Valorant

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT paired with the Intel Arc B390 delivers a highly capable Valorant experience, with the data showing a clear hierarchy across settings and resolutions. This combination ranks 2534th out of 2883 tested combos, placing it in the lower-middle tier for this game, yet the measured FPS numbers remain robust for competitive play. The 8-core, 16-thread CPU provides ample headroom, while the integrated GPU becomes the primary variable as resolution and visual fidelity increase.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data shows a distinct performance curve across the four settings presets, with the most significant gains occurring when moving from Low to Medium, and diminishing returns beyond that. At 1080p, the Low preset achieves 331 FPS, which is the highest measured average across all configurations. However, the Medium preset still delivers 218 FPS, a 113 FPS drop but still well above the refresh rate of most high-end monitors. The High preset at 1080p produces 207 FPS, and Ultra drops to 198 FPS.

For competitive play where maximum frame rate is the priority, the Low preset at 1080p is the optimal choice. The data shows a 53 FPS advantage over Medium at the same resolution, which can be decisive in fast-paced gunfights. That said, the Low preset does not have recorded minimum FPS values, meaning stability is not fully documented. If you prefer visual clarity without sacrificing too much performance, Medium at 1080p is a strong alternative, with a documented minimum of 185 FPS ensuring consistent frame delivery.

At 1440p, the situation changes slightly. Low delivers 282 FPS, while Medium drops to 186 FPS. The gap narrows significantly at higher resolutions, suggesting the GPU becomes more involved. For 1440p gaming, the Low preset is still the best for pure speed, but the Medium preset's 158 FPS minimum is worth considering for smoother frame pacing. At 4K, the Low preset yields 225 FPS, while Medium and High produce 149 and 141 FPS respectively. Ultra at 4K falls to 135 FPS.

The measured data suggests that the optimal balance between visual quality and performance is the Medium preset at 1080p or 1440p. It offers a significant improvement over Low in terms of rendering detail, while still maintaining frame rates that exceed 144Hz displays. The High and Ultra presets provide marginal gains in visual fidelity but cost 11-20 FPS compared to Medium at the same resolution, which is a poor trade-off for a competitive FPS.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable with this CPU-GPU combo?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 331, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset. This is the only configuration that breaks the 300 FPS threshold in the measured data.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to Low in terms of performance?

A: At 1080p, the Ultra preset delivers 198 FPS compared to 331 FPS on Low, representing a 133 FPS deficit. At 1440p, the gap narrows to 113 FPS (169 vs 282), and at 4K it shrinks to 90 FPS (135 vs 225). The performance cost of Ultra decreases as resolution increases.

Q: Is the Medium preset stable for competitive play?

A: Yes, the Medium preset has documented minimum FPS values across all three resolutions. At 1080p, the minimum is 185 FPS, at 1440p it is 158 FPS, and at 4K it is 126 FPS. These minimums are all above 120 FPS, making them suitable for high-refresh-rate monitors.

Q: What is the combo's ranking among all tested CPU-GPU combinations in Valorant?

A: This combination ranks 2534th out of 2883 total tested combos, placing it in the 12th percentile of all configurations. This indicates that while performance is playable, most other systems achieve higher frame rates.

Q: How does the GPU's performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Arc B390's average benchmark score is 1482, which is 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463), 1.5% higher than the GeForce 800M (1460), 2.5% higher than the GT 625 OEM (1446), and 2.7% higher than the GT 710 (1443). This places it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs.

Q: Does the CPU's single-thread performance matter for Valorant?

A: The CPU's 3DMark single-thread score is 959, while its 2-thread score is 1879. The game benefits from strong single-core performance, and the Ryzen 7 5800XT's boost clock of 4.80 GHz helps maintain high frame rates in CPU-bound scenarios, as evidenced by the 331 FPS result at 1080p Low.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated GPU based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on Intel's 3 nm process. Its base clock is 300 MHz with a boost clock of 2500 MHz, and it features 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster operation units. The GPU includes 12 ray tracing cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. Its pixel rate is 60.00 GPixel/s and texture rate is 120.0 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance rated at 7.680 TFLOPS.

The GPU's memory configuration is entirely system-shared, meaning it relies on the CPU's DDR4 memory through a dual-channel interface. The memory bandwidth is listed as "System Dependent," which means performance scales with the installed RAM speed and capacity. This is a critical limitation for higher resolutions, as the GPU must compete with the CPU for memory bandwidth.

The GPU's average benchmark score is 1482 from the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, placing it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are all legacy NVIDIA parts, with the GT 520MX being 1.3% slower, the 800M 1.5% slower, the GT 625 OEM 2.5% slower, and the GT 710 2.7% slower. This places the B390 at the very bottom of the GPU performance spectrum, yet the measured Valorant FPS shows it is more than adequate for this specific title.

In Valorant, the GPU's role becomes more pronounced at higher settings and resolutions. The data shows that moving from Low to Ultra at 1080p reduces average FPS from 331 to 198, a 40% decrease. At 4K, the same settings change results in a drop from 225 to 135 FPS, a 40% decrease as well. The GPU's limited memory bandwidth and modest compute resources are the constraints here, but the game's low system requirements mean even this entry-level part handles it well.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080 resolution, the measured average FPS values are as follows: Low settings produce 331 FPS, Medium produces 218 FPS with a minimum of 185 and maximum of 250, High produces 207 FPS, and Ultra produces 198 FPS. The frame rate difference between Low and Medium is substantial at 113 FPS, while the difference between Medium and High is only 11 FPS, and between High and Ultra is 9 FPS.

At 2560x1440 resolution, the Low preset delivers 282 FPS, Medium delivers 186 FPS with a minimum of 158 and maximum of 214, High delivers 177 FPS, and Ultra delivers 169 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 96 FPS, while Medium to High is 9 FPS, and High to Ultra is 8 FPS. This pattern mirrors the 1080p results but with overall lower frame rates.

At 3840x2160 resolution, the Low preset achieves 225 FPS, Medium achieves 149 FPS with a minimum of 126 and maximum of 171, High achieves 141 FPS, and Ultra achieves 135 FPS. The difference between Low and Medium is 76 FPS, while Medium to High is 8 FPS, and High to Ultra is 6 FPS. The diminishing returns of higher settings become more apparent at 4K.

The data shows that the Medium preset consistently provides the most stable frame delivery with documented minimum and maximum values, whereas Low, High, and Ultra lack recorded minimums, making it harder to assess their consistency. The Medium preset at 1080p offers the best balance of performance and visual quality, with an average of 218 FPS and a minimum of 185 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across settings. At Low settings, FPS drops from 331 to 282, a 49 FPS decrease or 14.8% reduction. At Medium settings, the drop is from 218 to 186, a 32 FPS decrease or 14.7% reduction. At High settings, the drop is from 207 to 177, a 30 FPS decrease or 14.5% reduction. At Ultra settings, the drop is from 198 to 169, a 29 FPS decrease or 14.6% reduction.

Moving from 1440p to 4K shows larger relative declines. At Low settings, FPS drops from 282 to 225, a 57 FPS decrease or 20.2% reduction. At Medium settings, the drop is from 186 to 149, a 37 FPS decrease or 19.9% reduction. At High settings, the drop is from 177 to 141, a 36 FPS decrease or 20.3% reduction. At Ultra settings, the drop is from 169 to 135, a 34 FPS decrease or 20.1% reduction.

The scaling pattern reveals that the system is primarily CPU-bound. The percentage drops from 1080p to 1440p are nearly identical across all settings, suggesting the GPU is not the limiting factor at these resolutions. However, the larger drops from 1440p to 4K indicate the GPU begins to take on more responsibility, as the total pixel count increases significantly. The consistent ~15% drop from 1080p to 1440p points to a CPU limitation, while the ~20% drop from 1440p to 4K shows the GPU's memory bandwidth constraints beginning to surface.

The fact that Low settings at 4K still achieve 225 FPS demonstrates that the CPU can feed the GPU sufficiently, but the GPU's shared memory architecture caps performance as resolution climbs. The system's 51.2 GB/s memory bandwidth for the CPU is shared with the GPU, and this becomes a bottleneck at 4K where texture and buffer demands increase.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, manufactured on TSMC's 7 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 4.80 GHz, with a 105 W TDP. The CPU features 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 512 KB of L2 cache per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports DDR4 memory in a dual-channel configuration with a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s and includes ECC support. The CPU uses the AMD Socket AM4 interface and supports PCIe Gen 4 with 20 lanes.

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU scores 959 in 3DMark single-thread, 1879 in 2-thread, 3603 in 4-thread, 6141 in 8-thread, and 7683 in 16-thread tests. Its Cinebench R23 scores are 3359 for single-core and 23794 for multi-core. The CPU's average benchmark score is 29879, placing it in the 81st percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 7840H with a score of 29868 (0% delta), the Ryzen 7 8845HS with 29955 (-0.3%), the Ryzen 7 7840HS with 29955 (-0.3%), and the Ryzen 5 9600X with 29713 (0.6%).

Valorant is known to be CPU-sensitive, and the data confirms this. The 8-core, 16-thread configuration provides substantial headroom for the game's threading requirements. The high boost clock of 4.80 GHz is critical for maintaining frame rates above 200 FPS, as the game's logic and physics calculations rely heavily on single-thread performance. The CPU's 32 MB of shared L3 cache helps reduce memory latency, which is beneficial for frame pacing in fast-paced scenarios.

The CPU's percentile ranking at 81% against all CPUs, combined with the GPU's 9th percentile ranking, clearly indicates that the CPU is not the bottleneck in this system. The measured FPS values at 1080p Low (331 FPS) demonstrate that the CPU can drive frame rates far beyond what the GPU can render at higher settings. The diminishing returns from Medium to Ultra settings are a direct result of the GPU's limited capabilities, not the CPU's performance.