Valorant

Valorant is notoriously CPU-bound, and the benchmark results for the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER confirm this dynamic, delivering exceptionally high frame rates across all tested configurations. The data indicates that this combination is massively overqualified for the game's graphical demands, with performance scaling that points directly to the processor as the primary driver of the final frame counts.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is remarkably small, which is a clear indicator that the system is not limited by the GPU at lower resolutions. At Low settings, moving from 1920x1080 (714.6 FPS) to 2560x1440 (673.3 FPS) results in a 5.8% performance decrease; stepping up to 3840x2160 (628.3 FPS) shows a further 6.7% reduction from the 1440p figure. This translates to a total drop of just 12.1% from 1080p to 4K, a margin that is far narrower than what would be seen if the graphics card were the bottleneck.

The trend holds true at higher settings, though the percentage differences are slightly larger. At Ultra settings, the system produces 584.1 FPS at 1080p, 554.9 FPS at 1440p, and 499.4 FPS at 4K. This represents a 14.5% decrease from 1080p to 4K. The fact that even at 4K Ultra, the average frame rate still eclipses 499 FPS shows that the RTX 4080 SUPER is barely being challenged. The consistent, small delta between resolutions suggests that the CPU's single-thread performance is the determining factor for the ceiling, while the GPU has ample headroom to handle the increased pixel workload without significant impact on the final output.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows show that the difference between presets is minimal relative to the raw frame rates achieved, but there is a clear hierarchy in the data. At 1080p, Low settings yield 714.6 FPS, which is the highest score recorded in this entire dataset. However, this comes at the cost of visual fidelity. The jump from Low to Medium at 1080p results in a 15.1% decrease to 606.5 FPS, while High yields 594.7 FPS, and Ultra trails at 584.1 FPS.

For competitive play, the data suggests that Low settings provide the absolute maximum frame rate, but the practical benefit over Medium is minimal given that both are far beyond the refresh rates of standard high-end monitors. The analysis indicates that High settings at 1440p (564.7 FPS) offers a better balance than Low at 1080p, providing a higher resolution with a frame rate that is still 21% lower than the absolute maximum but significantly improved visually. Given the tiny performance gap between Medium and High at 1440p (571.7 vs 564.7 FPS), the High preset is the recommended choice for a responsive and visually coherent experience. There is no scenario in the data where Ultra provides a meaningful advantage over High, as it consistently delivers the lowest frame rates at every resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this specific pairing of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER achieves a rank of 13 out of 1650 combos for Valorant. This places it in the top 0.8% of all tested configurations, confirming that this system is at the very apex of performance for this title. The high rank is unsurprising given the CPU's dominant single-thread capabilities, which are the primary driver for Valorant's performance.

The CPU's synthetic benchmark scores reinforce this position. With a 3DMark single-thread score of 1286 and a Passmark single-thread score of 4672, the Ryzen 9 9900X is clearly designed for workloads that favor low latency and high clock speeds. Its average benchmark score of 54450 places it in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, and it sits just 0.4% behind the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and 0.7% ahead of the Intel Core i7-14700F in average performance. The GPU, while less of a factor here, also performs admirably, with an average benchmark score of 53610 placing it in the 88th percentile, nearly matching the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (0.2% difference). This combination of top-tier CPU percentile and high-end GPU percentile explains the elite ranking in-game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The full dataset provides a comprehensive view of performance across all tested presets and resolutions. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 714.6 on Low, 606.5 on Medium, 594.7 on High, to 584.1 on Ultra. The spread between the lowest and highest settings is 130.5 FPS, which is the largest absolute gap seen across the resolutions.

At 2560x1440, the figures are 673.3 for Low, 571.7 for Medium, 564.7 for High, and 554.9 for Ultra. The difference between Low and Ultra here is 118.4 FPS. Notably, the gap between Medium and Ultra narrows to just 16.8 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset is not particularly demanding relative to Medium at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the scores are 628.3 for Low, 534.6 for Medium, 525.2 for High, and 499.4 for Ultra. This is the only resolution where the High preset (525.2 FPS) falls below the Medium preset (534.6 FPS) by a noticeable margin of 9.4 FPS. The overall performance delta from Low to Ultra at 4K is 128.9 FPS, which is similar in scale to the 1080p result.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate recorded for this system in Valorant?

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 714.6 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How much performance is lost when switching from Low to Ultra settings at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the average frame rate drops from 628.3 FPS on Low to 499.4 FPS on Ultra, a decrease of 128.9 FPS (approximately 20.5% slower).

Q: Is the RTX 4080 SUPER the limiting factor in this configuration?

A: No, the data suggests otherwise. The small frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K (e.g., from 714.6 to 628.3 FPS at Low settings) indicates that the CPU is the primary performance limiter, as the GPU has enough headroom to handle the increased resolution without a proportional performance cost.

Q: How does this system rank compared to other tested combos?

A: This combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER ranks 13th out of 1650 tested combos for Valorant.

Q: What is the difference in performance between Medium and High settings at 1440p?

A: The difference is minimal. Medium settings yield an average of 571.7 FPS, while High settings yield 564.7 FPS, a delta of just 7 FPS (1.2%).

Q: Does the Ultra preset provide a significant visual benefit without a performance penalty?

A: No. At every resolution, Ultra delivers the lowest average frame rate of all presets. For example, at 1080p, it produces 584.1 FPS compared to 594.7 FPS on High, making it a less efficient choice if frame rate is the priority.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X is the star of this benchmark. Its architecture, Zen 5 on a 4nm process, paired with 12 cores and 24 threads, provides a robust foundation. However, for Valorant, the critical specifications are the base clock of 4.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.60 GHz. These high clock speeds directly translate to the exceptional single-thread performance seen in the data, which is the key metric for a game that often relies on a few primary threads for game logic and rendering commands.

The synthetic benchmarks for the CPU underline its strength. The 3DMark single-thread score of 1286 and the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6555 are top-tier figures. In contrast, its multi-threaded performance, while excellent (e.g., Cinebench R23 multicore score of 46438), is less relevant for Valorant's specific workload. The CPU's 94th percentile ranking against all CPUs and its average benchmark score of 54450, which is just 0.4% below the Ryzen 9 9900X3D, confirm that it is one of the fastest processors available. This single-core dominance is why the frame rates remain consistently high across all settings, as the CPU can feed the GPU faster than it can render frames.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER, while a high-end card, plays a secondary role in this specific benchmark. With 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and a 256-bit bus providing 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth, it has more than enough resources for Valorant, a game that is not particularly demanding on VRAM or raw GPU compute. Its clocks, with a base of 2295 MHz and boost of 2550 MHz, are high, but the measured FPS data indicates that its performance headroom is never fully utilized.

The GPU's average benchmark score of 53610 places it in the 88th percentile, and its Passmark G3D score of 34245 shows it is a powerful part. However, in this pairing, its role is to ensure that rendering is never a bottleneck. The fact that the FPS only decreases by a small margin from 1080p to 4K is evidence that the GPU can handle the load easily. For instance, at High settings, the drop from 594.7 FPS at 1080p to 525.2 FPS at 4K is a modest 11.7% decrease, a clear sign that the RTX 4080 SUPER is not the limiting component. Its performance is effectively "good enough" to keep up with the CPU's output, making the CPU the definitive performance king in this scenario.