Valorant

FAQ

Q: How does this CPU compare to its closest rivals in overall benchmark scores?

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D has an average benchmark score of 54,762, which places it 0.6% below the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF (55,093), 1.3% above the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K (54,053), 2% above the Intel Xeon 6505P (53,701), and 2.1% above the Intel Core i7-14700F (53,620).

Q: What is the GPU's relative standing among all tested graphics cards?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 holds an 82nd percentile rank among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 40,377. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon Pro 580, scores 40,318 (0.1% higher), while the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 scores 40,063 (0.8% lower).

Q: What are the maximum and minimum average FPS recorded for this combo in Valorant?

A: The highest average FPS is 706 at 1920x1080 with Low settings, while the lowest average FPS is 424 at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings. The data shows a wide performance envelope depending on resolution and preset.

Q: At which resolution and settings does the combo achieve its lowest frame-time variance?

A: The only rows with min/max FPS data are the Medium settings across all resolutions. At 1920x1080 Medium the avg is 602 FPS with a min of 512 and max of 692; at 2560x1440 Medium the avg is 571 FPS with min 485 and max 657; at 3840x2160 Medium the avg is 467 FPS with min 397 and max 537.

Q: What is the CPU's single-thread and multi-thread performance profile?

A: The CPU's passmark_single_thread score is 4,646 and passmark_multithread score is 56,154. In Cinebench R23, it scores 6,739 single-core and 47,737 multi-core, indicating strong performance in both lightly-threaded and fully-threaded workloads.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested combinations for this game?

A: The combo ranks 133rd out of 2,883 tested combinations in Valorant. This places it in the top 5% of all combos tested for this title.

How This Combo Ranks

The data places this AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 combination at rank 133 out of 2,883 tested combos in Valorant. This is a strong result, putting the system in the upper echelon of configurations tested for this game. The rank reflects the combination's ability to sustain extremely high frame rates across all tested settings and resolutions.

To contextualize this rank, consider that Valorant is a competitive FPS where frame rate consistency matters as much as raw peak performance. The measured FPS data shows that even at the most demanding preset tested (3840x2160 Ultra), the combo still averages 424 FPS. This suggests the 133rd rank is not due to any weakness in the hardware pairing, but rather because many other combos in the database may include higher-end GPUs or CPUs that push even further into territory that is largely irrelevant for practical gameplay.

The percentile rank of the CPU (91st among all CPUs) and GPU (82nd among all GPUs) indicates that both components are individually strong, but neither is at the very top of the absolute performance hierarchy. The synergy between the two, however, produces results that are greater than the sum of their parts in this particular game. The combo's rank of 133 out of 2,883 means it outperforms roughly 95% of all tested configurations, which is a notable achievement for a pairing that is not the absolute flagship from either manufacturer.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D is a 12-core, 24-thread processor from the Ryzen 9000 series, built on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge) using a 4 nm process. It has a base clock of 4.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1 MB of L2 cache per core, and a substantial 128 MB of L3 cache. This large L3 cache is particularly relevant for gaming workloads, as it can hold more of the game's working set, reducing the need to access system memory.

In Valorant, the CPU's role is critical because the game engine is heavily dependent on single-thread performance for game logic and frame pacing. The 3dmark_single_thread score of 1,269 and passmark_single_thread score of 4,646 indicate strong single-core capability. The boost clock of 5.50 GHz is among the highest available, which helps maintain high frame rates even when the GPU is not the bottleneck.

The multi-threaded performance is also robust, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 47,737 and a passmark_multithread score of 56,154. While Valorant does not typically scale perfectly across 24 threads, the headroom provided by the CPU ensures that background tasks, anti-cheat software, and streaming overlays do not cause frame drops. The 3dmark_8_threads score of 9,002 and 3dmark_16_threads score of 12,490 show that even at partial thread counts, the CPU maintains high throughput.

The relationship between CPU performance and the measured FPS is evident when examining the 1080p Low setting, which yields 706 average FPS. At lower resolutions and settings, the GPU becomes less stressed, and the CPU's ability to feed frames becomes the limiting factor. The fact that the combo still achieves over 700 FPS at 1080p Low indicates that the CPU's single-thread and cache performance is sufficient to drive the game at extremely high frame rates without stalling.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160) and four settings presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra). The Medium preset is the only one with min/max FPS values recorded across all resolutions.

At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 582 at Ultra to 706 at Low. Specifically: Low averages 706 FPS, Medium averages 602 FPS (min 512, max 692), High averages 592 FPS, and Ultra averages 582 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 124 FPS, indicating that the GPU is not heavily taxed at this resolution, and the CPU is likely the primary driver of frame rate.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS ranges from 530 at Ultra to 670 at Low. Low averages 670 FPS, Medium averages 571 FPS (min 485, max 657), High averages 557 FPS, and Ultra averages 530 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra here is 140 FPS, which is slightly larger than at 1080p, suggesting that the GPU begins to take on more responsibility as pixel count increases.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 424 at Ultra to 621 at Low. Low averages 621 FPS, Medium averages 467 FPS (min 397, max 537), High averages 445 FPS, and Ultra averages 424 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 197 FPS, the largest of the three resolutions. This confirms that at 4K, the GPU becomes a more significant factor, though the CPU still provides enough headroom to keep average FPS above 420 even at the highest preset.

The Medium preset data provides insight into frame time consistency. At 1080p Medium, the min FPS of 512 is 85% of the average (602). At 1440p Medium, the min of 485 is 85% of the average (571). At 4K Medium, the min of 397 is 85% of the average (467). This consistent ratio suggests that frame pacing remains stable across resolutions, with no anomalous dips.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is a Blackwell 2.0 architecture GPU built on a 5 nm process, with a die size of 263 mm² and 31,100 million transistors. It has a base clock of 2325 MHz and a boost clock of 2512 MHz. The memory subsystem consists of 12 GB of GDDR7 on a 192-bit bus, providing 672.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU includes 6,144 shading units, 192 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output units, along with 48 RT cores and 192 tensor cores.

In Valorant, the GPU's role is primarily to render the game's relatively simple geometry and effects at high frame rates. The fp32 performance of 30.87 TFLOPS and texture rate of 482.3 GTexel/s are more than sufficient for this title. The pixel rate of 201.0 GPixel/s means that even at 4K resolution, the GPU can theoretically fill over 200 million pixels per second, which explains the high average FPS even at 3840x2160.

The 12 GB of VRAM is ample for Valorant, which does not require large texture pools. The memory bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s is also more than enough, as the game's memory footprint is modest. The GPU's percentile rank of 82 among all GPUs indicates that it is a solid mid-to-high-tier performer, but not the absolute fastest available.

The measured FPS data shows that the GPU's influence grows as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra settings is 124 FPS, while at 4K it is 197 FPS. This indicates that at 1080p, the CPU is the dominant factor, and the GPU has spare capacity. At 4K, the GPU's workload increases, but it still manages to maintain an average of 424 FPS at Ultra settings, which is far above the refresh rates of most monitors.

Settings Recommendations

The data suggests that the Medium preset offers the best balance between performance and visual fidelity, particularly for competitive play. Across all three resolutions, Medium provides a substantial frame rate uplift over High and Ultra while maintaining a consistent frame time profile, as evidenced by the min/max data.

At 1920x1080, Medium averages 602 FPS compared to 592 at High and 582 at Ultra. The difference between Medium and Ultra is only 20 FPS, but Medium also provides the documented min FPS of 512, which indicates reliable frame pacing. The Low preset at 706 FPS is significantly faster, but the visual quality reduction may not be worth the 104 FPS gain over Medium for most players.

At 2560x1440, Medium averages 571 FPS, which is 14 FPS higher than High (557) and 41 FPS higher than Ultra (530). The min FPS of 485 for Medium is still well above the 144 Hz or 240 Hz refresh rates common on 1440p monitors. Low at 670 FPS offers a 99 FPS improvement over Medium, but again, the visual trade-off is substantial.

At 3840x2160, Medium averages 467 FPS, which is 22 FPS higher than High (445) and 43 FPS higher than Ultra (424). Low at 621 FPS is significantly faster, but 4K displays typically have lower refresh rates, so the Medium preset's 467 FPS is already more than adequate. The min FPS of 397 for Medium at 4K ensures that even in intense firefights, the frame rate stays well above 300 FPS.

For players using high-refresh-rate monitors (240 Hz or 360 Hz), the Medium preset at 1080p or 1440p provides the best combination of high average FPS and consistent frame times. For 4K players, Medium is also the recommended preset, as it delivers nearly the same performance as Low while providing better image quality.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K varies by settings preset. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 706 at 1080p to 670 at 1440p (a 5.1% decrease) and then to 621 at 4K (a 7.3% decrease from 1440p). The total drop from 1080p to 4K at Low is 85 FPS, or 12.0%.

At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 602 at 1080p to 571 at 1440p (5.1% decrease) and then to 467 at 4K (18.2% decrease from 1440p). The total drop from 1080p to 4K at Medium is 135 FPS, or 22.4%.

At High settings, the average FPS drops from 592 at 1080p to 557 at 1440p (5.9% decrease) and then to 445 at 4K (20.1% decrease from 1440p). The total drop from 1080p to 4K at High is 147 FPS, or 24.8%.

At Ultra settings, the average FPS drops from 582 at 1080p to 530 at 1440p (8.9% decrease) and then to 424 at 4K (20.0% decrease from 1440p). The total drop from 1080p to 4K at Ultra is 158 FPS, or 27.1%.

The pattern is clear: at Low settings, the CPU is the limiting component, so resolution scaling has a relatively small effect. At Ultra settings, the GPU becomes more involved, and the FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is more pronounced. The fact that the combo still achieves 424 FPS at 4K Ultra indicates that neither component is a severe bottleneck, but the GPU is the component that scales with resolution. The CPU's 128 MB L3 cache and 5.50 GHz boost clock ensure that it does not become the limiting factor even at high frame rates, allowing the GPU to work at its full potential as resolution increases.