Valorant

Valorant is an esports title where frame rate dictates competitive viability, and the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 delivers exceptional results across the board. The data shows this combination is heavily CPU-bound at lower resolutions, with the GPU only becoming a meaningful factor at 4K. The measured FPS averages range from 288 at 4K Ultra to 529 at 1080p Low, indicating that this combo is overkill for standard competitive play but offers headroom for high-refresh-rate monitors at maximum settings. The benchmark results place this pairing at rank 1660 out of 3708 tested combos, putting it in the upper half of all configurations, though its percentile ranking is more impressive when considering the specific demands of this game.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear picture of where the bottleneck lies. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 529 FPS, which drops to 502 FPS at 1440p Low and 466 FPS at 4K Low. This represents only a 12% performance reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, which is remarkably small and indicates the CPU is the primary limiting factor even at 4K. The game's engine is clearly not GPU-bound at these settings, as the RTX 4070 has ample headroom to render frames faster than the CPU can feed it.

When examining High settings, the scaling pattern shifts. The 1080p High average of 443 FPS drops to 378 FPS at 1440p High, a 15% reduction, and then to 302 FPS at 4K High, another 20% reduction. This steeper decline at higher resolutions shows the GPU beginning to exert more influence, but even at 4K High, the 302 FPS average is far above what most displays can show. The Medium preset tells a similar story: 451 FPS at 1080p, 397 FPS at 1440p, and 317 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset follows the same trend with 422 FPS at 1080p, 360 FPS at 1440p, and 288 FPS at 4K.

The data suggests that resolution scaling is unusually flat for this title. Moving from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 10-15% performance across all settings, while moving from 1440p to 4K costs another 15-25%. This is characteristic of a game that is heavily CPU-limited at lower resolutions, with the GPU only becoming the bottleneck at 4K Ultra where the 288 FPS average still represents excellent playability. The Core Ultra 5 135H's 14 cores and 18 threads, combined with its 4.60 GHz boost clock, appear sufficient to feed the RTX 4070 at all but the most demanding resolution and settings combinations.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Valorant?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 529 at 1080p with Low settings. This drops to 502 FPS at 1440p Low and 466 FPS at 4K Low, showing that even at the lowest settings, the CPU maintains a remarkably consistent frame rate across resolutions.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra performance compare to 1080p Low?

A: The 4K Ultra average of 288 FPS is 45% lower than the 1080p Low average of 529 FPS. This gap represents the full range of performance scaling from the most demanding to the least demanding configuration tested, yet even the lowest figure remains well above competitive thresholds.

Q: Is this combo CPU-bound or GPU-bound in Valorant?

A: The data indicates CPU-bound behavior at lower resolutions, as evidenced by the small FPS drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings (529 to 466 FPS, only 12% reduction). At 4K Ultra, the GPU becomes more relevant, but the 288 FPS average still suggests the CPU is doing significant work.

Q: What settings provide the most consistent frame pacing?

A: The Medium preset is the only one with recorded minimum and maximum FPS values, showing 384-519 FPS at 1080p, 337-456 FPS at 1440p, and 269-365 FPS at 4K. These ranges suggest the Medium preset maintains a stable frame delivery window across all resolutions.

Q: How does the RTX 4070's benchmark standing compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 4070 scores 37648 in average benchmarks, putting it 0.1% ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla P4 and 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56. It trails the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile by 1.3% and leads the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 by 1.3%.

Q: What is the Core Ultra 5 135H's competitive positioning?

A: The CPU's average benchmark score of 29093 places it in the 81st percentile of all CPUs. It sits 0.1% behind the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X and 0.5% behind the Intel Xeon Phi 7210, while leading the AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT by 0.5% and the Intel Core i5-13500HX by 0.6%.

Settings Recommendations

The optimal settings depend on the target refresh rate and resolution, but the data supports a clear hierarchy. For competitive play at 1080p, the Low preset's 529 FPS average provides maximum frame throughput, though the Medium preset at 451 FPS offers a better balance of visual quality and performance for most players. The Ultra preset at 422 FPS still exceeds 400 FPS, making it viable for 360Hz displays while delivering the best image quality.

At 1440p, the Medium preset's 397 FPS average is the sweet spot, offering a 10% improvement over Ultra's 360 FPS while maintaining higher visual fidelity than Low's 502 FPS. The High preset at 378 FPS sits between Medium and Ultra, providing a middle ground for those who want quality without the full Ultra cost. For 1440p 240Hz displays, any preset above Low will suffice, but Medium offers the best combination of stability and visuals.

At 4K, the situation changes. The Low preset's 466 FPS is the only configuration that supports 360Hz displays, while Medium at 317 FPS and High at 302 FPS both clear 300 FPS for 300Hz monitors. The Ultra preset at 288 FPS remains playable but drops below the 300 FPS threshold. For 4K gaming, the Medium preset's 317 FPS average with recorded minimum of 269 FPS provides the most consistent experience, ensuring frame rates stay above 240 FPS even in demanding scenes.

The measured data shows that the Medium preset consistently delivers the best balance across all resolutions. It offers the only complete FPS range data (min/max values), indicating more predictable frame delivery. The 1080p Medium range of 384-519 FPS and 1440p Medium range of 337-456 FPS demonstrate that this preset maintains high averages while keeping minimums well above competitive thresholds. For most users, Medium at any resolution provides the best experience per the measured rows.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers exceptional performance across all settings. The Low preset achieves 529 FPS average, the highest measured value in the entire dataset. Medium follows at 451 FPS with a range of 384-519 FPS, High at 443 FPS, and Ultra at 422 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 107 FPS, representing a 20% performance cost for maximum visual quality. Even at Ultra, the 422 FPS average supports the fastest consumer displays available.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains impressive but shows expected scaling. Low drops to 502 FPS, a 5% reduction from 1080p. Medium records 397 FPS with a range of 337-456 FPS, High hits 378 FPS, and Ultra maintains 360 FPS. The settings spread narrows slightly to 142 FPS (from Low to Ultra), indicating that resolution scaling affects all presets similarly. The 1440p Medium minimum of 337 FPS still exceeds 300 FPS, providing headroom for high-refresh-rate gaming.

At 3840x2160, the GPU begins to show its influence. Low still achieves 466 FPS, demonstrating the CPU's ability to maintain high frame rates even at 4K. Medium drops to 317 FPS with a range of 269-365 FPS, High reaches 302 FPS, and Ultra falls to 288 FPS. The settings spread expands to 178 FPS, showing that at 4K, the GPU's workload becomes more significant. The 4K Ultra minimum FPS is not recorded, but the 288 FPS average suggests this configuration is still viable for 240Hz displays.

The data reveals a consistent pattern: the gap between Low and Ultra settings widens as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference is 107 FPS (529 vs 422); at 1440p, it grows to 142 FPS (502 vs 360); at 4K, it reaches 178 FPS (466 vs 288). This indicates that the RTX 4070's capabilities are more fully utilized at higher resolutions, while the Core Ultra 5 135H remains the limiting factor at 1080p regardless of settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 1660 out of 3708 tested combinations places it in the 55th percentile of all configurations tested for Valorant. This ranking reflects the specific demands of the game, which favors high single-thread performance and raw frame throughput. The Core Ultra 5 135H's 81st percentile standing among all CPUs and the RTX 4070's 81st percentile among all GPUs suggest that individual components are well-regarded, but the combo ranking accounts for how they work together in this title.

The CPU's nearest rivals provide context for its performance. The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X scores 29123, just 0.1% higher than the Core Ultra 5 135H's 29093. The Intel Core i5-13500HX scores 29270, 0.6% higher, while the AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT scores 28940, 0.5% lower. These tight margins indicate that the Core Ultra 5 135H is competitive with established desktop and mobile processors, which is notable given its 28W TDP and mobile market segment.

For the GPU, the RTX 4070's average benchmark score of 37648 places it in a tight cluster with its rivals. The NVIDIA Tesla P4 scores 37628 (0.1% lower), the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 scores 37507 (0.4% lower), and the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 scores 37157 (1.3% lower). The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile leads at 38135 (1.3% higher). This grouping shows that the RTX 4070 is positioned in a highly competitive performance band, with no clear leader among these comparable products.

The combo ranking of 1660 out of 3708 suggests that while this pairing performs excellently in absolute terms, there are many other configurations that achieve similar results in Valorant. This is consistent with the game's CPU-bound nature, where the GPU choice matters less than the processor's single-thread capabilities. The ranking indicates that users could potentially achieve comparable FPS with different component combinations, but the Core Ultra 5 135H and RTX 4070 pairing delivers consistently high performance across all tested settings and resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H features 14 cores and 18 threads, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. This configuration, built on the Meteor Lake architecture using a 7 nm process, provides the single-thread performance that Valorant heavily relies upon. The CPU's benchmark scores reinforce this: the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1700 and multicore score of 11875.5 demonstrate strong per-core capabilities, while the PassMark single-thread score of 3521 confirms its suitability for games that prioritize individual core performance.

The CPU's cache hierarchy plays a crucial role in gaming performance. The 112 KB L1 cache per core, 2 MB L2 cache per core, and 18 MB shared L3 cache provide the low-latency data access that competitive shooters need. The memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s over a dual-channel DDR5 interface ensures the CPU can quickly feed data to the GPU and maintain high frame rates. These specifications, combined with the 4.60 GHz boost clock, explain why the combo maintains 529 FPS at 1080p Low and 466 FPS at 4K Low.

The data shows that the CPU is the primary driver of performance in Valorant. The minimal FPS drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings (529 to 466 FPS) indicates that the Core Ultra 5 135H can sustain high frame rates regardless of resolution, with the GPU only becoming a limiting factor at higher settings. The 14-core, 18-thread configuration provides ample parallel processing for the game's engine, while the high boost clock ensures responsive single-thread performance for frame rendering.

The CPU's 81st percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 29093, places it in the upper tier of processors. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, scores 29123 (0.1% higher), showing that the mobile Core Ultra 5 135H competes effectively with desktop processors from previous generations. The PassMark multithread score of 22422 and integer math score of 73509 demonstrate strong overall processing capability, while the floating point math score of 54867 indicates good performance in physics and game logic calculations. These results confirm that the CPU is well-suited for Valorant's demands, where frame rate consistency and low latency are paramount.