Hard West

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 7 155H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 lands at rank 1612 out of 2949 tested combos for Hard West. That places this configuration in the 55th percentile of all combinations, which is a curious middle-ground result for a pairing that features a current-generation GPU. The data suggests this is not a top-tier combo for this specific turn-based tactics title, but it also clears the bottom half of the field with room to spare.

What makes this ranking interesting is the asymmetry between the two components' individual standings. The RTX 5070 sits at the 82nd percentile among all GPUs, while the Core Ultra 7 155H holds the 83rd percentile among all CPUs. Both components are comfortably above average, yet their combined rank in Hard West is notably lower than either component's individual percentile. This gap implies that Hard West's engine does not fully leverage the strengths of this hardware pairing, or that some other bottleneck—likely single-threaded CPU performance or the game's older architecture—holds the combo back from what the raw component scores would suggest.

Looking at the nearest CPU rivals, the Core Ultra 7 155H's average benchmark score of 32697 is nearly identical to the Intel Core i5-14600T at 32707 (0% delta), the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360 at 32662 (0.1% ahead), and the AMD Ryzen 5 7400F at 32750 (0.2% behind). This clustering within a 0.4% spread indicates that the CPU's compute capability is well-understood and consistent with a specific performance tier, yet the in-game rank does not reflect a standout position.

For the GPU, the RTX 5070's average benchmark score of 40377 puts it within 0.1% of the AMD Radeon Pro 580 (40318), 0.8% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 (40063), and 1.2% behind the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 (40870). The RTX A500 Mobile trails by 2%. These rival deltas are tight, but they describe synthetic workloads, not Hard West specifically. The measured FPS data reveals how this combo actually behaves in practice, and that is where the story gets more nuanced.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 brings substantial hardware to this pairing: 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus, yielding 672.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's base clock runs at 2325 MHz with a boost clock of 2512 MHz, and memory operates at 1750 MHz with 28 Gbps effective speed. The chip itself is built on a 5 nm TSMC process with 31,100 million transistors on a 263 mm² die, giving it a transistor density of 118.3M per mm². With 6144 shading units, 192 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output pipelines, the RTX 5070 is a robust piece of silicon on paper.

In Hard West, the GPU's influence becomes apparent when examining the measured FPS across settings. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 183 FPS average, but at 1080p Ultra, that drops to 86 FPS. This halving of performance from Low to Ultra at the same resolution indicates that the game's higher presets are heavily taxing the graphics pipeline. The RTX 5070's 30.87 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 482.3 GTexel/s texture rate are being pushed hard by the Ultra preset's demands.

The VRAM situation deserves attention. With 12 GB of GDDR7, the RTX 5070 has ample memory for a 2015 turn-based tactics game, even at 4K. The fact that 4K Ultra yields only 29 FPS average suggests the bottleneck is not memory capacity but rather the game's rendering complexity and the GPU's raw throughput at that resolution. The 4K High preset at 38 FPS and 4K Medium at 50 FPS (with a min of 42 and max of 57) show that the GPU's performance scales predictably with settings, but never reaches smooth territory at 4K.

The GPU's passmark G3D score of 29137 and passmark GPU compute score of 15787 provide synthetic context, but the real-world Hard West numbers tell a clearer story. The RTX 5070 is capable of excellent frame rates at 1080p and good rates at 1440p, but 4K demands compromise. The DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4 API compatibility suggest the GPU is ready for modern workloads, yet Hard West's 2015 engine may not fully exploit these features.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 155H is a Meteor Lake mobile processor with 16 cores and 22 threads, base clock of 3.80 GHz and boost clock of 4.80 GHz. It features a 28 W TDP, which is modest for a chip with this core count, and integrates Arc Xe-LPG 128EU graphics. The cache hierarchy includes 112 KB L1 per core, 2 MB L2 per core, and 24 MB shared L3. Memory support is DDR5 with dual-channel configuration and 89.6 GB/s bandwidth, and PCIe Gen 5 with 8 lanes from the CPU.

In Hard West, the CPU's role is likely more significant than the GPU's at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 183 FPS, which is exceptionally high and suggests the CPU can feed frames quickly enough to saturate even a fast GPU. However, the drop to 86 FPS at 1080p Ultra indicates that while the CPU remains capable, the increased graphics load shifts the balance. The 1080p Medium result of 150 FPS (min 127, max 172) shows the CPU holding up well under moderate load.

The Core Ultra 7 155H's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15028 and single-core score of 1743 provide insight into its compute power. The single-core result is particularly relevant for Hard West, a turn-based tactics game where game logic, AI pathfinding, and UI responsiveness often depend on single-threaded performance. The PassMark single-thread score of 3468 reinforces this capability, though the game's engine may not be optimized for modern multi-core architectures.

The CPU's 83rd percentile ranking among all processors and its tight clustering with rivals (all within 0.4% of the i5-14600T) suggests consistent performance. But the measured FPS data in Hard West shows that at 4K, the CPU becomes less of a factor—the 4K Low result of 61 FPS versus 1080p Low at 183 FPS indicates the GPU is the primary limiter at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the CPU's 16 cores and 22 threads provide ample headroom, though the game likely uses only a fraction of them given its 2015 release.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions and four settings presets, providing a comprehensive view of this combo's performance in Hard West. Starting at 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 183 FPS, which is exceptionally smooth. Medium at 1080p yields 150 FPS average with a minimum of 127 and maximum of 172, still far beyond what any display can show at standard refresh rates. High drops to 115 FPS average, and Ultra brings the average down to 86 FPS. All 1080p results are playable, with even the most demanding preset maintaining a solid frame rate.

Moving to 2560x1440, the pattern shifts. Low produces 116 FPS average, which remains smooth for most displays. Medium delivers 95 FPS with a range of 81 to 109, still comfortably playable. High drops to 73 FPS, which is acceptable but begins to show the GPU's workload increasing. Ultra at 1440p yields 55 FPS average, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action—though in a turn-based tactics game, this is less critical than in other genres.

At 3840x2160, the performance picture changes dramatically. Low produces 61 FPS average, which is playable but not exceptional. Medium yields 50 FPS with a minimum of 42 and maximum of 57, indicating some frame pacing variability. High drops to 38 FPS, and Ultra falls to 29 FPS. These 4K numbers suggest that while the RTX 5070 can handle 4K in this game, it cannot do so at high or ultra settings without compromising smoothness. The data shows a clear progression: each step from Low to Ultra at 4K costs roughly 10-12 FPS on average.

The min and max FPS data is only available for Medium settings across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the range is 127 to 172 FPS, a spread of 45 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the range narrows to 81 to 109, a spread of 28 FPS. At 4K Medium, the range tightens further to 42 to 57, a spread of just 15 FPS. This narrowing range at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU becomes the consistent bottleneck, while at lower resolutions, CPU and other system variability introduce more frame time fluctuation.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K tells a revealing story about which component limits this combo in Hard West. At High settings, the progression is 115 FPS at 1080p, 73 FPS at 1440p, and 38 FPS at 4K. That is a 36.5% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a 47.9% drop from 1440p to 4K. These are steep reductions that clearly implicate the GPU as the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, since the CPU workload from game logic does not scale with resolution.

At Low settings, the scaling is even more dramatic: 183 FPS at 1080p, 116 FPS at 1440p, and 61 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p drop is 36.6%, and the 1440p to 4K drop is 47.4%. This consistency across settings—roughly a one-third reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a half reduction from 1440p to 4K—indicates that the rendering resolution is the dominant factor, not the specific preset chosen.

The Medium settings data provides the most complete picture with min and max values. At 1080p Medium, the average is 150 FPS; at 1440p Medium, it falls to 95 FPS (a 36.7% drop); at 4K Medium, it reaches 50 FPS (a 47.4% drop from 1440p). The Ultra preset shows a similar pattern: 86 FPS at 1080p, 55 FPS at 1440p (36% drop), and 29 FPS at 4K (47.3% drop). This consistent scaling across all presets suggests that Hard West's rendering load scales almost linearly with pixel count, and the RTX 5070's 672.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 30.87 TFLOPS compute are the constraining factors.

What this scaling implies is that the CPU, with its 16 cores and 4.80 GHz boost clock, is not the limiting component at any resolution above 1080p. Even at 1080p, the CPU appears sufficient to drive the GPU to high frame rates. The bottleneck shifts decisively to the GPU as resolution increases, which is expected for a game with this visual style but still notable given the RTX 5070's modern architecture.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the ideal settings depend on the target resolution and the user's preference for smoothness versus visual fidelity. At 1080p, the Ultra preset at 86 FPS average is the best experience—it delivers the highest visual quality while maintaining a frame rate well above the 60 FPS threshold. Even the most demanding preset is playable at this resolution, so there is no reason to compromise on quality.

At 1440p, the High preset at 73 FPS average offers the best balance. It provides strong visual quality while staying above 60 FPS, whereas Ultra drops to 55 FPS, which may be noticeable on high-refresh-rate displays. The Medium preset at 95 FPS is also viable for those who prioritize smoothness, but High delivers the most compelling combination of fidelity and performance.

At 4K, the situation is more constrained. The Low preset at 61 FPS is the only setting that averages above 60 FPS, making it the recommended choice for smooth gameplay. Medium at 50 FPS is playable, particularly for a turn-based tactics game where precise timing is not critical, but the 42 FPS minimum may cause occasional stutter. High at 38 FPS and Ultra at 29 FPS are best avoided unless the user prioritizes visuals over smoothness, which is a valid trade-off in this genre.

The Medium preset across all resolutions shows consistent frame ranges, making it a safe default choice. At 1080p Medium, the 150 FPS average with a 127 FPS minimum ensures no perceptible drops. At 1440p Medium, the 95 FPS average with an 81 FPS minimum still clears the smoothness threshold. At 4K Medium, the 50 FPS average with a 42 FPS minimum is the lowest acceptable option. For most users, selecting Medium at 4K or High at 1440p provides the most consistent experience.

FAQ

Q: What is the overall rank of this combo in Hard West?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 155H with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 ranks 1612 out of 2949 tested combos, placing it in the 55th percentile of all configurations.

Q: How does the RTX 5070 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5070's average benchmark score of 40377 is 0.1% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro 580 (40318), 0.8% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 (40063), 1.2% lower than the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 (40870), and 2% higher than the NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile (39568).

Q: Can this combo achieve 60 FPS at 4K in Hard West?

A: Only at Low settings, where the average FPS is 61. At Medium, the average drops to 50 FPS, and at High it falls to 38 FPS. Ultra yields just 29 FPS average.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1440p gameplay?

A: The High preset at 73 FPS average provides the best balance of visual quality and smoothness. Medium at 95 FPS is smoother but less detailed, while Ultra at 55 FPS drops below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the data shows the combo can reach 183 FPS at Low settings, indicating the CPU (16 cores, 22 threads, 4.80 GHz boost) is capable of feeding the GPU. The bottleneck shifts to the GPU as resolution and settings increase.

Q: How much FPS is lost going from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 115 at 1080p to 73 at 1440p (a 36.5% reduction), and then to 38 at 4K (a 47.9% reduction from 1440p).