Valorant

Valorant is a competitive FPS where frame rates matter far more than absolute visual fidelity, and the data for this combination of an AMD Ryzen 7 5700 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 shows a system that is overwhelmingly CPU-bound at nearly every turn. The measured frames per second (FPS) across all settings and resolutions are exceptionally high, with the lowest average recorded being 288 FPS at 4K Ultra and the highest reaching 501 FPS at 1080p Low. This places the combo in the 1803rd position out of 3708 tested combinations, a solid mid-to-upper tier ranking that reflects the hardware's ability to push well beyond the refresh rates of most monitors. The data indicates that the RTX 4060 is more than capable of handling Valorant's engine, but the true performance ceiling is dictated by the Ryzen 7 5700's single-threaded strength and the game's engine limitations.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS deltas between 1080p, 1440p, and 4K reveal a classic CPU-bound scenario that is unusual for most modern games but perfectly aligned with Valorant's lightweight rendering demands. Moving from 1080p to 1440p at High settings, the average FPS drops from 420 to 378, a reduction of 42 FPS or exactly 10%. The jump from 1440p to 4K at High settings is more significant, with the average falling from 378 to 302, a 76 FPS drop or roughly 20.1%. This pattern suggests that while resolution does matter, the scaling is not as steep as one would expect from a GPU-bound title; the rendering load is increasing, but the CPU is still managing to feed the GPU enough frames to keep the average well above 300 FPS even at 4K.

Looking at the Low settings preset, the scaling behavior changes slightly, emphasizing the CPU bottleneck further. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 501 FPS average. At 1440p Low, it drops to 475 FPS, a 26 FPS decline (5.2%). At 4K Low, the average is 441 FPS, which is 60 FPS lower than 1080p (12%). The relatively small percentage drops between resolutions at Low settings indicate that the game is not becoming GPU-limited until the pixel count becomes extreme. In fact, the 4K Low average of 441 FPS is still higher than the 1080p Ultra average of 413 FPS, proving that the GPU has massive headroom and that the CPU is the primary limiter for achieving maximum frame rates.

The Medium settings rows, which include minimum and maximum FPS data, provide additional insight into the scaling. At 1080p Medium, the average is 427 FPS with a minimum of 363 FPS and a maximum of 491 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average is 397 FPS with a minimum of 337 FPS and maximum of 456 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average is 317 FPS with a minimum of 270 FPS and maximum of 365 FPS. The spread between minimum and maximum FPS remains relatively consistent across resolutions—around 120-130 FPS—which indicates that the frame pacing is stable and not subject to sudden GPU-related stutters. The fact that the 4K Medium minimum of 270 FPS is still above the refresh rate of most high-end monitors shows that even in the most demanding preset scenario, this combo never dips into problematic territory.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal settings for this combo are not about chasing the highest average FPS but rather about balancing frame rate stability and visual quality. The Ultra preset offers the lowest performance, with averages of 413 FPS at 1080p, 360 FPS at 1440p, and 288 FPS at 4K. While these numbers are still exceptionally high, the Ultra preset does not provide a meaningful visual advantage in a game like Valorant, where clarity and response time are paramount. The data suggests that the Ultra preset is unnecessary overhead for the GPU, as the High preset delivers nearly identical performance with a 7 FPS difference at 1080p (420 vs 413) and an 18 FPS difference at 4K (302 vs 288).

The High preset emerges as the best balance for competitive play. At 1080p High, the system produces 420 FPS average, which is within 16% of the absolute maximum frame rate (501 FPS at Low). At 1440p High, the average of 378 FPS is only 20% lower than the Low preset's 475 FPS. The High preset likely includes subtle texture and shadow improvements that can help with target acquisition without the performance penalty of Ultra. For players with 144Hz or 240Hz monitors, the High preset at 1080p or 1440p provides more than enough headroom to maintain a locked frame rate with zero dips below the refresh rate.

The Low preset is the only option that pushes the average FPS above 500, hitting 501 FPS at 1080p. This is the choice for esports purists who prioritize raw frame rate over all else, but the 81 FPS difference between Low and High at 1080p (501 vs 420) may not be perceptible on most displays. The Medium preset sits in between, with a 427 FPS average at 1080p, but it offers no clear advantage over High in terms of FPS (only 7 FPS difference) while potentially including unnecessary effects. The recommendation is to use High settings at 1080p or 1440p, as it provides the best combination of visual clarity and frame rate headroom, with the Low preset reserved for players using 360Hz or higher refresh rate monitors who want to maximize the absolute FPS ceiling.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 1803 out of 3708 tested combinations places it in the 48.6th percentile of all hardware pairings tested in Valorant. This is a surprisingly average ranking for hardware that produces frame rates in the hundreds, which indicates that Valorant is a game where even mid-range components can achieve high FPS, and the ranking is heavily influenced by top-tier CPUs with extreme single-thread performance. The Ryzen 7 5700 sits in the 78th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 25517, and its nearest rivals include the Intel Xeon D-2752TER (25530, -0.1% delta), AMD Ryzen 5 7640U (25485, +0.1% delta), AMD Ryzen 5 6600H (25550, -0.1% delta), and AMD Ryzen 7 5825U (25446, +0.3% delta). These rivals are within 0.3% of the Ryzen 7 5700's average score, suggesting that the CPU's computational performance is well-matched with these alternatives.

The RTX 4060 GPU is in the 61st percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17639. Its nearest rivals are notably weaker cards, including the AMD Radeon HD 7790 (17666, -0.2% delta), AMD Radeon 780M (17588, +0.3% delta), AMD Radeon Pro 560 (17551, +0.5% delta), and AMD Radeon Pro 460 (17509, +0.7% delta). The fact that the RTX 4060's benchmark score is nearly identical to these older or integrated-class GPUs is misleading in the context of Valorant, as the game's engine does not stress the GPU's compute capabilities. The combo ranking of 1803 suggests that while the CPU is strong (78th percentile), it is not among the elite processors that can push Valorant to 600+ FPS, and the GPU's 61st percentile ranking is irrelevant for this title since even a weaker GPU could achieve similar FPS at lower resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates. The Low preset achieves 501 FPS average, which is the peak performance recorded in the entire dataset. Medium produces 427 FPS average with a minimum of 363 FPS and maximum of 491 FPS. High reaches 420 FPS average, while Ultra drops slightly to 413 FPS average. The spread between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 88 FPS, representing an 17.6% performance penalty for maxing out the visual settings. The minimum FPS at Medium (363 FPS) is still far above any reasonable refresh rate target, ensuring no frame drops below typical monitor refresh rates.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain exceptionally high. Low settings produce 475 FPS average, a 26 FPS drop from 1080p. Medium averages 397 FPS with a minimum of 337 FPS and maximum of 456 FPS. High averages 378 FPS, while Ultra averages 360 FPS. The performance penalty for Ultra over Low at 1440p is 115 FPS, or 24.2%, which is a more significant gap than at 1080p. The minimum FPS at 1440p Medium (337 FPS) is still above 300 FPS, ensuring that even the most demanding scenes do not cause noticeable stutters.

At 3840x2160, the system shows its first signs of GPU limitation, though the numbers are still impressive. Low settings average 441 FPS, which is 60 FPS lower than 1080p Low. Medium averages 317 FPS with a minimum of 270 FPS and maximum of 365 FPS. High averages 302 FPS, while Ultra averages 288 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 153 FPS, or 34.7%, indicating that the GPU is becoming more of a factor at this resolution. The 4K Medium minimum of 270 FPS is still above 240Hz, so even the most demanding preset at 4K maintains playable frame rates for high-refresh displays.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 272.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The GPU's base clock is 1830 MHz with a boost clock of 2460 MHz, and it features 3072 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units. The measured FPS data strongly suggests that these GPU specifications are more than sufficient for Valorant, as the game does not require heavy texture streaming or complex shader work. The 8 GB VRAM is ample for Valorant's modest texture requirements, and even at 4K Ultra, the GPU does not appear to be bottlenecked by memory capacity or bandwidth.

The GPU's performance in synthetic benchmarks places it in the 61st percentile of all GPUs, but this ranking is irrelevant for Valorant. The game's engine is CPU-bound, and the RTX 4060's role is to simply render the frames that the Ryzen 7 5700 can generate. The fact that the 4K Low preset (441 FPS) is 28 FPS higher than the 1080p Ultra preset (413 FPS) demonstrates that the GPU is never the limiting factor in this combination. Even at 4K, the GPU has enough headroom to render frames at over 400 FPS when the CPU is not constrained by the game's threading model. The RTX 4060's Ada Lovelace architecture provides 15.11 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, which is far more than Valorant requires, and the GPU's power efficiency (115 W TDP) means it can operate at high clocks without thermal throttling, maintaining consistent frame delivery.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo can achieve in Valorant?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 501 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The system also achieves 475 FPS at 2560x1440 Low and 441 FPS at 3840x2160 Low.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck for this system in Valorant?

A: The data indicates the CPU is the primary bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the system hits 501 FPS, but at 4K Low it still achieves 441 FPS, showing only a 12% drop. The GPU is not limiting until 4K Ultra, where the average drops to 288 FPS.

Q: Which settings preset provides the best balance for competitive play?

A: The High preset is recommended. At 1080p it delivers 420 FPS average, which is only 16% lower than Low (501 FPS), while providing better visual clarity. At 1440p High, the average of 378 FPS still exceeds the refresh rate of most gaming monitors.

Q: Can this combo maintain frame rates above 240 FPS at 4K?

A: Yes, at 4K Low the average is 441 FPS, and at 4K Medium the average is 317 FPS with a minimum of 270 FPS. Even at 4K Ultra, the average of 288 FPS is above 240 Hz, though minimum FPS data is not provided for that preset.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested hardware combinations?

A: It ranks 1803rd out of 3708 tested combos in Valorant, placing it in the 48.6th percentile. This is an average ranking because Valorant is CPU-bound and many top CPUs achieve even higher frame rates, despite this system already exceeding 500 FPS at 1080p Low.

Q: What is the frame time consistency like at Medium settings?

A: At 1080p Medium, the average is 427 FPS with a minimum of 363 FPS and maximum of 491 FPS, a spread of 128 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the spread is 119 FPS (337 min, 456 max, 397 avg). At 4K Medium, the spread is 95 FPS (270 min, 365 max, 317 avg), showing tighter frame pacing as resolution increases.