Valorant

Valorant is a competitive FPS where frame rate consistency often matters more than raw graphical fidelity, and the combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT delivers a performance profile that is heavily skewed toward high refresh rate play. This pairing, ranked 2967 out of 3708 tested combos in this game, sits in the lower-middle portion of the database, yet the measured FPS numbers tell a story of a system that never struggles to keep up with a fast-paced shooter. The data shows a 6-core, 6-thread processor from the Coffee Lake Refresh generation paired with a modern RDNA 3.0 GPU, and the results are consistently above 250 FPS at every tested resolution and settings combination, which is a strong indicator of headroom for competitive play.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings?

A: The measured average FPS is 368, which is the highest frame rate recorded across all tested settings and resolutions in the dataset. This suggests the combo is heavily CPU-bound at lower graphical loads, as the GPU has ample headroom.

Q: How does the RX 7600 XT compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 17083, placing it in the 60th percentile of all GPUs. Its closest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, scores 17208, which puts the RX 7600 XT at a 0.7% deficit. Conversely, it leads the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 by 0.3% and the AMD Radeon HD 7970M by 0.4%.

Q: What is the CPU's performance relative to its closest competitors?

A: The Intel Core i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2254, placing it in the 47th percentile. It trails the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 by 0.2% (which scores 2259) and the Intel Core i3-10305 by 0.4% (which scores 2264), while leading the Intel Core i7-10710U by 0.3% and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 by 0.4%.

Q: Does the GPU have enough VRAM for high-resolution play in Valorant?

A: The RX 7600 XT features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth. While Valorant is not a VRAM-intensive title, the capacity is far beyond what this game requires, providing substantial future-proofing for other titles.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The lowest average FPS is 255, observed at 3840x2160 resolution with Ultra settings. Even at this most demanding configuration, the frame rate remains well above the refresh rate of standard high-end monitors.

Q: What are the GPU's clock speeds?

A: The GPU has a base clock of 1980 MHz, a boost clock of 2755 MHz, and a game clock of 2470 MHz. The memory operates at 2250 MHz, which is 18 Gbps effective.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 2967 out of 3708 tested combinations places it in the 20th percentile of all pairings tested in Valorant. At first glance, that might seem like a poor showing, but the context of this ranking is crucial. Valorant is a title that is notoriously easy to run at high frame rates on modern hardware, and the field of 3708 combos includes many far more powerful and expensive CPUs and GPUs. The data shows that this ranking is not a reflection of poor playability but rather the sheer density of high-end systems in the database. The CPU's 47th percentile ranking among all CPUs and the GPU's 60th percentile ranking suggest a balanced pairing, but the CPU is likely the limiting factor in pushing frame rates to the absolute maximum. The i5-9400, with its 6 cores and 6 threads, is an older architecture, and its 42.7 GB/s memory bandwidth is modest by modern standards. In a game like Valorant, which often relies heavily on single-core performance for game logic and draw calls, the i5-9400's single-core benchmark scores (935 in Cinebench R23) will cap performance before the GPU can reach its full potential. The combination ranking indicates that this is a competent setup, but not one that will top leaderboards for raw FPS. It is, however, a setup that will consistently deliver playable frame rates at all tested settings, which is the more important metric for most players.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture, using the Navi 33 chip fabricated on a 6 nm process. The GPU is a mid-range part with 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation units. It also includes 32 ray tracing cores, though these are of little relevance in Valorant. The GPU's memory configuration is a defining feature: 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s. For Valorant, this is an overabundance of VRAM; the game's textures and assets are lightweight, and even at 4K resolution, the frame buffer usage will be a fraction of the available capacity. The GPU's compute power is rated at 22.57 TFLOPS for FP32 operations, which is more than sufficient for a game of this visual complexity. The clock speeds are high, with a boost clock of 2755 MHz, which directly contributes to the high frame rates seen in the measured data. In synthetic benchmarks, the GPU scores 17132 in Passmark G3D and 92426 in Geekbench OpenCL. The nearest rival, the RTX 3070, scores 17208, indicating that the RX 7600 XT is extremely close to that card in raw compute terms, despite being a newer generation part. The performance in Valorant is so high that the GPU is rarely the bottleneck; the data suggests that the CPU is more often the constraining factor, especially at lower resolutions and settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions—1920x1080, 2560x1440, and 3840x2160—each with four settings presets: Low, Medium, High, and Ultra. At 1920x1080, the frame rates are exceptional across the board. The Low preset delivers an average of 368 FPS, the highest recorded in the entire dataset. The Medium preset averages 314 FPS, with a minimum of 267 FPS and a maximum of 361 FPS. High settings produce an average of 309 FPS, while Ultra follows closely at 304 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p is only 64 FPS, which indicates that the CPU is limiting the frame rate more than the GPU, as increasing graphical load does not severely penalize performance. Moving up to 2560x1440, the same pattern holds. Low settings average 349 FPS, which is only 19 FPS lower than at 1080p. Medium settings average 298 FPS, with a minimum of 253 and a maximum of 342. High settings average 293 FPS, and Ultra is slightly lower at 288 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is minimal, with a maximum drop of only 20 FPS from the corresponding 1080p preset (Low). This suggests that the GPU is still not the primary bottleneck. At 3840x2160, the GPU begins to show its workload. Low settings average 324 FPS, which is a 44 FPS drop from the 1440p Low preset. Medium settings average 276 FPS, with a minimum of 235 and a maximum of 318. High settings average 268 FPS, and Ultra settings produce the lowest average of the entire test: 255 FPS. Even at 4K Ultra, the frame rate remains above 250 FPS, which is far beyond the refresh rate of most gaming monitors. The minimum FPS recorded for the 4K Medium preset is 235, which is still well above the 144 Hz threshold that most competitive players target. The data shows a clear trend: this combo is capable of maintaining high frame rates at any resolution, with the gap between Low and Ultra widening as resolution increases, confirming that the GPU becomes more involved at 4K.

Settings Recommendations

For competitive play, the goal is to maximize frame rate and minimize input lag, and the data shows that lowering settings yields diminishing returns at 1080p. The jump from Ultra to Low at 1920x1080 is 64 FPS, which is meaningful for players with 360 Hz monitors, but the Medium preset offers a compromise with 314 FPS average and a minimum of 267 FPS, ensuring that frame times stay consistent. At 1440p, the Low preset provides 349 FPS, which is the best choice for players seeking the absolute highest refresh rate. However, the Medium preset at 1440p still delivers 298 FPS average and a minimum of 253 FPS, which is more than sufficient for any 240 Hz display. The High and Ultra presets at 1440p offer no significant visual benefit in a game like Valorant, but they do cost 56 FPS compared to Low. At 4K, the situation is different. The GPU is more engaged, and the difference between Low and Ultra is 69 FPS. For players using a 4K high refresh rate monitor, the Medium preset at 276 FPS average is the sweet spot, as it balances the load and keeps minimums above 235 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K is still playable at 255 FPS, but the Medium preset provides a better safety margin for frame time spikes. Overall, the data recommends using Low or Medium settings at any resolution for competitive play, as the visual difference in Valorant is minimal and the frame rate gains are substantial. The High preset is a reasonable choice for players who prefer slightly better visuals and still want 300+ FPS at 1080p or 1440p.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor from the Coffee Lake Refresh generation, based on the 14 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, with 9 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports DDR4 memory in dual-channel configuration, with a memory bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s. In synthetic benchmarks, the i5-9400 scores 6629 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 935 in single-core. Its Geekbench scores are 5141 multi-core and 1389 single-core. These scores place the CPU in the 47th percentile of all CPUs, which is a solid mid-range position. In Valorant, the CPU's role is critical because the game engine is heavily reliant on single-threaded performance for input processing, game logic, and draw calls. The i5-9400's single-core score of 935 in Cinebench R23 is adequate but not exceptional; the data suggests that this is the limiting factor for frame rates above 400 FPS. The measured FPS at 1080p Low is 368, and the fact that raising the resolution to 4K only drops the frame rate to 324 FPS at Low settings indicates that the CPU is still the bottleneck at 4K Low. The GPU has ample headroom to render more frames, but the CPU cannot issue draw calls fast enough to exceed those numbers. The nearest rivals to the i5-9400 are the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (0.2% faster), the Intel Core i7-10710U (0.3% slower), and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 (0.4% slower). These are all older or lower-power parts, which underscores that the i5-9400 is a capable but aging processor. For Valorant, the 6 threads are sufficient, as the game does not scale well beyond 8 threads. The 4.10 GHz boost clock is the key factor for single-core performance, and the data shows that it holds up well in practice. Players with this combo should not expect the CPU to be a bottleneck for 144 Hz or 240 Hz monitors, as the frame rates are consistently above 300 FPS at most settings. However, for those chasing 360 Hz or higher, the CPU will be the limiting factor, and the data suggests that upgrading to a newer architecture with higher IPC would yield higher frame rates. The CPU's memory bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s is also a potential constraint, as faster memory could improve frame times in CPU-bound scenarios, though the measured results show no significant stuttering or frame drops, with minimums staying above 235 FPS in the worst case. In summary, the i5-9400 is the limiting factor in this pairing, but it is sufficient for the vast majority of Valorant players, providing a smooth and responsive experience at high refresh rates.