Valorant

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 delivers measured average frame rates in Valorant ranging from 286.6 FPS at 3840x2160 Ultra to 673.7 FPS at 1920x1080 Low. The CPU carries a launch MSRP of $479, while the GPU carries a launch MSRP of 299 USD. This configuration leverages the 9800X3D's 8 cores and 16 threads with a 96 MB shared L3 cache, alongside the RTX 4060's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus. The data indicates that the CPU is the primary performance driver in this title.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern across resolutions. At Low settings, the average FPS is 673.7 at 1920x1080, 604.1 at 2560x1440, and 484.9 at 3840x2160. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is smaller than the drop from 1440p to 4K, but both are relatively modest. At High settings, the values are 443.8 at 1080p, 377.6 at 1440p, and 301.3 at 4K. Medium settings produce 466 at 1080p, 394.2 at 1440p, and 313.8 at 4K. Ultra settings yield 420.8 at 1080p, 357.3 at 1440p, and 286.6 at 4K.

The consistent pattern is that the FPS remains extremely high even at 4K Ultra, with 286.6 FPS. This indicates that the GPU is not the limiting factor; the CPU is able to feed the GPU with enough frames to keep the pipeline saturated. The relatively small FPS drops between resolutions suggest that the rendering load is not the bottleneck, and the system is CPU-bound. The scaling behavior is uniform across all four settings presets, which reinforces the conclusion that resolution has a limited impact on this particular combination in Valorant.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock is 1830 MHz with a boost clock of 2460 MHz, and it has a TDP of 115 W. The GPU's average benchmark score is 23181, placing it in the 66th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6600M (deltaPct -0.6), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti (deltaPct -0.7), Intel Arc B580 (deltaPct 0.7), and AMD Radeon 760M (deltaPct 0.8).

In Valorant, the GPU's role is secondary. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra is 286.6, which is far above the refresh rates of most monitors. The 8 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for this game, and the 128-bit memory bus with 272.0 GB/s bandwidth is adequate. The boost clock of 2460 MHz helps maintain high frame rates, but the data shows that the GPU is not being pushed to its limits. The RTX 4060's performance in this title is more than adequate, and the bottleneck clearly lies with the CPU. The GPU's 66th percentile ranking, while respectable, does not reflect the dominant role it plays in more GPU-intensive titles; here, it simply keeps pace with the CPU's output.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance for settings selection. For competitive play, Low settings deliver the highest average FPS: 673.7 at 1080p, 604.1 at 1440p, and 484.9 at 4K. Medium settings offer a balance, with 466 FPS at 1080p, 394.2 at 1440p, and 313.8 at 4K. High settings produce 443.8 FPS at 1080p, 377.6 at 1440p, and 301.3 at 4K. Ultra settings yield 420.8 FPS at 1080p, 357.3 at 1440p, and 286.6 at 4K.

The difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p is substantial, but even at Ultra, the 1080p average of 420.8 FPS is far beyond what any monitor can display. For players with high refresh rate monitors, Low settings are recommended to maximize frame rates and minimize input latency. For those with 144Hz monitors, Medium or High settings provide a good visual experience without sacrificing the ability to hit the refresh rate cap. Ultra settings are unnecessary for competitive play, as the visual improvements do not justify the FPS reduction, but they remain playable at 286.6 FPS at 4K. The gap between Medium and High is small, so players seeking a visual upgrade can move to High without a significant FPS penalty.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS dataset is as follows:

At 1920x1080:

• Low: 673.7 FPS
• Medium: 466 FPS
• High: 443.8 FPS
• Ultra: 420.8 FPS

At 2560x1440:

• Low: 604.1 FPS
• Medium: 394.2 FPS
• High: 377.6 FPS
• Ultra: 357.3 FPS

At 3840x2160:

• Low: 484.9 FPS
• Medium: 313.8 FPS
• High: 301.3 FPS
• Ultra: 286.6 FPS

The data shows a consistent ordering: Low > Medium > High > Ultra at every resolution. The gap between Low and Medium is the largest, while the gaps between Medium, High, and Ultra are relatively small. This pattern suggests that the Low preset removes significant rendering work, while the differences between Medium, High, and Ultra are minor in terms of FPS impact. The 1080p Low result of 673.7 FPS is the highest measured value, while the 4K Ultra result of 286.6 FPS is the lowest, yet both are far above competitive thresholds.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 ranks 556th out of 1650 tested combos in Valorant. The CPU itself is in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37780. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Xeon 6353P (deltaPct -0.1), Intel Core Ultra 5 225 (deltaPct -0.1), Intel Core i9-13900HK (deltaPct -0.6), and Intel Core i5-13600KF (deltaPct -0.7). The GPU is in the 66th percentile, with an average benchmark score of 23181.

The combo rank of 556 is lower than the CPU's percentile rank, which indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor in this pairing. However, the absolute FPS numbers are so high that this limitation is practically irrelevant for Valorant. The CPU's 90th percentile ranking is driven by its strong multi-threaded and single-threaded performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 scores of 34004 (multi-core) and 4800 (single-core). The GPU's 66th percentile is respectable, but it is not the primary driver of performance in this game. The deltaPct values for the CPU's nearest rivals are all negative, meaning the 9800X3D outperforms them, while the GPU's nearest rivals show a mix of positive and negative deltas, indicating a tight competitive field.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is a desktop processor with 8 cores and 16 threads, based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge). It has a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.20 GHz, with a TDP of 120 W. The CPU features a 96 MB shared L3 cache, which is critical for gaming performance. Its benchmark scores include a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 34004 and a single-core score of 4800, along with a Geekbench multi-core score of 18413 and single-core score of 3341.

In Valorant, the CPU is the dominant performance driver. The measured FPS data shows that even at 4K Ultra, the system maintains 286.6 FPS, which is far above the refresh rates of most monitors. The 8 cores and 16 threads are more than sufficient for Valorant's engine, which is not heavily multi-threaded. The high boost clock of 5.20 GHz and the large 96 MB L3 cache contribute to the CPU's ability to maintain high frame rates. The CPU's 90th percentile ranking reflects its strong overall performance, and its nearest rivals have deltaPct values of -0.1, -0.1, -0.6, and -0.7, indicating a tight competitive field at the top. The data shows that the CPU is not the bottleneck in this configuration; rather, it is the GPU that limits the absolute maximum FPS, but even that limit is far above practical needs.