Valorant

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination delivers exceptionally high frame rates in Valorant, with the data showing a clear pattern of CPU-bound performance across all tested resolutions and settings. The measured results place this pairing at rank 815 out of 1650 tested combinations, indicating that while the absolute frame rates are elite, the configuration is not the absolute top performer in the game's database. The benchmark data reveals that the RTX 4080 SUPER's immense graphical headroom is largely underutilized, with the Ryzen 5 5500 acting as the primary constraint on overall output.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K in Valorant is remarkably flat, which is a hallmark of a CPU-limited scenario. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 467.5 at 1920x1080 to 441.9 at 2560x1440, and finally to 412.9 at 3840x2160. This represents a modest 11.7% performance decrease when moving from the lowest to the highest resolution. The delta between 1080p and 4K at Low settings is only 54.6 FPS, a relatively small margin that suggests the renderer is not the bottleneck.

The pattern becomes even more pronounced at higher quality presets. At Ultra settings, the average FPS at 1920x1080 is 383.5, which only drops to 365.9 at 2560x1440 and 338.5 at 3840x2160. The total scaling loss from 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra is 45.0 FPS, or approximately 11.7%. This consistency across settings indicates that resolution increases are not stressing the GPU in a meaningful way, as the RTX 4080 SUPER has substantial bandwidth and compute resources available.

The data shows a clear separation between Low and Ultra presets at every resolution. At 4K, Low settings achieve 412.9 FPS while Ultra achieves 338.5 FPS, a difference of 74.4 FPS. This gap is relatively consistent at lower resolutions, with a 80.0 FPS difference at 1440p and an 84.0 FPS difference at 1080p. The fact that the gap does not widen significantly at higher resolutions further confirms that the GPU is not the limiting factor, as a GPU-bound scenario would show a larger performance delta between presets as resolution increases.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is a formidable piece of silicon with 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth. Its Ada Lovelace architecture operates at a boost clock of 2550 MHz, and the card's 10240 shading units are capable of 52.22 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. The data shows that in Valorant, these specifications are vastly overprovisioned for the workload presented.

The GPU's benchmark percentile of 88 versus all GPUs places it in the upper echelon of graphics hardware, with an average benchmark score of 53610. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT with an average score of 53489, which is a 0.2% delta from the RTX 4080 SUPER, and the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M with a score of 53414 (0.4% delta). This proximity in raw compute scores suggests that the RTX 4080 SUPER is not dramatically ahead of its immediate competition in general workloads, yet in Valorant the frame rates are exceptionally high.

The measured FPS data indicates that the GPU's role in this game is largely passive. At 4K Ultra, the RTX 4080 SUPER produces 338.5 FPS, which is a score that many lower-tier GPUs could not achieve, but the card is clearly not being pushed to its limits. The memory bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s and the 112 ROPs are more than sufficient for Valorant's relatively simple geometry and texture loads. The card's 320W TDP and triple-slot cooler are designed for far more demanding titles, and the data suggests that in this specific game, the GPU is operating well below its potential.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, running on the AM4 socket. Its base clock of 3.60 GHz can boost up to 4.20 GHz, and it features 16 MB of L3 cache. The processor's benchmark results show a single-thread score of 836 in 3DMark and a multi-thread score of 5411, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 16429 and single-core score of 2319.

The CPU's percentile versus all CPUs is 79, with an average benchmark score of 20875. Its nearest rivals are tightly clustered: the Intel Core i5-12500 scores 20897 (-0.1% delta), the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 4655GE scores 20900 (-0.1% delta), the AMD EPYC 7J13 scores 20845 (0.1% delta), and the Intel Core i5-12600T scores 20917 (-0.2% delta). This clustering indicates that the Ryzen 5 5500 is competitively positioned in general compute, but in a game like Valorant, which is known to be sensitive to single-thread performance, the processor's capabilities are the key determinant of frame rates.

The data strongly suggests that the Ryzen 5 5500 is the limiting component in this configuration. The fact that frame rates only drop by approximately 11.7% from 1080p to 4K at any given settings preset points to a CPU bottleneck. If the GPU were the constraint, the scaling loss would be significantly larger. The processor's 12 threads and 4.20 GHz boost clock are adequate for Valorant, but the game's engine appears to be hitting a ceiling imposed by the CPU's per-core performance.

FAQ

Q: Why do frame rates stay so high even at 4K resolution?

A: The data shows that at Low settings, the average FPS only drops from 467.5 at 1080p to 412.9 at 4K, a mere 54.6 FPS difference. This indicates the RTX 4080 SUPER is not the bottleneck, as the GPU has 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 736.3 GB/s bandwidth, which is vastly more than needed for Valorant.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 5500 holding back the RTX 4080 SUPER in this game?

A: Yes. The benchmark results show a consistent frame rate pattern across resolutions, with only an 11.7% drop from 1080p to 4K. The CPU's 3.60 GHz base clock and 4.20 GHz boost clock, along with its 836 single-thread 3DMark score, suggest it is the limiting factor.

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

A: The Ryzen 5 5500 has an average benchmark score of 20875, which is nearly identical to the Intel Core i5-12500 at 20897 (-0.1% delta) and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 4655GE at 20900 (-0.1% delta). The differences are negligible in raw compute terms.

Q: What is the best settings preset for maximum FPS?

A: The data shows that Low settings consistently provide the highest frame rates, achieving 467.5 FPS at 1080p, 441.9 FPS at 1440p, and 412.9 FPS at 4K. Ultra settings are the slowest, with 383.5 FPS at 1080p, 365.9 FPS at 1440p, and 338.5 FPS at 4K.

Q: How does the GPU's performance rank relative to other cards?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has a percentile of 88 versus all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 53610. It is only 0.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, which scores 53489, indicating they are closely matched in general compute workloads.

Q: Does the game's performance vary significantly between Medium and High settings?

A: The data shows minimal variation. At 4K, Medium settings achieve 350.4 FPS while High achieves 343.4 FPS, a difference of only 7.0 FPS. At 1080p, Medium hits 395.7 FPS and High hits 387.5 FPS, an 8.2 FPS gap.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive look at the system's performance across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the configuration achieves its highest scores, with Low settings reaching 467.5 FPS average. Medium settings deliver 395.7 FPS, High settings produce 387.5 FPS, and Ultra settings yield 383.5 FPS. The spread between the fastest and slowest presets at 1080p is 84.0 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain exceptionally high but show a slight decline. Low settings average 441.9 FPS, Medium settings produce 376.2 FPS, High settings reach 369.9 FPS, and Ultra settings deliver 365.9 FPS. The performance gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 76.0 FPS, which is only slightly narrower than at 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the data shows the system still delivers competitive frame rates, though the gap between presets narrows further. Low settings achieve 412.9 FPS, Medium settings produce 350.4 FPS, High settings reach 343.4 FPS, and Ultra settings deliver 338.5 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 74.4 FPS, indicating that the CPU constraint becomes relatively more significant as resolution increases.

The overall pattern across all 12 measured data points is consistent: Low settings provide a substantial FPS advantage over the other presets, while Medium, High, and Ultra are clustered closely together. At every resolution, the difference between Medium and Ultra is less than 15 FPS, while the difference between Low and Medium is at least 55 FPS. This suggests that the game's engine has a significant performance floor that the RTX 4080 SUPER cannot overcome, regardless of the graphical load.