Valorant

Valorant is a competitive FPS where frame rate consistency often matters more than absolute graphical fidelity. The measured data for the AMD Ryzen 7 5700 and Intel Arc B390 combination provides a clear picture of its capabilities across a range of settings and resolutions. The benchmark results show a system that is capable of high refresh rate play at lower resolutions, but which becomes increasingly constrained as resolution and graphical load increase. This analysis breaks down the measured performance to determine the optimal settings and what the data reveals about the role of each component.

Settings Recommendations

For players prioritizing the highest possible frame rates, the Low preset at 1920x1080 is the clear choice, delivering an average of 331 FPS. This is the only configuration in the measured data that breaks the 300 FPS barrier, making it the best option for maximizing refresh rate on high-Hz monitors. The performance gap between Low and the next fastest setting at this resolution is substantial; the Medium preset averages 218 FPS, which is 113 FPS behind Low. This indicates that the step from Low to Medium incurs a significant performance cost that may not be justified for competitive play.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset remains the top performer with an average of 282 FPS. This is still a very high frame rate, suitable for most high-refresh-rate gaming. The Medium preset at this resolution drops to 186 FPS, a notable decrease from the 1080p result. Choosing Low at 1440p offers a better balance of visual clarity and performance than using a higher preset, as the resolution increase already provides a sharper image.

For 4K (3840x2160), the Low preset is the only viable option for maintaining high performance, yielding an average of 225 FPS. While this is still a playable frame rate, it is a significant drop from the 1440p result. The High, Medium, and Ultra presets at this resolution all fall below 150 FPS, with Ultra averaging just 135 FPS. Given the competitive nature of Valorant, the substantial frame rate advantage of the Low preset makes it the recommended choice across all resolutions, particularly for users who own high refresh rate displays. The data clearly shows that the Low preset offers the best performance headroom, ensuring the smoothest possible experience.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to use with this CPU and GPU combo?

A: Based on the measured data, 1920x1080 with the Low preset provides the highest average frame rate at 331 FPS. While 2560x1440 on Low still delivers a very strong 282 FPS, the 1080p result offers the most headroom for maintaining maximum refresh rates.

Q: How does the performance at 4K compare to 1080p?

A: The data shows a significant performance drop at higher resolutions. At 1080p Low, the average is 331 FPS, but at 4K Low, the average falls to 225 FPS. This represents a decrease of 106 FPS when moving from 1080p to 4K at the same settings.

Q: Is the Ultra preset worth using?

A: No. The Ultra preset provides the lowest average frame rates at every resolution: 198 FPS at 1080p, 169 FPS at 1440p, and 135 FPS at 4K. Since the High preset offers better performance than Ultra at all resolutions, there is no measured benefit to using Ultra settings.

Q: What kind of frame rates can I expect at 1440p with Medium settings?

A: The measured average FPS for 2560x1440 with Medium settings is 186 FPS. The data also shows a minimum of 158 FPS and a maximum of 214 FPS for this configuration, indicating some frame time variance.

Q: How well does this combo rank among all tested combinations for Valorant?

A: The combo ranks 2534 out of 2883 tested combinations. This places it in the lower percentile of tested systems, indicating that while it can achieve high frame rates on lower settings, many other combinations offer higher performance.

Q: Does the game perform better on High or Medium settings?

A: At every resolution, the Medium preset outperforms the High preset. For instance, at 1080p, Medium averages 218 FPS while High averages 207 FPS. The performance difference is consistent, with Medium being faster across the board.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 5700 and Intel Arc B390 holds a comboRankInGame of 2534 out of 2883 tested combinations for Valorant. This places the system in the 12th percentile of all tested combos, meaning that roughly 88% of the systems tested for this game deliver higher average frame rates. This low ranking is primarily attributable to the GPU's relative performance level, as the CPU is a more capable part. The data indicates that while this system is far from the top of the leaderboard, it is still capable of producing playable frame rates, especially at lower resolutions and settings. The ranking underscores that this is not a high-end gaming configuration, but rather one that can handle the game at moderate settings. For context, the CPU's average benchmark score of 25517 places it in the 78th percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU's average score of 1482 places it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs. This clear disparity in component capabilities shows that the GPU is the primary factor limiting the combo's ranking in this game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a detailed look at performance across three resolutions and four quality presets.

At 1920x1080, the system shows its best performance. The Low preset achieves an average of 331 FPS. The Medium preset averages 218 FPS, with a minimum of 185 FPS and a maximum of 250 FPS. The High preset delivers an average of 207 FPS, and the Ultra preset is the slowest at 198 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 133 FPS, demonstrating the significant impact of graphical settings on this system at 1080p.

At 2560x1440, performance decreases across the board. The Low preset still leads with an average of 282 FPS. The Medium preset averages 186 FPS, with a minimum of 158 FPS and a maximum of 214 FPS. The High preset averages 177 FPS, and the Ultra preset delivers 169 FPS. The performance gap between Low and Medium is 96 FPS, and the gap between Low and Ultra is 113 FPS. The pattern remains consistent, with Low being the clear winner for performance.

At 3840x2160 (4K), the system's limitations become more apparent. The Low preset averages 225 FPS. The Medium preset drops to an average of 149 FPS, with a minimum of 126 FPS and a maximum of 171 FPS. The High preset averages 141 FPS, and the Ultra preset is the slowest at 135 FPS. At this resolution, the difference between Low and the next tier (Medium) is 76 FPS, and the difference between Low and Ultra is 90 FPS. The data shows that 4K is the most demanding scenario, and only the Low preset allows the system to maintain a high frame rate.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a clear and consistent trend of decreasing frame rates as resolution increases, which is typical for a system where the GPU is the limiting factor. At the Low settings preset, moving from 1920x1080 (331 FPS) to 2560x1440 (282 FPS) results in a 49 FPS drop. Moving from 1440p to 4K (225 FPS) results in a further 57 FPS drop. Overall, from 1080p to 4K, the system loses 106 FPS, which is a 32% reduction in performance.

This scaling pattern is consistent across other settings. For example, at Medium settings, the system goes from 218 FPS at 1080p to 186 FPS at 1440p, and then to 149 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K is 69 FPS, or roughly a 32% decrease. The fact that the relative performance drop is similar across different settings presets strongly suggests that the bottleneck is the GPU's rendering throughput. The CPU, with its 8 cores and 16 threads, is capable of feeding the GPU with enough data at 1080p, but as the pixel count increases, the GPU's fill rate and compute capabilities become the constraint. The Intel Arc B390, with a 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1482, is simply not powerful enough to maintain the same frame rates when the rendering load increases by over four times from 1080p to 4K.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700 features 8 cores and 16 threads, based on the Zen 3 architecture. It has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. Its benchmark scores are respectable, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 20655 and a single-core score of 2916. Its average benchmark score of 25517 places it in the 78th percentile of all CPUs, and it is within 0.3% of rivals like the AMD Ryzen 7 5825U and AMD Ryzen 5 7640U.

In the context of Valorant, the CPU's role is to handle game logic, physics, and draw calls. The high single-thread performance, as evidenced by the 2916 Cinebench R23 score, is particularly important for maintaining high frame rates in a game like Valorant, which is often CPU-bound at lower resolutions. The data suggests that the CPU is capable of delivering high performance, as evidenced by the 331 FPS result at 1080p Low. This high frame rate is a strong indicator that the processor is not the primary bottleneck at this resolution. However, as resolution increases and the GPU becomes more strained, the CPU's advantage becomes less relevant to the final frame rate. The CPU's performance is more than adequate for this game, and the measured frame rates at 1080p demonstrate that it can support very high refresh rates when paired with a more capable GPU. Its 16 threads ensure that it can handle any background tasks without impacting game performance.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated GPU based on the Xe3-LPG architecture. It has a boost clock of 2500 MHz and features 1536 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 24 ROPs. Its performance is its main weakness, as indicated by its average benchmark score of 1482, which places it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX and GeForce 800M, with the B390 being just 1.3% and 1.5% faster, respectively.

The GPU's low performance ranking directly explains the system's overall combo rank in Valorant. While the CPU can push high frame rates, the GPU struggles to keep up when the graphical load increases. The measured FPS data shows this clearly. At 1080p Low, the GPU can render frames quickly enough to achieve 331 FPS. However, at 1080p Ultra, the frame rate drops to 198 FPS, a 40% decrease. This shows that the GPU is heavily impacted by the increase in graphical settings. At 4K, the GPU's limitations are even more pronounced, with even the Low preset only achieving 225 FPS. The 4K results are all below 225 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 135 FPS. The GPU's shared memory architecture, with "System Shared" memory and system-dependent bandwidth, also contributes to its performance characteristics. The data indicates that the GPU is the definitive bottleneck in this system for Valorant, and its performance level is the primary reason for the combo's low ranking among tested configurations. To improve performance in this game, a discrete GPU would be necessary.