Valorant

Valorant is a competitive FPS that responds unusually well to hardware upgrades, and the measured results for the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER confirm this. The data shows a combination that delivers very high frame rates across all tested configurations, with a clear pattern where CPU-bound performance at lower resolutions gives way to a more balanced load as resolution increases. This analysis walks through the measured FPS data to explain what the numbers mean for the limiting component, optimal settings, GPU role, and overall ranking.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals how the workload shifts as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo produces 324.8 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 High drops that to 311.8 FPS, and at 3840x2160 High it falls to 252.9 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is mild—a 13 FPS reduction—while the jump from 1440p to 4K is more pronounced, with a 58.9 FPS drop. This pattern indicates that at 1080p and 1440p, the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 is likely the primary limiter, as the relatively small FPS penalty for a 78% increase in pixel count suggests the GPU still has headroom.

At Low settings, the story is more telling. The 1920x1080 Low result is 390.3 FPS, which drops to 369.4 FPS at 2560x1440 Low and 346.1 FPS at 3840x2160 Low. The scaling from 1080p to 4K at Low settings costs only 44.2 FPS, or about 11.3%. This is a remarkably small penalty for a 4x increase in pixel count, suggesting that the Ryzen 5 3600’s single-thread performance is the dominant constraint even at 4K when graphical load is light. The CPU’s 3DMark single-thread score of 696 and PassMark single-thread score of 2562 support this interpretation, as Valorant’s engine is known to favor strong per-core performance.

Comparing High and Low across resolutions, the gap narrows as resolution rises. At 1080p, High is 65.5 FPS slower than Low. At 1440p, that gap shrinks to 57.6 FPS. At 4K, it narrows further to 93.2 FPS difference (252.9 vs 346.1), but the absolute numbers show that even at 4K High, the system stays well above 240 FPS. This suggests the RTX 2060 SUPER is never fully saturated in this title, and the data points to a CPU-bound scenario across most of the tested range.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows show that Low settings provide the highest average FPS at every resolution, but the differences between presets are smaller than many would expect. At 1920x1080, Low yields 390.3 FPS, Medium 331 FPS, High 324.8 FPS, and Ultra 323.9 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra is negligible—less than 1 FPS—which indicates diminishing returns beyond the High preset. For competitive play, the Low preset’s extra 65.5 FPS over High could matter for players with very high refresh rate monitors, but the data suggests that Medium offers a balanced trade-off.

At 2560x1440, the pattern repeats: Low hits 369.4 FPS, Medium 313.5 FPS, High 311.8 FPS, and Ultra 305.1 FPS. The Medium-to-High delta is only 1.7 FPS, while Ultra costs another 6.7 FPS. Given that the jump from Low to Medium costs 55.9 FPS but the jump from Medium to High costs just 1.7 FPS, the Medium preset appears to be the sweet spot for visual quality without sacrificing meaningful performance. At 3840x2160, Low still leads with 346.1 FPS, followed by Medium at 264.5 FPS, High at 252.9 FPS, and Ultra at 241.7 FPS. The Medium-to-High delta here is 11.6 FPS, slightly larger than at lower resolutions, but still small.

Benchmark results indicate that for most users, the Medium preset provides the best experience per measured row, as it retains a substantial FPS lead over High and Ultra while offering improved visuals over Low. The Ultra preset’s performance is nearly identical to High at 1080p and 1440p, making it a poor choice unless the visual differences are critical. For players targeting the absolute highest frame rates, Low is the clear winner, but the data shows that even Ultra at 4K stays above 240 FPS, which exceeds the refresh rate of most monitors.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER’s role in these results is defined by its memory and clock specifications. It has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock is 1470 MHz with a boost clock of 1650 MHz. In Valorant, the data shows that this GPU is not the bottleneck at most tested settings, as evidenced by the small FPS differences between presets at the same resolution. The GPU’s PassMark G3D score of 16462 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2011 place it in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs, but its performance in this title is more than sufficient.

The GPU’s memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s appears to be adequate for the game’s demands, as the FPS drop from Low to Ultra at 4K is 104.4 FPS (from 346.1 to 241.7). This indicates that higher settings increase the GPU’s workload, but even at maximum load, it maintains high frame rates. The RTX 2060 SUPER’s 2176 shading units and 64 ROPs contribute to its ability to handle these settings, though the data does not show any VRAM capacity issues—8 GB is ample for this title.

Comparing to its nearest rivals, the RTX 2060 SUPER’s average benchmark score of 19774 is 0.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN (19706), 0.5% ahead of the RTX 2070 (19680), and 0.8% and 1.3% ahead of the Quadro K5200 and Tesla K40m, respectively. These small deltas suggest that the GPU is well-positioned within its performance class, but for Valorant specifically, the CPU is doing most of the heavy lifting at lower resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER combo ranks 1304 out of 1650 tested combinations in Valorant. This places it in the bottom 21% of all combos, which may seem surprising given the high absolute FPS numbers. The ranking reflects that many other combinations—likely those with newer CPUs or GPUs—achieve even higher frame rates in this highly scalable title. The combo’s position does not indicate poor performance; rather, it highlights how competitive the field is.

The CPU’s average benchmark score of 18129 puts it in the 76th percentile of all CPUs, with its nearest rival being the Intel Core i5-11400 at 18150 (a 0.1% difference). The AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS scores 18101 (0.2% ahead of the 3600), while the Ryzen 5 1600 and EPYC 9274F trail by 0.2% and 0.3%, respectively. This clustering shows the 3600 is competitive with mid-range options, but its Zen 2 architecture, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost of 4.20 GHz, may lag newer designs in single-threaded tasks that Valorant favors.

The GPU’s 63rd percentile ranking, combined with the CPU’s 76th percentile, suggests this combo is balanced but not optimized for maximum FPS in this specific title. The data indicates that a stronger CPU would likely improve the 1080p results more than a stronger GPU would, given the observed CPU-bound behavior at lower resolutions. At 4K, the combo still delivers over 240 FPS on Ultra, which is impressive, but the rank of 1304 out of 1650 shows that many other systems push even higher.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achieved by this combo in Valorant?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 390.3, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: How much does the FPS drop from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the FPS drops from 324.8 at 1920x1080 to 252.9 at 3840x2160, a reduction of 71.9 FPS.

Q: Is this combo CPU-bound or GPU-bound in Valorant?

A: Benchmark results indicate the system is CPU-bound at 1080p and 1440p, as shown by the small FPS penalties for increased resolution. At 4K Low, the FPS is 346.1, only 44.2 FPS lower than 1080p Low, suggesting the CPU remains a significant limiter.

Q: What is the difference between Medium and Ultra settings at 2560x1440?

A: At 2560x1440, Medium yields 313.5 FPS while Ultra yields 305.1 FPS, a difference of 8.4 FPS.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations in Valorant?

A: The combo ranks 1304 out of 1650 total combinations, placing it in the lower portion of the rankings despite high absolute frame rates.

Q: What is the GPU’s memory bandwidth and how does it relate to performance?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER has 448.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth, which appears sufficient for Valorant, as the FPS remains high even at 4K Ultra (241.7 FPS).

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are as follows: Low settings produce 390.3 FPS, Medium produces 331 FPS, High produces 324.8 FPS, and Ultra produces 323.9 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 66.4 FPS, with the largest single drop occurring between Low and Medium (59.3 FPS). The High and Ultra presets are effectively identical, differing by only 0.9 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the results are: Low at 369.4 FPS, Medium at 313.5 FPS, High at 311.8 FPS, and Ultra at 305.1 FPS. The Low-to-Medium drop is 55.9 FPS, while Medium to High costs 1.7 FPS and High to Ultra costs 6.7 FPS. The total spread is 64.3 FPS, nearly identical to the 1080p spread.

At 3840x2160, the numbers shift more noticeably: Low delivers 346.1 FPS, Medium delivers 264.5 FPS, High delivers 252.9 FPS, and Ultra delivers 241.7 FPS. The Low-to-Medium drop is 81.6 FPS, which is larger than at lower resolutions, indicating increased GPU load. Medium to High costs 11.6 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 11.2 FPS. The total spread from Low to Ultra is 104.4 FPS, showing that resolution has a more pronounced effect on higher settings.

Across all resolutions, the Low preset consistently provides the highest frame rates, with the gap between Low and Medium growing as resolution increases. The data shows that this combo can comfortably exceed 240 FPS at 4K on any preset, and at 1080p, it stays above 320 FPS on all presets except Low, which exceeds 390 FPS. These results indicate a highly capable system for Valorant, even if its overall ranking among 1650 combos places it at 1304.