60 FPS, averaging 79 FPS. At 1440p Low, the average drops to 50 FPS, and at 4K Low, it falls to 26 FPS. For the smoothest experience, 1080p Low is the clear choice.

*Q: Can this system run Hard West at 4K?*

A: Technically yes, but the frame rates are not playable. At 4K High, the average is 16 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it is 12 FPS. The 4K Medium preset averages 21 FPS with a minimum of 18 FPS, which is still below the threshold for comfortable gameplay.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B370 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Arc B370 scores 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, which is nearly identical to the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186, -0.2%), ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190, -0.5%), and AMD Radeon HD 7650M (1192, -0.7%). It is slightly faster than the AMD FirePro M2000 (1168, +1.4%). These are all dated parts, confirming the B370's low-end positioning.

*Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in Hard West?*

A: The GPU is clearly the bottleneck. The frame rates drop by roughly 50% with each resolution doubling, which is a GPU-bound signature. The CPU, which scores in the 85th percentile, shows no evidence of limiting performance at any resolution or setting.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, Low averages 79 FPS while Ultra averages 37 FPS, a difference of 42 FPS. This represents a 53% performance penalty for using the highest preset. The Medium preset sits in between at 64 FPS, and High at 49 FPS.

Q: Does the system have dedicated VRAM?

A: No. The Intel Arc B370 uses system-shared memory, with the size, type, and bus width all listed as "System Shared" and bandwidth as "System Dependent." This means the GPU relies on the CPU's DDR5 memory, which contributes to poor performance at higher settings and resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal experience is achieved at 1080p with Low settings. This configuration produces an average of 79 FPS, which is the only preset/resolution combination that delivers a smooth, fluid experience. The data shows that Low settings at 1080p are the safest choice for maintaining consistent frame rates in Hard West.

If the user is willing to accept some frame rate dips, 1080p Medium is a viable alternative, averaging 64 FPS with a minimum of 55 FPS. This preset offers better visual quality while still staying above 60 FPS on average. However, the minimum FPS of 55 indicates that demanding scenes will cause noticeable stutter. For players who prioritize visual fidelity over smoothness, 1080p High at 49 FPS is the highest setting that remains marginally playable, though it will feel less responsive.

The 1440p resolution is not recommended for this system. Even at Low settings, the average frame rate is 50 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target. The Medium preset drops to 41 FPS, and High falls to 31 FPS. The 4K resolution is outright unplayable, with all presets averaging below 30 FPS. The Ultra preset, regardless of resolution, should be avoided entirely, as it produces the lowest frame rates in every category, including a 12 FPS average at 4K.

The best experience per the measured rows is 1080p Low, which maximizes frame rate and minimizes input latency. For a turn-based tactics game, where precise cursor movement and camera control matter, the smoother frame pacing at Low settings outweighs the visual benefits of Medium. The data does not support any settings above Medium at 1080p, as the frame rate degradation is severe and immediate. Users with this hardware should set the resolution to 1080p and the preset to Low, then optionally adjust individual settings upward only if they accept the frame rate penalties shown in the measurements.