Valorant

The Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9060 delivers a remarkably consistent performance profile in Valorant, with the benchmark data showing frame rates firmly in the high-refresh-rate territory across all tested resolutions and settings. The lowest recorded average is 267 FPS at 4K with Ultra settings, while the highest average reaches 368 FPS at 1080p with Low settings, indicating that this combination is well-suited for competitive play. The data reveals a system where neither component becomes a severe bottleneck, though the scaling patterns suggest the CPU is the primary limiting factor at lower resolutions, while the GPU's capabilities become more relevant as resolution increases.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable with this combo?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 368, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This is followed closely by 349 FPS at 2560x1440 with Low settings, showing that the Low preset yields the highest performance across all resolutions.

Q: How does the frame rate drop when moving from 1080p to 4K?

A: At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 368 at 1080p to 349 at 1440p, then to 324 at 4K. This represents a roughly 12% reduction in average FPS from 1080p to 4K, which is a relatively small drop for a resolution increase of this magnitude.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested combinations?

A: This combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 9060 ranks 2939 out of 3708 tested combos in Valorant. This places it in the lower half of the tested pool, though the frame rates themselves are extremely high, indicating elite performance in this specific title.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded at 1440p with Medium settings?

A: The minimum FPS recorded at 2560x1440 with Medium settings is 253 FPS, with a maximum of 342 FPS and an average of 298 FPS. This shows a tight frame time distribution, which is favorable for competitive play.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more of a limiting factor in this game?

A: The data suggests a mix. At 1080p, the difference between Low (368 FPS) and Ultra (304 FPS) is 64 FPS, indicating some GPU dependency. However, the relatively small drop in FPS from 1080p to 4K across all settings indicates that the CPU is effectively keeping up with the GPU's workload, with the GPU becoming a slightly larger factor at 4K.

Q: What is the performance delta between this CPU and its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2254. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500, has an average score of 2246, making the i5-9400 about 0.4% faster. The Intel Core i7-1068NG7 is essentially tied, only -0.2% behind, with a score of 2259.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 is based on the Navi 44 chip and uses the RDNA 4.0 architecture, manufactured on a 4 nm process at TSMC. It has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s. The GPU's boost clock is up to 2990 MHz, with a game clock of 2400 MHz and a base clock of 1700 MHz. These specifications position the card as a modern mid-range GPU, and the data shows that it delivers exceptional frame rates in Valorant, a game that is not traditionally demanding on the graphics card.

The measured FPS values across all resolutions and settings are well above what a typical AAA title would produce, with the lowest average being 267 FPS at 4K Ultra. The GPU's memory bandwidth and clock speeds are clearly sufficient to handle the game's rendering demands. For example, the jump from Medium to Ultra at 4K only costs 9 FPS (276 to 267), indicating that the GPU is not heavily taxed by the higher-quality settings. The GPU's performance in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, with a score of 3322, and its PassMark G3D score of 17631, places it in the 59th percentile of all GPUs, which, while not top-tier, is more than enough for this game. The data shows that the Radeon RX 9060's VRAM and clock speeds are not the bottleneck in Valorant; instead, the limitations appear elsewhere in the system at the settings tested.

The GPU's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, which it trails by just 0.7% on average score, and the AMD Radeon RX 7700, which it leads by 1%. This indicates that the RX 9060 is a well-positioned card. In Valorant, the fact that the FPS scales so strongly with the CPU's settings rather than the GPU's workload suggests the GPU is rarely the limiting factor. Even at 4K, the lowest average FPS of 267 exceeds the refresh rate of most high-end monitors, meaning the GPU is delivering more frames than a 240Hz display can show.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data shows that the Low preset offers the highest frame rates at every resolution, but the differences between the presets are relatively modest. At 1080p, the Low preset yields 368 FPS, while Medium drops to 314 FPS, High to 309 FPS, and Ultra to 304 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 64 FPS, a 17% reduction in performance. At 1440p, the spread is similar: Low offers 349 FPS, while Medium and High are at 298 and 293 FPS, respectively, and Ultra is 288 FPS. At 4K, the margins tighten: Low offers 324 FPS, Medium 276, High 272, and Ultra 267 FPS.

For competitive play, the Low preset is the obvious choice when aiming for maximum frame rate, as it provides the highest FPS at all resolutions. The data shows that the Low preset also provides the most headroom for high refresh rate monitors. However, the differences are small enough that the Medium preset, which likely offers a visual improvement, only costs between 19 and 64 FPS depending on the resolution. The data shows a trade-off: at 4K, the gap between Low and Medium is 48 FPS, while at 1440p it is 51 FPS, and at 1080p it is 54 FPS. The Medium preset appears to be the sweet spot for visual quality, as it provides a significant FPS uplift over High and Ultra, but only a modest drop from Low. Given that even the Ultra preset at 4K achieves 267 FPS, users with 240Hz or 360Hz monitors can likely use High or Ultra settings without dropping below their display's refresh rate, though the Low preset is the best for maximum performance.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and the AMD Radeon RX 9060 ranks 2939 out of 3708 tested combos in Valorant. This rank places it in the lower half of the database, which is surprising given the extremely high frame rates achieved. The rank likely reflects the fact that Valorant is a CPU-bound game, and the i5-9400 is a six-core, six-thread processor with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, which is good but not top-of-the-line. The CPU's average benchmark score is 2254, placing it in the 47th percentile of all CPUs, and its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-1068NG7, is only 0.2% different in score. This shows that the i5-9400 is a solid but unremarkable CPU in general benchmarks. However, in Valorant, the combination's rank at 2939 of 3708 is more of a reflection of the overall pool, which likely includes many CPUs with higher core counts and clocks. The data indicates that while the FPS is excellent, there are many other combos that can push even higher numbers, particularly those with more powerful CPUs.

The GPU's rank is 59th percentile, which is decent, but the CPU's 47th percentile is more of a limiting factor in the overall combo ranking. The deltaPct values with rivals, such as the Intel Core i3-10305 at -0.4% and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 at +0.4%, show that the i5-9400 is in a tight cluster of mid-range CPUs. The combo's rank in Valorant, therefore, is a function of the CPU's performance, as the GPU is clearly capable of delivering high frame rates. In essence, the rank suggests that while this setup is very good, there are many other tested combos that achieve even higher frame rates, likely due to having more powerful CPUs or higher clock speeds.

Resolution Scaling

The benchmark data shows a clear trend of FPS dropping as resolution increases, but the drop is much smaller than what is typically seen in graphically intensive games. At Low settings, the FPS drops from 368 at 1080p to 349 at 1440p, a 5.2% reduction, and then to 324 at 4K, an additional 7.2% reduction. At Medium settings, the drop from 1080p (314) to 1440p (298) is 5.1%, and then to 276 at 4K, a 7.4% reduction from 1440p. At High settings, the drop from 309 at 1080p to 293 at 1440p is 5.2%, and to 272 at 4K is 7.2% from 1440p. At Ultra, the drop is from 304 at 1080p to 288 at 1440p (5.3%) and to 267 at 4K (7.3% from 1440p).

This pattern indicates that the GPU is not the primary bottleneck at lower resolutions; the frame rate is more limited by the CPU's ability to feed the GPU. The consistent percentage drop across settings suggests that the GPU's workload is scaling with resolution, but the absolute FPS remains very high. The fact that the 4K Ultra (267 FPS) is still above the 1440p Low (349 FPS) confirms the GPU's strength in this game. The data shows that the GPU is well-utilized at 4K, but the CPU is still able to keep up, as the FPS drop is not drastic. This suggests that if the user were to lower the resolution to 1080p, they would gain more FPS, but the gains are limited by the CPU's performance, not the GPU's. The scaling pattern is consistent with a CPU-bound scenario at 1080p and a more balanced load at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080:

• Low: 368 FPS average
• Medium: 314 FPS average, with a minimum of 267 FPS and a maximum of 361 FPS
• High: 309 FPS average
• Ultra: 304 FPS average

2560x1440:

• Low: 349 FPS average
• Medium: 298 FPS average, with a minimum of 253 FPS and a maximum of 342 FPS
• High: 293 FPS average
• Ultra: 288 FPS average

3840x2160:

• Low: 324 FPS average
• Medium: 276 FPS average, with a minimum of 235 FPS and a maximum of 318 FPS
• High: 272 FPS average
• Ultra: 267 FPS average

The data shows a clear hierarchy: the Low preset provides the highest average FPS at every resolution, followed by Medium, then High, and finally Ultra. The difference between the lowest and highest average FPS at a given resolution is 64 FPS at 1080p, 61 FPS at 1440p, and 57 FPS at 4K, showing that the settings have a similar impact across resolutions. The minimum FPS values, which represent the worst-frame performance, are also provided for the Medium setting, showing that the frame times are consistent with a minimum of 267, 253, and 235 FPS at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K, respectively.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture, manufactured on a 14nm process. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, with a TDP of 65 W. It supports DDR4 memory in a dual-channel configuration, with a memory bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s. The CPU has 9 MB of shared L3 cache, and it uses a PCIe Gen 3 interface with 16 lanes. These specifications are sufficient for Valorant, which is known for being a CPU-bound game. The benchmark scores for the CPU, such as the Geekbench multicore score of 5141 and the Cinebench R23 multicore score of 6629, indicate that it is a solid mid-range processor.

In the measured FPS data, the CPU's influence is clear. At 1080p with Low settings, the FPS is 368, which is likely near the CPU's limit. The fact that the FPS drops by only 44 FPS when moving from 1080p Low to 4K Low (324) shows that the CPU is still able to feed the GPU almost as well at 4K. This suggests that the i5-9400's six cores are sufficient for Valorant's CPU demands. However, the combo's rank at 2939 out of 3708 indicates that many other processors can push the game to even higher frame rates. The CPU's nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i7-10710U with a score of 2248, show that the i5-9400 is within 0.3% of its performance. The data shows that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at lower resolutions, but it also suggests the CPU's limit is around 368 FPS, which is the 1080p Low result. For users with a 360Hz monitor, this is the ceiling for the system, not the GPU.