Valorant

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER ranks 1788th out of 3708 tested combos in Valorant. This places the configuration in the upper half of the database, with 48.2% of tested combinations delivering higher average frame rates. The ranking reflects a balanced pairing where neither component falls dramatically behind the other in this specific FPS title.

Within the broader component landscape, the CPU sits at the 84th percentile against all tested processors, while the GPU lands at the 65th percentile against all tested graphics cards. The discrepancy between these two percentiles indicates the processor has more headroom relative to its peers than the graphics card does, which becomes relevant when analyzing frame rate behavior across settings and resolutions.

The combo's position is not a reflection of weak absolute performance. At 1080p High settings, the system produces 412 FPS average, which is competitive for competitive shooters. The data shows that in Valorant, this pairing is capable of driving high refresh rate monitors at most quality levels, though the GPU begins to emerge as a limiting factor as resolution increases.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K uses the Alder Lake architecture on a 10 nm process. It has 12 cores and 20 threads, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. The L3 cache is 25 MB shared across the chip, with 80 KB of L1 per core and 1.25 MB of L2 per core. The processor supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory, uses a dual-channel memory bus, and connects through Intel Socket 1700 with PCIe Gen 4 and 20 CPU lanes. The integrated UHD Graphics 770 is present, though the discrete GPU handles rendering in these measurements.

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU shows strong scaling from 2 threads to 16 threads. The 3DMark 16-thread score is 9276, while the max-thread score reaches 9979, indicating that additional threads beyond 16 provide only modest gains. The single-thread 3DMark score is 1043, which is relevant for Valorant since the game's frame rate at high FPS levels often depends on single-core performance. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 19784 and single-core score of 1850.5 confirm a processor that excels in both lightly threaded and fully loaded workloads. The Geekbench results follow the same pattern: 15790 multicore and 2308 single-core.

Valorant is known within the database for being sensitive to CPU speed, particularly at lower resolutions where the GPU has less work per frame. The measured FPS values at 1080p Low, 609 FPS average, are far above what the GPU's raw compute would suggest if it were the sole bottleneck. This indicates the CPU is doing substantial work to feed frames. The 12-core, 20-thread configuration provides more than enough parallelism for the game's engine, but the high boost clock of 5.00 GHz is what allows the system to reach frame rates in the 600 FPS range at 1080p Low.

The nearest CPU rivals in the database are the Intel Core i5-13600T (35305 average score, 0.1% higher), the Core i7-12700KF (35365, 0.2% higher), the Core i7-13700T (35403, 0.3% higher), and the Core 5 213PE (35428, 0.4% higher). These deltas are negligible, meaning the i7-12700K performs essentially identically to these alternatives in aggregate benchmarks. The practical implication for Valorant is that swapping among these processors would produce no measurable difference in frame rates.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture using a 12 nm process at TSMC. The TU104 chip contains 13,600 million transistors on a 545 mm² die. It has 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operations units, along with 40 RT cores and 320 tensor cores. The memory subsystem consists of 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, yielding 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The base clock is 1605 MHz with a boost clock of 1770 MHz, and the memory operates at 1750 MHz or 14 Gbps effective. The GPU uses a dual-slot cooler, requires one 6-pin and one 8-pin power connector, and has a TDP of 215 W.

In benchmark results, the GPU achieves a PassMark G3D score of 18169 and a PassMark GPU compute score of 7557. The Geekbench Vulkan score is 90637 and the OpenCL score is 83358. DirectX 12 performance is relatively weak at 67 in PassMark, while DirectX 11 reaches 151 and DirectX 9 reaches 223. These scores place the GPU at the 65th percentile against all tested graphics cards.

The nearest GPU rivals in the database are the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (20480 average score, 1% lower), the GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (20534, 1.2% lower), the Intel Arc B570 (20556, 1.3% lower), and the Intel Arc A750 (20582, 1.5% lower). The RTX 2070 SUPER trails these alternatives by small margins, indicating it sits in a tightly contested performance band. For Valorant specifically, the GPU's role is to maintain consistent frame delivery at higher settings and resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 267, which is still playable but far below the 1080p results. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for Valorant's modest texture requirements, and the 448.0 GB/s bandwidth does not appear to create a bottleneck in the measured data.

The GPU becomes the limiting factor when resolution increases. At 1080p Low, the system produces 609 FPS, but at 4K Low, the average falls to 447 FPS. This 26.6% drop is relatively small compared to what would be seen in more graphically demanding titles, suggesting that Valorant's engine does not scale GPU load heavily with resolution. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 267, which is 56.2% lower than the 1080p Low result. The GPU's compute capability, 9.062 TFLOPS FP32, is sufficient for the game's rendering requirements, but the frame rate ceiling at higher settings is clearly set by the graphics card.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1440p with High settings?

A: The system produces 351 FPS average at 2560x1440 with High settings. This is between the 1080p High result of 412 FPS and the 4K High result of 281 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU's single-thread performance compare to its multicore performance?

A: The CPU scores 1043 in 3DMark single-thread and 9979 in 3DMark max-thread, a roughly 9.6x scaling. The Cinebench R23 results show 1850.5 single-core and 19784 multicore, which confirms strong performance in both categories.

Q: Is the GPU or CPU the limiting factor at 1080p Low?

A: At 1080p Low, the system reaches 609 FPS average, which is the highest measured result across all resolutions and settings. The CPU's high boost clock of 5.00 GHz allows it to sustain this frame rate, and the GPU is not a constraint at this quality level.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded in the dataset?

A: The lowest min FPS recorded is 251 FPS at 4K Medium settings. The 1440p Medium min FPS is 313, and the 1080p Medium min FPS is 367. These values indicate that frame drops are minimal even at the highest resolution.

Q: How does the GPU's memory bandwidth affect performance in Valorant?

A: The GPU has 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth from 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus. In the measured data, the FPS drop from 1080p Medium (432 FPS) to 4K Medium (295 FPS) is 31.7%, which suggests that memory bandwidth is not a severe constraint for this game.

Q: What are the nearest rivals to this CPU in the database?

A: The Intel Core i5-13600T, Core i7-12700KF, Core i7-13700T, and Core 5 213PE are the closest performers, with average scores between 35305 and 35428. The i7-12700K trails the strongest of these by only 0.4%.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern of diminishing returns as resolution increases. Starting at 1920x1080, the system delivers 609 FPS average on Low settings. Moving to 2560x1440 Low, the average drops to 560 FPS, an 8.0% reduction. At 3840x2160 Low, the average is 447 FPS, which is 26.6% below the 1080p Low result. This relatively gentle scaling curve indicates that at Low settings, the CPU is doing most of the work, and the GPU has enough headroom to handle the increased pixel count without a dramatic performance penalty.

The scaling pattern changes at higher quality settings. At Medium, the 1080p result is 432 FPS, 1440p is 369 FPS, and 4K is 295 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 4K is 31.7%, larger than the Low setting drop. At High, the 1080p result is 412 FPS, 1440p is 351 FPS, and 4K is 281 FPS, a 31.8% reduction from 1080p to 4K. At Ultra, the 1080p result is 392 FPS, 1440p is 334 FPS, and 4K is 267 FPS, a 31.9% reduction.

The consistency of the percentage drop across Medium, High, and Ultra settings suggests that the GPU's workload scales linearly with the number of pixels when quality settings are elevated. The Low settings show a smaller drop, indicating that the CPU becomes more dominant at lower quality levels. The data supports the interpretation that the RTX 2070 SUPER is the limiting component at 4K, while the i7-12700K is the limiting component at 1080p Low.

At 1080p, the differences between settings are relatively modest. The spread from Low (609 FPS) to Ultra (392 FPS) is 35.6%. At 4K, the spread from Low (447 FPS) to Ultra (267 FPS) is 40.3%. This widening gap at higher resolution confirms that the GPU's rendering load increases with both resolution and quality settings, while the CPU's contribution remains relatively constant.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide four quality presets at three resolutions. The data shows that Low settings produce the highest frame rates at every resolution, with 609 FPS at 1080p, 560 FPS at 1440p, and 447 FPS at 4K. Medium settings reduce frame rates by 13.8% at 1080p (432 FPS), 14.1% at 1440p (369 FPS), and 14.0% at 4K (295 FPS) compared to Low. High settings produce 412 FPS at 1080p, 351 FPS at 1440p, and 281 FPS at 4K. Ultra settings produce 392 FPS at 1080p, 334 FPS at 1440p, and 267 FPS at 4K.

For players targeting the highest possible frame rates, Low settings at 1080p deliver 609 FPS average, which is the maximum recorded value in the dataset. The min FPS data is only available for Medium settings, where 1080p shows 367 FPS minimum, 1440p shows 313 FPS minimum, and 4K shows 251 FPS minimum. These minimum values indicate that even at Medium quality, the system rarely drops below 250 FPS.

The best experience per the measured rows depends on the display's refresh rate. For a 240 Hz monitor, Medium settings at 1080p provide 432 FPS average with a 367 FPS minimum, ensuring the frame rate stays above the refresh rate. For a 360 Hz monitor, Low settings at 1080p provide 609 FPS average, which clears the threshold comfortably. At 1440p, Medium settings deliver 369 FPS average with a 313 FPS minimum, suitable for 240 Hz displays. At 4K, even Low settings only reach 447 FPS, which is sufficient for high refresh rate monitors but leaves less headroom.

The Ultra preset is the least efficient option in the measured data. It provides only 392 FPS at 1080p, 334 FPS at 1440p, and 267 FPS at 4K, while offering the highest visual quality. The difference between High and Ultra at 1080p is 20 FPS (4.9%), which is minor. The difference between Medium and High at 1080p is also 20 FPS (4.6%). The largest quality-to-performance tradeoff occurs between Low and Medium, where the frame rate drops by 29.1% at 1080p.

Given the competitive nature of Valorant, the data suggests that Medium settings at 1440p or Low settings at 1080p provide the best balance of visual clarity and frame rate stability. The Medium preset at 1080p produces 432 FPS average with a 367 FPS minimum, which is a narrow min-to-average gap of 15.0%. At 1440p Medium, the min FPS of 313 is 15.2% below the 369 FPS average. These consistent margins indicate that the system maintains stable frame delivery without significant hitches.