Valorant

# Valorant with Intel Core i7-12700KF + AMD Radeon RX 9060

The data for this combination reveals a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at every resolution and settings level tested, with frame rates so far beyond display refresh rate requirements that the limiting factor shifts from raw performance to consistency and frame pacing. The Intel Core i7-12700KF, with its 12 cores and 20 threads, pairs with the AMD Radeon RX 9060 to deliver average FPS figures ranging from 267 at 4K Ultra to 605 at 1080p Low, placing this combo at rank 1362 out of 2883 tested combinations in Valorant. The measured results show a pattern where the GPU's capability to render at high frame rates is rarely challenged by the CPU, even at lower resolutions where CPU bottlenecks typically emerge in competitive shooters.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is remarkably consistent across all settings presets, revealing a GPU that scales predictably with pixel count rather than hitting a hard ceiling. At High settings, the average FPS moves from 411 at 1080p to 351 at 1440p, then to 280 at 4K — representing a 14.6% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 20.2% drop from 1440p to 4K. This pattern suggests the Radeon RX 9060's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 288.0 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient to feed the rendering pipeline without hitting memory capacity limits, even at 3840x2160.

The Low settings row tells an even more interesting story about the CPU's role. At 1080p Low, the system produces 605 FPS average; at 1440p Low, it drops to 559 FPS; and at 4K Low, it reaches 447 FPS. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is 26.1%, which is actually larger than the 31.8% drop seen at High settings when going from 1080p (411 FPS) to 4K (280 FPS). This asymmetry indicates that at Low settings, the GPU is still the primary limiter, but the CPU's 5.00 GHz boost clock and strong single-thread performance — evidenced by a 3dmark_single_thread score of 1043 — become more relevant at the lowest graphical loads.

Medium settings provide the only rows with min and max FPS data, offering a window into frame consistency. At 1080p Medium, the average is 432 FPS with a min of 367 and max of 496, giving a spread of 129 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 368 FPS with min 313 and max 423, a spread of 110 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average is 294 FPS with min 250 and max 338, a spread of 88 FPS. The narrowing spread at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU's workload becomes more uniform as pixel count increases, reducing the variability that can cause stutter in competitive scenarios.

The Ultra preset shows the system's lowest performance, with 391 FPS at 1080p, 334 FPS at 1440p, and 267 FPS at 4K. The scaling from 1080p to 4K at Ultra is a 31.7% reduction, nearly identical to the High preset's 31.8% reduction. This consistency across presets implies that the Radeon RX 9060's 1792 shading units and 64 ROPs are being utilized at similar efficiency levels regardless of the graphical complexity, with the 2990 MHz boost clock providing the headroom needed to maintain this scaling pattern.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo in Valorant?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 605, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This is followed by 559 FPS at 2560x1440 Low and 447 FPS at 3840x2160 Low, showing that the Low preset consistently delivers the top frame rates across all resolutions.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations in Valorant?

A: This combination of the Intel Core i7-12700KF and AMD Radeon RX 9060 ranks 1362 out of 2883 tested combos in Valorant, placing it in the upper half of all configurations. The rank reflects the system's ability to produce very high frame rates, though it does not crack the top tier of combinations.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded at Medium settings for each resolution?

A: The data shows min FPS values only for Medium settings: 367 FPS at 1080p, 313 FPS at 1440p, and 250 FPS at 4K. These minimums represent the worst-case frame rates during the measurement period, with the 4K figure still comfortably above the refresh rates of most monitors.

Q: Which resolution and settings combination provides the most consistent frame delivery?

A: Based on the min/max spread at Medium settings, the 4K resolution shows the tightest consistency with a spread of 88 FPS (250 to 338), compared to 110 FPS at 1440p and 129 FPS at 1080p. The higher resolution produces more uniform frame times, likely due to the GPU being more consistently saturated.

Q: How does the CPU's single-thread performance relate to the FPS figures?

A: The i7-12700KF achieves a 3dmark_single_thread score of 1043 and a passmark_single_thread score of 3984, with a 5.00 GHz boost clock. These figures support the high frame rates seen at 1080p Low (605 FPS), where CPU overhead per frame is at its highest relative to GPU workload.

Q: What is the difference in average FPS between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset produces 559 FPS average while Ultra produces 334 FPS, a difference of 225 FPS or 67.4% higher performance on Low. This gap highlights the significant impact of graphical settings on the Radeon RX 9060's output at this resolution.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9060's specifications paint a picture of a GPU designed for high-throughput rendering at moderate power levels. With a 132 W TDP and a 300 W suggested PSU, this card operates efficiently while delivering the frame rates observed in the data. The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which appears adequate for Valorant's engine at all tested resolutions, as evidenced by the consistent scaling from 1080p to 4K without any anomalous drops that would indicate memory starvation.

The clock speeds are telling: a base clock of 1700 MHz, a game clock of 2400 MHz, and a boost clock of 2990 MHz. The substantial gap between base and boost — a 75.9% increase — suggests the GPU can dynamically ramp up when thermal and power headroom allow, which is crucial for maintaining high average FPS in a game like Valorant where frame times are short and the GPU rarely enters sustained heavy loads. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (605) versus 4K Ultra (267) shows a 2.27x range, which aligns with the 4x pixel count difference being partially offset by the lower settings complexity.

The GPU's memory configuration of 8 GB GDDR6 is notable for a game that is not typically memory-intensive. The fact that 4K Ultra still produces 267 FPS average suggests that memory bandwidth, not capacity, is the more relevant constraint. With a 128-bit bus, the 288.0 GB/s bandwidth is modest by modern standards, yet the data shows no evidence of a bandwidth wall — the Radeon RX 9060's 21.43 TFLOPS FP32 compute rate appears to be the more binding constraint, particularly at higher settings where shader complexity increases.

The RDNA 4.0 architecture with Navi 44 chip on a 4 nm TSMC process delivers 29,700 million transistors on a 199 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 149.2M per mm². This efficiency allows the GPU to maintain high clocks — the 2990 MHz boost is particularly aggressive — while staying within the 132 W TDP envelope. In Valorant, where the workload is primarily fill-rate and shader-bound, the 64 ROPs and 112 TMUs provide the necessary pixel and texture throughput, with the 191.4 GPixel/s pixel rate and 334.9 GTexel/s texture rate translating directly into the high FPS figures observed.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance for most scenarios. At 1080p Medium, the system produces 432 FPS average with a minimum of 367 FPS, meaning even the worst-case frame rate exceeds the 360 Hz refresh rate of the most demanding competitive monitors. The Medium preset at 1440p delivers 368 FPS average with a 313 FPS minimum, still sufficient for 300 Hz displays. For 4K, Medium produces 294 FPS average with a 250 FPS minimum, which comfortably drives a 240 Hz panel.

The Low preset is the only setting that pushes beyond 600 FPS, achieving 605 FPS at 1080p. This extreme frame rate is primarily beneficial for players using monitors with refresh rates above 360 Hz, though the 447 FPS at 4K Low also demonstrates that even at the highest resolution, the Low preset keeps the GPU from being the bottleneck. However, the visual trade-offs of Low settings in Valorant — reduced shadow quality, lower texture detail, and simplified effects — may not be worth the FPS increase when Medium already exceeds 400 FPS at 1440p.

The Ultra preset, while producing 391 FPS at 1080p and 267 FPS at 4K, shows the smallest performance gap from High settings (391 vs 411 at 1080p, a 4.9% difference). This suggests that Ultra's additional graphical features are relatively light on the GPU for this particular title, making it a viable choice for players who prioritize visual fidelity without sacrificing competitive frame rates. The High preset falls between Medium and Ultra, with 411 FPS at 1080p and 280 FPS at 4K, making it a reasonable middle ground.

For players with 240 Hz monitors, any preset at 1080p or 1440p will exceed the display's refresh rate, so the choice should be driven by visual preference rather than performance. For 4K 240 Hz displays, the Medium preset (294 FPS average) is the recommended starting point, as it provides the best combination of visual quality and the highest average FPS above the 240 FPS threshold. The min FPS of 250 at 4K Medium ensures that even the slowest frames stay above this target.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the data shows a clear hierarchy across settings. Low produces 605 FPS average, which is the highest figure in the entire dataset. Medium follows at 432 FPS, with a minimum of 367 FPS and maximum of 496 FPS. High achieves 411 FPS, while Ultra trails at 391 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 173 FPS (40.0% higher on Low), while the gap between Medium and Ultra is 41 FPS (9.5% higher on Medium). This compression at the higher settings indicates that the GPU's rendering overhead for Medium, High, and Ultra is relatively similar, with Low being the outlier that significantly reduces workload.

At 2560x1440, the pattern repeats with lower absolute numbers. Low produces 559 FPS, Medium delivers 368 FPS (min 313, max 423), High reaches 351 FPS, and Ultra drops to 334 FPS. The Low-to-Medium gap narrows to 191 FPS (51.9% higher on Low), while Medium-to-Ultra shows a 34 FPS difference (10.2% higher on Medium). The 1440p data shows a more pronounced drop from 1080p at Low settings (605 to 559, a 7.6% reduction) compared to Ultra (391 to 334, a 14.6% reduction), reinforcing that higher settings amplify the pixel count penalty.

At 3840x2160, the system maintains impressive frame rates. Low achieves 447 FPS, Medium produces 294 FPS (min 250, max 338), High delivers 280 FPS, and Ultra reaches 267 FPS. The Low-to-Medium gap is 153 FPS (52.0% higher on Low), while Medium-to-Ultra shows a 27 FPS difference (10.1% higher on Medium). At 4K, the scaling from 1080p Low to 4K Low (605 to 447) represents a 26.1% reduction, while the same resolution change at Ultra (391 to 267) shows a 31.7% reduction. This indicates that the GPU's compute resources become more fully utilized at higher settings and resolutions, with the 4K Ultra result of 267 FPS still representing a highly playable experience.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF brings substantial processing power to this combination, with 12 cores and 20 threads based on the Alder Lake architecture. The 5.00 GHz boost clock and 3.60 GHz base clock provide the single-thread performance that Valorant's engine relies upon for game logic and frame scheduling. The CPU's 3dmark_single_thread score of 1043 and cinebench_r23_singlecore score of 4071 indicate strong per-core performance, which is critical for maintaining the high frame rates observed at 1080p Low where the GPU is less burdened.

In multi-threaded workloads, the i7-12700KF excels with a cinebench_r23_multicore score of 28838 and a passmark_multithread score of 34092. However, Valorant's engine is not heavily multi-threaded, so these scores likely contribute less to the measured FPS than the single-thread results. The CPU's 25 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache provide fast access to game data, reducing memory latency that could otherwise bottleneck frame generation at high FPS.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 85th against all CPUs places it in the upper tier of processors, though it trails the Intel Core i7-13700T by 0.1% and the Intel Core 5 213PE by 0.2% in average benchmark score. Against the Intel Core i5-13600T, the i7-12700KF is 0.2% faster, and it matches the Intel Core i7-12700K with a 0.2% lead. These marginal differences suggest that the CPU is not a limiting factor in this system — even the closest rival processors would produce nearly identical FPS in Valorant, given that the GPU is the primary constraint at all tested settings.

The memory support for both DDR4 and DDR5, with dual-channel architecture, provides flexibility for system builders, though the measured FPS data does not differentiate between memory types. The CPU's PCIe Gen 4 with 20 lanes ensures sufficient bandwidth for the Radeon RX 9060's PCIe 5.0 x16 interface, though the GPU can operate at PCIe 4.0 speeds without meaningful performance loss in this title. The 125 W TDP of the i7-12700KF is modest for a 12-core processor, and the unlocked multiplier allows for overclocking that could further improve the already-high frame rates, particularly in CPU-sensitive scenarios at 1080p Low.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-12700KF and AMD Radeon RX 9060 achieves a rank of 1362 out of 2883 tested combinations in Valorant, placing it in the 52.8th percentile of all systems tested. This mid-pack ranking might seem surprising given the absolute FPS figures — 605 FPS at 1080p Low is objectively very high — but it reflects the fact that Valorant is a lightly-threaded, low-dependency title where even mid-range hardware can produce extreme frame rates, making the competition dense at the top.

The CPU's nearest rivals provide context for the processor's contribution to this ranking. The Intel Core i7-13700T, with an average benchmark score of 35403, is 0.1% ahead of the i7-12700KF's 35365 average, while the Intel Core 5 213PE leads by 0.2% with a score of 35428. The Intel Core i5-13600T trails by 0.2% at 35305, and the Intel Core i7-12700K is 0.2% behind at 35287. These sub-1% differences mean that swapping the i7-12700KF for any of these rivals would yield virtually identical Valorant performance, confirming that the CPU is not the differentiator in this combo's rank.

On the GPU side, the Radeon RX 9060's average benchmark score of 16014 places it in the 59th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, scores 16129, which is 0.7% higher, while the AMD Radeon R9 370X and RX 7700 both score slightly lower at 15862 and 15852 respectively, representing 1% deficits. The AMD Radeon Pro W5500 trails by 2.1% at 15679. These close margins suggest that the RX 9060's performance tier is well-defined, and its 59th percentile GPU ranking is the primary driver of the combo's 1362nd place overall.

The discrepancy between the GPU's 59th percentile ranking and the combo's 52.8th percentile ranking in Valorant indicates that other tested combinations feature GPUs that perform disproportionately well in this specific game. Valorant's low graphical requirements mean that even lower-tier GPUs can achieve very high frame rates, compressing the performance curve and making the ranking more dependent on the CPU's ability to feed frames. The i7-12700KF's strong single-thread performance helps, but the system's rank suggests that combinations with faster CPUs and slightly slower GPUs may edge it out in this title, despite the RX 9060's solid overall GPU performance.