Valorant

Valorant with the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 presents a unique pairing: a mid-range, six-core Zen 3 processor driving the flagship Ada Lovelace GPU. The benchmark data shows this combination delivers extremely high frame rates across all tested settings, but the scaling patterns reveal a system heavily constrained by the CPU. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS, resolution scaling, and the performance relationship between these two components.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with Low settings?

A: The measured average FPS is 464.3, the highest score recorded across all tested configurations.

Q: How much of a performance difference exists between the CPU and GPU in their respective benchmark pools?

A: The CPU has an average benchmark score of 20875, placing it in the 79th percentile of all CPUs. The GPU has an average benchmark score of 66473, placing it in the 91st percentile of all GPUs.

Q: What is the combo's ranking among all tested combinations for this game?

A: The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and RTX 4090 combo ranks 826th out of 1650 tested combinations in Valorant.

Q: Does lowering the resolution from 1440p to 1080p increase the average FPS at High settings?

A: Yes, the average FPS increases from 371.5 at 2560x1440 to 387.4 at 1920x1080 with High settings.

Q: Which settings preset at 4K yields the highest average FPS?

A: The Low preset at 3840x2160 produces the highest average FPS of 411.5, compared to 341.5 for High, 347.6 for Medium, and 338.9 for Ultra.

Q: What is the GPU's memory configuration?

A: The GPU features 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture and utilizes the AD102 chip, manufactured on a 5 nm process by TSMC. Its role in Valorant is defined by its massive memory and compute resources, which are largely underutilized in this title. The GPU has a base clock of 2235 MHz and a boost clock of 2520 MHz, with memory running at an effective 21 Gbps. The 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth are far beyond what a competitive FPS needs, but they do not negatively impact the measured results.

The benchmark data supports the notion that the GPU is not the limiting factor. At 1080p, the average FPS ranges from 381.1 on Ultra to 464.3 on Low, a spread of 83.2 FPS. This variance is relatively small, suggesting the game's rendering load is not heavy enough to tax the GPU's 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. The RTX 4090's percentile rank of 91 against all GPUs and its average benchmark score of 66473 indicate it is a top-tier performer, but in Valorant, its role is to render frames as fast as the CPU can feed it. The data shows that at lower resolutions, the GPU's massive throughput is waiting on the processor to submit draw calls and update game logic.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern of diminishing returns as resolution decreases, which is a classic sign of a CPU bottleneck. Moving from 4K to 1440p to 1080p increases frame rates, but the gains are smaller than the resolution's pixel-count reduction would suggest. For example, at High settings, the average FPS goes from 341.5 at 3840x2160 to 371.5 at 2560x1440, an increase of 30 FPS. Dropping further to 1920x1080 yields 387.4, an additional 15.9 FPS. This shows that while lower resolutions do help, the rate of improvement slows, indicating that the CPU is nearing its limit for generating frames.

At Low settings, the trend is similar but more pronounced. The average FPS at 4K is 411.5, increasing to 440.7 at 1440p, and then to 464.3 at 1080p. The gap between 1440p and 1080p is 23.6 FPS, which is smaller than the 29.2 FPS gap between 4K and 1440p. If the GPU were the bottleneck, we would expect a much larger jump from 1440p to 1080p, as the pixel count drops by over 50%. The data suggests the AMD Ryzen 5 5500, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, is the primary limiter, especially at the lower resolutions where the GPU has spare capacity.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete data set provides a detailed view of performance. At 1920x1080, the average FPS by settings is: Low at 464.3, Medium at 398.9, High at 387.4, and Ultra at 381.1. The difference between Low and Ultra is 83.2 FPS, which is significant but still places all presets well above the refresh rates of most high-end monitors.

At 2560x1440, the results are slightly lower. The Low preset averages 440.7 FPS, Medium averages 375.6, High averages 371.5, and Ultra averages 365.6. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 75.1 FPS. This shows that the increased resolution does start to engage the GPU more, but the CPU still dominates the performance ceiling.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low at 411.5, Medium at 347.6, High at 341.5, and Ultra at 338.9. The difference between Low and Ultra is now only 72.6 FPS. This is the smallest spread across the three resolutions, indicating that at 4K, the GPU's workload is finally becoming more relevant. However, even at this high resolution, the RTX 4090 is not fully saturated, as the average FPS remains exceptionally high. The data consistently shows that the Low preset provides the highest frame rates at every resolution, with the gap between presets being more pronounced at lower resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination ranks 826th out of 1650 tested combos in Valorant, placing it in the middle of the pack. This ranking is surprising given the GPU's top-tier status, but it is a direct consequence of the CPU's performance ceiling. The Ryzen 5 5500 has an average benchmark score of 20875 and sits in the 79th percentile, with nearest rivals including the Intel Core i5-12500 (scoring 20897, a 0.1% difference) and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 4655GE (scoring 20900, a 0.1% difference). The CPU's performance is tightly clustered with these rivals, showing it is a competent but not exceptional processor.

In contrast, the RTX 4090's nearest rivals in the GPU benchmark pool are professional workstation cards like the NVIDIA Tesla T4 (scoring 66733, a 0.4% difference) and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 (scoring 67097, a 0.9% difference). The GPU's high percentile rank of 91 and its average score of 66473 show it is one of the most powerful consumer cards available. The combo's rank of 826 out of 1650 suggests that pairing this GPU with a less capable CPU results in a system that performs similarly to mid-range combos in Valorant, where the game's engine is heavily reliant on single-thread and multi-thread CPU performance. The data indicates that the combo's ranking is dragged down by the CPU, not elevated by the GPU.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the user's refresh rate and preference for visual fidelity. For maximum frame rate, the Low preset is the clear choice. At 1080p, it produces 464.3 FPS, which is 77 FPS higher than the Ultra preset. At 1440p, the Low preset delivers 440.7 FPS, and at 4K, it still manages 411.5 FPS. These figures are exceptionally high, and for competitive play, the Low preset minimizes latency and maximizes responsiveness.

However, the data shows that the CPU bottleneck means the difference between presets is relatively small. At 1080p, the gap between High and Ultra is only 6.3 FPS (387.4 vs 381.1). This suggests that users with a 360Hz monitor might prefer the Medium or High presets, which offer better visual quality at 398.9 and 387.4 FPS respectively, without a significant performance penalty. At 4K, the Ultra preset still achieves 338.9 FPS, so even maximum settings are playable on high-refresh displays. The recommendation is to use the High preset as a balanced starting point, as it offers a substantial visual upgrade over Low with a manageable FPS loss. For those prioritizing absolute smoothness, the Low preset is the best option, as it provides the highest average FPS across all resolutions.