Valorant

The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers exceptional frame rates in Valorant, with the data showing the combination ranks in the 84th percentile of all tested combos. This analysis breaks down the measured performance across resolutions and settings, focusing on what the numbers indicate about the system's capabilities.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data shows that the Low preset consistently delivers the highest average frame rates across all resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 593 FPS, which is 88 FPS higher than the High preset's 497 FPS and 104 FPS above the Ultra preset's 489 FPS. This pattern holds at 2560x1440, where Low produces 562 FPS compared to High's 471 FPS and Ultra's 464 FPS. At 3840x2160, the gap narrows but remains significant: Low hits 522 FPS versus High's 419 FPS and Ultra's 399 FPS.

For players seeking the best competitive experience, the Low preset is the clear choice. The 593 FPS at 1080p Low is the highest measured result in the entire dataset. This setting maximizes the refresh rate potential of high-end displays and minimizes input latency, which is critical for a tactical FPS like Valorant. The difference between Low and Medium is also notable: at 1080p, Medium averages 505 FPS, which is 88 FPS lower than Low. The data suggests that the visual fidelity gains from Medium and High presets come at a measurable cost to frame rate.

The Ultra preset provides the most demanding workload, with the lowest average FPS at every resolution. At 4K, Ultra drops to 399 FPS, which is a 123 FPS deficit compared to Low. While 399 FPS is still exceptionally high for most games, the gap between presets indicates that competitive players should prioritize the Low setting for maximum performance. The Medium preset offers a balanced middle ground, with 505 FPS at 1080p and 440 FPS at 4K, but the data clearly favors Low for those who value frame rate above all else.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 features 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s. The GPU's base clock is 2235 MHz with a boost clock of 2520 MHz. In Valorant, these specifications are more than sufficient; the game's engine does not heavily tax memory bandwidth or capacity at the tested settings.

The measured FPS values across presets demonstrate that the RTX 4090 is never the limiting factor in this configuration. Even at 4K Ultra, the average FPS of 399 is far above the thresholds where GPU bottlenecks typically appear. The GPU's 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 443.5 GPixel/s pixel rate are being underutilized by Valorant's workload. The benchmark results show that the GPU's headroom is substantial; the difference between Low and Ultra presets at 4K is only 123 FPS, indicating that the render load increases are absorbed without significant strain.

The RTX 4090's performance percentile of 88 among all GPUs and its average benchmark score of 60347 place it near rivals such as the Intel Arc Pro A60 and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48, with deltas of 0% and 0.3% respectively. However, these comparisons are based on synthetic benchmarks; in Valorant's real-world scenarios, the GPU's role is to provide a stable, high-FPS baseline. The 24 GB VRAM is far beyond what Valorant requires, and the memory clock of 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective) ensures that texture streaming and draw calls are handled without delays.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals important insights about the system's balance. At Low settings, the average FPS decreases from 593 at 1920x1080 to 562 at 2560x1440 and further to 522 at 3840x2160. This represents a 12% reduction from 1080p to 4K. For High settings, the drop is steeper: 497 FPS at 1080p falls to 471 at 1440p and 419 at 4K, a 16% reduction. The Ultra preset shows the largest relative decline, going from 489 FPS at 1080p to 464 at 1440p and 399 at 4K, an 18% drop.

These scaling patterns indicate that the CPU is the primary bottleneck at lower resolutions. The relatively modest FPS decrease between 1080p and 1440p across all settings—only 31 FPS for Low, 26 FPS for High, and 25 FPS for Ultra—suggests that the GPU has ample headroom to handle the increased pixel count. However, the larger jump from 1440p to 4K, especially for High (52 FPS drop) and Ultra (65 FPS drop), shows the GPU beginning to take on more of the workload.

The data reveals that at 1080p, the system is heavily CPU-limited. The Ryzen 9 8945HX's performance is the constraining factor, as evidenced by the fact that increasing resolution from 1080p to 1440p only costs 5-6% of performance. By 4K, the balance shifts slightly toward the GPU, but even at 4K Ultra, the system maintains 399 FPS, which is still far above what most displays can refresh. The resolution scaling analysis confirms that this combo delivers playable-to-exceptional performance at any resolution, with the CPU being the dominant limiter throughout.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination ranks 484th out of 2883 tested combos in Valorant. This places it in the top 16.8% of all configurations, which is a strong showing given the sheer number of possible CPU-GPU pairings. The rank reflects both components' capabilities, but the data suggests that the CPU's contribution is more significant for this game.

The combo's rank of 484 is notable because the CPU itself has a percentile of 95 versus all CPUs, while the GPU has a percentile of 88 versus all GPUs. The gap between the combo's relative position (16.8% from the top) and the CPU's percentile suggests that other GPU configurations with faster CPUs may achieve higher frame rates despite having less powerful graphics cards. This is consistent with Valorant being a CPU-intensive title where single-thread performance and cache hierarchy matter more than raw GPU throughput.

Among the CPU's nearest rivals, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX has an average score of 76155, which is 0.1% higher than the Ryzen 9 8945HX's 76212. The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D scores 75779, 0.6% lower. These small deltas indicate that the 8945HX is competitive with the top mobile and desktop chips, but the combo ranking in Valorant may benefit from CPUs with higher single-core performance or larger caches. The GPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Arc Pro A60 (0% delta) and AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (-2.5% delta), but these comparisons are less relevant given the RTX 4090's dominance in gaming workloads.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX is a 16-core, 32-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, codenamed Dragon Range. It has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, with a TDP of 55 W. The CPU features 64 MB of L3 cache, with 1 MB of L2 cache per core. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 42713, and single-core is 6030, while PassMark single-thread is 3907.

In Valorant, the CPU's role is paramount. The game's engine relies heavily on single-thread performance for game logic, input processing, and draw call submission. The 8945HX's boost clock of 5.40 GHz is exceptionally high for a mobile processor, and this is reflected in the measured FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra presets at 1080p—593 FPS versus 489 FPS—demonstrates that the CPU can drive high frame rates even when the GPU is underutilized.

The CPU's 16 cores and 32 threads are more than Valorant requires, as the game typically uses fewer than eight threads. However, the high core count ensures that background tasks and system overhead do not interfere with game performance. The 64 MB L3 cache is particularly beneficial for reducing memory latency in scenarios where the CPU is fetching game data. The CPU's percentile of 95 versus all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 76212, places it just 0.1% behind the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX and 0.6% ahead of the Ryzen 9 9950X3D.

The data shows that the CPU is the primary driver of the high FPS values. At 1080p Low, the system produces 593 FPS, which is close to what the CPU's single-thread performance alone could theoretically support. The minimal FPS variance between Low and Medium settings (593 vs 505 FPS) further indicates that the CPU is the bottleneck, as the GPU could easily handle the extra render load of Medium settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS measured for this combo in Valorant?

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

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

A: The combo ranks 484th out of 2883 tested combos, placing it in the top 17% of all configurations.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Low and Ultra presets at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 522 FPS while the Ultra preset averages 399 FPS, a difference of 123 FPS.

Q: Which component is the primary bottleneck in this system for Valorant?

A: The data indicates the CPU is the primary bottleneck, as evidenced by the small FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p (31 FPS at Low) compared to larger drops at higher resolutions.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded at 1080p Medium settings?

A: At 1920x1080 with Medium settings, the minimum FPS is 430, with a maximum of 581.

Q: How does the CPU's average benchmark score compare to its nearest rival?

A: The Ryzen 9 8945HX has an average benchmark score of 76212, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX's score of 76155.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured FPS values is as follows:

At 1920x1080:

• Low: 593 average FPS
• Medium: 505 average FPS, with a minimum of 430 and maximum of 581
• High: 497 average FPS
• Ultra: 489 average FPS

At 2560x1440:

• Low: 562 average FPS
• Medium: 479 average FPS, with a minimum of 407 and maximum of 551
• High: 471 average FPS
• Ultra: 464 average FPS

At 3840x2160:

• Low: 522 average FPS
• Medium: 440 average FPS, with a minimum of 374 and maximum of 506
• High: 419 average FPS
• Ultra: 399 average FPS

The data reveals a consistent pattern: the Low preset always delivers the highest average FPS, and the Medium preset provides the only recorded minimum and maximum values. The Medium preset's minimum FPS values are notably lower than the averages of other settings—at 4K, the minimum of 374 FPS is below the High preset's average of 419 FPS. This suggests that Medium settings introduce frame time variability that could be perceptible on high-refresh-rate displays.

Across all resolutions, the spread between Low and Ultra averages is consistent: 104 FPS at 1080p, 98 FPS at 1440p, and 123 FPS at 4K. The larger spread at 4K indicates that the GPU becomes more involved at higher resolutions, but the CPU still dominates the overall performance profile. The maximum FPS values for Medium settings—581 at 1080p, 551 at 1440p, and 506 at 4K—show that the system can exceed its averages during less demanding scenes, providing headroom for competitive play.