Valorant

FAQ

Q: How does this CPU compare to its closest rivals in average benchmark score?

A: The Intel Core i3-12100F scores 13516 on average, which is essentially neck-and-neck with the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX (13534, 0.1% behind), the Intel Core i7-1250U (13462, 0.4% ahead), the Intel Core i3-10105 (13430, 0.6% ahead), and the Intel Core i7-7700K (13280, 1.8% ahead). The data shows a tightly clustered group at this performance tier.

Q: What is the GPU's standing relative to other graphics cards in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 sits in the 81st percentile versus all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37283. It trails the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 by 0.6% (37507), the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A by 1.9% (38008), and the RTX 4080 Mobile by 2.2% (38135), while leading the AMD Radeon RX 5300M by 2.5% (36371).

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

A: The highest recorded average FPS is 522.2, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. The lowest measured average FPS is 376.5, which occurs at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings.

Q: How does the CPU's single-thread performance compare to its multi-thread performance?

A: In Cinebench R23, the processor scores 1681 in single-core and 11912 in multi-core. The single-core score represents roughly 14.1% of the multi-core figure, which is consistent with a 4-core/8-thread part where the multi-core result is built from four physical cores.

Q: What memory and PCIe capabilities does this CPU offer?

A: The i3-12100F supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration. It provides PCIe Gen 5 with 16 lanes from the CPU. The processor has no integrated graphics, meaning a discrete GPU is required for display output.

Q: What is the GPU's memory bandwidth and how much VRAM does it have?

A: The RTX 4070 features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. Its memory clock operates at 1313 MHz with 21 Gbps effective speed.

GPU Role

The RTX 4070's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth provide substantial headroom for Valorant's relatively modest VRAM requirements, as evidenced by the fact that even at 4K Ultra settings the combo maintains 376.5 FPS average. The GPU's 5888 shading units and 184 texture mapping units process the game's geometry and effects efficiently, but the benchmark pattern across resolution and settings reveals that this graphics card is rarely the limiting factor in this title.

The base clock of 1920 MHz and boost clock of 2475 MHz allow the AD104 chip to sustain high throughput in a game that does not heavily tax the GPU's compute resources. The 29.15 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 455.4 GTexel/s texture rate are far beyond what Valorant demands, explaining why even the most demanding preset at 4K only drops the average FPS to 376.5 — still far above the refresh rates of typical gaming monitors.

Interestingly, the GPU's percentile ranking (81st versus all GPUs) and average benchmark score of 37283 suggest it is a mid-to-upper-tier card in general workloads, yet in Valorant it behaves like an elite performer. The data implies that the game's engine is so lightweight that the GPU's raw power is almost incidental; the RTX 4070's 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores are largely idle during competitive play. The measured FPS deltas between Low and Ultra settings at any resolution (e.g., 522.2 vs 429.1 at 1080p) show that graphical settings have a measurable but not dramatic impact, reinforcing that VRAM capacity and memory bandwidth are more than sufficient for this workload.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K follows a consistent pattern across all settings. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 522.2 at 1920x1080 to 460.8 at 3840x2160 — a reduction of 61.4 FPS. At High settings, the drop is from 436.3 to 385.5, a difference of 50.8 FPS. The Medium preset shows a decline from 446.5 to 391.8 (54.7 FPS less), while Ultra goes from 429.1 to 376.5 (52.6 FPS lower).

The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is relatively uniform: approximately 11.8% at Low, 11.6% at High, 12.3% at Medium, and 12.2% at Ultra. This consistency is revealing — it suggests that the scaling penalty is primarily resolution-driven (pixel fill rate) rather than settings-driven, because the relative cost of each setting tier remains similar regardless of resolution. The GPU's 64 ROPs and 158.4 GPixel/s pixel rate handle the increased pixel count at 4K without catastrophic degradation, but the fact that even at 4K Low the FPS exceeds 460 indicates that the RTX 4070 is not the bottleneck.

What the data implies is that at 1080p, the CPU may be more involved in limiting performance than at 4K. The i3-12100F's 4 cores and 8 threads, with a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, may cap the frame rate in less demanding scenarios. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 93.1 FPS, whereas at 4K that same gap is 84.3 FPS — a narrowing that hints at the GPU becoming slightly more relevant at higher pixel counts, though still far from saturated.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of the Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 ranks 519th out of 1650 tested combos in Valorant, placing it in the 68.5th percentile of all configurations. This is a remarkably high ranking for a CPU that costs $97 at launch and a GPU that costs $599 at launch, but the ranking reflects the game's unusual performance profile.

The rank of 519 out of 1650 means that roughly 31.5% of tested combos outperform this pairing in Valorant. Given that the RTX 4070 sits in the 81st percentile versus all GPUs and the i3-12100F is in the 72nd percentile versus all CPUs, the combo ranking of 68.5th percentile is slightly below what either component achieves individually. This discrepancy suggests that in Valorant, the CPU's 4-core/8-thread configuration may be holding back the GPU's potential, preventing the combo from reaching the higher percentile positions that the GPU alone would predict.

The data implies that this pairing is well-balanced for many games but slightly CPU-limited in Valorant specifically. The i3-12100F's single-thread score of 1681 in Cinebench R23 and passmark single-thread score of 3444 are strong for its class, but the game's engine appears to benefit from additional cores or higher sustained clocks. The 519th rank is respectable, but users seeking top-tier Valorant performance might prefer a CPU with more threads, even if it means sacrificing some GPU headroom.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are: Low 522.2, Medium 446.5, High 436.3, and Ultra 429.1. The spread from Low to Ultra is 93.1 FPS, with Medium costing 75.7 FPS less than Low, High costing 85.9 FPS less, and Ultra costing 93.1 FPS less.

At 2560x1440, the figures are: Low 495, Medium 424.3, High 416.5, and Ultra 410.3. The delta between Low and Ultra here is 84.7 FPS. Medium is 70.7 FPS below Low, High is 78.5 FPS below, and Ultra is 84.7 FPS below.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low 460.8, Medium 391.8, High 385.5, and Ultra 376.5. The Low-to-Ultra gap narrows to 84.3 FPS. Medium trails Low by 69 FPS, High by 75.3 FPS, and Ultra by 84.3 FPS.

Notably, the difference between Medium and High settings is small across all resolutions — at 1080p it is 9.8 FPS, at 1440p it is 7.8 FPS, and at 4K it is 6.3 FPS. This suggests that the visual quality jump from Medium to High comes at a minimal performance cost, making High an attractive option. The step from Low to Medium is more costly (75.7 FPS at 1080p), while the step from High to Ultra is also modest (7.2 FPS at 1080p).

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data points toward High settings as the optimal balance for this combo. At 1080p High, the average FPS is 436.3, which is 85.9 FPS below Low but only 7.2 FPS above Ultra. The visual improvement from Low to High is substantial in most games, and the performance cost here is relatively contained. At 1440p High, the average drops to 416.5 FPS, still far above any practical refresh rate limit. Even at 4K High, the combo delivers 385.5 FPS average, which remains exceptionally smooth.

Low settings offer the highest frame rates (522.2 at 1080p), but the 85.9 FPS sacrifice for High is a reasonable trade for improved image quality, given that even High at 4K exceeds 380 FPS. Medium settings provide a middle ground with 446.5 FPS at 1080p, but since High costs only 9.8 FPS more than Medium at that resolution, High dominates Medium in value. Ultra is the most demanding preset at 429.1 FPS at 1080p, but its marginal cost over High (7.2 FPS) makes it a viable option for users who want maximum visual fidelity without meaningful FPS loss — the drop from High to Ultra is smaller than the drop from Medium to High.

For competitive play where every frame matters, Low is justifiable (522.2 FPS at 1080p), but for most users, High or Ultra provides the best experience because the FPS remains far above the 240 Hz or 360 Hz refresh rates common in esports monitors. The data shows that this combo never falls below 376.5 FPS in any tested configuration, meaning even the heaviest preset at 4K delivers performance that exceeds all but the most extreme display capabilities.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F brings 4 cores and 8 threads, with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. Its 12 MB of shared L3 cache and per-core L2 of 1.25 MB provide the working set for a game like Valorant, which is known to be CPU-sensitive due to its tick-rate and network code. The CPU's 72nd percentile ranking versus all CPUs and average benchmark score of 13516 place it in the upper-mid tier, but its nearest rivals include the 32-core Threadripper PRO 3975WX (13534) and the 4-core i7-7700K (13280) — indicating that raw core count matters less than per-core efficiency in these aggregate benchmarks.

In Valorant specifically, the i3-12100F's single-thread performance appears to be the key determinant. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1681 and passmark single-thread score of 3444 suggest strong per-core capability, but the 4-core limitation may cap performance in scenarios where the game engine spawns additional threads for physics, audio, or networking. The combo's 519th rank out of 1650 — below the CPU's 72nd percentile — hints that the CPU is the constraining component in this pairing for Valorant.

The 3dmark benchmark scores are telling: 4-thread score of 2859, 8-thread score of 4026, and max-thread score of 4023. The negligible difference between 8-thread and max-thread scores confirms that the 8 threads are fully utilized, but the jump from 4-thread to 8-thread (1167 points) shows that multi-threading helps. However, the single-thread score of 893 in 3dmark demonstrates that the CPU's strength lies in its per-core efficiency, not its ability to scale across many cores. In Valorant, where frame times are critical and the engine often relies on a primary render thread, the i3-12100F's 4.30 GHz boost clock and modern Alder Lake architecture likely keep it competitive, but the data suggests that a higher-core-count CPU with similar single-thread performance would push this combo higher in the rankings. The TDP of 58 W and the absence of integrated graphics also frame this as a pure gaming-focused processor, one that pairs logically with a high-end GPU like the RTX 4070, yet the Valorant results reveal the CPU as the more significant determinant of final FPS.