Hard West

Hard West, a turn-based tactics title from 2015, proves to be a surprisingly demanding game for modern hardware at high resolutions. The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and Intel Arc B570 combination exhibits a clear performance curve that shifts from a fluid, CPU-heavy experience at 1080p to a GPU-bound struggle at 4K. The benchmark data reveals that this pairing is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where it delivers playable frame rates across most settings, but it falls behind at 4K, where only the lowest settings approach smoothness.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data shows a steep decline as resolution increases, which is typical for a game that heavily taxes the graphics processor. From 1920x1080 to 2560x1440, the average FPS drops by roughly 37% across all settings, indicating a significant increase in pixel workload. The scaling from 1440p to 3840x2160 is even more punishing, with another 45-50% reduction in average FPS, pushing the system into a territory where the GPU is clearly the limiting factor. This pattern is consistent regardless of the quality preset, suggesting that the resolution scaling is primarily a function of the render target size rather than specific graphical features.

The data indicates that at 1080p, the system is not entirely GPU-bound, as the performance gap between Low and Ultra settings is substantial, showing a 53% difference in average frame rate. This suggests the CPU has enough headroom to feed the GPU at lower settings, but the graphics card becomes the bottleneck as visual fidelity increases. At 4K, the situation inverts; the difference between Low and Ultra is a massive 52%, but even the Low preset only manages 44 FPS, proving that the Intel Arc B570 is overwhelmed by the pixel count. The 1440p results sit in a middle ground, where the system is still playable on High settings but begins to show strain under the Ultra preset.

The game’s engine, originally designed for that era, appears to scale poorly with resolution, placing an outsized burden on the fill rate and memory bandwidth of the GPU. The jump from 1440p High (53 FPS) to 4K High (28 FPS) is a 47% reduction, which is a steeper drop than what would be expected from a purely linear scaling of pixels. This indicates that the game’s rendering pipeline has inefficiencies that are exacerbated at higher resolutions, making the 4K experience largely untenable for this hardware combination.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570, with its 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus, is the primary driver of the performance cliff observed at 3840x2160. The memory bandwidth of 380.0 GB/s appears insufficient for the demands of Hard West at 4K, as evidenced by the average FPS falling to 28 on High settings. The GPU’s shading units, 2304 in total, and its 80 ROPs are tasked with processing a large number of pixels, and the data shows they are unable to keep up with the frame pacing required for a smooth experience at this resolution.

The GPU’s core clock of 2500 MHz for both base and boost is fixed, meaning there is no dynamic overclocking headroom to help mitigate the workload. The benchmark results show that the Arc B570’s performance is in line with its average benchmark score, which places it at the 65th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Arc A750, with a negligible performance difference of -0.1%, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile, which is 0.1% faster. This indicates that the B570 is a mid-range performer, and its capabilities are stretched thin by the 4K resolution.

The GPU’s DirectX 12 Ultimate support and 12_2 feature level are modern, but the game’s age likely means it does not utilize these advanced features, instead relying on more basic draw calls that are less efficient. The Vulkan 1.4 API support is present, but without specific in-game benchmarks, it is unclear if it is used. The 10 GB frame buffer is not the primary issue at 4K, as the game is from 2015 and likely does not use more than 8 GB of VRAM, but the bandwidth and compute throughput are clearly the limiting factors, causing the frame rate to crater when the pixel count quadruples from 1080p.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245, with its 14 cores and 14 threads, provides a solid foundation for gaming, but its role in Hard West is secondary to the GPU at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the CPU’s performance is more relevant, as the average FPS of 134 on Low settings suggests the processor can drive the frame rate well above what the GPU can manage at higher quality settings. The CPU’s boost clock of 5.10 GHz on a single core is likely the key factor for this game’s frame generation, as turn-based tactics often rely on single-threaded performance for game logic.

However, the data shows that the CPU is not the bottleneck when resolution increases. The 4K Low preset (44 FPS) is significantly lower than the 1080p Low preset (134 FPS), a 67% reduction, which can only be attributed to the GPU’s inability to process the increased pixel workload. This indicates that the Ultra 5 245 has ample headroom to feed the Arc B570 at all tested resolutions, and its performance is not a limiting factor in this specific configuration. The CPU’s 24 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s are sufficient for the game’s data demands.

The CPU’s benchmark scores, such as a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 32924 and a single-core score of 4648, place it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 7900, which is 0.5% slower, and the Intel Core i5-14600K, which is 0.8% faster. This shows that the Ultra 5 245 is a high-performance processor, and in this game, its role is to maintain a consistent frame rate floor, which it does effectively. The fact that the 1080p Ultra preset (63 FPS) is still well above the 4K High preset (28 FPS) confirms that the CPU is not the source of the performance degradation.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combination delivers its best results. The Low preset achieves an average of 134 FPS, which is exceptionally smooth, while the Medium preset offers 110 FPS with a minimum of 93 FPS, ensuring a stable experience. The High preset drops to 84 FPS, which is still very playable, and the Ultra preset maintains 63 FPS, providing a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold. This resolution is where the hardware shines, offering a wide range of playable settings.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance is still respectable but shows clear signs of strain. The Low preset averages 85 FPS, which is good, but the Medium preset at 69 FPS with a minimum of 59 FPS is starting to approach the edge of smoothness. The High preset falls to 53 FPS, which is acceptable for a turn-based game but not ideal for fast-paced action. The Ultra preset drops to 40 FPS, which is noticeably less fluid and suggests that this setting is too demanding for the GPU at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles to maintain playable frame rates. The Low preset averages 44 FPS, which is marginal, and the Medium preset at 36 FPS with a minimum of 31 FPS is below the threshold for smooth gameplay. The High preset drops to 28 FPS, and the Ultra preset plummets to 21 FPS, both of which are unplayable for most users. The data clearly shows that 4K is not a viable option for this combo, as even the lowest settings cannot deliver a consistently smooth experience.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and Intel Arc B570 combination ranks 2360 out of 2949 tested combos in Hard West. This places it in the bottom 20% of all configurations, which is a poor showing given the individual components’ specifications. The low rank is likely due to the game’s heavy GPU demands at higher resolutions, which the B570 cannot handle, dragging the overall score down. The combination’s performance is not representative of the CPU’s strength, but rather the GPU’s limitations in this specific title.

The rank suggests that many other combinations, likely those with more powerful graphics cards, achieve much higher frame rates. The CPU’s high percentile ranking (90th) is offset by the GPU’s lower ranking (65th), and the net result is a system that is balanced for general productivity but not for high-resolution gaming in this title. The data implies that pairing this CPU with a stronger GPU would yield a significantly better rank, while the current setup is held back by the Arc B570’s performance ceiling.

This poor ranking is a direct consequence of the measured FPS data, which shows that the system cannot achieve high frame rates at 1440p and 4K. The 1080p results are competitive, but the benchmark likely weighs all resolutions equally, and the 4K results are so low that they severely penalize the overall ranking. The ranking highlights that this combo is not optimized for Hard West, and users should expect a subpar experience compared to other tested hardware configurations.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal experience for this hardware combination is at 1920x1080 with the High preset, which delivers 84 FPS. This setting provides a significant visual upgrade over Medium (110 FPS) while maintaining a frame rate that is well above the playable threshold. The Ultra preset at 63 FPS is also viable, but the 25% performance drop from High may not be worth the marginal visual gains in a turn-based game where smoothness is less critical.

For users who prioritize frame rate over visuals, the 1080p Medium preset at 110 FPS is the best choice, as it offers a large performance buffer with only a slight reduction in graphical quality. At 2560x1440, the High preset at 53 FPS is the recommended balance, but users should be aware that it is not as smooth as 1080p. The Medium preset at 69 FPS is a better option for those who want smoother gameplay, but the visual fidelity is reduced.

At 3840x2160, no setting is recommended for a good experience. The Low preset at 44 FPS is the only option that approaches playability, but it is still below the 60 FPS target. Users with 4K displays should either lower the resolution to 1440p or accept a compromised visual experience. The data suggests that the High preset at 1440p is the best overall compromise for this combo, offering a balance of visual quality and performance, while the 1080p High preset is the most reliable for consistent, high frame rates.