Valorant

Valorant is a competitive FPS where frame rate consistency often matters more than raw graphical fidelity, and the data for the Intel Core i7-14700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D shows a system that is heavily skewed toward CPU performance at lower resolutions. The measured results indicate that this combination produces exceptionally high frame rates across all settings, but the scaling pattern from 1080p to 4K reveals where the bottleneck shifts. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS data, the CPU's role, and how this specific combo ranks among the thousands of tested configurations.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling data shows a clear pattern: as resolution increases, the average frame rate drops, but the drop is surprisingly modest given the jump in pixel count. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 679 FPS average. Moving to 2560x1440 Low drops that to 644 FPS, a reduction of 35 FPS. At 3840x2160 Low, the average is 598 FPS, which is 81 FPS lower than the 1080p result. This linear degradation suggests that even at 4K, the RTX 5090 D is not being fully utilized, and the CPU is still a limiting factor.

The gap between resolutions narrows when looking at higher settings presets. At High settings, the 1080p average is 570 FPS, 1440p is 540 FPS, and 4K is 502 FPS. The difference between 1080p and 4K at High is 68 FPS, which is smaller than the 81 FPS difference at Low. This indicates that as the GPU load increases with higher settings, it begins to take on more of the work, but the overall frame rates remain so high that the CPU's single-thread performance is still the primary constraint.

The Medium preset shows the most complete data, including minimum and maximum FPS values. At 1080p Medium, the average is 579 FPS with a minimum of 492 FPS and a maximum of 666 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average is 549 FPS with a minimum of 467 FPS and a maximum of 632 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average is 510 FPS with a minimum of 433 FPS and a maximum of 586 FPS. The minimum FPS values are particularly telling: they drop from 492 at 1080p to 433 at 4K, a 59 FPS reduction. This suggests that even the worst-case frame times scale with resolution, but the minimums remain well above the refresh rates of most monitors.

The scaling from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings shows the smallest relative drop. The 1080p Ultra average is 560 FPS, 1440p Ultra is 532 FPS, and 4K Ultra is 493 FPS. The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 67 FPS. This consistency across settings presets—where the difference between Low and Ultra at a given resolution is only around 100 FPS—strongly indicates that the RTX 5090 D has ample headroom. The limiting component is the CPU's ability to feed the GPU with draw calls, which is typical for a game like Valorant that relies on fast single-threaded logic.

FAQ

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

A: The highest average frame rate is 679 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: How much does the average FPS drop when moving from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings?

A: At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 579 at 1080p to 510 at 4K, a reduction of 69 FPS.

Q: Does the RTX 5090 D show signs of being a bottleneck in Valorant?

A: No. The data shows that frame rates remain extremely high even at 4K Ultra (493 FPS average), and the scaling between Low and Ultra at the same resolution is relatively small, indicating the GPU is not the limiting factor.

Q: What are the minimum FPS figures for the 1440p Medium preset?

A: The minimum FPS at 2560x1440 with Medium settings is 467 FPS, with a maximum of 632 FPS.

Q: How does the combo's performance rank among all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 139th out of 2883 tested combinations, placing it in the top 5% of all results.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more responsible for the high frame rates in this game?

A: The CPU is primarily responsible. The Intel Core i7-14700KF has a high boost clock and 20 cores, but Valorant benefits more from single-thread speed. The fact that frame rates exceed 500 FPS at 4K High shows the GPU is not stressed.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF is a 20-core processor with 28 threads, based on the Raptor Lake architecture. Its base clock is 3.40 GHz, and it boosts up to 5.60 GHz. In Valorant, the data shows that this CPU is the driving force behind the high frame rates. The game is known for being sensitive to single-thread performance, and the 5.60 GHz boost clock is a key factor. Benchmark results for the CPU show a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44167 and a single-core score of 6235, indicating strong performance in both multi-threaded and single-threaded workloads.

The CPU's L3 cache is 33 MB shared, which helps with game logic and asset streaming. The 80 KB L1 cache per core and 2 MB L2 cache per core provide fast access to frequently used data. The processor supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory, which allows for flexibility in system builds, though the memory bandwidth is not a limiting factor in the measured FPS. The CPU's percentile ranking among all CPUs is 94, meaning it outperforms 94% of tested processors in average benchmark scores.

In the measured FPS data, the CPU's influence is most apparent when looking at the difference between Low and Ultra settings. At 1080p, the average FPS only drops from 679 at Low to 560 at Ultra. This 119 FPS difference is attributable to the GPU working slightly harder at Ultra, but the absolute numbers remain high enough that the CPU is still feeding frames faster than the display can show them. The i7-14700KF's nearest rivals in CPU benchmarks include the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F (0.2% difference), AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (0.4% difference), and AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (0.9% difference). These rivals show that the i7-14700KF is competitive with top-tier CPUs, but in Valorant specifically, the high boost clock gives it an edge.

The CPU's 125W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 compatibility mean it requires a capable cooling solution, but the performance data justifies the power draw. The processor's support for PCIe Gen 5 with 16 lanes ensures the RTX 5090 D can communicate at full bandwidth, though this is unlikely to be a bottleneck in a game like Valorant. The core count of 20 is more than sufficient for Valorant's engine, which typically uses fewer threads, leaving the remaining cores available for background tasks. This headroom ensures that the game's frame rates are not impacted by system overhead.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-14700KF with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D ranks 139th out of 2883 tested combinations in Valorant. This places the combo in the top 4.8% of all results, which is an exceptional position. The rank reflects the fact that this pairing produces frame rates that are competitive with the very best systems tested, but it does not take the top spot. The reason for this is that Valorant is a CPU-bound game, and the RTX 5090 D's massive GPU resources are not fully utilized.

The combo's rank is slightly lower than the CPU's individual percentile rank of 94 and the GPU's percentile rank of 92. This suggests that the combination is well-matched but that other CPU-GPU pairings might achieve higher frame rates in this specific title. The nearest rival CPUs to the i7-14700KF include the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F, which scores 0.2% higher in average benchmarks, and the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX, which scores 0.4% higher. These small differences in CPU benchmark scores could translate to slightly different frame rates in Valorant, which might explain why the combo does not rank higher.

The GPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT (1.1% higher score) and the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (1.6% lower score). However, in a CPU-bound game like Valorant, the GPU's raw score has less impact on the final FPS. The rank of 139 out of 2883 is a strong result, and it indicates that this combo is among the best for high-refresh-rate competitive play. The data shows that the combo outperforms the vast majority of systems, and the only systems that rank higher are likely using CPUs with even higher single-thread performance or more optimized configurations.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 560 at Ultra to 679 at Low. The Medium preset shows a 579 FPS average with a minimum of 492 FPS and a maximum of 666 FPS. The High preset averages 570 FPS. These numbers indicate that at 1080p, the system is capable of exceeding 500 FPS on every preset, which is well beyond the refresh rate of most gaming monitors.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS ranges from 532 at Ultra to 644 at Low. The Medium preset averages 549 FPS with a minimum of 467 FPS and a maximum of 632 FPS. The High preset averages 540 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across presets, with an average reduction of around 30-40 FPS. This suggests that the GPU is starting to handle more work, but the CPU is still the primary driver.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 493 at Ultra to 598 at Low. The Medium preset averages 510 FPS with a minimum of 433 FPS and a maximum of 586 FPS. The High preset averages 502 FPS. Even at 4K Ultra, the system maintains an average of 493 FPS, which is exceptional for a demanding resolution. The minimum FPS at 4K Medium is 433, which is still higher than the refresh rate of most high-end monitors. The data shows that this combo never drops below 433 FPS in the measured scenarios, making it suitable for competitive play at any resolution.

The Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data across all resolutions. The difference between the minimum and maximum FPS at 1080p Medium is 174 FPS (492 to 666), at 1440p Medium it is 165 FPS (467 to 632), and at 4K Medium it is 153 FPS (433 to 586). This narrowing spread at higher resolutions indicates that the frame time variance decreases as the GPU takes on more load, which could lead to more consistent gameplay at 4K despite the lower average FPS.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the best experience for competitive play is achieved with the Low settings preset at any resolution. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 679 FPS average, which provides the maximum headroom for high-refresh-rate monitors. At 1440p Low, the average is 644 FPS, and at 4K Low, it is 598 FPS. The Low preset minimizes GPU load, allowing the CPU to push frame rates to their highest levels. For players with 360Hz or 500Hz monitors, this preset ensures the display is fully utilized.

For players who prioritize visual quality over raw frame rate, the Ultra preset is still a viable option. The 4K Ultra average of 493 FPS is more than sufficient for any monitor currently available, and the 1080p Ultra average of 560 FPS shows that even at the highest settings, the system is not struggling. The High preset offers a middle ground, with averages of 570 FPS at 1080p, 540 FPS at 1440p, and 502 FPS at 4K. These numbers are close to the Ultra results, suggesting that the visual difference between High and Ultra is not worth the slight FPS loss for competitive players.

The Medium preset is the most balanced option, with the only complete min/max data available. At 1440p Medium, the 549 FPS average with a 467 FPS minimum provides a smooth experience that is unlikely to drop below the refresh rate of most monitors. The 4K Medium preset, with a 510 FPS average and 433 FPS minimum, is the best choice for players who want 4K resolution without sacrificing too much frame rate consistency. The data suggests that the Medium preset at 1440p is the sweet spot for most users, offering a balance between visual fidelity and performance headroom.

Given that the system exceeds 500 FPS at 4K High, there is no scenario where the RTX 5090 D is the limiting factor. The recommendation is to use the Low preset for maximum competitive advantage, especially on 1080p or 1440p high-refresh-rate monitors. For those with 4K displays, the Medium preset at 4K provides a 510 FPS average that is both visually appealing and performance-friendly. The Ultra preset is only recommended if the user has a monitor with a refresh rate below 500Hz and prefers maximum visual detail, as the performance difference between presets is relatively small.