Valorant

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Valorant with the Intel Core i7-12700KF and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 shows an unusual pattern: the frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial, but the game remains highly playable at every resolution tested. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 307 at 1920x1080 to 262 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 45 FPS, and then to 209 at 3840x2160, another 53 FPS drop. This represents a total decline of 98 FPS from 1080p to 4K, or roughly 32% of the 1080p performance.

The scaling pattern reveals that at 1080p, the system is heavily CPU-bound. The jump from Low to High settings at 1920x1080 only costs 182 FPS (from 489 to 307), which is a massive relative penalty but still leaves the frame rate far above what the GPU alone would dictate. At 4K, the same settings transition costs 124 FPS (from 333 to 209), indicating that the GPU is becoming the primary limiter as resolution increases. The Low settings 4K result of 333 FPS versus the 1080p Low result of 489 FPS shows a 156 FPS gap, which is the purest measure of GPU scaling in this data.

Medium settings provide the most complete picture, with min and max FPS recorded at all three resolutions. At 1920x1080, the average is 322 FPS with a range of 274 to 370. At 2560x1440, the average drops to 275 FPS with a range of 233 to 316. At 3840x2160, the average falls to 220 FPS with a range of 187 to 252. The min-to-max spread narrows as resolution increases, suggesting that frame time consistency improves when the GPU is more fully utilized. The 4K Medium result shows a 65 FPS range, while 1080p Medium shows a 96 FPS range, indicating more variance at lower resolutions where CPU bottlenecks create uneven frame pacing.

The Ultra settings results confirm the trend. At 1080p, Ultra averages 292 FPS, only 15 FPS below High. At 1440p, Ultra averages 249 FPS, 13 FPS below High. At 4K, Ultra averages 199 FPS, 10 FPS below High. This narrowing gap between High and Ultra at higher resolutions suggests that the additional GPU workload from Ultra settings is relatively small compared to the resolution scaling itself. The data indicates that this combo delivers competitive esports-level frame rates even at 4K Ultra, which is notable for a GPU from the Pascal generation.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-12700KF with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 ranks 2979 out of 3708 tested combos in Valorant. This places it in the lower portion of the field, at roughly the 80th percentile from the bottom. The ranking reflects that while the CPU is exceptionally strong, the GPU is a significant bottleneck in a game that is generally not demanding by modern standards. The combo rank of 2979 out of 3708 means there are 729 tested configurations that perform worse, and 2978 that perform better in this specific game.

The CPU itself ranks in the 85th percentile against all CPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 35365. Its nearest rivals in overall CPU performance are the Intel Core i7-13700T at 35403 (a 0.1% difference), the Intel Core 5 213PE at 35428 (0.2% higher), the Intel Core i5-13600T at 35305 (0.2% lower), and the Intel Core i7-12700K at 35287 (0.2% lower). This places the 12700KF essentially at parity with its closest competitors, all within a fraction of a percent of each other. The 12700KF's average score of 35365 is just 63 points below the highest-scoring rival, the Core 5 213PE, and 78 points above the lowest, the 12700K.

For the GPU, the GTX 1070 sits in the 47th percentile against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 9780. Its nearest rivals are the AMD FirePro W5000 at 9803 (0.2% higher), the NVIDIA Quadro M2000M at 9832 (0.5% higher), the NVIDIA Tesla M10 at 9724 (0.6% lower), and the NVIDIA Tesla C2070 at 9716 (0.7% lower). The GTX 1070's score is within 1% of all four nearest rivals, indicating that it sits in a tightly packed performance band where small differences separate the contenders. The GPU's 47th percentile ranking means it is slightly below the midpoint of all GPUs tested, which explains why the combo rank is not higher despite the CPU's strong showing.

The disparity between the CPU's 85th percentile and the GPU's 47th percentile is the defining characteristic of this combo. In Valorant, which can be CPU-intensive at high frame rates, this imbalance means the system is often waiting on the GPU, particularly at higher resolutions. The combo rank of 2979 out of 3708 suggests that many other configurations achieve better overall performance in this game, likely those with more balanced CPU-GPU pairings or with GPUs that are stronger relative to their CPUs.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 is built on the Pascal architecture using the GP104 chip, manufactured on a 16 nm process at TSMC. It features 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 256.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1506 MHz with a boost clock of 1683 MHz, and memory runs at 2002 MHz or 8 Gbps effective. The card has 1920 shading units, 120 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation units, producing a pixel rate of 107.7 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 202.0 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is rated at 6.463 TFLOPS.

In Valorant, the GTX 1070's memory configuration proves sufficient. The 8 GB frame buffer is never a limiting factor in this game, as evidenced by the fact that increasing settings from Low to Ultra at 4K only reduces average FPS from 333 to 199. If VRAM were insufficient, the Ultra settings would show a more dramatic collapse due to texture swapping. The 256-bit memory bus and 256.3 GB/s bandwidth are more than adequate for a game with relatively simple geometry and textures, allowing the GPU to focus on raw fill rate rather than memory throughput.

The GPU's 47th percentile ranking against all GPUs, with an average score of 9780, places it in the middle of the pack. Its nearest rival, the AMD FirePro W5000, scores 9803, just 0.2% higher, while the NVIDIA Quadro M2000M is 0.5% higher at 9832. On the lower side, the Tesla M10 at 9724 is 0.6% behind, and the Tesla C2070 at 9716 is 0.7% behind. This clustering shows that the GTX 1070's raw compute performance is competitive with a range of workstation and professional cards, though none of these rivals are designed for gaming.

The measured FPS data shows that the GTX 1070 handles Valorant with considerable headroom. At 1080p Low, it produces 489 FPS, which is far beyond what most displays can show. Even at 4K Ultra, the 199 FPS average is well above the 144 Hz refresh rate common among competitive monitors. The GPU's boost clock of 1683 MHz and 6.463 TFLOPS of FP32 performance are sufficient to maintain these frame rates, but the data suggests that the GPU begins to limit performance at 4K, where the FPS drops are more pronounced relative to settings changes. The 4K Low to High transition costs 124 FPS, while the same transition at 1080p costs 182 FPS, indicating that the GPU is the bottleneck at 4K.

FAQ

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

A: The average FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings is 307 FPS. This is 15 FPS higher than Ultra settings at the same resolution, which averages 292 FPS.

Q: Does the GTX 1070 maintain playable frame rates at 4K in Valorant?

A: Yes, the data shows 4K performance remains high. At 3840x2160 with Low settings, the average FPS is 333. Medium settings average 220 FPS with a minimum of 187 FPS, and Ultra settings average 199 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU's benchmark score compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core i7-12700KF has an average benchmark score of 35365. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-13700T, scores 35403, which is 0.1% higher. The Intel Core 5 213PE scores 35428, 0.2% higher, and the Intel Core i5-13600T scores 35305, 0.2% lower.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested configurations in Valorant?

A: The combo ranks 2979 out of 3708 tested combinations. This places it in the lower 20% of all tested combos for this game.

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

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings average 417 FPS, while Ultra settings average 249 FPS. This represents a 168 FPS difference between the two settings presets.

Q: What is the GPU's memory bandwidth and how does it affect performance?

A: The GTX 1070 has 256.3 GB/s of bandwidth from 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus. In Valorant, this bandwidth is sufficient to prevent memory bottlenecks, as evidenced by the consistent performance scaling across settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured FPS values are as follows. Low settings produce an average of 489 FPS. Medium settings average 322 FPS, with a minimum of 274 FPS and a maximum of 370 FPS. High settings average 307 FPS. Ultra settings average 292 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 197 FPS, showing that settings have a substantial impact at this resolution, though even the lowest result remains far above competitive thresholds.

At 2560x1440, Low settings average 417 FPS. Medium settings average 275 FPS, with a minimum of 233 FPS and a maximum of 316 FPS. High settings average 262 FPS. Ultra settings average 249 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 168 FPS, which is 29 FPS less than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is beginning to exert more influence on performance.

At 3840x2160, Low settings average 333 FPS. Medium settings average 220 FPS, with a minimum of 187 FPS and a maximum of 252 FPS. High settings average 209 FPS. Ultra settings average 199 FPS. The Low to Ultra spread is 134 FPS, the smallest of any resolution, confirming that the GPU becomes the dominant limiter at 4K.

The Medium settings data provides the only complete min/max information. At 1080p, the range is 274 to 370 FPS, a spread of 96 FPS. At 1440p, the range is 233 to 316 FPS, a spread of 83 FPS. At 4K, the range is 187 to 252 FPS, a spread of 65 FPS. This narrowing range at higher resolutions indicates more consistent frame delivery when the GPU is fully loaded.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF is a 12-core, 20-thread processor from the Alder Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, with a TDP of 125 W. The CPU features 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core, and 25 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration and provides PCIe Gen 4 with 20 lanes.

The CPU's benchmark results show exceptional single-threaded and multithreaded performance. In Cinebench R23, it scores 28838 in multicore and 4071 in single-core. Geekbench results show 14367 in multicore and 2255 in single-core. The 3DMark tests reveal strong scaling from 2 threads (2065) to 16 threads (9282) to max threads (9983), indicating that the processor efficiently utilizes its core count. PassMark results include a multithread score of 34092 and a single-thread score of 3984.

In Valorant, the CPU's high single-thread performance is critical. The game is known for being sensitive to CPU clock speed and IPC, and the 12700KF's 5.00 GHz boost clock and Alder Lake architecture deliver the required responsiveness. The 1080p Low setting result of 489 FPS demonstrates that the CPU can push frame rates far beyond what most displays can handle, with no apparent CPU bottleneck at this resolution.

The CPU's 85th percentile ranking against all CPUs, with an average score of 35365, places it well above the GTX 1070's 47th percentile. This imbalance is the root cause of the combo ranking at 2979 out of 3708. The CPU is capable of supporting much higher frame rates than the GPU can deliver, particularly at higher resolutions. The 4K results show that the GPU becomes the limiting factor, as FPS drops are more pronounced with resolution scaling than with settings changes.

The nearest CPU rivals all score within 0.2% of the 12700KF, indicating that this processor is at the top of its performance class. The Intel Core i7-13700T scores 35403, the Core 5 213PE scores 35428, the i5-13600T scores 35305, and the 12700K scores 35287. The 12700KF's score of 35365 places it in the middle of this group, with differences of less than 100 points separating the best from the worst. This tight clustering suggests that for Valorant, any of these CPUs would perform nearly identically when paired with the same GPU, reinforcing that the GTX 1070 is the performance ceiling in this configuration.