Valorant

The Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is a well-matched combination for Valorant, placing at rank 1331 out of 1650 tested combos. This puts it in the lower-middle tier of tested systems, but the absolute performance is anything but middling. The measured data shows this combo delivers extremely high frame rates across all tested resolutions and settings, making it a strong choice for competitive play. The ranking is more a reflection of the i5-9400's age and mid-range standing than a criticism of the overall experience, as the GPU ensures the system never struggles to push this esports title.

How This Combo Ranks

In the overall ranking for Valorant, this combo sits at position 1331 out of 1650 tested configurations. The data indicates that while it is not at the top of the list, it is far from a poor performer. The CPU, with a percentile of 50 among all tested processors, is exactly average, while the GPU is stronger, sitting at the 69th percentile among all GPUs. This suggests the pairing is slightly GPU-heavy, but the benchmark results in Valorant show this is not a bottleneck. The combo's rank is likely held back by the CPU's average standing rather than any GPU limitation. For context, the i5-9400's average benchmark score is 2305, placing it in a tight cluster with rivals like the Intel Core i3-10305, which scores 2300 (0.2% slower), and the Intel Core i7-8809G, which scores 2319 (0.6% faster). The GPU, with an average score of 25120, is similarly competitive, with rivals like the AMD Radeon RX 6700M scoring 25180 (-0.2%) and the AMD Radeon RX 6600 scoring 25235 (-0.5%). The measured FPS data confirms that this combo's performance in Valorant is exceptionally strong, despite its mid-pack rank.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications make it more than adequate for Valorant. It features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The core clocks are set at a base of 1410 MHz and a boost of 1665 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). These specs are far beyond what a competitive FPS like Valorant requires, which is evident in the measured FPS. The GPU has 4864 shading units, 152 TMUs, and 80 ROPs, allowing it to push high pixel rates of 133.2 GPixel/s and texture rates of 253.1 GTexel/s. Its FP32 performance is rated at 16.20 TFLOPS, a figure that ensures the card is never the limiting factor in this game. The data shows that even at 4K Ultra settings, the combo still manages an average of 239.4 FPS, which is smoother than most high-refresh monitors can display. The GPU's 69th percentile ranking among all GPUs reinforces that this is a capable mid-to-high-end card, and in Valorant, it operates well within its comfort zone.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal preset depends on your display's refresh rate, but the data supports using Low or Medium settings for maximum competitive advantage. At 1080p, the Low preset yields an average of 372.2 FPS, which is the highest measured result for this combo. The Medium preset at 1080p drops slightly to 316.6 FPS, while High and Ultra produce 307.7 and 302.2 FPS respectively. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p is about 70 FPS, which is significant for players using 360Hz monitors. At 1440p, the Low preset again leads with 352.3 FPS, while Medium, High, and Ultra hover around 298.5, 294.5, and 290.3 FPS. Even at 4K, the Low preset provides 324.2 FPS, which is playable on most high-end displays. The data suggests that for pure frame rate, Low is the best choice, but if you prefer visual fidelity without sacrificing much performance, Medium is a strong middle ground, losing only about 55 FPS at 1080p compared to Low. The Ultra preset offers no meaningful benefit in this game and only reduces FPS, so it is not recommended for competitive play.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern of performance scaling across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers an average of 372.2 FPS on Low, 316.6 on Medium, 307.7 on High, and 302.2 on Ultra. Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are 352.3 FPS on Low, 298.5 on Medium, 294.5 on High, and 290.3 on Ultra. At 3840x2160, the results are 324.2 FPS on Low, 269.1 on Medium, 256.2 on High, and 239.4 on Ultra. Notably, the gap between Low and Ultra narrows as resolution increases: at 1080p the difference is 70 FPS, at 1440p it is 62 FPS, and at 4K it is 84.8 FPS. The data shows that resolution has a larger impact on FPS than settings, which is typical for a GPU-bound scenario, but here the GPU is so powerful that even the heaviest load at 4K Ultra remains above 239 FPS. The minimum FPS values are not provided, but the average figures are consistently high, indicating a smooth experience across all tested configurations.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is relatively modest, which reveals that the GPU is not the primary bottleneck in this system. At Low settings, the FPS goes from 372.2 at 1080p to 324.2 at 4K, a decrease of 48 FPS or approximately 12.9%. At Ultra settings, the drop is from 302.2 at 1080p to 239.4 at 4K, a decrease of 62.8 FPS or about 20.8%. This scaling pattern indicates that the CPU is starting to limit performance at lower resolutions, as the GPU has enough headroom to handle the increased pixel count without a proportional loss in frame rate. If the GPU were the sole bottleneck, the FPS drop from 1080p to 4K would be much steeper, often exceeding 50% in GPU-heavy titles. Here, the relatively small drop suggests that the i5-9400 is the limiting factor, especially at 1080p where the CPU’s six threads are working harder to feed the GPU. The data shows that at 4K, the GPU is more fully utilized, which is why the FPS remains so high. This is a classic sign of a CPU-bound scenario at lower resolutions in an esports title.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a six-core, six-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. It has a 9 MB shared L3 cache and supports DDR4 memory with a dual-channel bus. Its average benchmark score is 2305, placing it at the 50th percentile among all CPUs, which is exactly average. In Valorant, this CPU is the more likely bottleneck, as the game is not heavily threaded but does benefit from high single-core performance. The CPU’s single-core scores in Cinebench R23 are 1125, which is modest by modern standards, but the measured FPS data shows it is sufficient to keep the GPU fed at high frame rates. The nearest rival, the Intel Core i3-10305, scores 2300 (0.2% slower), indicating that the i5-9400 is performing as expected. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 372.2 FPS, which is likely near the CPU’s maximum frame output, as the GPU is not being stressed. The six threads are enough for Valorant, but the lack of hyper-threading means that background tasks could impact performance. The CPU’s 65W TDP and 14nm process node are dated, but for a game like Valorant, it remains a capable partner for the RTX 3060 Ti, as the measured results confirm.