Valorant

The Intel Core i7-13700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER delivers extraordinary performance in Valorant, with average frame rates that far exceed the refresh rates of even the fastest gaming monitors. Across all tested resolutions and settings, the combo never drops below 474.8 frames per second, making the game’s engine and CPU the primary determinants of performance rather than the GPU. The data indicates that this system is designed for maximum competitive fluidity, where every millisecond of input latency is minimized by sheer frame throughput.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate recorded for this combo?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 662.4, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This represents the peak of the measured data and highlights the CPU’s ability to feed the GPU at lower graphical loads.

Q: How much performance is gained by switching from Ultra to Low settings at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the average frame rate increases from 474.8 FPS on Ultra to 578 FPS on Low, a difference of 103.2 frames per second. This suggests that even at 4K, the graphical preset has a significant impact on the final frame rate.

Q: Is the RTX 4080 SUPER a bottleneck for the Core i7-13700K in this game?

A: The data suggests the opposite. At 1080p Low, the system produces 662.4 FPS, while at 4K Ultra it produces 474.8 FPS. The relatively modest drop of 187.6 FPS when increasing resolution by 4x indicates the CPU is heavily involved in frame generation, and the GPU is not the limiting factor at lower resolutions.

Q: What is the performance difference between 1080p and 1440p at Medium settings?

A: The average frame rate at 1920x1080 Medium is 558.8 FPS, while at 2560x1440 Medium it is 531.7 FPS. The difference is 27.1 FPS, showing that the transition from 1080p to 1440p has a minor effect on overall performance.

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

A: The combo ranks 76th out of 1650 tested combinations. This places it in the top 5% of all systems benchmarked, indicating that it is one of the most capable configurations for this title.

Q: Does the RTX 4080 SUPER’s 16 GB of VRAM influence the results at 4K?

A: Valorant is not a VRAM-intensive title, but the 16 GB of GDDR6X memory ensures there is ample headroom. The measured frame rates at 4K Ultra (474.8 FPS) show that memory capacity is not a constraining factor, as performance remains exceptionally high.

Settings Recommendations

For competitive play where frame rate is paramount, the data strongly favors the Low preset. At 1920x1080, Low yields 662.4 FPS, which is 120.3 FPS higher than the High preset at the same resolution. The jump from Medium to Low is also substantial, with a gain of 103.6 FPS at 1080p and 91.5 FPS at 1440p. While the visual quality reduction is notable, the increase in frame rate can directly translate to smoother aim and reduced input lag.

For players using high-refresh-rate monitors (e.g., 360Hz or 500Hz), the Low preset at 1440p is the most balanced choice, delivering 623.2 FPS. This is the only way to fully utilize a 600Hz display, as the Ultra and High presets at 1440p hover around 513-524 FPS. At 4K, the Medium preset (491 FPS) offers a better visual experience than Low (578 FPS) while still maintaining frame rates above 480 FPS, which is sufficient for most high-end displays.

The Ultra preset is recommended only for players on 4K displays who prioritize visual fidelity over maximal frame rates. It produces 474.8 FPS at 3840x2160, which is still exceptionally high for a competitive shooter. However, the performance cost of Ultra compared to Medium is only 16.2 FPS at 4K, making Medium a more efficient choice for those who want a blend of clarity and speed. Ultimately, the Low preset is the clear winner for esports-focused play, while Medium offers the best trade-off for general use.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-13700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination holds the 76th position out of 1650 tested combos in Valorant. This places it firmly in the upper echelon of all systems benchmarked, outperforming the vast majority of hardware configurations. The data shows that this pairing is exceptionally well-suited for the game’s CPU-bound engine, as the 16-core processor provides ample single-threaded performance.

The CPU’s benchmark scores corroborate this ranking. The Core i7-13700K achieves a 3dmark single-thread score of 1136 and a passmark single-thread score of 4333, which are critical for Valorant’s frame generation. Its nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i7-13700KF (deltaPct -0.1) and AMD EPYC 4364P (deltaPct 0.3), show that the processor is in a tightly contested performance band, but the combination with the RTX 4080 SUPER gives it a distinct advantage in this specific game.

The GPU’s own ranking is also strong, sitting at the 88th percentile among all GPUs. However, the measured FPS data indicates that the GPU is rarely the limiting factor. The difference between 1080p Low (662.4 FPS) and 4K Ultra (474.8 FPS) is just 187.6 FPS, a relatively small penalty for a 4x resolution increase. This suggests that the CPU is the primary driver of performance, and the combo’s high rank confirms the processor’s capabilities rather than the graphics card’s raw power.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates. The Low preset produces the best result at 662.4 FPS. The Medium preset follows at 558.8 FPS, while High achieves 549.9 FPS. The Ultra preset is the slowest at this resolution, yielding 542.1 FPS. The spread between the fastest and slowest presets is 120.3 FPS, showing that graphical settings have a meaningful impact even at 1080p.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain exceptionally high. The Low preset leads with 623.2 FPS, followed by Medium at 531.7 FPS and High at 524.2 FPS. The Ultra preset produces 513.8 FPS. The performance gap between Low and Ultra is 109.4 FPS, which is similar to the 1080p delta. This indicates that the CPU is still the primary bottleneck, as the resolution increase from 1080p to 1440p only costs roughly 40 FPS at Low settings.

At 3840x2160, the system continues to impress. The Low preset achieves 578 FPS, which is a significant drop from the 662.4 FPS at 1080p. The Medium preset scores 491 FPS, while High reaches 488.1 FPS. The Ultra preset is the slowest at 474.8 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 103.2 FPS, showing that the GPU is now becoming a more significant factor, though the absolute numbers remain outstanding for a 4K resolution.

The data reveals a consistent pattern: the Low preset always provides the highest average FPS, and the gap between Low and Ultra grows smaller as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference is 120.3 FPS, while at 4K it is 103.2 FPS. This suggests that the GPU’s workload increases with resolution, but the CPU remains the dominant performance driver throughout.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is a high-end graphics card with 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and a 256-bit memory bus, delivering a bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s. Its boost clock is 2550 MHz, and it features 10240 shading units. Despite its substantial specifications, the measured FPS data in Valorant shows that the GPU is often underutilized. The card’s percentile rank among all GPUs is 88th, and its average benchmark score is 53610.

In Valorant, the GPU’s role is to render frames quickly enough to keep up with the CPU’s output. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system produces 662.4 FPS, which is likely near the limit of what the CPU can generate. Increasing the resolution to 4K Ultra only reduces the frame rate to 474.8 FPS, indicating that the GPU has ample headroom to handle the game’s relatively simple graphics. The 16 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient for Valorant, which does not require large texture pools.

The GPU’s clock speeds and memory bandwidth are more than adequate for this title. The 736.3 GB/s memory bandwidth ensures that texture streaming is never a bottleneck, and the 2550 MHz boost clock provides the raw compute power needed to maintain high frame rates. The card’s nearest rivals, such as the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (deltaPct 0.2) and AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (deltaPct 0.4), show that the RTX 4080 SUPER is competitively positioned, but in this game, the CPU is the star of the show. The GPU’s high specifications are effectively wasted on Valorant, as the system’s performance is constrained by the processor’s single-threaded capabilities rather than the graphics card’s raw power.