Valorant

Valorant is a competitive FPS that leans heavily on CPU performance, and the combination of the Intel Core i7-12700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER produces an extremely high frame rate profile across all tested presets. The measured data shows this pairing achieving over 440 FPS at 4K High settings, with the frame rate climbing to a peak of 609.8 FPS at 1080p Low settings, indicating a system that is rarely bound by graphics limitations in this title.

FAQ

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

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings is 508.3 frames per second.

Q: How much faster is the 1080p Low preset compared to the 4K Ultra preset?

A: The 1080p Low preset averages 609.8 FPS, while the 4K Ultra preset averages 439.9 FPS, representing a performance gap of approximately 170 frames per second.

Q: Does the RTX 4080 SUPER have a significant advantage over its closest rival in benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 53610, which is only 0.2% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, making the two effectively tied in synthetic tests.

Q: What is the CPU's percentile ranking compared to all other processors?

A: The Intel Core i7-12700KF sits in the 89th percentile among all CPUs, indicating it outperforms the vast majority of processors in the database.

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

A: At 2560x1440, the Medium preset yields an average of 487.4 FPS, while the Ultra preset yields 473.7 FPS, a difference of 13.7 frames per second.

Q: What is the launch MSRP for the CPU and GPU in this combo?

A: The CPU has a launch MSRP of $384, and the GPU has a launch MSRP of 999 USD.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF is built on the Alder Lake architecture and features 12 cores with 20 threads, operating at a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. This configuration is pivotal for Valorant, a game known for being CPU-intensive, particularly at lower resolutions where the GPU has less work to do. The high boost clock is crucial for maintaining high frame rates, as the game's engine often relies on single-threaded performance for game logic and input processing.

The CPU's synthetic benchmark scores reinforce its capability. In Cinebench R23, the processor achieves a multicore score of 28979 and a single-core score of 4091, demonstrating robust performance in both heavily threaded and lightly threaded workloads. The Geekbench scores of 13596 (multicore) and 2526 (single-core) further corroborate this balanced strength. This is important for Valorant because while the game may not use all 20 threads, having a powerful single-core performance ensures that the primary game thread is never a bottleneck, allowing the GPU to operate at its full potential.

The data suggests that the CPU has a significant influence on the measured FPS. When moving from 4K to 1080p, the average frame rate increases by roughly 60-70 FPS across most settings, a trend that points to the CPU's ability to feed the GPU with more frames at lower resolutions. The 89th percentile ranking against all CPUs indicates that this processor is a top-tier choice for gaming, and its performance is nearly identical to its nearest rivals, with only a 0.1% difference from the Intel Core i5-14400 and a 0.2% difference from the Intel Core i9-12900HX. This means the i7-12700KF is positioned at the very top of the performance curve for this specific workload.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is a heavy hitter, featuring 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s. Its base clock is 2295 MHz with a boost clock of 2550 MHz, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using a 5 nm process. With 10240 shading units and 80 RT cores, the GPU has immense raw computational power, reflected in its FP32 performance of 52.22 TFLOPS. However, in Valorant, this power is largely underutilized, as the game's graphical demands are modest.

The benchmark results indicate that the GPU is not the primary limiting factor in this combination. Across all resolutions, the difference in average FPS between Low and Ultra settings is relatively small. At 1080p, the spread is from 609.8 FPS (Low) to 497.9 FPS (Ultra), a difference of about 112 FPS. At 4K, the spread is from 534.9 FPS (Low) to 439.9 FPS (Ultra), a difference of 95 FPS. While the GPU is doing more work at 4K, the frame rates remain astronomically high, suggesting that even at the highest resolution, the RTX 4080 SUPER is not being pushed to its limits.

The GPU's average benchmark score of 53610 places it in the 88th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, scores 53489, a mere 0.2% difference, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti scores 52086, which is 2.9% lower. This data shows that while the RTX 4080 SUPER is a top-tier card, its performance lead over the competition is minimal in synthetic tests. In Valorant, this means the GPU's vast resources are more than sufficient, and the system's frame rate is likely governed by the CPU's instruction throughput and memory latency rather than the GPU's rendering pipeline.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i7-12700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER holds a rank of 205 out of 1650 tested combos for Valorant. This places it in the top 12.4% of all system pairings in the database, a strong showing that underscores its high-end nature. The rank suggests that while there are many other configurations that can also run Valorant at very high frame rates, this pairing is firmly in the upper echelon of performance.

The ranking is likely influenced by the fact that Valorant is so CPU-bound. The CPU's 89th percentile ranking is a key contributor to the combo's success. A system with a slightly faster GPU but a slower CPU might see lower average frame rates in this game, as the GPU would be waiting on the processor. Conversely, a system with a faster CPU but a slower GPU might still achieve high frame rates but could bottleneck at higher resolutions or with more demanding settings.

The data implies that the combo's rank is a product of the CPU's excellent single-threaded performance and the GPU's ability to handle any residual workload without breaking a sweat. The fact that the combo is ranked 205th, rather than higher, could be due to other systems using even newer or more specialized CPUs, such as those with higher boost clocks or more cache. However, with measured FPS numbers exceeding 440 at 4K High, the rank of 205 still represents a top-tier experience that is far beyond the threshold of competitive play.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of performance scaling across three resolutions and four quality presets. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are 609.8 FPS (Low), 517.8 FPS (Medium), 508.3 FPS (High), and 497.9 FPS (Ultra). The jump from Low to Medium is significant, with a drop of 92 FPS, but the differences between Medium, High, and Ultra are much smaller, with only a 20 FPS spread between the latter three.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates decrease slightly but remain exceptionally high. The averages are 576 FPS (Low), 487.4 FPS (Medium), 481.8 FPS (High), and 473.7 FPS (Ultra). The pattern is the same as 1080p, with a large drop from Low to Medium (88.6 FPS) and a smaller, more gradual decline as settings increase. The difference between 1080p and 1440p at the same settings is roughly 30-35 FPS, indicating a modest impact from the resolution increase.

At 3840x2160, the performance remains stellar for a 4K resolution. The averages are 534.9 FPS (Low), 454 FPS (Medium), 446.3 FPS (High), and 439.9 FPS (Ultra). The gap between Low and Medium is 80.9 FPS, and the spread between Medium and Ultra is only 14.1 FPS. The drop from 1440p to 4K is slightly larger than the drop from 1080p to 1440p, showing a more pronounced resolution scaling at this level. Overall, the data shows that no matter the settings, the system provides a fluid and responsive experience, with the lowest measured average still being 439.9 FPS at 4K Ultra.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data suggests that the Ultra preset is the most logical choice for this hardware, even at 4K resolution. The cost of moving from High to Ultra is minimal in terms of performance. At 4K, the difference between High (446.3 FPS) and Ultra (439.9 FPS) is only 6.4 frames per second, which is imperceptible in real-world gameplay. At 1080p, the difference is 10.4 FPS (508.3 vs. 497.9), again a negligible margin.

Given that the system is pushing well above 400 FPS at 4K Ultra, there is no competitive reason to lower settings for performance gains. The only scenario where a lower preset might be considered is if a player prioritizes absolute maximum frame rates for a 360 Hz or 500 Hz monitor. For instance, moving from Ultra to Low at 1080p yields an additional 111.9 FPS, which could be relevant for the most demanding esports athletes. However, the visual fidelity loss is substantial, and the frame rate is already so high that the practical benefit is questionable.

For most users, the Medium or High preset offers a good balance, but the data shows that the GPU has so much headroom that the visual downgrade is unnecessary. The recommended approach is to set the game to Ultra at any resolution, as the performance remains far above the refresh rates of virtually all gaming monitors. The system is clearly overbuilt for Valorant, and the settings should be maxed out to enjoy the best visual experience without any perceivable performance penalty.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drops from 1080p to 4K reveal a system that is primarily CPU-limited. From 1080p to 1440p, the average FPS across all settings drops by approximately 5-6%. For example, at High settings, the frame rate goes from 508.3 FPS to 481.8 FPS. This is a relatively small reduction, suggesting that the GPU has enough bandwidth and processing power to handle the extra pixels without a major performance hit.

The scaling from 1440p to 4K is more pronounced. At High settings, the frame rate drops from 481.8 FPS to 446.3 FPS, a 7.4% reduction. This indicates that the GPU is starting to become more of a factor at 4K, as the increased pixel count demands more from the rendering hardware. However, the absolute numbers are still incredibly high, and the system is never in danger of dropping below 439 FPS.

The key insight is the difference between the Low and Ultra presets at each resolution. At 1080p, the gap is 112 FPS; at 1440p, the gap is 102 FPS; at 4K, the gap is 95 FPS. This narrowing gap suggests that as resolution increases, the GPU's workload grows, and the CPU's influence on the frame rate diminishes. The fact that the frame rate is still so high at 4K Ultra indicates that the CPU is still keeping up, but the data implies that the RTX 4080 SUPER is the component that is more responsible for the frame rate differences between presets at higher resolutions. The system is a perfect match for Valorant, with the CPU providing the raw instruction speed and the GPU having ample resources to render the game at any resolution and setting combination without becoming a limiting factor.