Valorant

Valorant is a competitive FPS that rewards high frame rates and consistent frame pacing. The data measured for this combination of an Intel Core i9-14900K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 shows an exceptional performance ceiling, placing the combo in the 1273rd spot out of 3708 tested combinations. This pairing appears heavily optimized for the game's engine, which is known to favor high single-core CPU performance. The benchmark results indicate that this system is capable of delivering frame rates far beyond the refresh rates of most standard monitors, even at 4K resolution.

FAQ

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

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 706 FPS at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This is the peak performance point in the measured data, indicating that the system has significant headroom even in the most demanding competitive scenarios.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations in this game?

A: The combo ranks 1273rd out of 3708 tested combinations. This places it in the top 34% of all systems, which is a strong result for a game like Valorant where high refresh rates are critical.

Q: What is the difference in average FPS between 1080p and 4K at High settings?

A: At 1920x1080 with High settings, the average FPS is 443. At 3840x2160 with High settings, the average FPS drops to 302. This represents a 31.8% decrease in performance when moving from 1080p to 4K.

Q: Does the RTX 4060's 8 GB of VRAM become a limiting factor in Valorant?

A: Based on the measured data, there is no indication that the 8 GB VRAM is a bottleneck. The lowest average FPS recorded at 4K Ultra settings is 288 FPS, which suggests the GPU's memory capacity is not constraining performance in this specific game title.

Q: Which settings preset provides the highest frame rate advantage over Ultra at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves an average of 602 FPS, while Ultra achieves 360 FPS. This means the Low preset is 67.2% faster than Ultra at this resolution, a substantial difference for competitive play.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded in the entire dataset?

A: The only minimum FPS values recorded are for the Medium preset across all resolutions. The lowest of these is 270 FPS at 3840x2160 resolution, which is still an extremely high frame rate that exceeds most monitors' refresh capabilities.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 1273 out of 3708 tested combinations indicates a solidly above-average performance tier for Valorant. This ranking is particularly notable because the CPU is a top-tier component with a high percentile rating. The Intel Core i9-14900K holds a 95th percentile ranking among all CPUs, demonstrating that it is one of the most powerful processors available. However, the GPU's percentile is lower, sitting at 61st among all GPUs. This discrepancy suggests that the CPU is doing most of the heavy lifting in Valorant's performance equation.

The data shows that the CPU's benchmarks are exceptional, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 39399.5 and a single-core score of 2262.5. The single-core performance is critical for Valorant, as the game's engine relies heavily on single-threaded performance for game logic and physics. The GPU, while not as dominant in its percentile, still provides ample raw power for this title, as evidenced by the high frame rates.

When looking at the nearest rivals for the CPU, the Intel Core i9-14900KF scores 79371, which is -0.3% different from the i9-14900K's 79097 average. The AMD EPYC 7413 scores 80041, a -1.2% difference. These small deltas indicate that the i9-14900K is performing right in line with its direct competitors in synthetic benchmarks, but the real-world impact in Valorant is what matters. The combination of this CPU with the RTX 4060 produces a system that ranks in the upper third of all tested combos, which is a strong result for a mid-range GPU paired with a high-end CPU.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using a 5 nm process at TSMC, featuring a chip designated as AD107. It has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s. The GPU's base clock is 1830 MHz, with a boost clock of 2460 MHz. In the context of Valorant, these specifications are more than sufficient, as the game is not graphically intensive compared to modern AAA titles.

The GPU's role in this benchmark appears to be secondary to the CPU. Evidence for this is seen in the GPU's percentile ranking at 61, compared to the CPU's 95. The benchmark results for the GPU, such as a Passmark G3D score of 19545, show it is a capable mid-range card. However, the measured FPS in Valorant suggests that the GPU is never the primary constraint. The lowest average FPS recorded is 288 FPS at 4K Ultra settings, which is still incredibly high for a competitive shooter.

The 8 GB of VRAM and 128-bit memory bus are not limiting factors in Valorant. The game's assets and textures are relatively light, and the data shows no significant frame rate drops that would indicate memory bandwidth or capacity issues. The RTX 4060's 3072 shading units and 48 ROPs are more than enough to handle the game's rendering demands. The effective memory clock of 17 Gbps is also sufficient for this title, as the game does not require massive texture streaming or complex shader workloads.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 706 FPS, which is the highest in the dataset. The Medium preset at this resolution averages 465 FPS, with a minimum of 395 FPS and a maximum of 535 FPS. High settings average 443 FPS, while Ultra settings average 422 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 284 FPS, showing a 67.3% improvement when dropping to the lowest settings.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales predictably. Low settings average 602 FPS, Medium averages 397 FPS with a minimum of 337 FPS and maximum of 456 FPS, High averages 378 FPS, and Ultra averages 360 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 242 FPS, a 67.2% increase for Low. This consistent scaling across resolutions suggests that the system is not experiencing any unusual bottlenecks.

At 3840x2160, the system still delivers exceptional performance. Low settings average 481 FPS, Medium averages 317 FPS with a minimum of 270 FPS and maximum of 365 FPS, High averages 302 FPS, and Ultra averages 288 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra at 4K is 193 FPS, a 67.0% difference. The fact that even 4K Ultra maintains an average of 288 FPS shows that this system is overpowered for standard competitive play.

Settings Recommendations

For competitive play, the Low preset at any resolution provides the highest frame rates, but the data suggests that even Ultra settings are playable. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 706 FPS, which is beneficial for players with 360Hz monitors. However, the Medium preset at 465 FPS with a minimum of 395 FPS is still far above the threshold for most high-refresh-rate displays. The choice between Low and Medium may come down to visual clarity versus frame rate headroom.

The data shows that the Medium preset offers a good balance. At 1080p, it provides 465 FPS, which is 43 FPS higher than High and 43 FPS higher than Ultra. The minimum FPS of 395 at Medium is also higher than the average FPS of both High and Ultra, indicating more consistent frame pacing. At 1440p, Medium averages 397 FPS, which is still excellent for competitive play. The jump from Low to Medium at any resolution is significant, but the jump from Medium to High or Ultra is relatively small in terms of frame rate cost.

For players who prioritize visual quality without sacrificing performance, the High preset is a reasonable choice. At 1080p, it averages 443 FPS, which is only 22 FPS lower than Medium. At 1440p, High averages 378 FPS, and at 4K, it averages 302 FPS. The Ultra preset offers marginal visual improvements over High but costs an average of 21 FPS at 1080p, 18 FPS at 1440p, and 14 FPS at 4K. Given that all settings maintain frame rates above 288 FPS, the recommendation would be to use the highest settings that your monitor's refresh rate can take advantage of.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K is a 24-core, 32-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.20 GHz and a boost clock of 6.00 GHz. This is a desktop-class CPU with a 125W TDP, and it supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory. In the context of Valorant, the CPU's high single-core performance is the key factor. The benchmark data shows a Geekbench single-core score of 2655 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2262.5, both of which are excellent.

Valorant is known to be CPU-bound in many scenarios, particularly at lower resolutions and settings. The fact that the 1080p Low preset achieves 706 FPS while the 4K Low preset achieves 481 FPS suggests that the CPU is the primary driver of performance. The game's engine is optimized for high IPC and single-threaded performance, which the i9-14900K provides in abundance. The CPU's 36 MB of shared L3 cache also helps with game data access.

The CPU's performance relative to its nearest rivals is marginal. The i9-14900KF is -0.3% slower in average benchmark score, and the AMD EPYC 7413 is -1.2% slower. This indicates that the i9-14900K is at the top of its class, and the small differences between these CPUs would not be noticeable in real-world gaming. The CPU's high percentile ranking of 95 confirms that it is one of the best processors available for this type of workload.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals how performance scales with resolution. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 706 at 1080p to 602 at 1440p, a 14.7% decrease, and then to 481 at 4K, a 20.1% decrease from 1440p. At Ultra settings, the average FPS drops from 422 at 1080p to 360 at 1440p, a 14.7% decrease, and then to 288 at 4K, a 20.0% decrease from 1440p. This consistent scaling pattern indicates that the system is not hitting a hard bottleneck at any specific resolution.

The scaling behavior suggests that the CPU is the limiting factor at lower resolutions, while the GPU becomes more relevant at higher resolutions. The fact that the percentage drop from 1440p to 4K is larger than the drop from 1080p to 1440p at all settings indicates that the GPU is starting to take on more work at 4K. However, even at 4K, the frame rates are so high that the system is never truly GPU-limited in a way that would impact competitive play.

The data implies that this combination of CPU and GPU is well-balanced for Valorant across all resolutions. The CPU's massive single-core advantage ensures high frame rates at 1080p, while the GPU's 8 GB of VRAM and 272.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient to maintain playable frame rates at 4K. The system appears to be more CPU-bound at 1080p and more GPU-bound at 4K, but the performance is so high at all settings that the transition is seamless for the player.