Valorant

The benchmark data for Valorant on the Intel Core i5-12400 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 reveals a system that is overwhelmingly CPU-bound at every tested setting and resolution. The RTX 5090’s immense rendering capacity is left largely untapped, with frame rates dictated by the i5-12400’s single-thread performance and memory subsystem. This combination produces extraordinarily high average FPS, placing it in the top 29% of all tested combos, yet the scaling patterns show that the GPU is effectively idle for large portions of the workload.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows minimal performance degradation as resolution increases, which is the definitive signature of a CPU-bound scenario. At 1080p High settings, the combo produces 444.2 FPS average. Moving to 1440p High only drops this to 416.9 FPS, a reduction of just 6.1%. At 4K High, the average is 390.2 FPS, which is 12.2% lower than the 1080p result. For a GPU as powerful as the RTX 5090, which sits in the 94th percentile of all GPUs, such a small drop across a 4x increase in pixel count is remarkable and indicates the graphics card is not the limiting factor.

The pattern is consistent across all quality presets. At Low settings, the 1080p average is 526.2 FPS, dropping to 503.2 FPS at 1440p and 463.9 FPS at 4K. The total spread from 1080p to 4K is only 11.8% at Low settings. At Ultra settings, the spread is 433.8 FPS at 1080p down to 381.3 FPS at 4K, a 12.1% difference. These tight margins across resolutions—all within roughly 12%—strongly suggest that the CPU’s ability to feed the game’s simulation and draw calls is the bottleneck, not the GPU’s pixel throughput.

The data reveals that the i5-12400, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, provides a consistent ceiling for Valorant’s frame generation. The RTX 5090’s 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth are never stressed by this title, as evidenced by the fact that even at 4K Ultra, the average FPS remains above 380. The limiting component is clearly the processor, which is exacerbated by Valorant’s engine being highly sensitive to single-thread performance. The i5-12400’s boost clock of 4.40 GHz and single-thread score of 910 in 3dmark demonstrate capable, but not class-leading, per-core performance that caps the output.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090’s role in this configuration is almost entirely passive, serving as a high-bandwidth pipeline rather than an active computational bottleneck. The GPU’s base clock is 2017 MHz with a boost of 2407 MHz, and its massive 32 GB VRAM pool is far beyond what Valorant requires. The fact that the FPS difference between 1080p Low and 4K Ultra is only 390.2 FPS versus 526.2 FPS—a 25.8% gap—shows that the GPU is still rendering frames, but its performance headroom is so vast that it never becomes the constraint.

The data shows that the GPU’s benchmark scores are exceptional, with a Passmark G3D score of 39650 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14411, placing it in the 94th percentile of all GPUs. However, in Valorant, these raw compute capabilities are barely utilized. The GPU’s FP32 throughput of 104.8 TFLOPS and texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s are irrelevant when the CPU cannot issue draw calls fast enough. This is evidenced by the minimal FPS difference between presets at the same resolution; at 4K, the gap between Low (463.9 FPS) and Ultra (381.3 FPS) is just 17.8%, suggesting that even the most demanding settings do not meaningfully engage the GPU.

The RTX 5090’s memory configuration—32 GB of GDDR7 on a 512-bit bus—provides ample bandwidth for any resolution, but the game’s frame times are governed by the CPU. The i5-12400’s 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 12 threads are the primary drivers of the final frame rate. The GPU’s VRAM clocks of 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective) are never a limiting factor in this scenario. In essence, the RTX 5090 is functioning as a very fast but underutilized renderer, with its performance headroom completely masking any GPU-side limitations.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide a clear picture of how settings impact performance, and the optimal choice is counterintuitive for such a high-end GPU. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers 526.2 FPS, while High yields 444.2 FPS and Ultra drops to 433.8 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra is 17.6%, which is substantial for a competitive FPS where higher frame rates directly reduce input latency. The data indicates that the Low preset is the best experience for competitive play, as the FPS gain of 92.4 FPS over Ultra is significant and the visual fidelity loss in a fast-paced tactical shooter is minimal.

However, for users prioritizing visual quality over raw FPS, the Ultra preset at 1080p still provides 433.8 FPS, which is well above any high-refresh-rate monitor’s capabilities. The 1440p results follow a similar pattern: Low produces 503.2 FPS, while Ultra drops to 409.4 FPS. The 93.8 FPS difference between these presets suggests that Low is again the preferred choice for maximum responsiveness. At 4K, the spread narrows to 463.9 FPS at Low versus 381.3 FPS at Ultra, a difference of 82.6 FPS, but even the lowest Ultra result remains playable at high refresh rates.

The benchmark results indicate that the Medium preset offers a balanced middle ground: at 1080p it achieves 449 FPS, nearly identical to High’s 444.2 FPS, and at 4K it hits 394.4 FPS, which is slightly above High’s 390.2 FPS. Given that the CPU is the bottleneck, the data suggests that choosing Low settings maximizes the frame rate ceiling without any meaningful GPU penalty, as the RTX 5090’s utilization remains low regardless of preset. For a game like Valorant, where every millisecond of input lag matters, the Low preset is the recommended configuration based on the measured FPS data.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination holds a combo rank of 475 out of 1650 tested combos in Valorant, placing it in the top 28.8% of all configurations. This ranking is notably high for a mid-range CPU paired with a flagship GPU, and it underscores the CPU-bound nature of the game. The i5-12400 itself has a percentile rank of 77 among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19850, which places it in close competition with the Intel Core i7-9700 (deltaPct of 0.1%) and slightly behind the Intel Core i7-8700 (deltaPct of -0.2%).

The combo’s rank of 475 out of 1650 is impressive given that the GPU is vastly more powerful than what Valorant requires. The data shows that the RTX 5090’s own percentile rank of 94 among all GPUs does not translate into a top-tier combo ranking for this specific title, because the CPU holds the system back. The i5-12400’s nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i5-11600K with a deltaPct of 0.4%, would likely produce nearly identical frame rates in Valorant, as the bottleneck is the same. This ranking suggests that the combo is highly capable for Valorant, but the GPU’s potential is wasted; a less powerful GPU paired with the same CPU would likely achieve a similar rank.

The fact that this combo sits at 475 out of 1650 indicates that there are many configurations with faster CPUs that achieve higher frame rates, despite having weaker GPUs. The i5-12400’s single-thread performance, as evidenced by its 3dmark single-thread score of 910, is solid but not elite, which limits the overall ceiling. The combo’s rank confirms the i5-12400’s efficiency, but it also highlights that the RTX 5090 is overkill for this game, as the GPU’s massive compute resources are mostly idle.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1440p with High settings?

A: The measured data shows an average FPS of 416.9 at 2560x1440 with High settings.

Q: How does the combo rank compare to other tested configurations in Valorant?

A: This combo ranks 475th out of 1650 tested combos, placing it in the top 28.8% of all configurations.

Q: Is the GPU or CPU the limiting factor in Valorant?

A: The data indicates the CPU is the limiting factor, as FPS drops by only 12.2% from 1080p to 4K at High settings, while the RTX 5090’s performance is far above what the game requires.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 526.2 FPS, while Ultra achieves 433.8 FPS, a difference of 92.4 FPS.

Q: What is the boost clock of the CPU and the base clock of the GPU?

A: The Intel Core i5-12400 has a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 has a base clock of 2017 MHz.

Q: Which preset provides the highest average FPS at 4K resolution?

A: The Low preset at 3840x2160 provides the highest average FPS of 463.9, compared to 381.3 for Ultra.