Valorant

The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 delivers frame rates in Valorant that are exceptionally high across the board, yet the data reveals a nuanced performance ceiling dictated more by the processor than the graphics card. This combination places at rank 1693 out of 3708 tested combos, indicating a solidly above-average pairing that excels in the game’s specific demands. The benchmark results show a system capable of leveraging high refresh rate displays, but the scaling patterns between resolutions and settings suggest that the CPU, rather than the GPU, is the primary bottleneck in most scenarios.

FAQ

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

A: The highest average frame rate is 529 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This is closely followed by 502 FPS at 2560x1440 with Low settings, showing that the GPU is not the limiting factor at lower graphical presets.

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

A: The combo ranks 1693rd out of 3708 total combinations tested in Valorant. This places it in the upper half of all systems, indicating a capable pairing that should provide a competitive advantage, though it is not among the top-tier elite configurations.

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

A: At 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 415. When moving to 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS drops to 283. This represents a 132 FPS reduction, or approximately a 32% performance decrease when scaling resolution to 4K.

Q: Which setting preset provides the highest minimum FPS at 1440p?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 provides the only recorded minimum FPS data for that resolution, with a minimum of 332 FPS and a maximum of 449 FPS. This indicates that even the lowest dips remain well above the refresh rates of most high-end monitors.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival in terms of average benchmark score?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H has an average benchmark score of 29093. Its closest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, scores 29123, which is a delta of -0.1% from the Intel chip. This places the two processors in essentially a statistical tie for overall compute performance.

Q: What is the frame rate consistency like at 4K with Medium settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the combo records an average FPS of 312, with a minimum of 265 FPS and a maximum of 359 FPS. The 94 FPS spread between minimum and maximum indicates some frame time variance, but the minimum remains high enough for smooth gameplay.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is a Blackwell 2.0 architecture GPU built on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It features 6144 shading units, 192 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output units, alongside 48 RT cores and 192 tensor cores. The GPU’s memory configuration is substantial, with 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s. The pixel rate is 201.0 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 482.3 GTexel/s, with a raw FP32 compute throughput of 30.87 TFLOPS. These specifications make it a high-end mobile graphics solution, though in Valorant, its role is somewhat underutilized.

In the measured data, the GPU’s influence becomes apparent when comparing Low settings to Ultra settings at the same resolution. At 1920x1080, the average FPS drops from 529 on Low to 415 on Ultra, a 114 FPS difference. This gap widens at 4K, where Low settings yield 466 FPS and Ultra drops to 283 FPS. The larger delta at 4K (183 FPS) suggests that while the RTX 5070 is capable of handling the game’s visual load, the increased pixel count does start to tax the GPU more heavily. However, even at 4K Ultra, the 283 FPS average is far above what most displays can show, indicating that the GPU is never truly stressed to its limits in this title.

The GPU’s clock speeds are listed with a base of 2325 MHz and a boost of 2512 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz for an effective 28 Gbps. These clocks contribute to the card’s ability to maintain high frame rates across all tested settings. The data implies that for Valorant, the RTX 5070 is a luxury component; its extensive compute and memory resources are not fully engaged, as the game’s engine and the paired CPU are more likely to dictate the final FPS figures. The GPU’s 82nd percentile ranking versus all GPUs and its average benchmark score of 40377 further confirm its high-tier status, yet the measured FPS in this game suggest the GPU is rarely the primary constraint.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H is a mobile processor from the Meteor Lake architecture, featuring 14 cores and 18 threads. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz, with a 28 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 112 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 18 MB of shared L3 cache. This CPU is built on Intel’s 7 nm process and supports dual-channel DDR5 memory with a bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s. Its average benchmark score is 29093, placing it in the 81st percentile of all CPUs, with its nearest rival being the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, which scores 29123, a negligible -0.1% difference.

In Valorant, the CPU’s role is critical, as the game is known to be sensitive to single-thread performance. The CPU’s single-core benchmark scores are notable: 1700 in Cinebench R23, 1105 in Cinebench R20, and 3521 in Passmark single-thread. These scores suggest strong per-core performance, which directly translates to the high average FPS observed in the measured data. The difference between 1080p and 4K at the same settings provides insight into CPU limitation. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 529 FPS, while at 4K Low, it drops to 466 FPS. This 63 FPS drop is relatively small compared to the jump from Low to Ultra at 4K (183 FPS), which indicates that at lower settings, the CPU is driving the frame rate, and the GPU has enough headroom to keep up with resolution increases.

The 14-core, 18-thread configuration provides ample multi-threaded capability, as seen in Passmark multithread score of 22422 and Cinebench R23 multicore score of 11875.5. However, Valorant’s engine typically leverages fewer cores, making the high boost clock of 4.60 GHz more important. The data suggests that this CPU can sustain very high frame rates, but it also establishes a ceiling. The fact that 1080p Low (529 FPS) is only 27 FPS higher than 1440p Low (502 FPS) implies that the CPU is nearing its maximum frame output capability, and further resolution increases do not proportionally reduce FPS because the CPU is already the bottleneck. This is a classic sign of a CPU-bound scenario in a competitive FPS game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the combo’s performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 529 on Low to 415 on Ultra. The Medium preset shows an average of 451 FPS, with a minimum of 384 FPS and a maximum of 519 FPS. High settings deliver 436 FPS. This resolution showcases the combo’s peak performance, with all presets exceeding 400 FPS, making it ideal for 240Hz or 360Hz monitors.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS drops slightly but remains remarkably high. Low settings produce 502 FPS, High produces 372 FPS, Medium produces 390 FPS, and Ultra produces 354 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p records a minimum of 332 FPS and a maximum of 449 FPS. The relative ordering of presets is consistent, with Low being the fastest and Ultra being the slowest. The difference between 1080p and 1440p at Low settings is only 27 FPS (529 vs 502), which is minimal, suggesting that the GPU can handle the resolution increase without significant impact.

At 3840x2160, the performance scales down more noticeably. Low settings average 466 FPS, Medium averages 312 FPS with a minimum of 265 and maximum of 359, High averages 297 FPS, and Ultra averages 283 FPS. This is the only resolution where the GPU’s load becomes more evident, as the gap between Low and Ultra is 183 FPS, compared to 114 FPS at 1080p and 148 FPS at 1440p. Even at 4K Ultra, the 283 FPS average is sufficient for high-refresh-rate gaming, but the frame rate consistency at Medium (265 min) shows that the GPU is starting to work harder. The data indicates that the combo is primarily CPU-limited at 1080p and 1440p, while at 4K, the GPU begins to assert more influence, though it still never becomes a true bottleneck.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s overall rank in Valorant is 1693 out of 3708 tested combinations. This places it in the 54th percentile of all systems, meaning it outperforms a slight majority of tested hardware. While this rank might seem modest given the high FPS numbers, it reflects the fact that Valorant is a highly optimized esports title where even mid-range hardware can achieve high frame rates, and many top-tier desktop CPUs with extreme overclocks can push beyond this mobile processor’s limits.

The CPU’s nearest rivals provide context for its position. The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H has an average benchmark score of 29093, which is virtually identical to the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X (29123, delta -0.1%) and the Intel Core i5-13500HX (29270, delta -0.6%). It slightly edges out the AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT (28940, delta 0.5%). This means the CPU is competitively positioned against these desktop and high-end mobile parts in synthetic benchmarks, yet in Valorant, the system’s rank is more dependent on the entire package, including memory and GPU.

The GPU’s ranking also influences the combo. The RTX 5070 has an average benchmark score of 40377, placing it in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon Pro 580 (40318, delta 0.1%) and the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 (40063, delta 0.8%), while it is slightly ahead of the NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile (39568, delta 2%). This high GPU percentile does not translate to a top combo rank in Valorant because the game’s frame rate is not heavily GPU-dependent. The rank of 1693 suggests that while the GPU is powerful, the CPU’s single-thread performance and the overall system configuration prevent it from reaching the very top of the leaderboard, where desktop CPUs with higher boost clocks and lower latency memory often dominate.

Settings Recommendations

The data suggests that the optimal settings preset depends on the user’s display refresh rate and preference for visual fidelity versus raw frame rate. For players with 360Hz or higher refresh rate monitors, the Low preset at 1080p is the clear choice, as it delivers the highest average FPS of 529. This setting also provides the most consistent experience, as evidenced by the lack of min/max data being recorded, implying stable frame delivery. At 1440p, Low settings still offer 502 FPS, making it viable for high-refresh 1440p panels.

For those who prioritize visual quality without sacrificing competitive performance, the Medium preset offers a compelling balance. At 1080p, Medium delivers 451 FPS, which is only 78 FPS less than Low, and it provides recorded minimums of 384 FPS, ensuring no noticeable dips. The same preset at 1440p yields 390 FPS with a minimum of 332 FPS, which is still above the refresh rate of most high-end gaming monitors. The High and Ultra presets offer diminishing returns in visual quality for a significant FPS cost, especially at 4K, where Ultra drops to 283 FPS.

Given that even the most demanding preset (4K Ultra) maintains an average above 280 FPS, the recommendation is to use Medium settings as a default for a balanced experience. This preset offers the best compromise between the highest FPS (Low) and the best visuals (Ultra), and it is the only preset at each resolution that includes full min/max FPS data, indicating a more thoroughly measured performance profile. For competitive play, Low settings are recommended to maximize frame rate and minimize input latency, particularly on 1080p or 1440p displays. The data shows that the jump from Medium to Low is more impactful at higher resolutions, suggesting that players on 4K displays should opt for Low to maintain the smoothest experience.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the limiting component in this system. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 529 at 1080p to 502 at 1440p (a 5.1% decrease) and then to 466 at 4K (a 7.2% decrease from 1440p). This gradual decline indicates that the CPU is the primary bottleneck, as the GPU has ample headroom to handle the increased pixel count. The total drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is only 63 FPS, which is a relatively small penalty for a 4x increase in resolution.

At Ultra settings, the scaling is more pronounced. The average FPS drops from 415 at 1080p to 354 at 1440p (a 14.7% decrease) and then to 283 at 4K (a 20.1% decrease from 1440p). The total drop from 1080p to 4K at Ultra is 132 FPS, which is more than double the drop seen at Low settings. This suggests that at Ultra settings, the GPU becomes more involved, but it is still not the sole limiting factor. The fact that 4K Ultra (283 FPS) is still significantly higher than 1080p High (436 FPS) from a different preset highlights that settings changes have a larger impact on FPS than resolution scaling.

The data implies that the system is CPU-bound in most scenarios. The small FPS differences between 1080p and 1440p at the same settings (27 FPS at Low, 36 FPS at High, 61 FPS at Medium, 61 FPS at Ultra) indicate that the CPU is maxing out its frame generation capability. The GPU’s role becomes more evident only at 4K, where the pixel throughput demands start to exceed the CPU’s frame time. However, even at 4K Ultra, the combo maintains an average FPS above 280, proving that this pairing is more than capable of delivering a high-refresh-rate experience at any resolution. The limiting component is therefore clearly the CPU, as the GPU’s performance headroom is vast, and the game’s engine is not heavily reliant on the GPU’s advanced features like ray tracing or tensor cores.