Valorant

# Valorant with AMD Ryzen 7 9700F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 — Benchmark Analysis

FAQ

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking for Valorant among all tested CPU-GPU pairings?

A: This pairing ranks 232nd out of 2,883 tested combos, placing it comfortably within the top 8% of all configurations tested for this game.

Q: How much faster is the Ryzen 7 9700F than its closest rival, the Ryzen 9 7940HX?

A: The Ryzen 7 9700F scores 69,996 in average benchmark score, which is 0.2% higher than the Ryzen 9 7940HX's 69,875. This margin is negligible in real-world terms.

Q: What is the highest average FPS achieved by this combo at any resolution?

A: The peak average FPS is 715, achieved at 1080p with Low settings. This is the maximum measured performance across all 12 tested configurations.

Q: Is the RTX 3080's benchmark score significantly different from its nearest rival?

A: The RTX 3080's average benchmark score is 23,172, which is 0.3% lower than both the NVIDIA P106-100 (23,249) and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16 (23,250) — though the RTX 3080 is a far more capable gaming GPU in practice.

Q: Does the combo ever drop below 350 FPS in any tested setting?

A: Yes, at 4K Ultra the average FPS is 380, and at 4K High it is 399. The only configuration with a recorded minimum FPS below 350 is 4K Medium, which shows a minimum of 356 FPS.

Q: What is the performance gap between 1080p Low and 4K Ultra?

A: The drop is from 715 FPS at 1080p Low to 380 FPS at 4K Ultra, representing a 335 FPS reduction — about a 47% decrease in average frame rate.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F is an 8-core, 16-thread processor built on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge) using a 4 nm process at TSMC. Its base clock is 3.80 GHz with a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, and it carries a TDP of 65 W. The CPU features 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache. The processor supports DDR5 memory over a dual-channel bus, delivering a theoretical memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s.

In the context of Valorant, a competitive FPS that relies heavily on single-thread performance for game logic and frame pacing, the 9700F's strong single-thread score of 4,691 in Passmark is a critical asset. Its multithread score of 36,470 and integer math score of 120,788 suggest ample headroom for background tasks, streaming, and voice chat overlays without starving the game's main thread. The CPU's percentile ranking of 94 (out of all CPUs tested) places it among the top tier of processors available.

The nearest rivals bracket this chip tightly. The Ryzen 9 7940HX scores 69,875 (0.2% behind), the Intel Core i7-14700KF scores 70,163 (0.2% ahead), the Ryzen 9 7950X scores 69,515 (0.7% behind), and the Intel Core i7-14700K scores 69,355 (0.9% behind). The 9700F's delta from these four rivals ranges from -0.2% to +0.9%, meaning it is statistically indistinguishable from them in aggregate benchmarks. However, for Valorant specifically, the CPU's boost clock of 5.50 GHz provides exceptional single-thread responsiveness, which typical multi-core benchmarks may not fully capture.

Looking at the measured FPS data, the CPU's influence is most visible when comparing the same settings across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 715 FPS; at 1440p Low, it drops to 678 FPS; at 4K Low, it falls to 629 FPS. The relatively modest drop between 1080p and 1440p Low (37 FPS, or about 5%) suggests the CPU is still a significant contributor even as resolution increases. The 9700F's 8 cores and 16 threads are more than sufficient for Valorant's engine, which typically scales well across multiple cores for asset streaming and network processing.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is built on the Ampere architecture (GA102 chip) using an 8 nm process at Samsung. It features 8,704 shading units, 272 texture mapping units, and 96 ROPs, along with 68 ray tracing cores and 272 tensor cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1440 MHz with a boost clock of 1710 MHz. It comes with 10 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 320-bit bus, delivering 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The card has a TDP of 320 W and requires a 700 W suggested power supply.

The RTX 3080's Passmark G3D score is 25,086, and its GPU compute score is 14,397. Its percentile ranking among all GPUs is 68. The nearest rivals according to average benchmark score are the NVIDIA P106-100 (23,249, 0.3% lower), AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16 (23,250, 0.3% lower), AMD Radeon RX 6600M (23,273, 0.4% lower), and AMD Radeon R9 M290X (23,276, 0.4% lower). These rival deltas are tiny, but they reflect aggregate compute workloads rather than gaming-specific performance. In Valorant, the RTX 3080's raw fill rate (164.2 GPixel/s pixel rate and 465.1 GTexel/s texture rate) is far more relevant.

The GPU's role in Valorant becomes evident when comparing the same resolution across settings. At 4K, the average FPS drops from 629 (Low) to 419 (Medium) to 399 (High) to 380 (Ultra). This 249 FPS swing across settings at 4K indicates that the GPU is doing meaningful work when rendering at that resolution. The RTX 3080's 10 GB VRAM is ample for Valorant's modest texture and shader requirements, so memory capacity is not a bottleneck. The GDDR6X memory at 19 Gbps effective provides high bandwidth that keeps frame times consistent, as evidenced by the 4K Medium row showing a minimum FPS of 356 against a 419 average.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The benchmark data includes 12 measured configurations spanning three resolutions and four quality presets. All rows report average FPS, while only the Medium preset includes minimum and maximum values.

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers:

• Low: 715 FPS average
• Medium: 609 FPS average, with minimum 518 and maximum 701
• High: 585 FPS average
• Ultra: 557 FPS average

The 1080p results show that even at Ultra settings, the frame rate stays above 550 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 158 FPS (22%), which is modest for a competitive shooter.

At 2560x1440, the results are:

• Low: 678 FPS average
• Medium: 524 FPS average, with minimum 446 and maximum 603
• High: 499 FPS average
• Ultra: 476 FPS average

The transition from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 37-81 FPS depending on settings. The Ultra preset at 1440p still maintains 476 FPS, which is well above any competitive display's refresh rate.

At 3840x2160 (4K), the combo reaches:

• Low: 629 FPS average
• Medium: 419 FPS average, with minimum 356 and maximum 482
• High: 399 FPS average
• Ultra: 380 FPS average

The 4K results reveal a steep drop-off when moving from Low to Medium settings — a 210 FPS reduction (33%). This is the largest single-settings jump in any resolution, indicating that the Medium preset at 4K introduces significant GPU workload increases. The 4K Ultra configuration still maintains a 380 FPS average, which is remarkable for a game of Valorant's visual fidelity.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 232nd out of 2,883 tested combinations in Valorant, which places it in the top 8% of all systems tested. This is an impressive result for a pairing that is not the absolute newest hardware, but it reflects the combination of a high single-thread CPU and a fast GPU that both contribute to Valorant's performance.

The CPU's percentile of 94 versus the GPU's percentile of 68 suggests that the processor is relatively stronger in aggregate benchmarks than the graphics card. However, the measured FPS data shows that the GPU still has a substantial impact on frame rates, particularly at 4K. The ranking of 232 out of 2,883 implies that there are 231 configurations that beat this combo, likely featuring newer GPUs or CPUs with even higher boost clocks.

Given the CPU's nearest rivals — all within 0.9% of its average score — the ranking would likely shift by only a few positions if the CPU were swapped for one of those chips. The GPU's nearest rivals are far weaker in gaming performance, so the RTX 3080's contribution is more significant to the overall combo ranking than its benchmark percentile might suggest. The data indicates that this combo is balanced: neither component is drastically underpowered relative to the other for this game's workload.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal experience depends on the target refresh rate and resolution. For a 1080p 240 Hz monitor, even the Ultra preset (557 FPS) exceeds the display's capabilities, so players can choose any setting without compromising frame rate. However, the Medium preset at 1080p offers 609 FPS average with a 518 minimum, providing a comfortable margin above 240 Hz while potentially reducing input latency compared to Ultra.

For 1440p 240 Hz displays, the Medium preset (524 FPS average, 446 minimum) is the safest choice, as the High preset (499 average) may occasionally dip below a 240 Hz target under heavy load. The Ultra preset at 1440p (476 FPS) still provides enough headroom for most scenarios but has no recorded minimum to verify worst-case performance.

For 4K, the recommendation shifts based on refresh rate. The Medium preset (419 FPS, 356 minimum) is the only row with min/max data, and its minimum of 356 FPS suggests it can handle 360 Hz displays with some margin to spare. The Low preset (629 FPS) provides the highest frame rate but sacrifices visual quality significantly. The High (399 FPS) and Ultra (380 FPS) presets are viable for 360 Hz displays but lack minimum FPS data, so their worst-case performance is unverified. Given that the Medium preset includes a recorded minimum of 356 FPS, it is the most reliable choice for 4K gaming on high-refresh displays.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals which component is the primary limiter at each resolution. At Low settings, the average FPS goes from 715 (1080p) to 678 (1440p) to 629 (4K). The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 86 FPS (12%), which is surprisingly small for a 4x increase in pixel count. This suggests that at Low settings, the CPU is the dominant bottleneck, and the GPU has ample headroom to render the extra pixels without significant frame rate loss.

At Medium settings, the drop is more pronounced: 609 FPS at 1080p, 524 FPS at 1440p, and 419 FPS at 4K. The total reduction is 190 FPS (31%), indicating that the GPU is becoming more involved as visual quality increases. The minimum FPS values follow a similar trend: 518 at 1080p, 446 at 1440p, and 356 at 4K, with the 4K minimum being 31% lower than the 1080p minimum.

At High settings, the drop from 1080p (585 FPS) to 4K (399 FPS) is 186 FPS (32%). At Ultra settings, it goes from 557 FPS to 380 FPS, a 177 FPS reduction (32%). The consistency of the percentage drop across Medium, High, and Ultra settings — all around 31-32% — suggests that the GPU's workload scaling is linear with resolution once the CPU is not the limiting factor. The Low settings' smaller drop (12%) confirms that the CPU constrains performance when the GPU is underutilized, while the GPU becomes the limiting component at higher quality settings.

This pattern implies that for this combo, players on 1080p or 1440p monitors who want maximum frame rates should focus on CPU-side optimizations (background processes, memory timings), while 4K players will benefit more from GPU settings adjustments. The data shows that the RTX 3080 is not fully saturated at 1080p even at Ultra settings (557 FPS), so the Ryzen 7 9700F's 5.50 GHz boost clock is the key enabler for the highest frame rates at lower resolutions.