Valorant

The Intel Core i5-12400 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7600 delivers exceptional frame rates in Valorant, a game that is far more dependent on the CPU’s single-thread performance than on the GPU’s raw throughput. The measured data across all resolutions and settings shows a system that is never challenged by the game’s engine, with even the most demanding 4K Ultra configuration producing an average of 245.6 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 reveals a system that remains remarkably consistent, though the scaling pattern does indicate where the performance bottleneck shifts. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo produces 528.2 FPS, while at 2560x1440 Low it drops to 501.2 FPS, and at 3840x2160 Low it reaches 407.6 FPS. This represents a 22.8% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, which is modest compared to what would be expected if the GPU were the primary constraint.

The High settings preset tells a similar story: 373.7 FPS at 1080p, 317.9 FPS at 1440p, and 257.1 FPS at 4K. The 31.2% drop from 1080p to 4K at High settings is slightly larger than at Low, but the absolute numbers remain so high that the GPU is clearly not the limiting factor in most scenarios. The data suggests that at 1080p and 1440p, the Intel Core i5-12400’s strong single-core performance, evidenced by its 3dmark_single_thread score of 910 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2249, is what keeps frame rates in the 500-528 FPS range at Low settings.

As resolution increases to 4K, the GPU begins to take on more responsibility, but even then, the RX 7600’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient to maintain 407.6 FPS at Low settings. The scaling between Medium and High presets is very tight at each resolution, with differences of only 6-7% at 1080p and 1440p, indicating that the game’s visual settings have a minimal impact on this hardware combination.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7600, built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with a Navi 33 chip, operates with a base clock of 1720 MHz and a boost clock of 2655 MHz, with a game clock of 2250 MHz. These clocks, combined with 2048 shading units and 64 ROPs, provide a texture rate of 339.8 GTexel/s and a pixel rate of 169.9 GPixel/s. In Valorant, these specifications are more than adequate, as the game’s simple geometry and low-detail textures do not stress the GPU’s compute capabilities.

The VRAM allocation is also a non-factor here. The 8 GB frame buffer at 128-bit bus width delivers 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for the 4K Ultra preset that averages 245.6 FPS. The FP32 performance of 21.75 TFLOPS means that even at the highest settings, the GPU is rarely working at more than a fraction of its capacity. The benchmark data confirms this: the GPU’s percentileVsAllGpus score of 63 places it in the upper tier, but in Valorant, its role is secondary to the CPU’s ability to feed it frames.

The GPU’s nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT with an average benchmark score of 20146 (a 0.6% difference) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile at 20534 (-1.3% delta). These comparisons highlight that the RX 7600 is a mid-range card, but in Valorant, the measured FPS shows that even a modest GPU like this can achieve over 500 FPS at 1080p Low, meaning the GPU’s performance headroom is largely untapped.

FAQ

Q: Why does the FPS drop so much from 1080p to 4K at Low settings?

A: The drop from 528.2 FPS at 1920x1080 Low to 407.6 FPS at 3840x2160 Low (a 22.8% reduction) indicates that the GPU is starting to become more involved at 4K, but the CPU’s single-thread performance, as shown by its 3dmark_single_thread score of 910, still dominates the frame rate ceiling.

Q: Is the RX 7600’s 8 GB VRAM enough for Valorant at Ultra settings?

A: Yes, the measured 4K Ultra average of 245.6 FPS demonstrates that the 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth are fully sufficient, as Valorant does not require large texture pools or high-resolution assets.

Q: How does the i5-12400 compare to its nearest rival in CPU benchmarks?

A: The i5-12400 has an average benchmark score of 19850, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core i7-9700’s 19831 and 0.4% higher than the Intel Core i5-11600K’s 19771, showing it is competitive with older high-end chips.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo if the goal is maximum FPS?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 528.2 FPS, which is the highest measured value, making it the optimal choice for competitive play where frame rate is the priority.

Q: Does increasing settings from Low to Ultra significantly impact performance?

A: At 1440p, the difference between Low (501.2 FPS) and Ultra (308 FPS) is a 38.5% reduction, but the absolute frame rates remain high enough that even Ultra settings provide a competitive advantage over most displays’ refresh rates.

Q: How does the GPU’s benchmark score compare to its rivals?

A: The RX 7600’s average benchmark score of 20258 places it 0.6% below the RX 7600 XT (20146) and 1.5% above the Intel Arc B570 (20556), indicating it is a solid mid-range performer.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-12400 and AMD Radeon RX 7600 ranks 1029 out of 1650 tested combos in Valorant. This position, in the top 62.4% of all combinations, reflects the fact that Valorant is a CPU-bound title where the GPU matters less than in other games. The i5-12400’s 77th percentile ranking among all CPUs (with an average benchmark score of 19850) is the primary driver of the combo’s performance, while the RX 7600’s 63rd percentile GPU ranking is secondary.

The combo’s rank is interesting because it shows that many other combinations with more powerful GPUs or higher-end CPUs can achieve better performance, but the data also reveals that the i5-12400 + RX 7600 is far from a weak pairing. The nearest CPU rivals, such as the Intel Core i7-9700 (avgScore 19831) and Intel Core i7-8700 (avgScore 19894), are within 0.2% of the i5-12400’s score, meaning that any of these CPUs would produce nearly identical results in Valorant. The GPU’s nearest rivals, the RX 7600 XT (20146) and RTX 3070 Mobile (20534), are also very close, but the measured FPS suggests that upgrading the GPU alone would yield diminishing returns in this game.

The rank of 1029 out of 1650 does not tell the full story, as the 4K High setting average of 257.1 FPS and 1080p Low average of 528.2 FPS are exceptional for any hardware. The data suggests that the combo is positioned in the middle of the pack primarily because many users pair higher-end CPUs with this GPU, but for the specific task of playing Valorant, this combo offers performance that is indistinguishable from much more expensive configurations.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the user’s display refresh rate and resolution preferences. For 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 528.2 FPS, which is ideal for a 360Hz or 500Hz competitive monitor, but the High preset at 373.7 FPS still exceeds the refresh rate of most high-end displays and provides better visual clarity. The Medium preset at 392 FPS offers a balanced trade-off, with only a 3.4% reduction from High at 1080p.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset produces 501.2 FPS, which is still extraordinarily high, but the High preset at 317.9 FPS is likely the best choice for most users, as it provides a significant visual upgrade while maintaining frame rates well above 240Hz displays. The Ultra preset at 308 FPS is also viable, with only a 3.1% drop from High, making it a reasonable choice for those who prioritize image quality.

For 3840x2160, the Low preset at 407.6 FPS is the clear winner if frame rate is paramount, but the High preset at 257.1 FPS is more than sufficient for a 240Hz 4K monitor. The Ultra preset at 245.6 FPS is only 4.5% slower than High, so it can be enabled without a meaningful performance penalty. The data shows that this combo can handle any settings combination, but the Medium preset at each resolution offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, with only a minimal FPS cost compared to Low.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data for the Intel Core i5-12400 + AMD Radeon RX 7600 in Valorant is as follows:

At 1920x1080, the Low settings produce an average of 528.2 FPS, the Medium settings produce 392 FPS, the High settings produce 373.7 FPS, and the Ultra settings produce 356 FPS. This represents a range of 172.2 FPS between the lowest and highest visual presets, with the Low preset offering 48.4% more performance than Ultra.

At 2560x1440, the Low settings produce 501.2 FPS, the Medium settings produce 336 FPS, the High settings produce 317.9 FPS, and the Ultra settings produce 308 FPS. The spread here is 193.2 FPS, with Low being 62.7% faster than Ultra. The Medium preset at 336 FPS is within 5.7% of High, making it a highly efficient choice.

At 3840x2160, the Low settings produce 407.6 FPS, the Medium settings produce 267.5 FPS, the High settings produce 257.1 FPS, and the Ultra settings produce 245.6 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 162 FPS, with Low being 66% faster. The Medium preset at 267.5 FPS is only 4.0% faster than High, indicating that the settings scaling is very flat at 4K.

Across all resolutions, the Low preset consistently provides the highest frame rates, with 528.2 FPS at 1080p being the peak measured value. The Medium preset offers a significant visual upgrade over Low with only a 25.8% reduction at 1080p, while the Ultra preset provides the best image quality with a 32.6% reduction at 1080p. The data shows that this combo is capable of maintaining frame rates far above the refresh rates of virtually all gaming displays, regardless of settings or resolution.