Valorant

Valorant is a competitive FPS where frame rate consistency often matters more than absolute visual fidelity, and the measured data for the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 shows a combination that is heavily skewed toward CPU performance. The results across all resolutions and settings are exceptionally high, with the lowest average frame rate recorded at 390.5 FPS in 4K with Ultra settings, which is still far beyond the refresh rate capabilities of most displays. The data indicates that this pairing is capable of delivering an extremely responsive experience, though the scaling patterns reveal where the bottleneck shifts as resolution and workload increase.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is present but relatively modest in percentage terms, which points to a system that is primarily limited by the CPU at lower resolutions. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at Low settings, the average FPS drops from 672.4 to 638.4, a reduction of only 34 FPS. The same transition at High settings shows a drop from 566.7 to 515.5, which is a 51.2 FPS decrease. The gap widens further when moving to 3840x2160, where Low settings yield 594.8 FPS and High settings yield 412 FPS. This pattern suggests that at 1080p and 1440p, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D’s powerful Zen 5 architecture with its 96 MB of shared L3 cache is doing the heavy lifting, keeping frame rates pinned to a ceiling that the RTX 4070 can easily feed.

At 4K, the scaling becomes more pronounced, indicating the GPU begins to take on a more significant role. The difference between 1440p and 4K at Ultra settings is substantial: 493.2 FPS versus 390.5 FPS, a drop of 102.7 FPS. This is a 20.8% reduction, which is larger than the 8.7% drop seen between 1080p and 1440p at the same settings. The data shows that while the RTX 4070 with its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth is more than adequate for Valorant, the game’s relatively low graphical complexity means that even at 4K, the system remains far from GPU-bound in the traditional sense. The fact that 4K Low still produces 594.8 FPS, only 77.6 FPS less than 1080p Low, reinforces that the CPU’s single-thread performance, evidenced by a 3DMark single-thread score of 1212, is the dominant factor in this title.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance on which settings preset offers the optimal experience. At 1920x1080, the difference between Low and Medium is minimal in terms of playability, with 672.4 FPS versus 575.5 FPS, but the jump to High yields 566.7 FPS and Ultra drops slightly to 557 FPS. Given that all presets at 1080p exceed 550 FPS, the choice comes down to visual quality versus marginal gains in frame rate. The data suggests that High settings at 1080p provide a balanced point where the average FPS of 566.7 is still well above any competitive display’s refresh rate, while offering better visual clarity than Low or Medium.

At 2560x1440, the recommendation shifts to Medium as the sweet spot. Medium produces 540.7 FPS, which is 25.2 FPS higher than High’s 515.5 FPS and 47.5 FPS higher than Ultra’s 493.2 FPS. The difference between Medium and Low at this resolution is 97.7 FPS, but the visual improvement from Low to Medium is typically more noticeable in a game like Valorant, where enemy silhouettes and map readability matter. For 4K, the data shows that Medium is the highest preset that maintains a comfortable margin above 400 FPS, with 435.4 FPS. High at 4K drops to 412 FPS, and Ultra falls to 390.5 FPS. Since the game is highly competitive, preserving frame rate headroom is paramount, making Medium the recommended preset for 4K, as it offers a 23 FPS advantage over High while still delivering a detailed image.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate recorded for this combination?

A: The highest average frame rate is 672.4 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How much does the average FPS drop when moving from 1080p to 4K on Ultra settings?

A: At Ultra settings, the average FPS drops from 557 at 1920x1080 to 390.5 at 3840x2160, a decrease of 166.5 FPS.

Q: Is the RTX 4070 the limiting factor at lower resolutions?

A: No, the data suggests the CPU is the primary limiter at 1080p and 1440p, as the frame rate differences between settings are relatively small, and the Ryzen 7 9800X3D’s strong single-thread performance keeps FPS very high.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings produce 638.4 FPS, while Ultra produces 493.2 FPS, a difference of 145.2 FPS in favor of Low.

Q: Does the frame rate remain above 400 FPS at 4K with any settings preset?

A: Yes, all presets at 3840x2160 remain above 390 FPS, with Low at 594.8 FPS, Medium at 435.4 FPS, High at 412 FPS, and Ultra at 390.5 FPS.

Q: Which resolution shows the smallest relative drop from Low to Ultra?

A: At 1920x1080, the drop from Low to Ultra is 115.4 FPS (672.4 to 557), which is the smallest absolute difference among the three resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination holds a rank of 118 out of 1650 tested combos for Valorant. This places it in the top 7.2% of all configurations in the database, which aligns with the exceptionally high frame rates measured. The CPU itself is ranked at the 90th percentile against all processors, with an average benchmark score of 37780. Its nearest rivals in benchmark scores include the Intel Xeon 6353P with a delta of -0.1%, the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 at -0.1%, the Intel Core i9-13900HK at -0.6%, and the Intel Core i5-13600KF at -0.7%. This clustering suggests that the 9800X3D’s overall compute performance is comparable to those chips, but its specific advantage in gaming workloads, particularly with the 3D V-Cache absent from this model, still contributes to its high rank in this title.

The GPU’s ranking is less impressive in raw benchmark terms, sitting at the 81st percentile against all GPUs with an average score of 37283. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 at -0.6%, the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A at -1.9%, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile at -2.2%. The fact that the combo still ranks 118th overall indicates that Valorant’s performance is far more dependent on the CPU’s frame generation capability than the GPU’s raw compute. The data shows that the combination is well-optimized for this game, with the CPU’s high single-thread score (3341 in Geekbench) and the GPU’s sufficient bandwidth ensuring no significant bottleneck at any tested setting.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 plays a supportive role in this configuration, as Valorant’s graphical demands are modest compared to modern AAA titles. The GPU’s 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for the textures and assets used in the game. The memory clock runs at 1313 MHz with an effective data rate of 21 Gbps, and the core boost clock reaches 2475 MHz. These specifications translate to a pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 455.4 GTexel/s, ensuring that the GPU can handle the rendering tasks without becoming a limiting factor.

The measured FPS data confirms this, as the gap between Low and Ultra settings at any given resolution is not enormous. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 115.4 FPS, while at 1440p it is 145.2 FPS, and at 4K it is 204.3 FPS. This widening gap at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU’s workload increases, but even at 4K Ultra, the GPU maintains an average of 390.5 FPS. The RTX 4070’s FP32 performance of 29.15 TFLOPS is ample for this title, and its position at the 81st percentile among GPUs suggests it is a capable mid-to-high-range part. However, the data shows that in Valorant, the GPU’s role is secondary; the CPU is what determines the upper limits of performance, as evidenced by the marginal FPS differences between 1080p and 1440p at Low settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 672.4 at Low settings to 557 at Ultra settings. The intermediate presets are 575.5 for Medium and 566.7 for High. This shows a relatively flat curve, with the most significant drop occurring between Low and Medium, a difference of 96.9 FPS. The data indicates that the CPU is the primary driver at this resolution, as the GPU has ample headroom to render frames quickly.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 638.4 for Low, 540.7 for Medium, 515.5 for High, and 493.2 for Ultra. The drop from Low to Medium is 97.7 FPS, which is similar to the 1080p gap, but the subsequent drops are smaller: 25.2 FPS from Medium to High and 22.3 FPS from High to Ultra. This suggests that as resolution increases, the GPU begins to exert more influence, but the CPU still provides a solid foundation.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 594.8 for Low, 435.4 for Medium, 412 for High, and 390.5 for Ultra. The difference between Low and Medium here is 159.4 FPS, which is significantly larger than at lower resolutions, indicating that the GPU is now more heavily utilized. The gap between High and Ultra narrows to 21.5 FPS, showing diminishing returns at the highest settings. Overall, the data shows a consistent pattern: the Ryzen 7 9800X3D keeps frame rates exceptionally high at 1080p and 1440p, while the RTX 4070 ensures that even at 4K, the experience remains far above what most players would consider playable, let alone competitive.