Hard West

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus paired with the Intel Arc B570 delivers a playable but inconsistent experience in Hard West, a turn-based tactics title from 2015. The data shows a clear pattern: this combo is heavily reliant on resolution scaling, with performance collapsing at 4K while remaining fluid at 1080p. The benchmark results indicate that the Arc B570 is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, but the CPU’s substantial core count ensures the game never becomes CPU-bound at lower settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frames per second (FPS) data for Hard West reveals a predictable but steep drop as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo averages 84 FPS, which is smooth for a turn-based tactics game. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same High preset, the average falls to 53 FPS—a 37% reduction. At 3840x2160, the average plummets to 28 FPS, which is a 67% drop from the 1080p baseline. This scaling pattern indicates that the rendering load at 4K is simply too heavy for the Intel Arc B570’s 10 GB of GDDR6 memory and 160-bit bus.

The Low preset shows the same trend but with higher absolute numbers. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 134 FPS, which drops to 85 FPS at 1440p and further to 44 FPS at 4K. The Medium preset offers a middle ground, with 110 FPS at 1080p, 69 FPS at 1440p, and 36 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, producing 63 FPS at 1080p, 40 FPS at 1440p, and only 21 FPS at 4K. These numbers suggest that the Arc B570’s compute throughput, rated at 11.52 TFLOPS FP32, is insufficient to maintain high frame rates at 4K, regardless of the visual preset.

The drop from 1080p to 1440p is more moderate than the drop from 1440p to 4K, which is typical for a GPU with a 160-bit memory interface. The bandwidth of 380.0 GB/s becomes a limiting factor when pixel count quadruples. At 1080p, the GPU can keep up with the CPU’s data feed, but at 4K, the memory subsystem is saturated. The min and max FPS values for Medium at 1440p (59–80 FPS) and 4K (31–42 FPS) show that frame pacing remains stable, but the average is too low for a comfortable experience at 4K. Benchmark results indicate that 1440p is the practical ceiling for this combo if aiming for 60+ FPS, and only at Low or Medium settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake Refresh architecture, manufactured on a 3 nm process by TSMC. Its base clock is 3.70 GHz, boosting up to 5.80 GHz. In Hard West, a turn-based tactics game, the CPU’s role is less about raw multi-threaded throughput and more about maintaining consistent frame delivery during unit turns and AI calculations. The benchmark data shows that the CPU is never the primary bottleneck in this title, as even at 1080p Low (134 FPS), the GPU is still the limiting component.

The processor’s single-thread performance, as measured by Cinebench R23, is 7303 points, which is strong for a desktop chip. This matters for Hard West because turn-based games often rely heavily on single-threaded game logic. The multi-threaded score of 51731 points in Cinebench R23 is exceptionally high, but the game’s engine likely doesn’t scale to use all 24 cores effectively. The CPU’s 36 MB of L3 cache and 3 MB of L2 cache per core provide ample room for game state data, but the measured FPS does not show any CPU-induced frame drops, even at 4K Ultra where the GPU is clearly struggling.

The data suggests that the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is overkill for Hard West. At 1080p Ultra, the combo produces 63 FPS, which is limited by the GPU, not the CPU. The processor’s 125 W TDP and 24 threads are more than sufficient for this game’s demands. The percentileVsAllCpus score of 96 indicates that this CPU is in the top tier of processors, but that edge does not translate into higher FPS in this title because the GPU saturates first. The nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, scores 0.2% higher on average, which is a negligible difference that would not affect Hard West frame rates.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset is the sweet spot. It delivers 110 FPS average with a minimum of 93 FPS and a maximum of 126 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The High preset at 1080p drops to 84 FPS, which is still smooth, but Medium offers a 31% improvement in average FPS with likely minimal visual difference in a turn-based game. The Ultra preset at 1080p produces 63 FPS, which is playable but may introduce noticeable slowdowns during complex scenes.

For 2560x1440, the Low preset is the safest choice for maintaining high frame rates, achieving 85 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p delivers 69 FPS, which is above 60 FPS and provides a better visual experience than Low, making it the recommended balance. The High preset at 1440p drops to 53 FPS, which is borderline for a turn-based game but may feel less responsive. The Ultra preset at 1440p (40 FPS) is not recommended, as it falls below the 60 FPS target without providing a significant visual upgrade over Medium.

At 3840x2160, no preset achieves 60 FPS. The Low preset produces 44 FPS, which is playable but not ideal. The Medium preset at 4K averages 36 FPS, and the High preset averages 28 FPS. The Ultra preset is unplayable at 21 FPS. Given that Hard West is a turn-based tactics game where reaction time is less critical, the Medium preset at 4K might be acceptable, but the data suggests that 1440p Medium is the best overall experience. The measured min FPS of 31 FPS at 4K Medium indicates that frame drops can occur, making 4K less desirable.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus + Intel Arc B570 combination ranks 2360 out of 2949 tested combos for Hard West. This places it in the lower half of all configurations, which is surprising given the high-end CPU. The ranking is dragged down by the GPU’s performance, as the Arc B570 sits at the 65th percentile among all GPUs, while the CPU is at the 96th percentile. This mismatch highlights that the GPU is the limiting factor in this pairing.

The combo rank of 2360 means that most other CPU-GPU pairs tested by the database produce higher average FPS in Hard West. The nearest GPU rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile, scores 0.1% higher in average benchmarks, which is within margin of error. The Intel Arc A750 scores 0.1% lower, indicating that the B570 is roughly comparable to its predecessor in raw compute. However, the B570’s 10 GB VRAM and 380.0 GB/s bandwidth are modest, which likely contributes to the low ranking in a game that can be demanding at high resolutions.

The CPU’s nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K (0.2% higher) and AMD EPYC 4584PX (1.1% higher), do not significantly change the ranking because the GPU is the bottleneck. The data shows that to improve the combo’s rank, a more powerful GPU would be needed, as the CPU is already near the top of the performance charts. The rank of 2360 out of 2949 suggests that this combo is not optimized for Hard West, but it remains functional for lower resolutions and settings.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 is a Battlemage-generation GPU based on the Xe2-HPG architecture, manufactured on a 5 nm process. It features 2304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 80 ROPs, with 18 ray tracing cores. The GPU has a base and boost clock of 2500 MHz, and its memory runs at 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective), providing 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth across a 160-bit bus. With 10 GB of GDDR6 VRAM, the B570 is a mid-range card, and its percentileVsAllGpus score of 65 reflects that positioning.

In Hard West, the GPU’s role is critical, as the measured FPS scales directly with resolution and settings. The card’s FP32 performance of 11.52 TFLOPS is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming but insufficient for 4K. The pixel rate of 200.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 360.0 GTexel/s are modest, which explains why the Ultra preset at 4K yields only 21 FPS. The 10 GB VRAM is not the limiting factor in this game, as even at 4K Ultra, the memory usage likely does not exceed 10 GB, but the bandwidth is a constraint.

The Arc B570’s nearest rivals include the Intel Arc A750, which has a 0.1% lower average benchmark score, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile, which is 0.1% higher. This places the B570 in a tight performance band, but in Hard West, the card’s specific architecture traits matter more. The measured FPS at 1080p High (84 FPS) versus 4K High (28 FPS) shows a 3x performance drop, which is steeper than the 4x pixel count increase, indicating that the memory bus becomes the bottleneck. The GPU’s 150 W TDP and dual-slot design suggest it is a power-efficient card, but the data shows it cannot maintain 60 FPS at 4K in this title.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution to play Hard West with the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and Intel Arc B570?*

A: The measured data shows that 2560x1440 with Medium settings delivers 69 FPS average, which is above 60 FPS. At 1920x1080, Medium delivers 110 FPS, but 1440p offers a better visual balance for a turn-based game.

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

A: No. The highest average FPS at 3840x2160 is 44 FPS with Low settings. Medium averages 36 FPS, High averages 28 FPS, and Ultra averages 21 FPS, all below the 60 FPS target.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B570 compare to its nearest rival in this game?

A: The Arc B570’s average benchmark score is 20556, which is 0.1% lower than the Intel Arc A750 (20582) and 0.1% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (20534). In Hard West, this translates to similar FPS at the same settings.

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

A: The GPU is the bottleneck. The CPU is at the 96th percentile among all CPUs, while the GPU is at the 65th percentile. The FPS drops consistently with resolution and settings, indicating GPU limitation, not CPU.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The lowest recorded min FPS is 31 FPS, which occurs at 3840x2160 with Medium settings. At 2560x1440 Medium, the min FPS is 59, and at 1920x1080 Medium, the min FPS is 93.

*Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations in Hard West?*

A: It ranks 2360 out of 2949 combos, placing it in the lower half. This is due to the GPU’s performance limitations, despite the high-end CPU.