Valorant

Valorant is a competitive FPS where frame rates often matter more than absolute visual fidelity, and this pairing of an Intel Core i5-10400F with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti produces a dataset that is all about headroom. The measured results show a system that is never truly stressed at any resolution, with average frame rates that remain far above the refresh rates of most monitors. The data indicates a combination where the GPU is barely breaking a sweat, and the CPU's six cores and 12 threads are delivering consistent performance across the board. This analysis will break down how the frame rates scale with resolution, what settings offer the best balance, and what the benchmark numbers reveal about the role each component plays in this specific title.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate deltas between 1080p and 4K are surprisingly small, which immediately signals that this game is not heavily GPU-bound at lower resolutions. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 386 FPS at 1920x1080 to 366 FPS at 2560x1440, and then to 340 FPS at 3840x2160. That is a reduction of only about 5% from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 7% from 1440p to 4K. The total drop from 1080p to 4K is roughly 12%, which is far less than what would be expected if the graphics card were the primary limiting factor.

Moving to High settings, the pattern holds. The average at 1080p is 324 FPS, at 1440p it is 307 FPS, and at 4K it is 285 FPS. The scaling here shows a slightly larger drop from 1080p to 4K, about 12%, but still remarkably flat. The Ultra preset shows a similar trend, with 319 FPS at 1080p, 302 FPS at 1440p, and 280 FPS at 4K. The fact that even at 4K Ultra, the system maintains an average of 280 FPS, suggests that the RTX 3070 Ti has ample compute resources for this game's engine.

The interesting outlier is the Medium preset, which is the only one with recorded minimum and maximum frame values. At 4K Medium, the average is 290 FPS, with a minimum of 246 FPS and a maximum of 333 FPS. This is actually lower than the High preset average at 4K (285 FPS), which is counterintuitive. The data shows that resolution scaling in Valorant is not a simple linear progression. The limiting component appears to be the CPU, especially at 1080p where the frame rates are highest. The i5-10400F, with its boost clock of 4.30 GHz, is likely the bottleneck, as the GPU is capable of rendering far more frames than the CPU can feed it.

The benchmark results indicate that the combination is well-balanced for high-refresh-rate gaming, but the scaling curve flattens out, which is a classic sign of a CPU limit. If the GPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see a much steeper decline in performance as resolution increases. Instead, the data shows that even at 4K, the system is not pushing the RTX 3070 Ti to its limits, as the frame rates are still in the high 200s. This suggests that for competitive play at 1080p, the CPU is the key component, while the GPU is more than adequate for any resolution.

Settings Recommendations

When looking at the measured rows, the Low preset at 1080p delivers the highest average frame rate at 386 FPS. This is the clear choice for competitive players who prioritize maximum frame rates over visual quality. The jump from Low to Medium at 1080p is a drop of 57 FPS, from 386 to 329 FPS, which is a significant 15% reduction. The difference between Medium and High is smaller, at 5 FPS, and High to Ultra is another 5 FPS drop. This indicates that the most demanding setting shift is from Low to Medium, while the higher presets have diminishing returns in terms of performance cost.

For players at 1440p, the Low preset still offers a very high 366 FPS average, which is likely above the refresh rate of most 1440p monitors. The Medium preset drops to 312 FPS, and High to 307 FPS. The data shows that even at High settings, 1440p is perfectly playable on high-refresh displays. The Ultra preset at 1440p maintains 302 FPS, which is still excellent.

At 4K, the situation changes slightly. The Low preset gives 340 FPS, but the Medium preset drops to 290 FPS, and High to 285 FPS. The Ultra preset is at 280 FPS. Given that 4K monitors with refresh rates above 280 Hz are rare, any of these presets would provide a smooth experience. However, the data suggests that there is no real reason to use the Low preset at 4K, as the performance difference between Low and Ultra is only 60 FPS, or about 18%. The game is so well optimized that the visual quality increase from Low to Ultra is essentially free at this resolution.

The most balanced recommendation based on the data is to use the High preset at any resolution, as it offers a near-optimal balance between frame rate and visual fidelity. The difference between High and Ultra is consistently small, around 5 FPS at every resolution, which means that enabling Ultra is not a significant performance penalty. For the absolute best performance, the Low preset at 1080p is the winner, but for a better visual experience without sacrificing much, High is the sweet spot.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-10400F and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti ranks at position 2813 out of 3708 tested combos in Valorant. This percentile placement is about 76%, which means that this pairing performs better than roughly three-quarters of the other combinations in the database. It is a solid mid-to-high ranking, but it is not at the very top tier, which is expected given the older CPU architecture.

The CPU itself has a percentile of 68 against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 14185. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Xeon 6756E with an average score of 14163 and a delta of 0.2%, and the Intel Core 7 160UL with a score of 14232 and a delta of -0.3%. This puts the i5-10400F in a tight performance band, just slightly above the Xeon and just below the Core 7. The data shows that this CPU is competitive with much newer and more expensive server and mobile parts in synthetic benchmarks, but its real-world gaming performance is what matters here.

The GPU has a percentile of 75 against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 29945. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile with a score of 29928 and a delta of 0.1%, and the AMD Radeon RX 6800 with a score of 30095 and a delta of -0.5%. This shows that the RTX 3070 Ti is sitting right at the edge of a performance cliff, where a tiny difference in score separates it from a newer mobile GPU and an older AMD card. The delta of 0.5% against the RTX 2080 Ti is also notable, as it shows that this card is essentially on par with the previous generation's flagship.

The combo rank of 2813 out of 3708 suggests that while the individual components are strong, there are many other combinations that achieve higher frame rates in Valorant. This is likely due to the CPU being the limiting factor, as newer CPUs with higher single-thread performance would push this GPU to higher frame rates. The data implies that this is a good pairing, but not the best, and that a CPU upgrade would yield more performance in this specific game.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved with this combo?

A: The highest average frame rate is 386 FPS, which is achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset.

Q: How much performance is lost when going from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 324 FPS at 1920x1080 to 285 FPS at 3840x2160, which is a 39 FPS reduction, or about 12%.

Q: Does the Medium preset ever outperform the High preset?

A: Yes, at 4K resolution, the Medium preset has an average of 290 FPS, which is higher than the High preset's 285 FPS. This is an anomaly in the data.

Q: What is the minimum frame rate recorded in the dataset?

A: The only minimum frame rates recorded are for the Medium preset. The lowest minimum is 246 FPS at 3840x2160 resolution.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested combinations?

A: This combo ranks at 2813 out of 3708 tested combos in Valorant, placing it in the 76th percentile.

Q: Are the frame rates high enough for a 240Hz monitor?

A: Yes, at 1080p with Low settings, the average frame rate is 386 FPS, which is well above 240Hz. Even at 4K Ultra, the average is 280 FPS, which is also above 240Hz.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti is a high-end graphics card with 8 GB of GDDR6X memory and a 256-bit memory bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 608.3 GB/s. It has a base clock of 1575 MHz and a boost clock of 1770 MHz, with memory running at 1188 MHz or 19 Gbps effective. The card is built on the Ampere architecture with 6144 shading units, 192 texture mapping units, and 96 raster output units. This hardware is more than capable of handling Valorant, which is not a graphically demanding game.

The benchmark results indicate that the GPU is not the limiting factor in this combo. The frame rates are consistently high across all resolutions, with the lowest average being 280 FPS at 4K Ultra. The GPU's performance is so far above what the game requires that it is essentially idling in most scenarios. The 8 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient for the game's textures, and the memory bandwidth is unlikely to be a bottleneck given the low resolution of the textures used.

The data shows that the RTX 3070 Ti is overkill for Valorant, as the game's engine is not designed to stress modern graphics cards. The GPU's high pixel rate of 169.9 GPixel/s and texture rate of 339.8 GTexel/s are not being fully utilized. The card's FP32 performance of 21.75 TFLOPS is also far beyond what this game requires. The role of the GPU in this pairing is to ensure that no matter what settings or resolution are chosen, the frame rate will remain high. It provides a safety margin that guarantees a smooth experience even in the most chaotic gameplay moments.

The GPU's closest rivals in the database include the RTX 5070 Mobile, which is 0.1% faster, and the RX 6800, which is 0.5% slower. This shows that the RTX 3070 Ti is still a very capable card, even compared to newer models. However, in Valorant, the GPU's raw power is not the deciding factor. The frame rates are more likely limited by the CPU's ability to process game logic and draw calls, which is why the scaling is so flat across resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 10th generation, based on the Comet Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, with a 12 MB shared L3 cache. The CPU supports DDR4 memory with a dual-channel bus and a memory bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s. This is the processor that is likely the primary bottleneck in this Valorant configuration.

Valorant is a CPU-intensive game, particularly at high frame rates, because it relies heavily on single-thread performance. The i5-10400F's boost clock of 4.30 GHz is decent, but it is not the highest available. The benchmark results show that the CPU's single-thread performance is 1451 in Cinebench R23, which is a moderate score. In contrast, newer CPUs with higher single-thread scores would be able to feed the GPU more frames, resulting in higher average frame rates.

The data shows that even at 1080p Low, the frame rate tops out at 386 FPS, which is likely close to the CPU's limit. If the CPU could push more frames, we would expect to see a larger gap between 1080p and 1440p, as the GPU would have more headroom at the lower resolution. Instead, the difference is small, indicating that the CPU is maxed out. The 12 threads are not all being used, as most games struggle to utilize more than 8 threads, but the 6 cores are sufficient for the game's logic.

The CPU's average benchmark score is 14185, with a percentile of 68 against all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Xeon 6756E, which is 0.2% faster, and the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C, which is 0.6% faster. This shows that the i5-10400F is a solid mid-range processor that is still competitive in synthetic tests. However, in a game like Valorant, its age is showing, as newer CPUs with higher IPC and faster boost clocks would deliver higher frame rates. The CPU's role here is to provide a stable foundation, but it is the component that is holding the combo back from ranking higher in the database.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average frame rates are as follows: Low settings produce 386 FPS, Medium produces 329 FPS, High produces 324 FPS, and Ultra produces 319 FPS. The Medium preset has recorded minimum and maximum values of 280 FPS and 379 FPS, respectively. This resolution shows the highest frame rates in the dataset, with the Low preset being the only one to exceed 380 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average frame rates are: Low at 366 FPS, Medium at 312 FPS, High at 307 FPS, and Ultra at 302 FPS. The Medium preset has a minimum of 265 FPS and a maximum of 359 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across all presets, with an average decrease of about 20 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the average frame rates are: Low at 340 FPS, Medium at 290 FPS, High at 285 FPS, and Ultra at 280 FPS. The Medium preset has a minimum of 246 FPS and a maximum of 333 FPS. The data shows a clear anomaly where the Medium preset at 4K (290 FPS) is higher than the High preset (285 FPS), which is not the case at other resolutions. This could be due to a driver or game setting issue, but the data is consistent across the three resolutions.

The full dataset reveals that the frame rates are remarkably high across all settings and resolutions. The lowest average frame rate recorded is 280 FPS at 4K Ultra, which is still above the refresh rate of most high-end monitors. The highest average is 386 FPS at 1080p Low. The only minimum frame rates recorded are for the Medium preset, and they are all above 240 FPS, which ensures a smooth experience even in the most demanding scenes. This breakdown confirms that the combo is capable of delivering a top-tier competitive gaming experience at any resolution, with the only caveat being that the CPU limits the absolute maximum frame rate at lower resolutions.