Valorant

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D combination ranks 813th out of 2,883 tested combos in Valorant. This places the setup in the top 28% of all configurations tested, which is a strong result for a competitive FPS where high frame rates directly translate to smoother aim and faster reaction times. The ranking reflects a pairing where the GPU is overwhelmingly dominant, but the CPU still holds the setup back from elite-tier performance.

The data shows a clear hierarchy in this combo: the RTX 5090 D is an absolute monster, sitting in the 92nd percentile among all GPUs tested. In contrast, the i5-12400F ranks in the 73rd percentile among CPUs. The GPU is the star of this show, delivering frame rates that exceed what most high-refresh monitors can even display. The CPU, while respectable, is the bottleneck that prevents this combo from climbing higher in the rankings. In a game like Valorant, which is notoriously CPU-bound at lower resolutions, this dynamic is particularly pronounced.

The measured results confirm this imbalance. At 1080p Low settings, the combo hits 530 FPS average, which is an extraordinary number. However, that figure represents the ceiling imposed by the CPU's single-thread performance. The GPU could theoretically push far higher, but the i5-12400F's 6 cores and 12 threads, with a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, simply cannot feed frames any faster. The benchmark data shows this is not a GPU-limited scenario at 1080p. The 813th rank is a product of this CPU limitation, not a reflection of the GPU's capability.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo overkill for Valorant?

A: The RTX 5090 D is in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs, and the measured FPS at 4K Ultra is 385 average. That is far beyond what any competitive player needs, and the CPU's 73rd percentile ranking means the GPU is never fully utilized in this game. The data indicates the GPU is severely underutilized at all resolutions.

Q: What is the best resolution to play at with this setup?

A: Based on the measured FPS, 1440p offers the best balance. At 1440p High, the combo averages 422 FPS, while 1080p High is only 445 FPS. The gap between resolutions is small, so playing at 1440p or 4K gives you near-identical performance with better image quality.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU in this game?

A: Yes. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 530, but moving to 4K Ultra only drops that to 385 FPS. This 27% reduction across an 8x pixel increase shows the CPU is the limiting factor at lower resolutions. The GPU has headroom that the CPU cannot exploit.

Q: How does the i5-12400F compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The i5-12400F has an average benchmark score of 19,039. Its closest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS, scores 19,047, a negligible 0% difference. The Intel Core 3 201E scores 19,056, which is 0.1% higher, and the Intel Core i5-1335U scores 18,982, which is 0.3% lower. The CPU is effectively tied with these alternatives.

Q: Is the RTX 5090 D worth pairing with this CPU?

A: In Valorant specifically, no. The GPU's 92nd percentile ranking is completely wasted because the CPU's 73rd percentile ranking limits frame delivery. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra (385) is still high, but the same CPU with a much weaker GPU would likely produce similar results in this game.

Q: What is the minimum FPS I can expect?

A: The only rows with min FPS data are at Medium settings. At 1080p Medium, the minimum is 384 FPS, at 1440p Medium it is 365 FPS, and at 4K Medium it is 338 FPS. These figures suggest the combo never drops below 300 FPS in any tested configuration.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic CPU-bound scenario. Moving from 1080p Low to 4K Low, the average FPS drops from 530 to 467, a decline of just 11.9%. This is an astonishingly small penalty for a 4x increase in pixel count. In a GPU-bound game, that same resolution jump would typically cut frame rates by 50% or more. The data indicates the GPU is so powerful that pixel throughput is not the limiting factor; the CPU's frame generation capability is.

At High settings, the scaling is even tighter. The 1080p High average is 445 FPS, and 4K High is 392 FPS, a drop of only 11.9% again. This consistency across settings suggests the bottleneck is purely CPU-side. The RTX 5090 D has such massive bandwidth (1.79 TB/s) and compute throughput (104.8 TFLOPS) that it processes the increased load without breaking a sweat. The 5 nm GB202 chip with 92,200 million transistors is simply waiting for the CPU to send more draw calls.

The Medium settings row provides the only min FPS data, which shows a similar pattern. At 1080p Medium, the minimum is 384 FPS. At 1440p Medium, it is 365 FPS, and at 4K Medium, it is 338 FPS. The minimum FPS scales more steeply than the average, indicating that frame time consistency degrades slightly at higher resolutions. However, even the 4K minimum of 338 FPS is far above the refresh rate of any mainstream monitor. The conclusion is clear: this combo is CPU-limited at every resolution, and the GPU has enormous untapped headroom.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data shows that settings have a surprisingly small impact on performance. At 1080p, the spread between Low (530 FPS) and Ultra (438 FPS) is only 92 FPS, or about 17%. At 1440p, the spread is 88 FPS (503 to 415), and at 4K, it is 82 FPS (467 to 385). This narrow range is a direct result of the CPU bottleneck. Since the CPU is the limiting factor, GPU workload differences between settings barely matter.

For competitive play, the Low preset at 1440p is the optimal choice. It delivers 503 FPS average, which is only 27 FPS less than the 1080p Low figure of 530 FPS, but with significantly better image clarity. The 1440p Low setting also avoids the slight frame rate penalty of 1080p Ultra, which averages 438 FPS. If you have a 360 Hz or 500 Hz monitor, the 1440p Low preset gives you enough headroom to stay above the refresh rate in most scenarios.

For players who prioritize visual quality, the Ultra preset is not a significant sacrifice. At 4K Ultra, the combo still averages 385 FPS, which is far above any current display's refresh rate. The High preset at 4K (392 FPS) is nearly identical to Ultra, so there is no reason to drop settings for performance. The Medium preset offers the only min FPS data, with 338 FPS at 4K, but the average is only 398 FPS, making it the worst of the three intermediate options. The recommendation is to use Ultra at 4K for maximum visual fidelity, or Low at 1440p for maximum frame rate. Both choices keep you comfortably above 300 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. The Low preset averages 530 FPS, which is the peak measured result across all configurations. High settings average 445 FPS, Medium averages 452 FPS with a minimum of 384 FPS and a maximum of 520 FPS, and Ultra averages 438 FPS. The 92 FPS gap between Low and Ultra is modest, reinforcing the CPU-bound analysis. The Medium preset's minimum of 384 FPS is the lowest 1080p figure recorded, but it still exceeds any practical refresh rate.

At 2560x1440, performance remains exceptionally high. Low settings average 503 FPS, which is just 5% lower than the 1080p Low result. High settings average 422 FPS, Medium averages 429 FPS with a minimum of 365 FPS and a maximum of 493 FPS, and Ultra averages 415 FPS. The 1440p results show that the resolution increase costs roughly 5-6% performance across all settings. The minimum FPS at Medium (365) is still higher than the 4K Ultra average, demonstrating the CPU's consistent frame delivery.

At 3840x2160, the combo still produces astonishing numbers. Low settings average 467 FPS, which is higher than most systems achieve at 1080p. High settings average 392 FPS, Medium averages 398 FPS with a minimum of 338 FPS and a maximum of 458 FPS, and Ultra averages 385 FPS. The 4K results show only a 12% drop from 1080p, which is remarkable. The Medium preset's minimum of 338 FPS is the lowest measured value in the entire dataset, but it remains far above the threshold for competitive play. The data shows that this combo never dips below 338 FPS in any tested configuration.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 18 MB of shared L3 cache. This CPU ranks in the 73rd percentile among all tested CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19,039.

In Valorant, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The benchmark results show this CPU is the limiting factor in this combo. The 3DMark single-thread score of 909 and the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1,680 indicate solid single-thread performance, but not exceptional. Valorant is heavily dependent on single-thread performance, and the 4.40 GHz boost clock is the ceiling for frame generation.

The CPU's nearest rivals show it is competitively positioned. The AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS scores 19,047, a 0% difference. The Intel Core 3 201E scores 19,056, which is 0.1% higher, and the Intel Core i5-1335U scores 18,982, which is 0.3% lower. These negligible differences mean the i5-12400F is interchangeable with these alternatives in terms of raw compute. However, the measured FPS in Valorant suggests the CPU's memory support (DDR4 and DDR5, dual-channel) and PCIe Gen 5 interface are sufficient to avoid additional bottlenecks.

The data shows that the 6-core, 12-thread configuration is adequate for Valorant, which is not heavily multithreaded. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 5,895 and the max-thread score of 5,912 indicate the CPU can handle multithreaded workloads, but the game does not utilize them. The PassMark single-thread score of 3,481 is the more relevant metric for this game. The CPU's 65 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 platform are well-established, but the locked multiplier (unlocked: false) means no overclocking headroom to squeeze out more FPS. The analysis is clear: the i5-12400F is a capable CPU, but it is the component that limits this combo's performance in Valorant.