Valorant

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates for Valorant with the Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 reveal a game that is extraordinarily well-optimized and largely bound by the CPU rather than the GPU. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces an average of 525.5 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low, the average drops to 497.7 FPS, a reduction of roughly 5.3%. The further step to 4K Low yields 465.7 FPS, another 6.4% decline. This pattern—a modest single-digit percentage loss at each resolution step—indicates that the graphics card is not the primary constraint, even at the highest pixel counts.

The scaling story becomes clearer when examining the High and Ultra presets. At 1080p High, the average is 439.3 FPS; at 1440p High, it falls to 421 FPS; and at 4K High, it reaches 385.4 FPS. The total drop from 1080p to 4K at High settings is roughly 12.3%. For Ultra settings, the figures are 435.3 FPS at 1080p, 411.7 FPS at 1440p, and 380 FPS at 4K, a decline of about 12.7% across the resolution range. These are remarkably small penalties for a fourfold increase in pixel count, which strongly suggests that the RTX 4070 has ample headroom and that the frame rate ceiling is being set elsewhere.

The gap between Low and Ultra at each resolution is also telling. At 1080p, the difference between Low (525.5 FPS) and Ultra (435.3 FPS) is 90.2 FPS, or about 17.2%. At 4K, the Low-to-Ultra spread narrows to 85.7 FPS (465.7 vs 380). If the GPU were the limiting factor, raising settings would produce a much larger relative penalty at 4K, where pixel throughput is highest. Instead, the relatively flat performance across settings indicates that the game's engine is heavily dependent on CPU processing power for its simulation and draw-call overhead, with the GPU handling the relatively simple visual workload with ease.

The data points to a system where the RTX 4070 is operating well below its potential in Valorant. The GPU is never the bottleneck; even at 4K Ultra, the 380 FPS average is far beyond what most high-refresh-rate monitors can display. The limiting component is the CPU, which must feed the GPU with enough frames to sustain these extreme rates. The i5-12400's performance in this context is the deciding factor, and the resolution scaling data confirms that the game's frame rate is largely independent of graphical load.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 is a six-core, twelve-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. It features 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 18 MB of shared L3 cache. In Valorant, which is known for being sensitive to single-thread performance and cache latency, these specifications play a critical role in achieving the frame rates observed.

The CPU's single-thread capabilities are highlighted by its benchmark scores: a 3DMark single-thread score of 910, a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2249, and a PassMark single-thread score of 3456. These numbers place the i5-12400 in the 77th percentile against all CPUs, indicating solid but not top-tier performance. The nearest rivals in aggregate benchmark score include the Intel Core i7-9700 (0.1% faster), the Intel Core i7-8700 (0.2% slower), and the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5995WX (0.4% slower). The i5-12400's performance is essentially on par with these older or more specialized parts, which suggests that its architectural efficiency compensates for its modest core count in this test.

In Valorant, the high average FPS across all resolutions and settings implies that the CPU is managing the game's simulation thread effectively. The 4.40 GHz boost clock is likely the key factor, as the game's frame rate scales with how quickly the processor can execute the main game loop. The multi-threaded scores—such as a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 15935 and a PassMark multithread score of 18747—show that the processor can handle concurrent workloads, but the game's reliance on a few heavily loaded threads means that the boost clock and cache hierarchy are more important than raw core count.

The data suggests that the i5-12400 is a capable match for this game, but not an exceptional one. The fact that the frame rate drops only slightly when moving from Low to Ultra settings reinforces the idea that the CPU is the primary driver of performance. If the processor were weaker, the resolution scaling would show a more pronounced drop at 4K, as the GPU would become the bottleneck. Instead, the CPU maintains a high floor, allowing the RTX 4070 to deliver these extreme frame rates.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings is 439.3 FPS.

Q: How much slower is 4K Ultra compared to 1080p Ultra?

A: At 1920x1080 Ultra, the average is 435.3 FPS, while at 3840x2160 Ultra, it is 380 FPS, representing a drop of approximately 12.7%.

Q: Does the RTX 4070's performance in this game match its benchmark percentile?

A: The RTX 4070 has a PassMark G3D score of 26927 and sits in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, yet in Valorant it is not the limiting factor; the CPU is, as shown by the minimal frame rate differences between Low and Ultra settings.

Q: What is the combo's rank among tested configurations?

A: This combo ranks 480th out of 1650 tested combinations in Valorant, placing it in the top 29% of all systems tested.

Q: How does the i5-12400 compare to its nearest rival in aggregate score?

A: The Intel Core i7-9700 has an average score of 19831, which is 0.1% higher than the i5-12400's 19850, making the two effectively equivalent in overall benchmark performance.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings yield 497.7 FPS while Ultra yields 411.7 FPS, a difference of 86 FPS, or about 17.3%.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 achieves a rank of 480 out of 1650 tested combos in Valorant. This places the system in the top 29.1% of all configurations in the database, which is a strong showing for a mid-range processor paired with a high-end graphics card. The ranking reflects the fact that the CPU is the primary performance driver in this game, and the i5-12400's single-thread performance is sufficient to push the frame rate to very high levels, though it is not among the absolute fastest processors.

The rank is somewhat surprising given the RTX 4070's high standing in GPU benchmarks. The GPU sits in the 81st percentile of all graphics cards, with a PassMark G3D score of 26927, and its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (0.6% faster) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (2.2% faster). However, in Valorant, the GPU's raw power is largely irrelevant because the game is not graphically demanding. The combo's rank is thus determined almost entirely by the CPU's ability to feed frames, and the i5-12400's performance, while good, is not exceptional enough to push this combo higher.

Compared to other combos in the database, the 480th rank suggests that there are 479 configurations that deliver higher average FPS in this game. These are likely systems with faster CPUs, such as those with higher boost clocks or better single-thread performance, even if their GPUs are less powerful. The data indicates that for Valorant specifically, upgrading the CPU would yield a more significant improvement in rank than upgrading the GPU, as the RTX 4070 is already far beyond the game's requirements.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process, featuring 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. It has a base clock of 1920 MHz and a boost clock of 2475 MHz, with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. The card's memory clock is 1313 MHz, with 21 Gbps effective. These specifications make it a high-end GPU, as reflected by its 81st percentile ranking among all GPUs and its PassMark G3D score of 26927.

In Valorant, however, the GPU's role is minimal. The frame rates at 1080p Low (525.5 FPS) and 4K Ultra (380 FPS) show that the card has more than enough headroom to handle the game's relatively simple rendering workload. The fact that the frame rate drops by less than 13% when moving from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings demonstrates that the GPU is not the bottleneck; if it were, the 4K resolution would cause a much more significant frame rate collapse due to the fourfold increase in pixel count.

The GPU's performance in this game is also reflected in its benchmark scores, such as a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3854 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 168006. These numbers are strong, but they are not indicative of the card's role in Valorant, which is essentially to render the scene as fast as the CPU can deliver draw calls. The RTX 4070's high pixel rate (158.4 GPixel/s) and texture rate (455.4 GTexel/s) are more than sufficient for the game's visuals, and the 12 GB of VRAM is far beyond what Valorant requires at any resolution or setting.

The data shows that the GPU is effectively underutilized in this title. The measured FPS across all settings and resolutions is consistently above 380 FPS, which is well beyond the refresh rate of most monitors. This means that in actual gameplay, the RTX 4070's capabilities are largely wasted in Valorant, and the system's performance is entirely dependent on the CPU. The GPU's 200 W TDP and 550 W suggested PSU are indicative of its power draw, but in this game, it is likely running at a fraction of its potential load. The conclusion is that for Valorant, the RTX 4070 is a luxury component that provides no additional benefit over a much weaker GPU, as the frame rate ceiling is set by the i5-12400.