Valorant

Valorant is a game where the Intel Core i7-12700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination produces extraordinarily high frame rates, making it a top-tier pairing for competitive play. With a combo rank of 197 out of 1650 tested configurations, this system sits firmly in the upper echelon of results, delivering performance that far exceeds the refresh rate capabilities of most high-end monitors. The data indicates that this pairing is heavily CPU-bound at lower resolutions, with the GPU's substantial power only becoming a more significant factor as resolution and graphical load increase.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and expected trend: performance degrades as resolution increases, but the margins are surprisingly narrow due to the game's light graphical load. At 1080p High settings, the combo delivers an average of 513.9 FPS. Moving to 1440p High, the average only drops to 484 FPS, a reduction of roughly 30 FPS. Pushing further to 4K High, the average sits at 446.8 FPS. This scaling pattern reveals that even at 4K, the system retains over 86% of its 1080p performance, indicating that the game is not placing an overwhelming burden on the GPU at any tested resolution.

The difference between Low and Ultra settings at each resolution provides further insight into the limiting component. At 1080p, the gap between Low (612.6 FPS) and Ultra (503.7 FPS) is over 100 FPS, suggesting that the CPU is still the primary bottleneck even when the GPU has less work to do. However, at 4K, the gap narrows to just over 100 FPS as well (539.7 FPS Low vs. 436.1 FPS Ultra), but the absolute numbers are lower. This indicates that while the GPU is being utilized more at higher resolutions, the CPU's high single-thread performance is what keeps the frame rates in the hundreds, preventing any significant collapse in performance.

The data suggests a system that is remarkably balanced for this title, but with a slight lean towards CPU limitation. The FPS drop from 1080p Low to 4K Low is only 73 FPS, whereas the drop from 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra is 67.6 FPS. This consistency shows that the RTX 4070 SUPER has enough headroom to handle the increased pixel count without a proportional loss in performance, but the game's engine is clearly not scaling its demands heavily with resolution. The limiting factor here is not the GPU's raw power, but rather how fast the CPU can feed it draw calls and game logic updates.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K is a 12-core, 20-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. For a game like Valorant, which is notoriously sensitive to single-thread performance, the CPU's 3dmark single-thread score of 1043 and passmark single-thread score of 4013 are critical indicators. These scores, coupled with the processor's 89th percentile ranking among all CPUs, demonstrate that it has the per-core strength necessary to drive extremely high frame rates.

Benchmark results show that the CPU's multi-threaded capabilities are also robust, with a cinebench_r23_multicore score of 29241. However, in Valorant, the game's engine typically relies more heavily on a few primary threads. The data from the FPS measurements supports this, as the system maintains over 500 FPS at 1080p Low, a scenario where the GPU is barely stressed, and the CPU's ability to process the game's simulation and render commands becomes the sole determinant of performance. The 12 cores and 20 threads provide ample resources for background tasks and streaming without affecting the primary game thread.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the i7-12700K holds its ground. It is effectively tied with the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845, which has an average benchmark score of 35802, a delta of -0.3% from the Intel chip's 35684. It also edges out the Intel Core i7-13700T (35468, +0.6% delta) and the Intel Core i5-14500HX (35940, -0.7% delta). This positioning confirms that the i7-12700K is not a bottleneck in this configuration, providing performance that is within a rounding error of other top-tier processors in synthetic tests, and the measured FPS in Valorant reflects this capability.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture and features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. Its boost clock of 2475 MHz and 7168 shading units allow it to achieve a passmark_g3d score of 29995, placing it in the 84th percentile of all GPUs. Despite this being a powerful card, the FPS data in Valorant suggests its role is somewhat secondary to the CPU, as the frame rates are so high that the game rarely stresses the GPU to its full potential.

The GPU's influence becomes more apparent when examining the difference between Low and Ultra settings. At 4K, the RTX 4070 SUPER handles the increased load efficiently, with the average FPS dropping from 539.7 on Low to 436.1 on Ultra. This 103.6 FPS difference is the largest across all resolution-to-settings changes, indicating that at 4K, the GPU is finally being tasked with more work. However, even at 4K Ultra, the card delivers a 436.1 FPS average, a figure that is still far beyond the 240Hz refresh rate of most competitive monitors.

The GPU's memory configuration is more than sufficient for Valorant, a game that does not require large texture pools. The 12 GB VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor at any tested setting, as evidenced by the minimal performance delta between Medium and High settings at each resolution. The GPU's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA RTX A6000 (42653 avg score, -0.2% delta) and the AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE (42723 avg score, -0.3% delta), showing that the 4070 SUPER is competitively positioned even against professional-grade hardware, but its ultimate performance ceiling in this game is held back by the CPU's frame generation rate.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: The Intel Core i7-12700K and RTX 4070 SUPER combination achieves an average of 503.7 FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 513.9 at 1080p to 446.8 at 4K, a reduction of 67.1 FPS, which represents a 13% performance decrease.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be the bottleneck in this setup?

A: The data suggests the CPU is the primary limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 612.6 FPS, and the GPU is not heavily utilized. The fact that the frame rate remains above 436 FPS even at 4K Ultra indicates the CPU's single-thread performance is the key constraint on overall FPS.

Q: What is the best settings preset to maximize FPS?

A: For the highest possible FPS, the Low preset at 1080p yields 612.6 FPS. However, even at Ultra settings, the system provides over 500 FPS at 1080p, so the choice between visual fidelity and raw frame rate can be made without dropping below competitive thresholds.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: This specific combo ranks 197th out of 1650 tested combinations in Valorant, placing it in the top 12% of all configurations tested.

Q: Does the RTX 4070 SUPER's 12 GB VRAM cause any issues in Valorant?

A: No. The performance difference between High and Ultra settings is minimal, with only a 10.2 FPS difference at 1080p, indicating that VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor for this game at any resolution or setting.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-12700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination achieves a rank of 197 out of 1650 tested combos in Valorant. This places the pairing in the top 11.9% of all systems tested, a strong result that underscores the effectiveness of this hardware pairing for competitive FPS gaming.

This ranking is particularly notable given the CPU's individual percentile ranking of 89 and the GPU's percentile ranking of 84. The combined system performs better than either component's individual percentile might suggest, indicating a synergistic pairing where the CPU's high single-thread performance complements the GPU's raw power without creating a significant bottleneck. The data shows that this combo outperforms the majority of systems, many of which may feature newer or more expensive components, but lack the specific balance of high-clock CPU cores and a fast GPU that Valorant requires.

The rank of 197 reflects the i7-12700K's continued relevance in the gaming landscape. Even though it is from the 12th generation, its 5.00 GHz boost clock and strong single-thread performance keep it ahead of many newer processors. The RTX 4070 SUPER, while not the absolute fastest GPU available, provides more than enough power to keep up with the CPU's frame generation, ensuring that the system does not fall behind in the rankings due to GPU limitations.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following data represents the measured average FPS for the Intel Core i7-12700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combo across all tested resolutions and settings presets.

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 612.6 FPS
• Medium: 516.4 FPS
• High: 513.9 FPS
• Ultra: 503.7 FPS

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 576.8 FPS
• Medium: 493.1 FPS
• High: 484.0 FPS
• Ultra: 474.9 FPS

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 539.7 FPS
• Medium: 456.3 FPS
• High: 446.8 FPS
• Ultra: 436.1 FPS

Across all configurations, the system never drops below 436 FPS, even at the most demanding 4K Ultra preset. The data shows a consistent pattern where the difference between Low and Ultra settings is roughly 100 FPS at each resolution, while the difference between 1080p and 4K for any given preset is around 70 FPS. This indicates that settings have a slightly larger impact on performance than resolution, but both are secondary to the CPU's ability to maintain high frame rates. The most significant performance jump occurs when moving from Low to Medium settings, with an average drop of about 80 FPS, after which the returns diminish, with only a 10-20 FPS drop from Medium to Ultra. This suggests that players can safely use Medium or High settings without sacrificing a significant amount of FPS, while the jump to Ultra provides diminishing returns for the performance cost.