Valorant

The Intel Core i5-13400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9070 produces exceptionally high frame rates in Valorant, with the data showing average FPS figures that consistently exceed 370 even at the most demanding 4K Ultra settings. This combination places in the 927th position out of 3708 tested combos, indicating that while it is not at the absolute top of the leaderboard, it delivers performance that is well above the median for this title. The benchmark results reveal a system where the CPU and GPU work in concert to remove nearly all bottlenecks, creating a gaming experience defined by fluidity and responsiveness rather than graphical compromise.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and predictable pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases, but the magnitude of this drop is surprisingly modest given the hardware involved. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 552 FPS, which serves as the peak performance baseline for this pairing. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same Low settings, the average drops to 524 FPS, representing a reduction of approximately 5% from the 1080p figure. The scaling continues to 3840x2160, where the Low preset yields an average of 486 FPS, which is about 12% lower than the 1080p result.

This pattern suggests that the limiting component at lower resolutions is not the GPU, as the RX 9070 has substantial headroom even at 4K. The data indicates that the CPU, with its 10 cores and 16 threads, is capable of feeding frames to the GPU at a rate that keeps the graphics card busy even when the resolution increases. The difference between 1080p Low and 4K Low is only 66 FPS, which is a relatively small absolute gap when considering the fourfold increase in pixel count. This implies that the system is largely CPU-bound at 1080p, with the GPU becoming more relevant as resolution climbs, but never to the point where it becomes a severe constraint.

When examining the High settings across resolutions, the trend continues but with slightly larger drops. The 1080p High average of 463 FPS falls to 439 FPS at 1440p, a 5% decrease, and then to 393 FPS at 4K, a 15% decrease from the 1080p figure. The Ultra preset shows a similar pattern, with 456 FPS at 1080p, 432 FPS at 1440p, and 374 FPS at 4K. The fact that the 4K Ultra score of 374 FPS is still far above the refresh rate of most high-end monitors indicates that this combo can handle the most demanding settings without dropping below playable thresholds. The data suggests that the GPU's 16 GB of GDDR6 memory and 644.6 GB/s bandwidth are more than sufficient for Valorant's requirements, as the game does not appear to be memory-constrained at any tested resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The comboRankInGame field places this specific pairing at rank 927 out of 3708 total tested combinations, which puts it in the top 25% of all systems evaluated for Valorant. This ranking is notable because it reflects the overall balance of the CPU and GPU rather than just raw component strength. The CPU itself holds a percentileVsAllCpus of 77, meaning it outperforms 77% of all processors in the database, while the GPU has a percentileVsAllGpus of 69, indicating it is better than 69% of all graphics cards. The combination of these two components yields a system that is competitive but not dominant, as there are clearly many other pairings that achieve higher frame rates in this specific title.

The nearestRivals data for the CPU provides context for its performance level. The Intel Core i5-13400F has an average benchmark score of 25292, which is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS at 25284, showing a deltaPct of 0. It also closely matches the Intel Core 5 120 at 25362 and the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D at 25365, both with a deltaPct of -0.3. This indicates that the CPU's processing power is well within the range of these competitors, and any performance differences in Valorant are likely due to other factors such as memory configuration or game-specific optimizations.

For the GPU, the nearestRivals show a similar story. The RX 9070 has an average benchmark score of 23877, which is 0.6% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z at 23736, and 1.1% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile at 23628. It trails the AMD Radeon RX 6800S by 0.8% and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER by 1.2%. These small deltas suggest that the GPU's raw compute performance is comparable to these older or mobile parts, but the RX 9070's modern architecture and higher memory bandwidth likely contribute to its strong showing in Valorant specifically.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. Its 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache provide ample fast memory for game data, which is critical for a competitive FPS like Valorant where frame times matter as much as average FPS. The CPU's benchmark scores show strong multi-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 22604 and a Geekbench multicore score of 11068, but its single-thread performance is equally important for this game.

Valorant is known to be sensitive to single-thread performance, and the i5-13400F delivers a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3191 and a Passmark single-thread score of 3634. These figures indicate that the CPU can handle the game's primary game logic thread without becoming a bottleneck, which is supported by the measured FPS data showing high averages even at 1080p. The 3DMark scores further illustrate the CPU's scaling, with a 2-thread score of 1880, a 4-thread score of 3459, an 8-thread score of 5591, and a max-thread score of 7307. The near-linear scaling from 2 to 8 threads suggests that the processor efficiently utilizes its cores, which is beneficial for games that can leverage multiple threads for tasks like physics and audio processing.

The CPU's 65W TDP and 10 nm process node indicate that it is a power-efficient part, which is relevant for sustained performance in long gaming sessions. The data shows that the CPU's performance is consistent across different benchmark types, with a Passmark multithread score of 25032 and a Passmark physics score of 1437. These results, combined with the measured FPS in Valorant, suggest that the i5-13400F provides a solid foundation for high-refresh-rate gaming, as it can maintain high frame rates without being the limiting factor in most scenarios.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of how this combo performs across different resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 552 FPS, which is the highest recorded figure in the entire dataset. The Medium preset at 1080p yields 471 FPS with a minimum of 400 and a maximum of 542, showing a slight dip from Low but still maintaining excellent consistency. The High preset at 1080p produces 463 FPS, while the Ultra preset delivers 456 FPS, indicating that the performance difference between High and Ultra is minimal at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 524 FPS, which is a 5% decrease from 1080p Low. The Medium preset at 1440p shows 447 FPS with a minimum of 380 and a maximum of 514, while the High preset averages 439 FPS and the Ultra preset averages 432 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 92 FPS, which is slightly larger than the 96 FPS gap at 1080p, suggesting that the GPU is beginning to play a more significant role as resolution increases.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 486 FPS, which is still remarkably high for 4K gaming. The Medium preset at 4K shows 412 FPS with a minimum of 351 and a maximum of 474, while the High preset averages 393 FPS and the Ultra preset averages 374 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 112 FPS, which is the largest gap across all resolutions, confirming that the GPU becomes more of a factor at higher pixel counts. However, even the lowest recorded average of 374 FPS at 4K Ultra is far above the 240 Hz refresh rate that many competitive gamers target, meaning this combo can drive high-refresh-rate 4K displays without issue.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 is built on the RDNA 4.0 architecture using a 4 nm process, with 53,900 million transistors on a 357 mm² die. Its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 644.6 GB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for Valorant's relatively modest graphical demands. The GPU has a base clock of 1330 MHz, a game clock of 2070 MHz, and a boost clock of 2520 MHz, with 3584 shading units, 224 TMUs, and 128 ROPs. These specifications translate to a pixel rate of 322.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 564.5 GTexel/s, along with 36.13 TFLOPS of FP32 performance.

The GPU's benchmark scores show strong DirectX performance, with a Passmark DirectX 11 score of 281 and a DirectX 12 score of 74, though the latter seems low relative to the former. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6290 and the Geekbench OpenCL score of 131539 indicate that the GPU is capable of handling modern workloads, but Valorant's engine is not particularly demanding on the graphics card. The measured FPS data confirms this, as the GPU is able to maintain high frame rates even at 4K Ultra, suggesting that it is not the primary bottleneck in this system.

The GPU's nearestRivals show that it performs similarly to older high-end cards like the RTX 2080 SUPER and the GTX TITAN Z, but its modern architecture and higher memory bandwidth likely contribute to better frame pacing and lower latency in competitive games. The 220W TDP and dual-slot design indicate that this is a power-hungry card, but the suggested 550W PSU is reasonable for a system with a 65W CPU. The GPU's 56 ray tracing cores and support for DirectX 12 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6 ensure that it is future-proof for other titles, even if Valorant does not utilize these features heavily.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Valorant?

A: The highest recorded average FPS is 552, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the combo achieves an average of 374 FPS, which is still far above the refresh rate of most high-end monitors.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this system?

A: The data suggests the CPU is the limiting factor at 1080p, as the FPS drops only slightly when moving to 1440p and 4K, indicating the GPU has significant headroom.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 927th out of 3708 tested combinations, placing it in the top 25% of all systems for Valorant performance.

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

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 524 FPS while the Ultra preset averages 432 FPS, a difference of 92 FPS.

Q: Does the GPU's 16 GB of VRAM provide any advantage in Valorant?

A: The 16 GB of GDDR6 memory is more than sufficient for Valorant, as the game does not appear to be memory-constrained at any tested resolution or setting.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the user's display refresh rate and resolution preference. For gamers with 1080p 240 Hz or 360 Hz monitors, the Low preset at 1920x1080 delivers 552 FPS, which is ideal for maximizing frame rates in competitive play. However, the Medium preset at 1080p still provides 471 FPS with a minimum of 400, which is above the 360 Hz threshold and offers slightly better visual quality without sacrificing performance.

For 1440p displays, the Low preset at 2560x1440 achieves 524 FPS, which is sufficient for even the fastest refresh rates available. The Medium preset at 1440p yields 447 FPS with a minimum of 380, making it a strong choice for users who want a balance between visual fidelity and frame rate. The High and Ultra presets at 1440p, with averages of 439 and 432 FPS respectively, are also viable options, as they remain above 400 FPS and provide better image quality.

At 4K resolution, the Low preset at 3840x2160 produces 486 FPS, which is still exceptionally high and suitable for 240 Hz 4K monitors. The Medium preset at 4K offers 412 FPS with a minimum of 351, which is a good compromise for users who want higher visual quality. The High and Ultra presets at 4K, with averages of 393 and 374 FPS respectively, are best reserved for users with 360 Hz 4K displays, as they still exceed the refresh rate of most current monitors. Overall, the data indicates that this combo can handle any settings configuration without dropping below playable frame rates, so the choice ultimately comes down to personal preference for visual quality versus raw FPS.