Valorant

The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX paired with the AMD Radeon 8060S delivers exceptionally high frame rates in Valorant, a game known for its low system requirements and high refresh rate potential. The measured data reveals a configuration that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at lower resolutions, with the CPU’s substantial 16-core, 32-thread architecture providing a massive headroom that prevents it from becoming a bottleneck. This analysis breaks down the measured performance across resolutions and settings, contextualizes the combo’s ranking, and explores the roles of the GPU and CPU in shaping these results.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data shows a clear and predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases, but the magnitude of the drop reveals critical insights about the system’s limiting components. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo achieves an average of 411 FPS, which climbs to 593 FPS on Low settings. Moving up to 2560x1440, the High preset average falls to 351 FPS, a 14.6% decrease from 1080p, while the Low preset average drops to 559 FPS, a more modest 5.7% reduction. At 3840x2160, the High preset average further declines to 280 FPS, representing a 31.9% drop from 1080p, and the Low preset average settles at 447 FPS, a 24.6% decrease from 1080p.

The variance in these percentages is telling. The Low preset at 1440p only loses 34 FPS compared to 1080p, whereas the High preset loses 60 FPS over the same resolution jump. This suggests that at lower settings, the system is heavily CPU-limited, as the GPU has ample spare capacity to handle the increased pixel count with minimal performance loss. Conversely, at High settings, the GPU begins to feel the load more significantly, evidenced by the larger FPS drop. The most dramatic scaling occurs between 1440p and 4K, where the High preset loses 71 FPS (from 351 to 280), indicating that at this resolution, the Radeon 8060S’s rendering capabilities become the primary limiting factor, despite its integrated nature and shared memory architecture.

The data implies that for competitive play at 1080p, the CPU is the star of the show, pushing frame rates near the 600 FPS mark on Low settings. At 4K, the GPU’s workload increases substantially, yet the system still manages to maintain an average of 280 FPS on High, which far exceeds the refresh rate of most monitors. The scaling behavior suggests that this combo is not balanced for 4K gaming in the traditional sense—it is overkill for 1080p and merely "fast enough" for 4K, but the frame rates remain so high that the limiting component shifts almost entirely based on the preset chosen rather than the resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX and AMD Radeon 8060S ranks 1368th out of 2883 tested combos in Valorant, placing it in the 52.6th percentile. This is a surprisingly middling rank for a system that produces such high absolute frame rates. The explanation lies in the nature of Valorant’s performance landscape, where many combos with older, lower-core-count CPUs paired with high-end discrete GPUs can achieve similar or higher FPS due to the game’s reliance on single-thread performance and the GPU’s raw fill rate.

The CPU’s nearest rivals provide context for its overall processing power. The Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX scores an average of 76155, a delta of 0.1% higher than the Ryzen 9 8945HX’s 76212, making them nearly identical in synthetic benchmarks. The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D scores 75779, which is 0.6% lower, while the AMD EPYC Embedded 8224P and AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9945WX score 76492 and 76513 respectively, both 0.4% higher. These tiny deltas indicate that the CPU is competitive with the best consumer and enterprise processors available, yet its 95th percentile ranking among all CPUs means it is not unique in its class.

For the GPU, the Radeon 8060S’s nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB with an average score of 55698 (0.1% lower), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 at 56083 (0.6% higher), and the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X at 54828 (1.7% lower). The RTX 4080 scores 54247, which is 2.8% lower. The GPU’s 87th percentile ranking among all GPUs is respectable, but the fact that it trades blows with a high-end desktop card like the RTX 5080 in synthetic tests is remarkable for an integrated processor. However, the combo’s rank in Valorant suggests that the game’s specific engine does not reward the GPU’s raw compute as much as other titles might, or that the system-shared memory configuration introduces latency that holds back the FPS relative to combos with dedicated VRAM.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon 8060S is an integrated GPU based on the RDNA 3.5 architecture, built on a 4 nm process by TSMC. Its die size is 308 mm², and it features 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1295 MHz and boosts up to 2900 MHz, with a peak pixel rate of 185.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 464.0 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is rated at 14.85 TFLOPS, with FP16 at the same 14.85 TFLOPS (1:1), indicating a lack of dedicated tensor cores for accelerated half-precision workloads.

The most distinctive aspect of this GPU is its memory configuration: it relies on "System Shared" memory, meaning it has no dedicated VRAM and instead uses the system’s DDR5 memory, with bandwidth described as "System Dependent." This is a critical factor in understanding its performance. In Valorant, a game with relatively low texture memory requirements, the lack of dedicated VRAM is less punishing than in modern AAA titles, but it still explains why the GPU’s synthetic benchmark scores (like 2162 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 and 84626 in Geekbench OpenCL) do not translate into proportionally higher FPS at 4K.

The GPU’s 87th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 55757, places it in the upper echelon of graphics processors. Its nearest rival, the RX 6750 GRE 12 GB, is a dedicated desktop card with 12 GB of dedicated memory, yet the 8060S scores nearly identically. However, in Valorant, the 8060S’s performance at 4K High (280 FPS) versus 1080p High (411 FPS) shows a 31.9% drop, which is more pronounced than what a dedicated GPU with fixed memory bandwidth might exhibit. The data suggests that the system-shared memory architecture introduces a bottleneck at higher resolutions where memory bandwidth demands increase, even though the GPU’s compute capabilities are sufficient.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data across presets provides clear guidance for optimizing the gameplay experience. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 593 FPS, which is 162 FPS higher than High (411 FPS) and 201 FPS higher than Ultra (392 FPS). The Medium preset averages 432 FPS, with a minimum of 367 FPS and a maximum of 496 FPS. For competitive play at 1080p, the Low preset is the obvious choice, as the 593 FPS average provides the maximum possible frame pacing advantage, and the visual differences in a fast-paced tactical shooter are minimal.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 559 FPS, still exceptionally high, while High drops to 351 FPS and Ultra to 334 FPS. The Medium preset averages 368 FPS with a minimum of 313 FPS. For players with 1440p high-refresh monitors (e.g., 240Hz), the Low preset is recommended to ensure frame rates consistently exceed the refresh rate, while the High preset still provides an acceptable 351 FPS average. At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 447 FPS, which is the only preset that maintains a super-high frame rate, as High drops to 280 FPS and Ultra to 267 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K averages 294 FPS with a minimum of 250 FPS, making it the best balance for 4K if visual fidelity is desired, but the Low preset is still the top choice for pure performance.

The data indicates that the Low preset is universally the best for maximizing FPS across all resolutions, with diminishing returns on visual quality. The Medium preset offers a 19.5% FPS increase over High at 1080p (432 vs 411), but the gap narrows to 4.8% at 4K (294 vs 280), suggesting that at higher resolutions, the GPU’s workload becomes more uniform across presets, and the CPU’s role diminishes.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080:

• Low: 593 FPS average
• Medium: 432 FPS average (min 367, max 496)
• High: 411 FPS average
• Ultra: 392 FPS average

2560x1440:

• Low: 559 FPS average
• Medium: 368 FPS average (min 313, max 423)
• High: 351 FPS average
• Ultra: 334 FPS average

3840x2160:

• Low: 447 FPS average
• Medium: 294 FPS average (min 250, max 339)
• High: 280 FPS average
• Ultra: 267 FPS average

The 1080p Low preset is the peak performance point at 593 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low costs only 34 FPS (5.7% drop), while 4K Low costs an additional 112 FPS (20% drop from 1440p). The High preset shows a more linear degradation: 411 FPS at 1080p, 351 FPS at 1440p (14.6% drop), and 280 FPS at 4K (20.2% drop from 1440p). The Ultra preset follows a similar pattern, with 392 FPS at 1080p, 334 FPS at 1440p (14.8% drop), and 267 FPS at 4K (20.1% drop from 1440p). The Medium preset is the only one with recorded minimum and maximum values, showing a 29 FPS spread at 1080p (367 to 496), a 110 FPS spread at 1440p (313 to 423), and an 89 FPS spread at 4K (250 to 339). These spreads indicate some frame time variability, but the averages remain high enough to ensure smooth gameplay.

FAQ

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

A: The highest measured average is 593 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low preset.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations in Valorant?

A: It ranks 1368th out of 2883 combos, placing it in the 52.6th percentile of all tested systems.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Low and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: The Low preset averages 559 FPS, while Ultra averages 334 FPS, a difference of 225 FPS in favor of Low.

Q: Does the GPU have dedicated VRAM?

A: No, the Radeon 8060S uses System Shared memory, with bandwidth described as System Dependent, meaning it relies on the system’s DDR5 memory.

Q: What are the GPU’s base and boost clocks?

A: The base clock is 1295 MHz and the boost clock is 2900 MHz.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX has an average benchmark score of 76212, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX’s 76155, making them effectively equal in performance.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX is a mobile processor from the 8000 series, based on the Zen 4 architecture with the codename Dragon Range. It features 16 cores and 32 threads, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. The CPU’s cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and a substantial 64 MB of L3 cache. It is built on a 5 nm process by TSMC, with a die size of 2x 71 mm², and supports DDR5 memory via a dual-channel bus with a bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s. The CPU’s TDP is rated at 55 W, and it has an integrated Radeon 610M GPU as a fallback, though the primary GPU in this combo is the Radeon 8060S.

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU scores 42713 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 6030 in single-core, with a Passmark multithread score of 51405 and a single-thread score of 3907. Its percentile ranking is 95th among all CPUs, and its average benchmark score of 76212 places it in a dead heat with its nearest rivals: the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX (76155, 0.1% higher), the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D (75779, 0.6% lower), and the AMD EPYC Embedded 8224P (76492, 0.4% higher). The data shows that the 8945HX is a top-tier processor in terms of raw compute.

In Valorant, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and process game logic. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (593 FPS) approaches the limits of what even the fastest CPUs can deliver in esports titles, and the 5.4 GHz boost clock combined with 32 threads ensures that no single-thread bottleneck occurs. The fact that the FPS drops by only 5.7% from 1080p to 1440p on Low settings (593 to 559 FPS) suggests that the CPU is still the limiting factor at these settings, as the GPU has enough headroom to render more pixels without a proportional FPS loss. However, at 4K Low, the FPS drops to 447, indicating that the GPU’s memory bandwidth constraints begin to take over. The CPU’s 64 MB of L3 cache is particularly beneficial for a game like Valorant, which has small, frequently accessed data sets, and the 83.2 GB/s memory bandwidth supports the GPU’s shared memory architecture, though the "System Dependent" nature of the GPU’s bandwidth means the CPU’s memory controller plays a critical role in overall performance.