Valorant

Valorant is a competitive FPS that rewards high frame rates and consistent performance. The combination of the Intel Core i5-14400F and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 delivers exceptionally high frame rates across all tested settings and resolutions. The benchmark data shows this pairing is capable of far exceeding the refresh rates of most standard monitors, making it a strong option for competitive play, though the older GPU does show its age in the most demanding scenarios.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo capable of supporting a 144Hz or 240Hz monitor at 1080p?

A: Yes. The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 are 489 (Low), 323 (Medium), 302.6 (High), and 293 (Ultra). All of these results are well above 240 FPS, indicating the system can comfortably drive high-refresh-rate displays at this resolution.

Q: How does the GTX 1070 in this configuration compare to its direct rivals in the GPU benchmark?

A: The GTX 1070 has an average benchmark score of 12331. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA Quadro K4200, has a score of 12241, putting the GTX 1070 0.7% ahead. Meanwhile, the GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER has a score of 12504, which is 1.4% higher than the GTX 1070.

Q: What is the performance gap between the CPU and its closest competitors?

A: The Intel Core i5-14400F has an average benchmark score of 32508. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-12800H, scores 32513, a negligible 0% difference. The AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 scores 32446, which is 0.2% lower than the i5-14400F.

Q: What is the best settings preset for the highest possible frame rate at 1440p?

A: The Low preset at 2560x1440 yields the highest average FPS at 417.9. This is significantly higher than the Medium preset's 274.3 average FPS, making Low the clear choice for maximizing performance.

Q: Does reducing the resolution to 1080p provide a massive performance boost over 1440p?

A: Yes, particularly at the Low settings. At 1920x1080 Low, the average FPS is 489, compared to 417.9 at 2560x1440 Low. This is a substantial increase of over 70 FPS, showing the system's performance scales well with lower resolutions.

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

A: The combo ranks 1340 out of 1650 tested combinations. While this places it in the lower portion of the overall rankings, the absolute frame rates it produces are still very high, indicating that the ranking is influenced by many other, much more powerful (and expensive) components.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 is a Pascal architecture GPU with 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 256.3 GB/s. Its base clock is 1506 MHz with a boost clock of 1683 MHz. In Valorant, this GPU is more than sufficient to handle the game's relatively modest graphical demands. The data shows that the GPU is not a bottleneck at 1080p, where the CPU's performance is the primary driver of the extremely high frame rates. However, the GPU's role becomes more significant as resolution increases and settings are raised.

The impact of the GPU is most visible when comparing the "Low" settings to the "High" and "Ultra" presets at the same resolution. For instance, at 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves 417.9 FPS, but the High preset drops to 262.1 FPS. This 155.8 FPS difference is a direct result of the increased load on the GTX 1070's 1920 shading units. While the card has enough raw power to produce very high frame rates, the data indicates that its performance is not limitless, and pushing graphical fidelity will directly reduce output. The GPU's overall percentile ranking is 51, placing it in the middle of all GPUs, which aligns with its performance in this title.

Resolution Scaling

The benchmark data shows a clear scaling pattern across the three tested resolutions. At the "Low" settings preset, the average frame rates are 489 at 1920x1080, 417.9 at 2560x1440, and 332.2 at 3840x2160. This indicates that even at the lowest graphical settings, rendering at higher resolutions does impose a significant load. Moving from 1080p to 1440p results in a 71.1 FPS drop, and moving from 1440p to 4K results in an additional 85.7 FPS drop. This pattern is consistent across all settings presets.

The frame rate drop is more pronounced at higher settings, but the relative scaling is similar. For example, at the "High" preset, the system delivers 302.6 FPS at 1080p, 262.1 FPS at 1440p, and 207.6 FPS at 4K. The consistent drop across all settings suggests that the limiting component is a combination of both the CPU and GPU. The CPU is powerful enough to maintain high frame rates, but the GTX 1070's rendering capabilities are progressively strained as pixel count increases. The fact that even at 4K, the frame rates remain above 198 FPS across all presets, shows that this combo is not severely limited by either component in this game, but the GPU is clearly the scaling factor.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 combination is ranked 1340 out of 1650 tested combos for Valorant, placing it in the 81st percentile of all tested systems. This ranking might seem low, but it is important to interpret it correctly. The ranking pool includes systems built with top-tier, modern components that are vastly more expensive. The absolute performance of this combo is still exceptionally high for Valorant, as demonstrated by the measured FPS.

The ranking suggests that while this combo is not at the current-generation of performance, it is more than capable of delivering a superior competitive experience. The CPU's performance, with a percentile rank of 88, is a strong contributor. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 21914 and single-core score of 3093 indicate a very capable processor. The GPU, with a percentile rank of 51, is the weaker link in the chain, but in a game like Valorant, it still has enough power to not bottleneck the CPU at lower settings. The high FPS numbers are proof of the CPU's strength, which is crucial for this esports title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates provide a comprehensive look at the system's performance across different configurations. At 1920x1080, the system delivers an average FPS of 489 on Low settings. This is the highest score recorded for this combo. The Medium preset achieves 323 FPS, High achieves 302.6 FPS, and Ultra achieves 293 FPS. The performance difference between Medium, High, and Ultra is relatively small, with a 30 FPS gap between the lowest and highest settings.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset delivers an average of 417.9 FPS. The Medium preset drops to 274.3 FPS, the High preset to 262.1 FPS, and the Ultra preset to 246.7 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows a significant performance hit, particularly on the Low preset, which loses 71.1 FPS. The differences between the Medium, High, and Ultra presets are more pronounced at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset produces an average of 332.2 FPS. The Medium preset drops to 218.4 FPS, the High preset to 207.6 FPS, and the Ultra preset to 198.7 FPS. All of these scores are still above 198 FPS, which is remarkable for a 4K resolution. The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial, with the Low preset losing 156.8 FPS, but the system remains highly playable.

Settings Recommendations

For players seeking the absolute maximum performance, the Low preset is the clear choice. At 1080p, it delivers 489 FPS, which is over 150 FPS higher than the next best preset. Even at 1440p, the Low preset's 417.9 FPS is vastly superior to the Medium preset's 274.3 FPS. This setting will provide the smoothest possible experience, which is critical in a fast-paced FPS.

If a player prefers a balance between visual fidelity and performance, the Medium preset is a strong option. At 1080p, it delivers 323 FPS, which is still exceptionally high for competitive play. While it is a significant drop from the Low preset, the visual improvements may be worth the performance cost for some users. The performance difference between Medium and High is minor at 1080p (323 vs 302.6 FPS), so choosing Medium provides no significant advantage over High.

The High and Ultra presets offer the best visual quality but at the lowest frame rates. At 1080p, they deliver 302.6 and 293 FPS, respectively. At 4K, they still manage to produce over 198 FPS. For a competitive game like Valorant, the visual differences between High and Ultra are often not as important as a higher refresh rate. Therefore, the data suggests that players with high-refresh-rate monitors should prioritize the Low preset to fully leverage the system's capabilities, while those with standard 60Hz monitors can safely use Ultra for the best visuals, as the system will still be massively overperforming.