Valorant

The Intel Core i5-14600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER produces extraordinary frame rates in Valorant, a competitive FPS where high refresh rates are paramount. The data shows this combination is not GPU-bound at any tested resolution, with the CPU’s strong single-core performance driving results that far exceed the needs of standard 240Hz displays. The measured FPS indicates that the limiting component is the CPU, particularly at lower resolutions, while the GPU has ample headroom.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic CPU-bound scenario. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 649.4 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 lowers this to 616.5 FPS, a reduction of roughly 5%. At 3840x2160, the average is 574.1 FPS, which is another 7% drop from 1440p. This pattern shows that even at 4K, the GPU is not the primary bottleneck; the performance delta across resolutions is modest for a game that scales primarily with CPU speed.

The scaling is more pronounced at higher settings. With High settings, the FPS drops from 545.1 at 1080p to 515.2 at 1440p (a 5.5% decrease) and then to 475.8 at 4K (a 7.7% decrease). This larger delta suggests that the RTX 4080 SUPER’s workload increases with settings, but the absolute FPS remains so high that the CPU’s frame generation limit is still the dominant factor. The spread between Low and Ultra at 4K is 102.8 FPS (574.1 vs 471.3), which is significant but does not indicate a GPU bottleneck, as the lowest 4K figure still exceeds 470 FPS.

Benchmark results indicate that the RTX 4080 SUPER, with its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 736.3 GB/s bandwidth, is heavily underutilized in this title. The data suggests that the i5-14600KF’s 5.30 GHz boost clock is the main driver of performance, allowing the GPU to render frames with minimal latency. The difference between 1080p Low and 4K Ultra is only 114.9 FPS, which is a small percentage of the total frame rate, confirming that the CPU is the limiting component across all tested configurations.

FAQ

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

A: The highest measured average is 649.4 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K?

A: With Low settings, the average FPS drops from 649.4 at 1080p to 574.1 at 4K, a reduction of 75.3 FPS. With High settings, the drop is 69.3 FPS, from 545.1 to 475.8.

Q: Is the RTX 4080 SUPER the bottleneck in this configuration?

A: No. The data shows that even at 4K Ultra, the combo maintains 471.3 FPS, indicating the GPU is not the limiting factor. The CPU’s single-core performance is the primary constraint.

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

A: It ranks 88th out of 1650 tested combos for Valorant, placing it in the top 5.3% of all configurations.

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

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings yield 616.5 FPS, while Ultra settings yield 506.6 FPS, a difference of 109.9 FPS.

Q: Does the GPU’s VRAM affect performance in this game?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has 16 GB of GDDR6X memory. Given the high FPS at all settings, VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor in Valorant, as the game’s demands are far below this allocation.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested configurations, this pairing holds a combo rank of 88 out of 1650 combinations for Valorant. This places it in the 94.7th percentile, meaning it outperforms nearly 95% of all tested combos. This rank is especially impressive given that Valorant is a CPU-intensive esports title, and the i5-14600KF’s architecture is well-suited for it. The CPU’s percentile of 93 versus all CPUs and the GPU’s percentile of 88 versus all GPUs are both high, but the combo rank suggests that the CPU’s contribution is more critical to this specific game’s performance.

The nearest CPU rivals include the Intel Core i5-14600K, which is 0.4% behind in average benchmark score, and the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, which is 0.6% ahead. These small deltas indicate that the i5-14600KF is competitively positioned. On the GPU side, the RTX 4080 SUPER is 0.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT and 2.9% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti. The data shows that this combo’s high rank is a result of both components being top-tier, but the CPU’s strong single-threaded performance is what boosts it in a game like Valorant.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions and four settings presets, providing a complete picture of performance. At 1920x1080, the averages are 649.4 (Low), 553.2 (Medium), 545.1 (High), and 534.5 (Ultra). The gap between Low and Ultra is 114.9 FPS, which is the largest spread across all resolutions, showing that settings have a more noticeable impact at lower pixel counts.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 616.5 (Low), 522.1 (Medium), 515.2 (High), and 506.6 (Ultra). The difference between Low and Ultra is 109.9 FPS, slightly less than at 1080p. At 3840x2160, the averages are 574.1 (Low), 489.2 (Medium), 475.8 (High), and 471.3 (Ultra). The Low-to-Ultra gap narrows to 102.8 FPS, indicating that the GPU is taking on more work as resolution increases, but the absolute FPS remains exceptionally high.

The data shows a consistent pattern: Low settings provide the highest frame rates, while Ultra provides the lowest. The Medium preset is consistently close to High, with differences of 8.1 FPS at 1080p, 6.9 FPS at 1440p, and 13.4 FPS at 4K. This suggests that Medium and High presets are nearly identical in performance cost, while Low offers a significant boost.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is a high-end Ada Lovelace GPU with 10240 shading units, 320 TMUs, and 112 ROPs. Its boost clock is 2550 MHz, and it features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth. In Valorant, these specifications are more than sufficient. The GPU’s pixel rate is 285.6 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 816.0 GTexel/s, but the game’s low graphical complexity means these resources are largely idle.

The measured FPS shows that the GPU is not the bottleneck. Even at 4K Ultra, the combo produces 471.3 FPS, which is far above the refresh rate of most monitors. The GPU’s role is to render frames as fast as the CPU can feed them, and the RTX 4080 SUPER does this without breaking a sweat. The data implies that a less powerful GPU could achieve similar frame rates, as the i5-14600KF’s 14 cores and 20 threads, with a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, are the primary drivers of performance.

The GPU’s memory bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s is not a limiting factor, as Valorant’s textures and assets are small. The 16 GB VRAM capacity is also irrelevant for this title, as the game’s usage is well below this threshold. The RTX 4080 SUPER’s high benchmark scores, such as 34245 in Passmark G3D, reflect its overall capability, but in Valorant, its performance is constrained by the CPU’s frame generation rate.

Settings Recommendations

For competitive play, the Low preset is the best choice, as it delivers the highest average FPS at all resolutions: 649.4 at 1080p, 616.5 at 1440p, and 574.1 at 4K. This preset minimizes graphical effects, which can reduce input latency and maximize responsiveness. The data shows that Low settings provide a 114.9 FPS advantage over Ultra at 1080p, which is substantial for a game where every frame counts.

For players with high-refresh-rate monitors (e.g., 360Hz or 500Hz), the Medium preset is a viable alternative. At 1440p, Medium yields 522.1 FPS, which is still above the refresh rate of most displays. The difference between Medium and High is negligible (6.9 FPS at 1440p), so Medium offers a better visual experience without a significant performance penalty. At 4K, Medium provides 489.2 FPS, which is still exceptionally high.

The Ultra preset, while visually richer, reduces performance to 534.5 FPS at 1080p and 471.3 FPS at 4K. This is still far above playable thresholds, but the trade-off in FPS may not be worth it for competitive players. The data suggests that the Low preset is optimal for maximizing frame rates, while Medium is the best compromise for those who want slightly better visuals without sacrificing the high FPS that Valorant benefits from.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600KF is a 14-core, 20-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. It has 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB of L2 cache per core. In Valorant, the CPU is the clear bottleneck, as evidenced by the FPS scaling across resolutions. The high boost clock is critical for the game’s single-threaded performance, which is the primary driver of frame generation.

The CPU’s benchmark scores support this conclusion. Its Cinebench R23 single-core score is 4643, and its Geekbench single-core score is 2778, both indicating strong single-threaded performance. The Passmark single-thread score is 4273, which is among the highest for desktop CPUs. These scores correlate with the high FPS observed in Valorant, where the game’s logic and physics calculations are largely single-threaded.

The CPU’s 14 cores and 20 threads are more than sufficient for Valorant, which uses a limited number of threads. The data shows that the CPU’s performance is not a limiting factor, as it can generate frames at over 600 FPS even at 4K. The nearest CPU rival, the Intel Core i5-14600K, has a nearly identical average benchmark score (49166 vs 49367, a 0.4% difference), which explains the similar performance in this game. The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X is 0.6% ahead in average score, but the i5-14600KF’s higher boost clock gives it an edge in single-threaded tasks like Valorant.