Valorant

The Intel Core i5-14600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination ranks 328th out of 3,708 tested combos in Valorant, placing it in the top 8.8% of all configurations. This is a formidable position, demonstrating that the pairing of a high-end CPU and GPU delivers elite performance in this competitive FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 328 out of 3708 tested configurations places it in the 91st percentile, meaning it outperforms roughly 91% of all systems tested in Valorant. This is a strong indicator of high-end performance, but it also reveals that the game is not fully stressing this hardware combination. The CPU, Intel Core 10th Gen with 14 cores and 20 threads, achieves an average benchmark score of 49,394, and its percentile vs all CPUs is 90. The GPU, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, holds an average benchmark score of 54,247 and a percentile vs all GPUs of 86. Despite these strong individual scores, the combination does not reach the absolute top, suggesting that other factors—likely the game's engine limitations or CPU-bound scenarios—prevent it from being the single best pairing.

The CPU's nearest rivals illustrate the competitive landscape. The AMD Ryzen 9 7900 has an average score of 49,228, a 0.3% difference from the Intel chip. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G trails at 49,196 (0.4% difference), while the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 sits at 48,995 (0.8% difference). On the higher end, the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 388 leads with 49,796, a -0.8% delta. These margins are tight, indicating that the CPU's performance is closely matched with its immediate competitors, but the ranking in Valorant is more about the overall system balance than just the CPU alone.

For the GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is closely contested by the RTX 4080 SUPER, which has an average score of 54,209 (0.1% difference). The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54,828 (-1.1% delta), and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB is at 55,698 (-2.6% delta). The AMD Radeon 8060S leads with 55,757 (-2.7% delta). These small deltas suggest that the RTX 4080 sits in a tight performance band, and the combo's ranking is more a product of the CPU's contribution than the GPU's raw average score.

The data shows that this combination is well above average, but it does not dominate the leaderboard. The top 8.8% ranking is impressive, yet it indicates that there are configurations that push even higher. The exact reasons are not evident from the data, but the implication is that Valorant, with its lower graphical demands, does not fully utilize the RTX 4080's power, making the CPU and the overall system balance more critical.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 plays a significant role in this combo's performance, though its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 256-bit bus width are more than sufficient for Valorant. The GPU's base clock is 2205 MHz, with a boost up to 2505 MHz, and memory runs at 1400 MHz (22.4 Gbps effective). The memory bandwidth is 716.8 GB/s, which is ample for a game like Valorant that is not memory-intensive. The GPU's 9,728 shading units and 304 TMUs handle the graphical workload efficiently, but the data suggests that in Valorant, the GPU is not the primary bottleneck.

At 1080p, the GPU's performance is high, but the CPU's single-threaded performance, with a Geekbench single-core score of 2,445, is likely more influential. The GPU's passmark G3D score is 34,457, and its passmark GPU compute score is 20,671, indicating strong raw compute capability. However, in a game like Valorant, which is known for being CPU-bound at lower resolutions, the GPU's role is to enable high frame rates without becoming a constraint. The data indicates that the RTX 4080 is more than capable, as seen in the High settings at 1080 producing an average of 543 FPS, but the GPU's headroom is not the limiting factor.

The GPU's percentile vs all GPUs is 86, meaning it is in the top 14% of all GPUs. This is a strong position, but the combo's rank of 328 suggests that the CPU and the overall system are more important. The RTX 4080's power is evident in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6,567, and its Geekbench Vulkan score of 263,779, but these metrics do not directly translate to Valorant's performance due to the game's lower graphical demands. The GPU's large VRAM and bandwidth are not fully exercised, meaning the frame rates are more dependent on the CPU's ability to feed the GPU with data. The data shows that the GPU is not the limiting component, as the FPS scales with resolution and settings, but the CPU's performance is the more critical factor.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a clear scaling pattern across resolutions. At 1080p, the average FPS for High settings is 543, which drops to 515 at 1440p and 478 at 4K. This is a 43.7% drop from 1080p to 4K, which is significant but not as steep as what a GPU-bound game would show. The Low settings show a similar trend: 647 FPS at 1080p, 614 at 1440p, and 570 at 4K. The scaling from 1080 to 1440 is about 5.1% for Low, 5.2% for High, and 5.3% for Medium, indicating that the CPU is the primary driver at these resolutions. However, the 4K results show a more pronounced drop, with a 11.9% decrease from 1440p to 4K for Low, suggesting the GPU is becoming more involved.

The Medium settings highlight the CPU-bound nature at lower resolutions. At 1080p, the average FPS is 552, at 1440p 523, and at 4K 486. The drop from 1080 to 1440 is 5.3%, and from 1440 to 4K is 7.1%. This indicates that the CPU is the limiting factor at 1080 and 1440, with the GPU starting to have a larger effect at 4K. The Ultra settings, which are the highest, show a similar pattern: 534 FPS at 1080p, 506 at 1440p, and 470 at 4K. The drop from 1080 to 1440 is 5.2%, and from 1440 to 4K is 7.1%.

The data suggests that the RTX 4080 is not fully stressed until 4K, and even then, the game's engine is not heavily GPU-demanding. The CPU, with its strong single-core performance, is the main bottleneck. At 1080p, the GPU is likely idle, and the CPU's 5.3 GHz boost clock allows for high frame rates. The drop to 4K is more about the pixel fill and memory bandwidth, but the GPU has ample bandwidth (716.8 GB/s) and enough cores to handle it. The result is that the system maintains high FPS across all resolutions, but the scaling indicates that the CPU is the limiting component. The fact that the Low settings at 1080p hit an average of 647 FPS, while 4K at Ultra yields 470, shows that the GPU is not the main constraint, but the CPU and memory latency play a role.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a detailed view of the system's performance across all settings and resolutions.

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers the highest average FPS of 647, with no min or max data recorded. The Medium preset averages 552 FPS, with a minimum of 469 and a maximum of 635. The High preset averages 543 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 534 FPS. This shows that the Low settings offer the best frame rate, but the difference between Medium and High is smaller, suggesting that the game's visual complexity does not heavily impact the CPU performance at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 614 FPS, a drop of 5.1% from 1080p. The Medium preset averages 523 FPS, a 5.3% drop, with a min of 445 and max of 602. High averages 515 FPS, and Ultra averages 506. The data shows a consistent trend of about a 5% drop in FPS from 1080p to 1440p, indicating the CPU is still the bottleneck. The min FPS for Medium at 1440p (445) is higher than the average at 4K, highlighting the CPU's strength.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 570 FPS, a 20.9% drop from 1440p, which is a larger drop than the 1080 to 1440 transition. Medium averages 486 FPS, with a min of 413 and max of 559, representing a 7.1% drop from 1440p. High averages 478 FPS, and Ultra averages 470. The 4K results show that the GPU is now more involved, but the CPU still has headroom. The data indicates that the RTX 4080 is sufficient for 4K, but the overall frame rates are still high, making the system overkill for most monitors.

The breakdown shows that the system is extremely capable, with the lowest average FPS (470 at 4K Ultra) still being far above any standard monitor refresh rate. The min FPS of 413 for Medium at 4K is also high. The data suggests that the system is not CPU-bound at 4K, but the CPU's performance at lower resolutions is the reason for the high averages.

Settings Recommendations

The best settings for this combo in Valorant depend on the user's monitor refresh rate and resolution. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers 647 FPS, which is the highest measured. However, for a 144 Hz or 240 Hz monitor, the Medium preset, which averages 552 FPS, is a better balance, as it provides a higher fidelity without a significant FPS drop (only 14.7% lower than Low). The High preset at 543 FPS is also a viable option, but the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance, with a minimum of 469 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay.

At 1440p, the Low preset averages 614 FPS, but the Medium preset, with 523 FPS, is still well above 240 Hz and offers better visuals. The High preset at 515 FPS is also good, but the Ultra preset at 506 FPS is only 3.1% lower than High, making it a good choice for those with high-refresh 1440p monitors. The Medium preset's min of 445 FPS ensures no dropped frames.

At 4K, the Low preset averages 570 FPS, which is the best, but the Medium preset at 478 FPS is still above 240 Hz, and the High preset at 478 FPS is similar. The Ultra preset at 470 FPS is the lowest but still high. For 4K, the Medium preset offers the best visual quality without a significant FPS penalty, with a min of 413 FPS.

Overall, the data suggests that the Medium preset is the sweet spot across all resolutions. It provides a significant improvement in visual quality over Low, with only a modest FPS drop. At 1080p, Medium vs Low is only a 14.7% drop, but the min FPS of 507 is still high. At 1440p, the drop is 14.8%, and at 4K, it is 16.2%. The Ultra preset, while offering the best visuals, does not provide a noticeable performance benefit, as the FPS is only slightly lower than High. The data indicates that Medium is the best preset for this combo, as it offers a good balance of quality and performance.

FAQ

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

A: The highest average FPS is 647, which is achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low preset.

Q: How does the 1440p performance compare to 1080p?

A: At 1440p, the average FPS for the Low preset is 614, which is a 5.1% drop from the 647 FPS at 1080p. For Medium, the drop is 5.3%, from 552 to 523 FPS.

Q: Is the RTX 4080 the bottleneck in this combo?

A: No, the data shows that the CPU is the primary bottleneck. The FPS scaling from 1080p to 1440p is small, indicating CPU limitation. The GPU does not reduce FPS significantly until 4K.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for the High preset?

A: The minimum FPS for the High preset is not recorded in the data, but the Medium preset at 4K has a minimum of 413 FPS.

Q: How does the combo rank compared to other systems?

A: The combo ranks 328 out of 3,708 combinations, placing it in the top 8.8% of all tested configurations.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS for the Ultra preset?

A: The lowest average FPS for the Ultra preset is 470, achieved at 3840x2160 resolution.

Q: Is the RTX 4080's memory a factor in Valorant?

A: The RTX 4080 has 16 GB of GDDR6X memory, but Valorant does not require that much. The memory bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s is more than sufficient, so it is not a limiting factor.