Valorant

FAQ

Q: What frame rates does the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus + Intel Arc B370 combo deliver in Valorant?

A: The measured data shows average FPS ranging from 122 at 4K Ultra settings to 299 at 1080p Low settings. The lowest recorded average is 122 FPS, and the highest is 299 FPS, indicating the combo is capable of maintaining high frame rates across all tested configurations.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in overall benchmark performance?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus has an average benchmark score of 93,785, placing it at the 96th percentile among all CPUs. It sits within 2.1% of three AMD EPYC processors, showing near-identical performance to the AMD EPYC 4565P, which is 2.1% ahead, and the AMD EPYC 9175F, which is 1.9% ahead.

Q: What is the GPU's performance percentile, and how does it compare to similar graphics processors?

A: The Intel Arc B370 scores 1,184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, placing it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the ATI Radeon HD 5770, scores 1,190 and is 0.5% ahead, while the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 scores 1,186 and is 0.2% ahead.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU act as the limiting factor in Valorant at different resolutions?

A: The data indicates the GPU becomes the primary constraint at higher resolutions. Moving from 1080p Low (299 FPS) to 4K Low (204 FPS) shows a 31.8% drop, while 1080p High (187 FPS) to 4K High (128 FPS) shows a 31.6% drop, suggesting the GPU's limited throughput is the bottleneck rather than the CPU.

Q: What are the CPU's core and thread counts, and what is its boost clock?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus features 24 cores and 24 threads, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. This configuration contributes to its high multi-threaded performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44,253.

Q: What is the GPU's memory configuration and how does it affect performance?

A: The Intel Arc B370 uses System Shared memory, meaning it has no dedicated VRAM and instead relies on shared system memory. Its memory bandwidth is listed as System Dependent, and its TDP is 25 W, which helps explain its low 5th percentile ranking and the frame rate drops observed at higher resolutions.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated graphics solution based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on a 3 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz, with a TDP of just 25 W. The GPU's memory is System Shared, meaning it draws from the system's DDR5 memory pool, and its bandwidth is System Dependent, making its performance heavily reliant on the rest of the system.

This GPU configuration has a profound impact on Valorant results. The Arc B370's shading units (1280), texture mapping units (40), and render output units (20) are modest, and its FP32 throughput of 6.144 TFLOPS is limited. The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1,184 places it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs, with rivals like the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (scoring 1,190) and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (scoring 1,186) being within a fraction of a percent. These near-identical scores indicate the Arc B370 delivers performance comparable to decade-old discrete GPUs, which is a critical factor in understanding Valorant's frame rates.

In practice, the GPU's role is most evident in the scaling of frame rates with settings. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 299 FPS, but this drops to 197 FPS at 1080p Medium and 187 FPS at 1080p High. The GPU's limited compute and memory bandwidth cause these settings-based decreases, as higher quality presets demand more pixel and texture throughput. The Ultra preset at 1080p yields 178 FPS, showing a steady decline as graphical load increases. Given the GPU's 5th percentile ranking, it is clear that the Arc B370 is the constraining component in this combo, especially when compared to the CPU's 96th percentile standing.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases, which highlights the GPU's limitations. At Low settings, the combo delivers 299 FPS at 1080p, 255 FPS at 1440p, and 204 FPS at 4K. This represents a 15.1% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 31.8% drop from 1080p to 4K. The scaling suggests that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are unable to keep pace with the increasing pixel count, even at the lowest settings where the CPU could theoretically maintain higher frame rates.

At High settings, the trend continues with 187 FPS at 1080p, 160 FPS at 1440p, and 128 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 14.4%, and from 1080p to 4K is 31.6%. This similar percentage drop across Low and High settings indicates that the GPU is consistently the bottleneck, regardless of the graphical load. The Medium settings show the same pattern: 197 FPS at 1080p, 168 FPS at 1440p, and 134 FPS at 4K, with drops of 14.7% and 32.0% respectively.

The Ultra settings confirm this analysis, with 178 FPS at 1080p, 152 FPS at 1440p, and 122 FPS at 4K, representing drops of 14.6% and 31.5%. The consistency of these percentage drops across all settings is notable. When the resolution increases, the GPU's workload scales with the number of pixels, but the CPU's workload remains relatively constant. Since the CPU is far more powerful (96th percentile) than the GPU (5th percentile), the frame rate drops are almost entirely attributable to the GPU's inability to render more pixels. The data strongly indicates that the limiting component in this combo is the Intel Arc B370, not the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The benchmark data provides a comprehensive view of the combo's performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1080p, the lowest resolution tested, the combo achieves its highest frame rates. With Low settings, the average FPS is 299, which is the maximum measured in any configuration. Medium settings yield 197 FPS with a minimum of 167 and maximum of 226 FPS. High settings produce 187 FPS, and Ultra settings deliver 178 FPS. The 1080p results show that the combo can easily exceed 170 FPS even at the highest settings, which is sufficient for competitive play.

Moving to 1440p, the frame rates decrease across all settings. Low settings produce 255 FPS, Medium settings yield 168 FPS (with a range of 143 to 193 FPS), High settings deliver 160 FPS, and Ultra settings result in 152 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p ranges from 14.4% at High settings to 15.1% at Low settings. These reductions are relatively modest compared to the 4K results, suggesting that 1440p remains playable, though the GPU is beginning to show strain.

At 4K, the frame rates fall more dramatically. Low settings produce 204 FPS, Medium settings yield 134 FPS (with a range of 114 to 154 FPS), High settings deliver 128 FPS, and Ultra settings result in 122 FPS. The 4K Ultra result of 122 FPS is the lowest average measured, yet it remains above 120 FPS. The minimum FPS recorded at 4K Medium is 114, which is the lowest single data point across all tests. This indicates that while the combo can handle 4K, the frame rates are noticeably lower, and the GPU's limited resources are fully taxed.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus + Intel Arc B370 combination ranks 2,645 out of 2,883 tested combos in Valorant. This places it in the bottom 8.3% of all combinations, which is a poor showing given the game's popularity and the CPU's high-end positioning. The rank reflects the GPU's severe limitation, as the Arc B370's 5th percentile performance drags down the overall combo ranking despite the CPU's 96th percentile standing.

The disparity between the CPU and GPU is stark. The CPU's average benchmark score of 93,785 puts it in elite company, with rivals like the Intel Xeon 6520P (score 93,786, 0% delta) and AMD EPYC 4564P (score 95,183, -1.5% delta) showing near-identical performance. In contrast, the GPU's 3DMark score of 1,184 is within 1.4% of the AMD FirePro M2000 (score 1,168) and within 0.7% of the AMD Radeon HD 7650M (score 1,192). This combination of a top-tier CPU with a bottom-tier GPU results in a combo rank that fails to leverage the CPU's capabilities.

The data shows that this combo is heavily unbalanced. In Valorant, where frame rates are often CPU-bound at lower resolutions, the powerful Core Ultra 7 270K Plus manages to push high FPS at 1080p Low (299 FPS), but the GPU's limitations become apparent at higher resolutions and settings. The 2,645th rank out of 2,883 combos indicates that most other tested combinations deliver better overall performance. This rank is a direct consequence of the GPU's low compute throughput and shared memory architecture, which cannot sustain high frame rates at 4K or even at 1440p with higher settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake Refresh architecture, built on a 3 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, with a TDP of 125 W. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 cache per core, 3 MB of L2 cache per core, and 36 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports dual-channel DDR5 memory with a bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s, which is relevant given the GPU's reliance on system memory.

The CPU's benchmark scores are exceptional. In Cinebench R23, it scores 44,253 in multi-core and 2,439 in single-core tests. Its Passmark multi-thread score is 68,574, and its single-thread score is 5,068. These results place the CPU in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 93,785. Compared to its nearest rivals, the Intel Xeon 6520P (score 93,786), AMD EPYC 4564P (score 95,183), AMD EPYC 9175F (score 95,615), and AMD EPYC 4565P (score 95,764), the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus is within 2.1% of all of them, showing no significant performance gap at the top end.

In Valorant, the CPU's role is to handle game logic, physics, and draw calls, which are typically single-threaded or lightly threaded tasks. The Core Ultra 7 270K Plus excels in this regard, with a single-thread Passmark score of 5,068 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2,439. These scores indicate strong per-core performance, which is critical for maintaining high frame rates in competitive FPS games like Valorant. The 24 cores provide ample multi-threaded capability, as evidenced by the Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44,253, though Valorant may not fully utilize all cores.

The CPU's 5.50 GHz boost clock and 36 MB of L3 cache contribute to its ability to feed the GPU with data. At 1080p Low settings, the combo achieves 299 FPS, which is likely close to the CPU's maximum frame output in Valorant. However, the GPU's limitations prevent the CPU from demonstrating its full potential at higher resolutions. The data shows that the CPU is not the bottleneck in any tested configuration, as frame rates drop uniformly with resolution increases, a pattern consistent with GPU limitations. The CPU's high percentile ranking and benchmark scores confirm that it is a top-tier processor, but in this combo, its performance is constrained by the Intel Arc B370's 5th percentile GPU.