Hard West

Hard West is a turn-based tactics title from 2015 that places minimal demands on modern hardware, yet the measured results for the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 paired with the Intel Arc B370 reveal a combo that struggles significantly at higher resolutions and settings. The data shows a system where the CPU is overwhelmingly capable, sitting in the 93rd percentile among all processors, but the integrated GPU, which lands in the 5th percentile, becomes the definitive bottleneck. This combination ranks 2721 out of 2949 tested combos in this game, placing it in the bottom 8% of systems, a position driven almost entirely by the graphics solution. The following analysis breaks down the measured performance, settings impact, and scaling characteristics to provide a clear picture of what this hardware can deliver in Hard West.

FAQ

Q: What is the overall performance ranking of this CPU and GPU combination in Hard West?

A: The combo ranks 2721st out of 2949 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom percentile of systems tested for this game. This low rank is directly attributable to the GPU's 5th percentile standing among all graphics cards, which contrasts sharply with the CPU's 93rd percentile ranking.

Q: Can this system run Hard West at 1080p with playable frame rates?

A: Yes, at 1920x1080 resolution, the system achieves an average of 49 FPS on High settings and 79 FPS on Low settings. The Medium preset yields 64 FPS average, while Ultra settings drop to 37 FPS average, so there are multiple playable configurations at this resolution.

Q: How does the system perform at 1440p resolution?

A: At 2560x1440, performance drops considerably. The High preset averages 31 FPS, Medium averages 41 FPS, and Low averages 50 FPS. The Ultra preset falls to 23 FPS average, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay in most scenarios.

Q: Is 4K resolution viable with this hardware?

A: No, 4K is not viable for this combination. At 3840x2160, even the Low preset only achieves 26 FPS average, while High drops to 16 FPS and Ultra falls to 12 FPS. The Medium preset provides 21 FPS average with a minimum of 18 FPS, all of which are below acceptable playability.

Q: What is the GPU's memory configuration and clock speed?

A: The Intel Arc B370 uses System Shared memory with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz. Its memory bandwidth is listed as System Dependent, which means performance scales with the host system's memory configuration.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 has an average benchmark score of 64640, which is 0.3% lower than the AMD EPYC 4464P and 0.7% lower than the AMD EPYC 7343. It outperforms the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F by 0.3% and the AMD EPYC 9124 by 0.7%.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is the decisive factor in this system's Hard West performance, and the data makes its limitations clear. This integrated graphics solution, built on the Xe3-LPG architecture, operates with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz. It features 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 raster operation units, along with 10 ray tracing cores. The GPU's FP32 compute throughput is rated at 6.144 TFLOPS, and its pixel rate is 48.00 GPixel/s with a texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s.

The memory configuration is critical to understanding the performance ceiling. The Arc B370 uses System Shared memory, meaning its bandwidth is System Dependent and tied to the host platform's memory subsystem. In this case, the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 supports DDR5 memory over a dual-channel bus with a theoretical bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s. This shared memory arrangement means the GPU competes with the CPU for bandwidth, which is a significant constraint in a game like Hard West that relies on consistent frame pacing.

The GPU's synthetic benchmark score of 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 places it in the 5th percentile of all graphics cards. Its nearest rivals in that benchmark are the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (score 1186, 0.2% ahead), the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (score 1190, 0.5% ahead), and the AMD Radeon HD 7650M (score 1192, 0.7% ahead). The AMD FirePro M2000 trails by 1.4% with a score of 1168. These comparisons show the Arc B370 sits in performance territory occupied by discrete GPUs from over a decade ago, which explains why it struggles to maintain high frame rates in a 2015 title when resolution and settings are pushed.

The measured frame rates correlate directly with this GPU profile. At 1080p Low, the system hits 79 FPS, but this drops precipitously as settings increase. The data shows the GPU is the limiting component at every resolution, as the CPU's Cinebench R23 multicore score of 42216 and single-core score of 5960 indicate it has ample headroom for a turn-based tactics game. The GPU's low fill rate and compute capacity become the wall that prevents higher performance.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy of settings for this combo, with the best experience depending on resolution priority. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers 64 FPS average with a minimum of 55 FPS and a maximum of 74 FPS, which represents the best balance of visual quality and smoothness. The High preset at 49 FPS average is also playable, but the Medium settings provide a more comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold. Low settings push to 79 FPS average, but the visual sacrifice is substantial for a game that benefits from atmospheric lighting. Ultra settings at 37 FPS average are not recommended, as the frame rate dips below smooth playability.

For 2560x1440, the situation changes. The Low preset achieves 50 FPS average, making it the only setting that approaches playability. Medium drops to 41 FPS average, which is borderline for a turn-based game where frame pacing is less critical than in action titles. High averages 31 FPS and Ultra averages 23 FPS, both of which are too low for a consistently smooth experience. The recommendation for 1440p is to use Low settings if resolution is non-negotiable, but the data suggests that dropping to 1080p with Medium settings provides a superior experience.

At 3840x2160, no setting is viable. The Low preset peaks at 26 FPS average, Medium at 21 FPS, High at 16 FPS, and Ultra at 12 FPS. The Medium preset has a measured minimum of 18 FPS and maximum of 25 FPS, which confirms the frame rate is consistently below playability. The data indicates that 4K should be avoided entirely with this hardware, and users should prioritize 1080p Medium for the best combination of visual fidelity and performance.

The measured frame times for Medium settings at 1080p show a minimum of 55 FPS and a maximum of 74 FPS, indicating a relatively stable experience with only modest variance. This makes the Medium preset the clear recommendation for this combo. The High preset at 49 FPS average is a viable alternative if users prefer better shadows and textures, but the 15 FPS gap between Medium and High suggests the GPU is already near its limit at the lower setting.

How This Combo Ranks

This system's rank of 2721 out of 2949 tested combinations places it in the bottom 8% of all tested configs for Hard West. The comboRankInGame metric shows that this hardware is significantly outclassed by the vast majority of systems in the benchmark database, which is expected given the GPU's 5th percentile standing. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265, by contrast, is a top-tier processor with a 93rd percentile ranking, and its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the AMD EPYC 4464P (0.3% higher average score), the AMD EPYC 9124 (0.7% higher), and the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F (0.3% lower). This creates a massive imbalance where the CPU is capable of far more than the GPU can deliver.

The rank reflects the GPU bottleneck almost entirely. The Arc B370's 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1184 places it alongside the ATI Radeon HD 5770 and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570, both of which are over a decade old. In a game like Hard West, which was released in 2015 and is not graphically demanding by modern standards, this GPU still fails to deliver consistent 60 FPS at 1080p High. The benchmark results indicate that the combo's rank would improve dramatically with a discrete GPU, but as configured, it falls into the lowest quartile of tested systems.

The practical implication is that this combo is severely mismatched for gaming. The CPU's 20 cores and 20 threads, running at a base clock of 2.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.30 GHz, are overkill for a turn-based tactics game. The L3 cache of 30 MB shared and per-core L2 cache of 3 MB provide ample bandwidth for game logic, but the GPU cannot translate that CPU capability into frame rate. The rank of 2721 is a direct consequence of this imbalance, and the data suggests that users should not expect this combo to handle Hard West at anything beyond 1080p with reduced settings.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K demonstrates a classic GPU-bound scenario. At 1920x1080 on High settings, the system averages 49 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 on the same settings drops the average to 31 FPS, a 37% reduction. At 3840x2160, the average falls to 16 FPS, which is another 48% reduction from 1440p. This pattern shows that the GPU is saturated at every resolution, and the frame rate drops roughly in proportion to the pixel count increase.

The Low settings scaling tells a similar story. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 79 FPS. At 1440p Low, it drops to 50 FPS, a 37% decrease. At 4K Low, it falls to 26 FPS, a 48% decrease from 1440p. The consistency of these percentage drops across different settings presets confirms that the limiting component is the GPU, not the CPU or memory subsystem. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see smaller frame rate differences at lower resolutions where the GPU has more headroom.

The Medium settings data provides additional insight. At 1080p Medium, the system averages 64 FPS with a minimum of 55 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 41 FPS with a minimum of 35 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average falls to 21 FPS with a minimum of 18 FPS. The minimum frame rates scale similarly to the averages, indicating that the GPU is consistently unable to maintain performance as resolution increases. The gap between 1080p and 1440p is 23 FPS, while the gap between 1440p and 4K is 20 FPS, showing that the performance penalty is not linear but does not exhibit any unusual cliff that would suggest a memory bandwidth wall.

The scaling analysis points to the System Shared memory configuration as a contributing factor. With memory bandwidth rated as System Dependent, the GPU's access to the 102.4 GB/s dual-channel DDR5 bandwidth is shared with the CPU. At higher resolutions, the increased memory traffic for frame buffers and textures likely causes contention, further reducing performance. The data shows that 1080p is the practical ceiling for this combo, and even there, only Medium or Low settings provide playable frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data for this combo is as follows:

1920x1080:

• Low: 79 FPS average
• Medium: 64 FPS average, minimum 55 FPS, maximum 74 FPS
• High: 49 FPS average
• Ultra: 37 FPS average

2560x1440:

• Low: 50 FPS average
• Medium: 41 FPS average, minimum 35 FPS, maximum 47 FPS
• High: 31 FPS average
• Ultra: 23 FPS average

3840x2160:

• Low: 26 FPS average
• Medium: 21 FPS average, minimum 18 FPS, maximum 25 FPS
• High: 16 FPS average
• Ultra: 12 FPS average

The 1080p results show that the system can handle the game at acceptable levels when settings are managed. The 79 FPS Low result is well above the 60 FPS threshold, and even High at 49 FPS is playable for a turn-based title. The Medium preset's minimum of 55 FPS ensures that frame drops are minimal, making it the safest choice for consistent performance.

At 1440p, the data shows a steep decline. The Low preset at 50 FPS is the only configuration that approaches playability, and even it has no headroom for demanding scenes. The Medium preset's minimum of 35 FPS indicates that the system will drop below 30 FPS in some scenarios, which is noticeable in any game. The Ultra preset at 23 FPS is effectively unplayable.

The 4K results are uniformly poor. The best case is Low at 26 FPS, which is below the 30 FPS minimum for acceptable gameplay. The Medium preset's 21 FPS average with an 18 FPS minimum confirms that this resolution is not viable. The High and Ultra presets at 16 FPS and 12 FPS respectively are cinematic frame rates at best, and they illustrate the GPU's inability to handle the pixel throughput required at 4K.

The measured FPS data aligns with the GPU's synthetic benchmark performance. The 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1184, which places it in the 5th percentile, is consistent with a GPU that can manage 1080p gaming at medium settings in a 2015 title but falls apart at higher resolutions. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265's Cinebench R23 multicore score of 42216 and single-core score of 5960 indicate that the CPU is not the constraint in any of these results, as turn-based tactics games are not CPU-intensive workloads. The bottleneck is unambiguously the Intel Arc B370, and users should plan their settings accordingly.