Valorant

Valorant is a competitive FPS that often behaves differently from AAA single-player titles, and the measured data for the Intel Core i7-14700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER reflects that. The benchmark results show a system that is overwhelmingly capable of running the game at extremely high frame rates, but the pattern of scores across resolutions and settings reveals where the performance ceiling actually lies. The data indicates a configuration where the GPU is rarely the limiting factor, even at maximum settings, making the CPU's capabilities the dominant variable in the final frame rate.

Resolution Scaling

The most telling trend in the measured FPS is how little the frame rate drops when moving up in resolution. At Low settings, the average frame rate goes from 683 FPS at 1920x1080, to 644.1 FPS at 2560x1440, and then to 600.3 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a drop of approximately 39 FPS moving from 1080p to 1440p, and another 43.8 FPS moving from 1440p to 4K. In absolute terms, the reduction is modest, but the relative scaling suggests that the graphics card is not being fully taxed, particularly at the lower resolutions.

The scaling pattern changes slightly when settings are increased. At Ultra settings, the average frame rates are 561.5 FPS at 1080p, 530.1 FPS at 1440p, and 495.1 FPS at 4K. The total drop from 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra is 66.4 FPS, which is larger than the 82.7 FPS drop seen between Low settings at the same resolutions. This indicates that the RTX 4080 SUPER is starting to contribute more to the performance equation as the visual load increases, but even at 4K Ultra, the frame rate remains well above what any standard display can refresh.

The fact that the 4K Low score of 600.3 FPS is higher than the 1080p Ultra score of 561.5 FPS is particularly instructive. It shows that the game is far more sensitive to the settings preset than to the resolution itself. The GPU has ample headroom to render at higher pixel counts, but the increased shading, texture, and post-processing work at Ultra settings creates a heavier load that brings the performance down. In this specific combination, resolution scaling is almost a non-factor for the GPU; the limiting component is elsewhere, and settings adjustments have a more pronounced effect on the final output.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF is the anchor of this system, and its specifications line up with the observed frame rates. With 20 cores and 28 threads, the processor has a massive amount of parallel throughput available. The base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.60 GHz are both high, and the unlocked multiplier allows for further adjustments. The processor's benchmark scores are equally robust, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44557 and a single-core score of 6290. These numbers place the CPU in the 96th percentile of all processors tested.

The relevance of the CPU to Valorant is clear in the data. The game is known for being CPU-bound at high frame rates, and the measured FPS confirms this. The difference between 1080p Low (683 FPS) and 4K Low (600.3 FPS) is only 82.7 FPS, which is a small fraction of the total. If the GPU were the primary constraint, the 4K score would be significantly lower relative to the 1080p result. Instead, the scores remain close, suggesting that the CPU is the component that is being pushed to its limits.

The 14700KF's nearest rivals in the database reinforce its position. The Intel Core i7-14700K is essentially a peer, with a deltaPct of 0. The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X is slightly ahead with a -0.4 deltaPct, and the AMD EPYC 9115 is 0.3% behind. The Intel Xeon Platinum 8270 is 1.3% behind in average benchmark score. These are all very high-end processors, and the fact that the 14700KF is in this company suggests it has the single-thread strength and cache bandwidth necessary to feed the RTX 4080 SUPER in a game that does not rely on heavy multi-core scaling.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is a formidable piece of hardware, and its specifications would typically suggest it is the star of the show. It has 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s. The boost clock is rated at 2550 MHz, and the card has 10240 shading units. Its benchmark presence is strong, with a Passmark G3D score of 34245 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 246994, placing it in the 88th percentile of all GPUs.

However, the Valorant data shows that the GPU is often waiting for the CPU. The fact that 4K High (501.8 FPS) is lower than 1440p High (542.5 FPS), and that the gap between settings presets is larger than the gap between resolutions, points to a scenario where the GPU is not the bottleneck. The RTX 4080 SUPER is capable of producing far higher frame rates, but the CPU is generating the frames at a rate that limits the GPU's utilization.

The GPU's nearest rivals in the database are the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (0.2% deltaPct), the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (0.4% deltaPct), the AMD Radeon RX 7700S (2.1% deltaPct), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti (2.9% deltaPct). These are all high-performance cards, and the 4080 SUPER's position among them shows it is a top-tier option. In a different game, the GPU might be the deciding factor, but in Valorant, the data suggests that the GPU is merely keeping pace with the CPU's output. The VRAM capacity of 16 GB is also more than sufficient for this title, as the game is not graphically intensive enough to approach that limit.

How This Combo Ranks

The combined performance of the i7-14700KF and RTX 4080 SUPER places this configuration in a specific spot within the benchmark database. The combo rank is 39 out of 1650 tested combinations. This is a high rank, putting it in the top 2.4% of all systems tested. The rank reflects the overall capability of the hardware, but it also shows that there are other combinations that achieve higher frame rates in this specific game.

The ranking is likely driven by the CPU's ability to maintain high frame rates, but the fact that it is not in the top 10 implies that other processors, possibly with higher single-core performance, can push the RTX 4080 SUPER even further. The data shows that the system is not leaving performance on the table, but it is also not at the absolute peak of what is possible. The 96th percentile CPU and 88th percentile GPU combine to form a system that is excellent for Valorant, but the measured FPS indicates that the CPU is the limiting factor, and a stronger CPU might yield even higher scores.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal setting preset depends on the user's display refresh rate and preference for visual fidelity. The data shows that the Low preset consistently delivers the highest frame rates, with a 1080p average of 683 FPS. This is more than double the refresh rate of most high-end monitors, which typically cap at 240 Hz or 360 Hz. The Medium preset at 1080p yields 580.5 FPS, which is still far above any practical display limit. The High preset at 1080p drops to 571.9 FPS, and the Ultra preset is 561.5 FPS.

For a competitive player using a 1080p monitor with a 360 Hz refresh rate, the Low preset is the best choice to ensure the frame rate never dips below the display's refresh rate. However, the difference between Low and Ultra is only 121.5 FPS at 1080p, which is a small margin in percentage terms. If the user has a 240 Hz monitor, the Medium or High presets are viable, as they still deliver over 570 FPS. For 1440p users, the Low preset at 644.1 FPS is the clear winner, but the High preset at 542.5 FPS is also sufficient for a 360 Hz display. At 4K, the Low preset at 600.3 FPS is the only option that exceeds the 500 FPS mark, but the High preset at 501.8 FPS is still excellent. The data suggests that the Low preset is the best for maximizing frame rate, but the High preset offers a good balance of visual quality and performance for most users.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured average frame rates is as follows. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 683 FPS, the Medium preset achieves 580.5 FPS, the High preset achieves 571.9 FPS, and the Ultra preset achieves 561.5 FPS. At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves 644.1 FPS, the Medium preset achieves 552 FPS, the High preset achieves 542.5 FPS, and the Ultra preset achieves 530.1 FPS. At 3840x2160, the Low preset achieves 600.3 FPS, the Medium preset achieves 507.2 FPS, the High preset achieves 501.8 FPS, and the Ultra preset achieves 495.1 FPS.

The pattern is consistent across all resolutions: the Low preset is the fastest, followed by Medium, then High, and finally Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra is largest at 1080p (121.5 FPS) and smallest at 4K (105.2 FPS). This indicates that the settings preset has a diminishing absolute impact as resolution increases, but the relative impact remains roughly the same. The data also shows a clear step down in performance when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and then another step down when moving to 4K, but each step is smaller than the previous one. The system is so powerful that even the lowest measured frame rate of 495.1 FPS at 4K Ultra is far above the threshold for smooth competitive play.