Valorant

The Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 pairing delivers exceptionally high frame rates in Valorant, with the data showing average FPS figures that consistently exceed 250 across all tested resolutions and settings. The measured results indicate that this combination is heavily skewed toward CPU limitations at lower resolutions, while the GPU becomes more relevant as resolution increases to 4K. This analysis walks through the measured data to provide a clear picture of expected performance and how to best configure the game for this specific hardware.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for this combo shows that the highest average frame rate is achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings, producing 368 FPS. However, the difference between Low and the next highest setting at this resolution is notable: High settings yield 309 FPS, Medium yields 314 FPS, and Ultra yields 304 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 54 FPS, which is a significant margin. For competitive play, the Low preset offers the maximum performance headroom, especially when considering that the minimum FPS data for Medium at 1080p is 267 FPS, suggesting that even the highest-demanding moments remain far above typical high-refresh-rate monitor capabilities.

At 2560x1440, the pattern is similar, with Low settings producing 349 FPS, followed by Medium at 298 FPS, High at 293 FPS, and Ultra at 288 FPS. The spread between Low and the other presets is 51 FPS or more, indicating that the Low preset provides a substantial advantage in frame rate. At 3840x2160, Low settings again lead with 324 FPS, while Medium trails at 276 FPS, High at 268 FPS, and Ultra at 256 FPS. The relative performance drop from Low to Medium is 48 FPS at 4K, which is a smaller absolute difference than at 1080p but still represents a 15% reduction in average FPS.

Given that the game is a competitive FPS, the data suggests that the Low preset is the optimal choice for maximizing frame rates across all resolutions. The measured minimum FPS data, available only for the Medium preset, shows values of 267 FPS at 1080p, 253 FPS at 1440p, and 235 FPS at 4K. These minimums are still exceptionally high, meaning that even the Medium preset provides a fluid experience, but the Low preset’s higher averages provide more headroom for maintaining consistent frame times in intense combat scenarios. For users prioritizing visual fidelity, the Ultra preset at 1080p still delivers 304 FPS, which is only 64 FPS lower than the Low preset, making it a viable option for those with 144Hz or 240Hz displays who prefer better image quality.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average FPS achievable with this CPU and GPU combo?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 368, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This is the peak performance point in the dataset, with all other configurations producing lower averages.

Q: How does the RTX 5050’s 8 GB VRAM affect performance in Valorant?

A: The GPU features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 320.0 GB/s bandwidth. The measured data shows that even at 4K resolution with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 256, indicating that VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor in this game, as the highest demand settings still produce very high frame rates.

Q: Is the i5-9400 a bottleneck for the RTX 5050 in this game?

A: The data indicates a CPU bottleneck at lower resolutions. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra settings is only 64 FPS (368 vs 304), while at 4K, the difference grows to 68 FPS (324 vs 256). The relatively small performance scaling with settings at 1080p suggests that the CPU’s 6 cores and 6 threads, with a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, are the primary constraint on frame rates.

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

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset produces an average of 349 FPS, while the Ultra preset produces 288 FPS. This represents a 61 FPS difference, or a 17% reduction in average frame rate when moving to the highest quality settings.

Q: Does the combo rank high among all tested systems for Valorant?

A: The combined rank for this specific CPU and GPU pairing in Valorant is 2299 out of 2883 tested combos. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the ranking, despite the high absolute FPS numbers, because many other tested combinations likely feature much newer high-end CPUs and GPUs.

Q: Can this system maintain high FPS at 4K resolution?

A: Yes. The lowest average FPS measured at 3840x2160 is 256 FPS on Ultra settings, and the highest is 324 FPS on Low settings. Even the most demanding configuration provides an average frame rate well above 240 FPS, making 4K gaming viable for high-refresh-rate displays.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture using a 5 nm process at TSMC, featuring 16,900 million transistors on a 149 mm² die. The GPU has a base clock of 2317 MHz and a boost clock of 2572 MHz, with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory running at 2500 MHz (20 Gbps effective) across a 128-bit bus, providing 320.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The card’s compute capabilities include 2560 shading units, 80 texture mapping units, and 32 raster output units, delivering 13.17 TFLOPS of FP32 performance.

In Valorant, the GPU’s role is secondary to the CPU at lower resolutions, but it becomes more significant at 4K. The measured data shows that at 1080p, the average FPS only varies by 64 FPS between Low and Ultra settings, which is a relatively narrow band. This suggests that the GPU is not heavily taxed at this resolution, and the CPU is likely the limiting factor. At 4K, the spread between Low and Ultra is 68 FPS, which is similar, but the absolute frame rates are lower, indicating that the GPU is starting to contribute more to the overall performance ceiling.

The RTX 5050’s 8 GB VRAM is ample for Valorant, which is not a graphically demanding title. The fact that the average FPS at 4K Ultra is 256, with no minimum FPS data available for that setting, suggests that the GPU can handle the memory and processing requirements without issue. The GPU’s high boost clock of 2572 MHz and efficient architecture likely contribute to the consistently high frame rates observed across all settings. However, the data shows that the GPU’s performance is not the primary bottleneck in this pairing, as the frame rates remain high even at 1080p where the CPU is more likely to be the constraint.

The GPU’s benchmark scores further contextualize its performance. It achieves a Passmark G3D score of 17326 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2502. Its percentile ranking among all GPUs is 66, placing it above the median. The nearest rivals, such as the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT with an average score of 20713, are within 1.6% of the RTX 5050’s average score of 21035, indicating that this GPU is positioned in the mid-range tier. In the context of Valorant, this GPU performance is more than sufficient, as the game’s engine and the CPU’s capabilities are the primary drivers of the observed frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers the highest average FPS at 368. The Medium preset produces 314 FPS, with a reported minimum of 267 FPS and a maximum of 361 FPS. The High preset averages 309 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 304 FPS. The difference between the highest and lowest average FPS at this resolution is 64 FPS, which is a 17% reduction from Low to Ultra.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset again leads with 349 FPS. The Medium preset averages 298 FPS, with a minimum of 253 FPS and a maximum of 342 FPS. The High preset averages 293 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 288 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 61 FPS, representing a 17.5% reduction. The minimum FPS data for Medium shows that even in the most demanding moments, the frame rate does not drop below 253 FPS at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset produces 324 FPS, which is the highest average at this resolution. The Medium preset averages 276 FPS, with a minimum of 235 FPS and a maximum of 318 FPS. The High preset averages 268 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 256 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 68 FPS, or a 21% reduction. The minimum FPS for Medium at 4K is 235, which is still exceptionally high and indicates that this combo can maintain smooth performance even in heavy scenes.

The data reveals a consistent pattern: the Low preset always provides the highest average FPS, and the Ultra preset always provides the lowest. The Medium and High presets are closely clustered, with Medium outperforming High by 5 FPS at 1080p, 5 FPS at 1440p, and 8 FPS at 4K. This suggests that the Medium preset offers a better balance of visual quality and performance compared to High, as it consistently delivers slightly higher frame rates. The minimum FPS values for Medium are also provided, which helps in understanding the worst-case performance scenario.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K shows how the system’s frame rate decreases as resolution increases. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 368 at 1080p to 349 at 1440p (a 5.2% reduction) and then to 324 at 4K (a 12% reduction from 1440p, or 13.4% from 1080p). This relatively mild drop-off indicates that the CPU is the primary limiting factor at Low settings, as the GPU has ample headroom to handle the increased pixel count without a significant performance penalty.

At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 314 at 1080p to 298 at 1440p (a 5.1% reduction) and then to 276 at 4K (a 7.4% reduction from 1440p, or 12.1% from 1080p). The minimum FPS also scales down, from 267 at 1080p to 253 at 1440p and 235 at 4K. This pattern is similar to Low settings, suggesting that the CPU remains the dominant constraint even as settings increase.

At High settings, the average FPS drops from 309 at 1080p to 293 at 1440p (a 5.2% reduction) and then to 268 at 4K (a 8.5% reduction from 1440p, or 13.3% from 1080p). At Ultra settings, the average FPS drops from 304 at 1080p to 288 at 1440p (a 5.3% reduction) and then to 256 at 4K (a 11.1% reduction from 1440p, or 15.8% from 1080p). The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is larger for Ultra (15.8%) than for Low (13.4%), indicating that the GPU becomes slightly more of a limiting factor at higher settings and resolutions.

Overall, the resolution scaling data shows that this combo is very capable at all resolutions. The largest absolute drop from 1080p to 4K is 68 FPS at Ultra settings, while the smallest is 44 FPS at Low settings. This indicates that the system is primarily CPU-bound, as the GPU can handle the increased resolution load without a dramatic frame rate hit. The limiting component is the i5-9400, which has a 6-core, 6-thread configuration and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, and its performance in this game is the main factor in determining the final FPS numbers.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture, manufactured on a 14 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, with a TDP of 65 W. The processor features 9 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR4 memory in a dual-channel configuration, providing a memory bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s. Its benchmark scores include a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 6629 and a single-core score of 935, placing it in the 47th percentile of all CPUs.

In Valorant, the CPU’s role is critical, as the game is known to be CPU-intensive at high frame rates. The measured data supports this, as the frame rates at 1080p are only slightly lower than at 4K, suggesting that the CPU is the bottleneck. The i5-9400’s 6 cores and 6 threads are sufficient for Valorant’s engine, which typically utilizes fewer threads. The high boost clock of 4.10 GHz is beneficial for single-threaded performance, which is key for achieving high FPS in competitive shooters.

The CPU’s performance relative to its nearest rivals is very close. Its average benchmark score is 2254, with the closest rival being the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 at 2259 (a 0.2% difference) and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 at 2246 (a 0.4% difference). This indicates that the i5-9400 is a mid-range performer, but in Valorant, it is more than adequate. The data shows that at 1080p Low settings, the combo achieves 368 FPS, which is well above what most displays can show. The CPU’s limitations become apparent when considering the combination’s rank of 2299 out of 2883, which is lower than expected given the high FPS numbers, but this is likely due to the presence of much newer CPUs with higher single-thread performance in the overall ranking.

The CPU’s 6 threads and lack of hyper-threading mean that it can handle the game’s workload, but it may not be as future-proof as newer processors. However, for the current state of Valorant, the i5-9400 provides enough processing power to keep frame rates high across all settings and resolutions. The memory bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s is also sufficient for the game’s requirements, as the data does not indicate any memory-related performance issues. Overall, the CPU is the primary factor in determining the combo’s performance, and its capabilities are well-matched to the RTX 5050 for this title.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 ranks 2299 out of 2883 tested combos in Valorant, placing it in the 79.7th percentile of all tested systems. This ranking is lower than the raw FPS numbers might suggest, as the absolute frame rates are very high. The reason for the lower rank is that many other tested combos likely feature more recent high-end CPUs, such as those with higher boost clocks or more cores, which can push frame rates even higher in this CPU-bound game.

The CPU’s percentile rank of 47 indicates that it is roughly average among all CPUs, while the GPU’s percentile rank of 66 places it above the median. However, in Valorant, the CPU is the more important component, and the i5-9400’s mid-range status likely holds the combo back in the overall ranking. The nearest CPU rivals, such as the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500, have benchmark scores within 0.4% of the i5-9400, suggesting that swapping the processor would not yield significant performance changes in this game.

The GPU’s nearest rivals, including the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT and the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile, have average scores within 1.6% of the RTX 5050, indicating that the GPU is not a differentiator in this ranking. The combo’s rank is therefore primarily determined by the CPU’s performance. Given that the i5-9400 was released in 2018 and is now end-of-life, it is not surprising that it ranks lower than combos with newer processors. However, the measured FPS data shows that this combo still delivers an excellent gaming experience in Valorant, with average frame rates above 250 FPS even at 4K Ultra settings, making it a viable option for competitive play despite its lower overall rank.