Valorant

The Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti combination delivers exceptional performance in Valorant, consistently producing frame rates that far exceed the requirements of competitive play. The data shows that even at the most demanding settings and resolution, this pairing never dips below an average of 381.2 FPS, making it an overwhelmingly capable setup for high-refresh-rate monitors. The benchmark results indicate that the Low preset offers the highest possible performance, but the High setting provides the best balance of visual quality and speed for most users.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data clearly establishes the Low preset as the performance leader, achieving the highest average frame rates at every resolution tested. At 1080p, the Low preset reaches 526.7 FPS, which is 85.8 FPS higher than the High preset's 440.9 FPS at the same resolution. This gap narrows slightly at higher resolutions, with Low at 501.2 FPS versus High at 415.6 FPS for 1440p, and Low at 465.8 FPS versus High at 390.3 FPS for 4K. For players seeking the absolute maximum frame rate, Low is the definitive choice.

However, the High preset deserves serious consideration for its superior visual fidelity with only a modest performance penalty. The difference between Low and High at 1080p is 85.8 FPS, but the High preset still delivers 440.9 FPS, which is more than sufficient for any competitive scenario. The Medium preset sits between these two options, offering 450.8 FPS at 1080p, just 10 FPS behind High. Ultra is the most demanding preset, producing 432.6 FPS at 1080p, which is only 8.3 FPS less than High, indicating that the GPU handles the additional graphical load with relative ease.

Given that all presets produce frame rates well above 300 FPS, the recommendation is to use the High preset for the best visual experience without sacrificing competitive viability. The performance delta between presets is minimal in absolute terms, but High offers the most meaningful visual upgrade over Low for a relatively small frame rate cost. Players with 360Hz or lower refresh rate monitors will find High to be the optimal choice, while those with 500Hz displays might prefer Low to maximize their hardware's potential.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications explain the extraordinary frame rates observed. The GPU features 7680 shading units and 240 texture mapping units, backed by 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. The boost clock of 2610 MHz, combined with a base clock of 2310 MHz, allows the card to process the relatively simple geometry of Valorant with exceptional speed.

The GPU's raw compute capabilities are substantial, with an FP32 throughput of 40.09 TFLOPS and a texture rate of 626.4 GTexel/s. These figures enable the card to handle the game's rendering demands effortlessly, as evidenced by the fact that even the Ultra preset at 4K achieves 381.2 FPS. The pixel rate of 208.8 GPixel/s ensures that the GPU can fill the screen with pixels faster than the game can generate frames, making the GPU rarely the limiting factor in this configuration.

The 12 GB VRAM capacity is more than ample for Valorant, which is not a memory-intensive title. The data shows that the GPU's performance scales predictably with resolution and settings, with the 4K Ultra setting producing 381.2 FPS compared to the 1080p Low setting's 526.7 FPS. This 145.5 FPS difference highlights that while the GPU is powerful, it still responds to increased graphical demands, though the absolute performance remains exceptionally high across all configurations.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals important information about the system's bottleneck characteristics. At the High preset, performance drops from 440.9 FPS at 1080p to 415.6 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 25.3 FPS, and then further to 390.3 FPS at 4K, another 25.3 FPS decrease. This consistent drop of approximately 5.7% per resolution step indicates that the GPU is becoming more involved as resolution increases, but the CPU remains capable of keeping up with the demand.

The Low preset shows a slightly different pattern, with 526.7 FPS at 1080p dropping to 501.2 FPS at 1440p (a 25.5 FPS decrease) and then to 465.8 FPS at 4K (a 35.4 FPS decrease). The larger drop from 1440p to 4K on Low settings suggests that the GPU is starting to become more of a limiting factor at 4K when the CPU is less burdened by graphical settings. However, even at 4K Low, the system maintains 465.8 FPS, which is still extraordinarily high.

The scaling behavior indicates that this combo is primarily CPU-limited at lower resolutions, with the Intel Core i5-12400's six cores providing enough performance to keep the GPU well-fed. As resolution increases, the GPU becomes more utilized, but the overall performance remains so high that the limiting component shifts without causing any noticeable degradation in playability. The data shows that the system is balanced enough to deliver excellent performance at any resolution, with the 4K Ultra setting still achieving 381.2 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average frame rates are 526.7 FPS on Low, 450.8 FPS on Medium, 440.9 FPS on High, and 432.6 FPS on Ultra. The spread from Low to Ultra is 94.1 FPS, with the largest single drop occurring between Low and Medium at 75.9 FPS. The difference between Medium and High is only 9.9 FPS, and between High and Ultra is just 8.3 FPS, demonstrating that the GPU handles the higher preset levels with minimal additional cost.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates are 501.2 FPS on Low, 426.7 FPS on Medium, 415.6 FPS on High, and 410.6 FPS on Ultra. The total spread here is 90.6 FPS, and the pattern mirrors 1080p with the largest gap between Low and Medium at 74.5 FPS. The Medium to High difference is 11.1 FPS, and High to Ultra is 5.0 FPS, showing even tighter grouping at the higher presets.

At 3840x2160, the results are 465.8 FPS on Low, 394.4 FPS on Medium, 390.3 FPS on High, and 381.2 FPS on Ultra. The spread narrows to 84.6 FPS, with the Low to Medium gap being 71.4 FPS. The Medium to High difference is just 4.1 FPS, and High to Ultra is 9.1 FPS. Across all resolutions, the Medium preset consistently offers a significant improvement over Low, while the differences between Medium, High, and Ultra are relatively small, suggesting that players can use High or Ultra settings with minimal frame rate consequences.

FAQ

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

A: The highest measured average frame rate is 526.7 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low preset.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from Low to Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: The data shows a drop from 526.7 FPS on Low to 432.6 FPS on Ultra at 1080p, representing a 94.1 FPS difference.

Q: Is the RTX 4070 Ti sufficient for 4K gaming in Valorant?

A: Yes, at 3840x2160 resolution, the combo achieves 465.8 FPS on Low and 381.2 FPS on Ultra, both well above competitive thresholds.

Q: How does the CPU compare to other processors in general benchmarks?

A: The Intel Core i5-12400 has an average benchmark score of 19850, placing it within 0.1% of the Intel Core i7-9700 and 0.2% of the Intel Core i7-8700.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all tested graphics cards?

A: The RTX 4070 Ti ranks in the 85th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 44900.

Q: Does the Medium preset offer a good middle ground?

A: At 1080p, Medium delivers 450.8 FPS, which is 75.9 FPS less than Low but only 9.9 FPS more than High, making it a reasonable compromise.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 provides the computational foundation for this setup, featuring 6 cores and 12 threads with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. The processor's 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache help maintain low latency access to game data, which is critical for maintaining high frame rates in a fast-paced FPS. The CPU's 3DMark single-thread score of 910 and multithread score of 5890 indicate strong single-core performance, which is essential for Valorant's engine.

The CPU's benchmark results show it is competitive with its peers, achieving a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 15935 and a single-core score of 2249. In the Passmark suite, the processor scores 18747 for multithread and 3456 for single-thread performance. The CPU's percentile ranking of 77 among all tested CPUs places it above average, and its average benchmark score of 19850 is nearly identical to the Intel Core i7-9700's 19831, representing a 0.1% difference.

The data indicates that the i5-12400 is well-matched to the RTX 4070 Ti for Valorant, as the CPU's strong single-thread performance prevents it from bottlenecking the GPU at lower resolutions. The 3DMark 8-thread score of 4745 and 16-thread score of 5873 show that the processor scales well with additional threads, though Valorant primarily relies on fewer cores. The CPU's 65 W TDP and Alder Lake architecture contribute to its efficiency, allowing sustained high performance without thermal throttling.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this specific combination of the Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti ranks 471st out of 1650 tested combinations, placing it in the top 28.5% of all configurations. This ranking reflects the combo's ability to deliver high frame rates in Valorant, though it is not the absolute top performer due to the CPU's mid-range positioning. The GPU's 85th percentile ranking suggests that the graphics card is a stronger component relative to the CPU's 77th percentile, indicating that the processor is the more limiting factor in this pairing.

The combo's rank of 471 out of 1650 demonstrates that there are many configurations with more powerful CPUs that achieve higher scores in this game. However, the measured frame rates show that this combo still delivers exceptional performance, with even the lowest recorded average of 381.2 FPS at 4K Ultra being far above what most players require. The data suggests that the RTX 4070 Ti is capable of pushing much higher frame rates if paired with a stronger CPU, but the i5-12400 provides sufficient performance to keep the system well within the territory of high-refresh-rate gaming.

The combination's ranking should be interpreted in context: while it is not the top performer, it offers a compelling balance of CPU and GPU capabilities that results in outstanding Valorant performance. The 1650 tested combos include many with flagship processors, so a 471st place finish still places this system in the upper echelon of gaming configurations. The data confirms that for Valorant specifically, this combo provides more than enough performance for any competitive scenario, making the rank more of a theoretical measure than a practical limitation.