Valorant

The Intel Core i7-14700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 delivers high frame rates in Valorant, but the combination's overall standing among tested systems is modest. The measured data places this combo at rank 1223 out of 1650 tested combinations, a position that reflects the GPU's mid-range status rather than the CPU's strength. The CPU itself sits in the 96th percentile of all processors, while the GPU is in the 58th percentile, and the game's measured FPS values show that the RTX 2060 is the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 1223rd out of 1650 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom quarter of the field. This is a surprisingly low position given the CPU's high-end credentials: the Core i7-14700KF has 20 cores, 28 threads, a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, and a 33 MB shared L3 cache. Its average benchmark score is 70104, which places it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs. The GPU, however, is a more modest component. The RTX 2060 has an average benchmark score of 16074 and sits in the 58th percentile of all GPUs. The rank disparity suggests that in Valorant, the GPU is the primary constraint, and many other combinations with stronger GPUs achieve higher frame rates, even if their CPUs are less capable.

The CPU's nearest rivals in the benchmark database are the Intel Core i7-14700K (average score 70074, delta 0%), the AMD EPYC 9115 (69887, +0.3%), the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X (70420, -0.4%), and the Intel Xeon Platinum 8270 (71056, -1.3%). The i7-14700KF is essentially tied with the i7-14700K, slightly ahead of the EPYC, and slightly behind the Ryzen and Xeon. For the GPU, the nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX 7600S (15996, +0.5%), the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M (16351, -1.7%), the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (16351, -1.7%), and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (15786, +1.8%). The RTX 2060 is within 2% of all these cards, indicating a tightly clustered mid-range performance tier.

GPU Role

The RTX 2060 is built on the Turing architecture with a TU106 chip, fabricated on a 12 nm process at TSMC. It has 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The base clock is 1365 MHz, with a boost clock of 1680 MHz, and the memory runs at 14 Gbps effective. The card has 1920 shading units, 120 TMUs, 48 ROPs, 30 RT cores, and 240 tensor cores. Its pixel rate is 80.64 GPixel/s, texture rate is 201.6 GTexel/s, and FP32 performance is 6.451 TFLOPS. The TDP is 160 W, and it uses a dual-slot design with a single 8-pin power connector.

In Valorant, the GPU's role is to render frames at the chosen resolution and settings. The measured FPS data shows that the GPU is not a bottleneck at 1080p, where even the Ultra preset averages 325.9 fps. However, as resolution increases, the GPU's workload grows, and the frame rate drops. At 4K Ultra, the average is 219.7 fps, still high but noticeably lower than the 1080p figure. The 6 GB VRAM is sufficient for this game, as the memory bus and bandwidth are not stressed by the relatively simple scenes. The GPU's performance relative to its nearest rivals is consistent with its benchmark scores, and the deltaPct values indicate that the RTX 2060 is essentially on par with the RX 7600S and the Radeon Pro cards.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS values provide a clear hierarchy across presets. At every resolution, the Low preset yields the highest average FPS: 544.6 at 1080p, 461.8 at 1440p, and 371.5 at 4K. The Medium preset is next, with 354.3, 303, and 241.3 respectively. High follows, with 338.3, 287.1, and 230.2. Ultra is the lowest, with 325.9, 274.2, and 219.7. The differences between presets are modest at 1080p, where the gap between Low and Ultra is 218.7 fps, but at 4K the gap narrows to 151.8 fps.

For players seeking the highest possible frame rate, the Low preset is the obvious choice, as it provides the best measured performance at all resolutions. However, even the Ultra preset maintains an average above 200 fps at 4K, and above 300 fps at 1080p. Given that Valorant is an FPS, higher frame rates can be beneficial for competitive play, but the data shows that the GPU is capable of delivering very high FPS even at higher visual settings. A balanced recommendation would be to use the Medium or High preset at 1080p or 1440p, where the frame rate remains above 280 fps, while reserving Low for maximum responsiveness. The choice ultimately depends on the user's display refresh rate and preference for visual fidelity.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table lists all measured average FPS values from the FACT PACK, organized by resolution and settings.

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS |

|------------|----------|---------|

| 3840x2160 | High | 230.2 |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 371.5 |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 241.3 |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 219.7 |

| 2560x1440 | High | 287.1 |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 461.8 |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 303 |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 274.2 |

| 1920x1080 | High | 338.3 |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 544.6 |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 354.3 |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 325.9 |

The data shows a consistent ordering: Low > Medium > High > Ultra at every resolution. The largest absolute difference between Low and Ultra is at 1080p, where the gap is 218.7 fps, while at 4K the gap is 151.8 fps. The frame rates are high across the board, with the lowest measured value being 219.7 fps at 4K Ultra, which is still well above typical display refresh rates.

Resolution Scaling

Moving from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 produces a substantial drop in FPS for every settings preset. For Low, the average falls from 544.6 to 371.5 fps. For Medium, it falls from 354.3 to 241.3. For High, it falls from 338.3 to 230.2. For Ultra, it falls from 325.9 to 219.7. The relative reduction is similar across presets, suggesting that the GPU is the primary scaling factor. At 1080p, the CPU's high single-thread performance (boost clock 5.60 GHz) allows the GPU to reach very high frame rates, but as resolution increases, the GPU's rendering workload grows and becomes the limiting component.

The fact that the FPS drop is consistent across settings indicates that the RTX 2060's memory bandwidth and compute resources are the bottleneck at higher resolutions. The 6 GB VRAM and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for Valorant, but the GPU's raw throughput (6.451 TFLOPS) is what limits the frame rate at 4K. The CPU, with its 20 cores and 28 threads, is not a constraint in this game, as evidenced by the high FPS at 1080p Low (544.6 fps). The data suggests that for users with 4K displays, the GPU will be the limiting factor, while at 1080p the CPU is more than capable of feeding the GPU.

FAQ

Q: What is the combo's rank among tested systems?

A: The Intel Core i7-14700KF + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 ranks 1223rd out of 1650 tested combinations in Valorant.

Q: Which settings preset provides the highest average FPS?

A: The Low preset yields the highest average FPS at every resolution: 544.6 at 1080p, 461.8 at 1440p, and 371.5 at 4K.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RTX 2060 has an average benchmark score of 16074. It is 0.5% slower than the AMD Radeon RX 7600S, 1.7% slower than the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M and Radeon Pro 5700, and 1.8% faster than the AMD Radeon Pro W5500.

Q: What is the CPU's performance relative to its nearest rivals?

A: The Core i7-14700KF has an average benchmark score of 70104. It is 0.3% faster than the AMD EPYC 9115, 0.4% slower than the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X, and 1.3% slower than the Intel Xeon Platinum 8270. It is essentially tied with the Intel Core i7-14700K.

Q: What are the GPU's memory specifications?

A: The RTX 2060 has 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s and an effective memory clock of 14 Gbps.

Q: What is the CPU's core and thread count?

A: The Intel Core i7-14700KF has 20 cores and 28 threads, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz.