Valorant

# Valorant with Intel Core i5-11400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D

This combination of an Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D produces exceptional frame rates in Valorant across all tested resolutions and settings, with the data showing a clear pattern where the CPU-bound nature of this esports title limits the otherwise massive GPU headroom. The measured results place this combo at rank 1548 out of 2883 tested combinations, indicating a mid-tier position in the database despite delivering average FPS figures that exceed 329 at every resolution and setting tested.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K reveals a relatively modest performance drop, which is characteristic of a CPU-limited scenario. At Low settings, the average FPS moves from 453 at 1920x1080 down to 398 at 3840x2160, representing a 55 FPS decrease or roughly 12 percent reduction when scaling from 1080p to 4K. This relatively small penalty suggests that the rendering workload at 4K is still well within the capabilities of the RTX 5090 D, and the bottleneck lies elsewhere in the system.

The Medium settings row shows a similar pattern, with 386 FPS at 1080p, 366 FPS at 1440p, and 340 FPS at 4K. The difference between 1080p and 1440p is only 20 FPS, while the jump from 1440p to 4K costs another 26 FPS. High settings follow the same trend, starting at 380 FPS at 1080p, dipping to 360 FPS at 1440p, and settling at 334 FPS at 4K. Ultra settings produce the tightest grouping, with 373 FPS at 1080p, 354 FPS at 1440p, and 329 FPS at 4K.

The scaling behavior indicates that even at 4K Ultra, the system maintains an average of 329 FPS, which is only 44 FPS below the 1080p Low result of 453 FPS. This narrow spread across a 4x increase in pixel count strongly suggests that the Intel Core i5-11400F, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, is the primary limiting component in this configuration. The RTX 5090 D, with its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth, is clearly not being pushed to its limits, as evidenced by the relatively small FPS deltas when resolution increases.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D represents the top of the GeForce 50-series lineup, built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a GB202 chip fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. The GPU operates with a base clock of 2017 MHz and a boost clock of 2407 MHz, paired with 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus. This memory configuration delivers a bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s, which is far more than Valorant requires even at 4K Ultra settings.

The GPU's benchmark scores place it in the 92nd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 77712. Its nearest rivals in the database include the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT with an average score of 76904 (1.1 percent higher), the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT at 78940 (1.6 percent lower), and two NVIDIA Tesla P100 variants scoring 79396 and 79605 (2.1 and 2.4 percent lower respectively). These comparisons highlight that the RTX 5090 D sits in a performance tier where small percentage differences separate it from other high-end cards.

In Valorant specifically, the GPU's role appears largely underutilized. The fact that 4K Ultra produces 329 FPS while 1080p Low produces 453 FPS — a difference of only 124 FPS — indicates that the GPU has substantial spare capacity. The 21760 shading units, 680 TMUs, and 176 ROPs are more than sufficient to handle this game's rendering demands at any resolution. The 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 423.6 GPixel/s pixel rate are far beyond what a competitive FPS title requires, making the GPU a non-factor in limiting performance.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance for this combination. At 1080p Medium, the system delivers 386 FPS average with a minimum of 328 FPS and a maximum of 444 FPS. This represents a 33 FPS improvement over Ultra settings at the same resolution, while the visual difference between Medium and Ultra in a fast-paced esports title like Valorant is typically minimal.

The Low preset provides the highest frame rates, reaching 453 FPS at 1080p and 429 FPS at 1440p, but this comes at the cost of reduced visual fidelity. For competitive play where maximum frame rate is prioritized, Low settings at 1440p produce 429 FPS, which is only 24 FPS less than the 1080p Low result. This suggests that players with 1440p displays can run Low settings with minimal performance penalty.

High settings offer a middle ground, with 380 FPS at 1080p and 360 FPS at 1440p. The difference between High and Medium is only 6 FPS at 1080p and 6 FPS at 1440p, making High a viable alternative if slightly better visuals are desired. Ultra settings, while still delivering over 329 FPS at 4K, provide the smallest performance advantage over other presets and are not recommended for competitive play where even small FPS gains can matter.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured results show a clear hierarchy across settings. Low settings deliver the highest average at 453 FPS, followed by Medium at 386 FPS, High at 380 FPS, and Ultra at 373 FPS. The Medium preset at 1080p shows a minimum FPS of 328 and a maximum of 444, indicating a 116 FPS variance between the lowest and highest frames. This variance is relatively tight for a competitive FPS, suggesting stable performance during intense gameplay scenarios.

Moving to 2560x1440, the same pattern holds with slightly reduced numbers. Low settings produce 429 FPS average, Medium delivers 366 FPS with a minimum of 311 and maximum of 421, High achieves 360 FPS, and Ultra drops to 354 FPS. The 1440p Medium variance of 110 FPS is nearly identical to the 1080p result, reinforcing that the CPU is the consistent limiting factor across resolutions.

At 3840x2160, the results remain remarkably high. Low settings still achieve 398 FPS, Medium produces 340 FPS with a minimum of 289 and maximum of 391, High reaches 334 FPS, and Ultra maintains 329 FPS. The 4K Medium variance of 102 FPS is the tightest of any resolution, suggesting that at higher resolutions the GPU begins to take on a slightly more significant role, though it still has considerable headroom remaining.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average FPS achievable with this combo in Valorant?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 453, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. The second-highest result is 429 FPS at 2560x1440 with Low settings.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested combinations in Valorant?

A: This combo ranks 1548 out of 2883 tested combinations, placing it in the 54th percentile of all tested configurations for this game.

Q: What is the difference between 1080p and 4K performance at Ultra settings?

A: The average FPS drops from 373 at 1920x1080 Ultra to 329 at 3840x2160 Ultra, a difference of 44 FPS or approximately 12 percent.

Q: Does the RTX 5090 D perform better than its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RTX 5090 D has an average benchmark score of 77712, which is 1.1 percent lower than the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT (76904) and 1.6 percent higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (78940).

Q: Which settings preset provides the highest minimum FPS?

A: The Medium preset at 1920x1080 has the highest minimum FPS at 328, followed by Medium at 2560x1440 with 311 and Medium at 3840x2160 with 289.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The data strongly indicates the CPU is the limiting factor, as the Intel Core i5-11400F has a 71st percentile ranking among all CPUs, while the RTX 5090 D sits in the 92nd percentile among GPUs, and FPS scaling across resolutions is relatively flat.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Core 11th Gen series, built on the Rocket Lake architecture using a 14 nm process at Intel. It operates with a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The processor supports DDR4 memory in a dual-channel configuration with a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s, and it connects via PCIe Gen 4 with 20 lanes.

The CPU's benchmark results show a mixed profile. In single-threaded tests, it scores 868 in 3dMark_single_thread, 204 in Cinebench R15 single-core, 850 in Cinebench R20 single-core, 2024 in Cinebench R23 single-core, and 2981 in Passmark single-thread. Multi-threaded scores include 5619 in 3dMark_16_threads, 6022 in Cinebench R20 multicore, 14340 in Cinebench R23 multicore, and 16908 in Passmark multithread. Its average benchmark score is 17177, placing it in the 71st percentile among all CPUs.

The nearest CPU rivals in the database include the AMD EPYC 7H12 with an average score of 17120 (0.3 percent higher), the Intel Core i5-12450H at 17239 (0.4 percent lower), the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G at 17278 (0.6 percent lower), and the Intel Core Ultra 7 164U at 17074 (0.6 percent higher). These comparisons show that the i5-11400F sits in a tightly packed performance band where rival CPUs differ by less than one percent.

In Valorant, the CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads appear sufficient to maintain high frame rates, but the relatively flat scaling from 1080p to 4K suggests that the processor's single-thread performance is the key constraint. The 4.40 GHz boost clock helps in this regard, but the 14 nm process and Rocket Lake architecture limit how much performance can be extracted. The 12 MB of shared L3 cache and 512 KB per-core L2 cache provide adequate memory hierarchy for a game that relies on rapid data access.

How This Combo Ranks

The comboRankInGame of 1548 out of 2883 places this configuration in the upper half of all tested combinations for Valorant, though not in the top tier. This ranking is somewhat surprising given the extraordinary FPS numbers, but it reflects the fact that many other combos in the database also achieve very high frame rates in this CPU-bound title.

The discrepancy between the combo's rank and its raw performance can be explained by the CPU's 71st percentile ranking. Since Valorant is heavily CPU-dependent, the i5-11400F's position in the middle of the CPU performance distribution directly influences the combo's overall standing. The GPU's 92nd percentile ranking is essentially irrelevant in this context, as the RTX 5090 D's enormous compute resources cannot overcome the CPU's limitations.

The measured FPS results confirm that this combo delivers playable — indeed, extremely high — frame rates at all tested settings and resolutions. The minimum FPS of 289 at 4K Medium is still well above the refresh rates of most gaming monitors, and the 453 FPS maximum at 1080p Low is among the highest measured values in the database. However, the combo's rank of 1548 suggests that many other CPU-GPU pairings achieve similar or better results, likely due to CPUs with higher single-thread performance that can feed the GPU more effectively.

The ranking position also reflects the diminishing returns of pairing a top-tier GPU with a mid-range CPU in an esports title. While the RTX 5090 D provides a 92nd percentile GPU performance, the i5-11400F's 71st percentile CPU performance creates a bottleneck that prevents the combo from reaching the top ranks. The data shows that this configuration is best suited for players who want maximum GPU capability while accepting that the CPU will limit performance in CPU-bound scenarios like Valorant.