Valorant

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT ranks 2469th out of 3708 tested combos in Valorant, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database. This position reflects a combination that delivers consistently high frame rates but is not optimized for the absolute top end of competitive play, where higher-tier CPUs and GPUs dominate. The benchmark data shows this combo excels at maintaining playable performance across all resolutions, with the GPU often becoming the limiting factor at higher settings, while the CPU provides solid single-threaded performance that is critical for Valorant’s engine.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 2469 out of 3708 places it in the 33rd percentile of all tested configurations in Valorant. This is a modest standing, indicating that while the system is fully capable of running the game smoothly, it sits well below the top-performing combos that typically feature newer, higher-end hardware. The rank is influenced by both the CPU and GPU’s individual benchmark scores relative to their respective fields. The i5-11400F holds a 71st percentile ranking among all CPUs, while the RX 6650 XT sits at the 65th percentile among GPUs, so neither component is top-tier, but both are above average.

In practical terms, this rank means the combo will handle Valorant’s competitive modes without issue, but players seeking the absolute highest frame rates on high-refresh-rate monitors (e.g., 360Hz or above) may find this setup falls short of the extreme performance seen in the top 10% of combos. The data suggests that the combo’s performance is more than adequate for standard 144Hz or 240Hz displays, but it does not push into the elite tier where frame rates consistently exceed 500 FPS. This is a balanced pairing where neither component dramatically bottlenecks the other, but the GPU’s VRAM and clock speeds play a more significant role in determining final FPS at higher resolutions.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with a Navi 23 chip, featuring 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 280.3 GB/s. The GPU’s base clock is 2055 MHz, with a boost clock of 2635 MHz and a game clock of 2410 MHz, which are relatively high speeds for its class. These clocks contribute directly to the measured FPS in Valorant, especially at lower resolutions where the GPU is not fully taxed. The 8 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for Valorant, which is a lightweight title in terms of graphical memory, and this is reflected in the high frame rates across all settings.

At 1080p, the GPU’s role is less demanding, and the measured FPS shows it can push beyond 450 FPS on Low settings, indicating that the GPU is not the primary bottleneck at this resolution. However, as resolution increases to 1440p and 4K, the GPU’s workload grows, and the FPS drops accordingly, but still remains well above 250 FPS even at Ultra settings on 4K. The GPU’s pixel rate of 168.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 337.3 GTexel/s are sufficient to handle Valorant’s relatively simple graphics, but the data shows that at 4K Ultra, the average FPS of 252 is the lowest measured, suggesting the GPU is starting to become a limiting factor. The GPU’s FP32 performance of 10.79 TFLOPS is modest by modern standards, but for Valorant, it is more than enough, as the game is not graphically intensive.

FAQ

Q: What is the combo’s overall rank in Valorant?

A: The combo ranks 2469th out of 3708 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database.

Q: How does the CPU perform in single-threaded tasks relevant to Valorant?

A: The i5-11400F scores 868 points in the 3DMark single-thread test and 2981 points in PassMark’s single-thread test, indicating strong single-core performance that is critical for Valorant’s engine.

Q: What is the GPU’s memory configuration, and does it impact Valorant performance?

A: The RX 6650 XT has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 280.3 GB/s bandwidth, which is ample for Valorant and does not bottleneck the measured FPS at any resolution.

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

A: The highest average FPS is 453, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS measured, and at what settings?

A: The lowest average FPS is 252, measured at 3840x2160 resolution with Ultra settings.

Q: How does the GPU’s boost clock affect performance in Valorant?

A: The GPU’s boost clock of 2635 MHz helps maintain high frame rates, especially at lower resolutions, where the measured FPS exceeds 450 on Low settings at 1080p.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of how this combo performs across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 370 on Ultra settings to 453 on Low settings, with Medium and High settings yielding 386 and 380 FPS respectively. The Medium preset also records a minimum FPS of 328 and a maximum of 444, showing some variance but maintaining consistently high performance. This resolution is where the combo is most comfortable, with the CPU and GPU both having headroom to spare.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS drops but remains impressive: 316 on Ultra, 331 on High, 348 on Medium, and 429 on Low. The Medium preset again shows a spread, with a minimum of 296 and a maximum of 400 FPS. This resolution still allows for high-refresh-rate gaming, but the GPU begins to work harder, as evidenced by the larger drop from Low to Ultra settings compared to 1080p. At 3840x2160, the average FPS falls to 252 on Ultra, 265 on High, 278 on Medium, and 398 on Low. The Medium preset at 4K records a minimum of 236 and a maximum of 320 FPS, indicating that even at this demanding resolution, the combo maintains playable frame rates, though the gap between Low and Ultra settings widens significantly.

The data shows a clear trend: as resolution increases, the FPS penalty for higher settings becomes more pronounced. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 83 FPS (453 vs 370), while at 4K, the same comparison shows a 146 FPS difference (398 vs 252). This indicates that the GPU becomes more of a limiting factor at higher resolutions, while the CPU’s performance remains relatively stable. The minimum FPS values, only recorded for Medium settings, show that the combo can experience dips, but these are still well above the 144Hz threshold, ensuring a smooth competitive experience.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the user’s resolution and refresh rate. For 1080p displays with a 144Hz or 240Hz refresh rate, the High or Ultra preset is recommended, as both deliver average FPS above 370, which is sufficient to saturate these refresh rates. The Low preset, yielding 453 FPS, offers no practical benefit unless the user has a 360Hz monitor, in which case it becomes the only viable option. The Medium preset provides a balance, with an average of 386 FPS and a minimum of 328, ensuring no drops below 144Hz.

At 1440p, the High preset (331 FPS) is the best choice for most users, as it stays above 300 FPS and provides good visual quality. The Ultra preset (316 FPS) is also viable, but the Medium preset (348 FPS) offers a slight FPS boost with minimal visual compromise. For 4K displays, which are less common for competitive Valorant, the Low preset (398 FPS) is the only option that guarantees frame rates above 360 FPS, while the Medium preset (278 FPS) is sufficient for 240Hz displays. The Ultra preset at 4K (252 FPS) is still playable for 144Hz monitors, but the visual gains are minimal in a game like Valorant, so lower settings are preferable for competitive play.

The data indicates that the Medium preset is the most balanced across all resolutions, as it consistently provides high average FPS with recorded minimums that stay above 236 FPS even at 4K. For users prioritizing maximum frame rates, the Low preset is the safest choice, delivering over 398 FPS at every resolution. However, given that Valorant’s graphics are not demanding, the High preset offers a good compromise between visual fidelity and performance, with average FPS exceeding 265 even at 4K.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Rocket Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. This CPU’s performance in single-threaded tasks is crucial for Valorant, which relies heavily on a single core for game logic and physics. The benchmark data shows a 3DMark single-thread score of 868 and a PassMark single-thread score of 2981, placing it in the 71st percentile among all CPUs. These scores are strong enough to prevent the CPU from becoming a bottleneck in Valorant, as evidenced by the high FPS at 1080p Low settings, where the GPU is less taxed and the CPU’s performance shines.

The CPU’s multi-threaded performance is also solid, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14340 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 7737, but Valorant does not utilize many threads, so this is less relevant. The CPU’s 12 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth provide adequate data throughput for the game. In the context of this combo, the CPU’s role is to maintain high frame rates when the GPU is not the limiting factor, which is evident in the 1080p Low preset (453 FPS) and 1440p Low preset (429 FPS), where the CPU handles the game’s logic efficiently.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the i5-11400F’s average benchmark score of 17177 is nearly identical to the AMD EPYC 7H12 (17120, 0.3% higher), Intel Core i5-12450H (17239, 0.4% higher), and AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G (17278, 0.6% higher), indicating that its overall performance is on par with these processors. However, in Valorant, the single-thread performance is what matters most, and the i5-11400F’s boost clock of 4.40 GHz is competitive, though not the highest in its class. The CPU’s 65W TDP is modest, and its end-of-life production status suggests it is a mature platform, but the data shows it delivers consistent results in this game.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows how the combo scales from 1080p to 4K, providing insight into which component is the primary bottleneck at each resolution. At 1080p, the average FPS across all settings ranges from 370 to 453, with a relatively small gap between Low and Ultra (83 FPS). This suggests that the CPU is the primary limiting factor at this resolution, as the GPU has ample headroom to render frames quickly, and the CPU’s single-thread performance caps the maximum FPS. The fact that Low settings only yield 453 FPS, rather than higher, indicates that the CPU cannot push beyond this point in Valorant.

Moving to 1440p, the average FPS drops to between 316 and 429, with the gap between Low and Ultra widening to 113 FPS. This shift indicates that the GPU is beginning to play a larger role, as the higher pixel count increases the GPU’s workload, but the CPU still has enough headroom to maintain high frame rates. At 4K, the average FPS falls further to between 252 and 398, with a gap of 146 FPS between Low and Ultra. This larger spread at 4K confirms that the GPU is now the limiting factor, as the CPU’s performance is relatively constant, but the GPU’s rendering capacity is stretched by the higher resolution.

The data shows a clear progression: at 1080p, the CPU is the bottleneck; at 1440p, the system is balanced; and at 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor. This is typical for a game like Valorant, which is CPU-bound at lower resolutions due to its simple graphics engine. For users with a 1080p monitor, the CPU’s performance will determine the maximum FPS, so upgrading the CPU would yield the largest gains. For 4K users, the GPU’s 8 GB VRAM and compute power are more important, and the measured FPS shows that the GPU struggles to maintain frame rates above 300 FPS at this resolution, even on Low settings. The scaling pattern is predictable, with FPS dropping by roughly 15-20% from 1080p to 1440p and another 15-20% from 1440p to 4K, depending on the settings preset.