Valorant

Valorant on the Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination delivers exceptional frame rates across all tested settings, with the data showing that the CPU becomes the primary performance governor at lower resolutions. The measured results indicate that this pairing is vastly overqualified for the game, producing average FPS figures that range from 384.8 to 530.2 depending on configuration. The benchmark data reveals a clear hierarchy where the GPU's immense power is left underutilized, making the choice of graphics preset and resolution more about consistency and frame pacing than about achieving playable performance.

Settings Recommendations

The optimal experience in Valorant with this hardware configuration is achieved using the Low preset at any resolution, as the data shows this setting consistently delivers the highest average frame rates. At 1920x1080, the Low preset produces 530.2 FPS, which is 83.3 FPS higher than the High preset at the same resolution and 92.5 FPS above the Ultra setting. The performance advantage of Low settings persists across all resolutions, with a 466.2 FPS average at 3840x2160 compared to 387.5 FPS on High. This suggests that the game engine's rendering load at Low settings is sufficiently light to allow the CPU to push frame rates to their maximum potential.

For users prioritizing visual fidelity over raw frame rates, the Ultra preset remains entirely viable, with the data showing a 437.7 FPS average at 1080p and 384.8 FPS at 4K. The performance delta between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 92.5 FPS, representing a 17.4% reduction, which is negligible in practical terms given that both configurations far exceed the refresh rate capabilities of most displays. The Medium preset offers a middle ground, with 450.3 FPS at 1080p and 399.8 FPS at 4K, but the data indicates that the visual improvements from Medium to High or Ultra do not come at a significant cost. The measured FPS spread across settings at any given resolution is relatively narrow, with a maximum difference of 92.5 FPS between Low and Ultra at 1080p, suggesting that users can select presets based on visual preference without compromising competitive performance.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F features 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, and this configuration proves to be the limiting factor in Valorant at lower resolutions. The CPU's benchmark scores indicate strong single-thread performance, with a 3dmark_single_thread score of 909 and a passmark_single_thread score of 3481, which are critical for a game like Valorant that relies heavily on per-core processing. The data shows that at 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system achieves 530.2 FPS, which is the highest measured result, but the fact that this figure does not increase substantially when compared to 1440p results (503.3 FPS) suggests that the CPU is approaching its maximum frame generation capability. The processor's 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB L2 cache per core provide adequate data locality for the game's computational demands, and the Alder Lake architecture's 10 nm process node contributes to efficient processing.

The CPU's 3dmark_max_threads score of 5912 and cinebench_r23_multicore score of 16518 indicate that multi-threaded performance is robust, but Valorant's engine does not appear to scale significantly with additional threads beyond the 6 cores and 12 threads available. The percentileVsAllCpus rating of 77 places this processor above most alternatives, and its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-8700K, has an average score of 19210 with a deltaPct of 0.1, indicating near-identical overall performance. The data reveals that the CPU's boost clock of 4.40 GHz is likely the key driver of frame rates, as the measured FPS at 1080p Low (530.2) is only 5.3% higher than at 1440p Low (503.3), demonstrating that the CPU is saturated regardless of resolution. This saturation point is reached because the RTX 4090 can render frames faster than the i5-12400F can process game logic, meaning that users upgrading to a higher-core-count CPU would see minimal gains in this specific title.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, with its 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and 384-bit bus width, provides a massive 1.01 TB/s of memory bandwidth, yet the Valorant benchmark data shows that this GPU is rarely the performance bottleneck. The GPU's 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 16384 shading units are far beyond what Valorant requires, as evidenced by the relatively small frame rate differences between resolutions. At 1920x1080 Low, the system achieves 530.2 FPS, while at 3840x2160 Low, it delivers 466.2 FPS, a difference of only 64 FPS or 12.1%, which is remarkably small for a 4x increase in pixel count. The GPU's boost clock of 2520 MHz and base clock of 2235 MHz, combined with its Ada Lovelace architecture on a 5 nm process, enable it to handle the game's rendering demands with significant headroom.

The measured data indicates that the RTX 4090's performance in this game is constrained by the CPU, as the frame rates across different settings at the same resolution show only modest variation. For instance, at 3840x2160, the difference between Low (466.2 FPS) and Ultra (384.8 FPS) is 81.4 FPS, suggesting that the GPU is capable of processing the increased graphical load but the CPU cannot feed it frames quickly enough to fully utilize its potential. The GPU's passmark_g3d score of 38194 and percentileVsAllGpus rating of 91 confirm its top-tier status, but the nearest rivals in the database, such as the NVIDIA Tesla T4 with an average score of 66733 (deltaPct -0.4), are professional compute cards rather than gaming-focused alternatives. The VRAM capacity of 24 GB is excessive for Valorant, as the game's texture and geometry data likely utilize only a fraction of this memory, and the 21 Gbps effective memory speed provides ample bandwidth for any frame the CPU can generate.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable with this CPU and GPU combination in Valorant?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 530.2, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

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

A: The Intel Core i7-8700K has an average benchmark score of 19210, which is 0.1% higher than the i5-12400F's score, indicating essentially equivalent performance.

Q: Does increasing resolution from 1080p to 4K significantly impact frame rates at Low settings?

A: No, the data shows a drop from 530.2 FPS at 1080p to 466.2 FPS at 4K, a reduction of 64 FPS or 12.1%, which is minimal given the 4x pixel count increase.

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

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings produce 503.3 FPS while Ultra settings produce 412.4 FPS, a difference of 90.9 FPS favoring Low.

Q: Is the RTX 4090 the limiting factor in this game at 1080p?

A: No, the data indicates the CPU is the bottleneck, as the FPS at 1080p Low (530.2) is only slightly higher than at 1440p Low (503.3), suggesting the GPU has significant headroom.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations for Valorant?

A: The combination ranks 435th out of 1650 tested combos, placing it in the top 26.4% of all configurations tested for this game.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals distinctive scaling patterns as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, with the CPU bottleneck becoming more apparent at lower resolutions. At Low settings, the frame rate drops from 530.2 FPS at 1080p to 503.3 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 26.9 FPS or 5.1%, and then to 466.2 FPS at 4K, representing a further 37.1 FPS decrease. This pattern indicates that the GPU is only marginally stressed by the resolution increase, as the CPU's frame generation capability remains the limiting factor throughout. The scaling at High settings shows a similar trend, with 446.9 FPS at 1080p, 421.9 FPS at 1440p, and 387.5 FPS at 4K, demonstrating that the GPU can handle the additional pixel workload without a proportional performance penalty.

The data suggests that the RTX 4090's rendering capabilities are so far beyond Valorant's requirements that resolution scaling has a diminished impact compared to what would be expected with a less powerful GPU. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is 12.1%, while at Ultra settings it is 12.1% as well (437.7 FPS to 384.8 FPS), showing remarkable consistency across presets. This consistency implies that the GPU is not the primary constraint, as a GPU-bound scenario would typically show larger percentage drops at higher resolutions. The limiting component is clearly the CPU, as the frame rates at 1080p and 1440p are much closer than would be expected if the GPU were saturated, and the i5-12400F's single-thread performance of 909 in 3dmark is the probable ceiling for frame generation.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured average FPS values for this configuration across all tested resolutions and settings is as follows. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 530.2 FPS, Medium produces 450.3 FPS, High achieves 446.9 FPS, and Ultra provides 437.7 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset yields 503.3 FPS, Medium produces 426.4 FPS, High achieves 421.9 FPS, and Ultra delivers 412.4 FPS. At 3840x2160, the Low preset produces 466.2 FPS, Medium achieves 399.8 FPS, High produces 387.5 FPS, and Ultra delivers 384.8 FPS.

The data shows a consistent pattern where Low settings always provide the highest frame rates, with the gap between Low and Medium being substantial across all resolutions. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Medium is 79.9 FPS, while at 1440p it is 76.9 FPS, and at 4K it is 66.4 FPS. The differences between Medium, High, and Ultra are much smaller, with the spread from Medium to Ultra at 1080p being only 12.6 FPS. This suggests that the game's Medium preset introduces a significant reduction in frame rate compared to Low, but the additional graphical features in High and Ultra have diminishing performance impacts. The minimum and maximum FPS values are not provided in the data, so the analysis relies solely on average frame rates, which are exceptionally high across all configurations.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 435th out of 1650 tested combos for Valorant, placing it in the top 26.4% of all configurations evaluated. This ranking is notable because it demonstrates that the pairing of a mid-range CPU with a top-tier GPU does not necessarily result in a top-tier gaming experience, particularly in CPU-bound titles like Valorant. The CPU's percentileVsAllCpus rating of 77 indicates that it outperforms 77% of all processors in the database, but the GPU's percentileVsAllGpus rating of 91 shows that the RTX 4090 is superior to 91% of all graphics cards tested.

The ranking of 435 out of 1650 suggests that many other CPU and GPU combinations achieve higher frame rates in Valorant, likely those featuring processors with higher single-thread performance than the i5-12400F. The data indicates that the RTX 4090's immense power is partially wasted in this configuration, as the CPU cannot fully utilize the GPU's capabilities, resulting in a ranking that is lower than what the GPU alone might suggest. The measured FPS figures, while exceptionally high, are not the best among all tested combos, and the bottleneck analysis shows that upgrading the CPU would likely improve the ranking more than upgrading the GPU. The combo's position in the rankings reflects the reality that Valorant's performance is heavily dependent on CPU processing power, and the i5-12400F's boost clock of 4.40 GHz is the primary factor limiting this otherwise powerful combination.