Valorant

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates for Valorant with the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER show a clear pattern of performance scaling as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 596 FPS average, which drops to 508 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 406 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 14.8% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a 31.9% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low settings.

The High settings preset tells a similar story but with different magnitudes. At 1080p High, the average is 374 FPS; at 1440p High, it rises to 319 FPS; and at 4K High, it falls to 255 FPS. The percentage drops are 14.7% and 31.8% respectively, closely mirroring the Low settings scaling. This consistency suggests that the performance bottleneck shifts predictably with resolution, but the overall frame rates remain exceptionally high across all tested configurations.

Medium settings exhibit the same scaling behavior. The 1080p Medium average of 392 FPS drops to 335 FPS at 1440p (a 14.5% decrease) and then to 268 FPS at 4K (a 31.6% decrease from 1080p). Ultra settings follow suit: 356 FPS at 1080p, 304 FPS at 1440p, and 243 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset shows slightly smaller percentage drops between resolutions, at 14.6% and 31.7% respectively.

The data indicates that the GPU becomes more of a limiting factor as resolution increases. At 1080p, the frame rates are so high (over 350 FPS even at Ultra) that the CPU's strong single-thread performance is likely the primary driver. At 4K, the RTX 2060 SUPER's workload increases, yet even the lowest 4K result (243 FPS at Ultra) remains far above typical display refresh rates. The scaling pattern—roughly 15% penalty from 1080p to 1440p and another 20% from 1440p to 4K—suggests a balanced system where neither component completely dominates, but the GPU's role becomes more pronounced at higher resolutions.

FAQ

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

A: The highest average frame rate is 596 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

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

A: At 4K Ultra, the average is 243 FPS, while at 1080p Ultra it is 356 FPS. The 4K result is 31.7% lower, indicating a significant but expected performance drop at higher resolution.

Q: Are the 1440p Medium frame times consistent?

A: Yes, the 2560x1440 Medium preset shows a minimum of 285 FPS and a maximum of 385 FPS, with an average of 335 FPS. The spread of 100 FPS between minimum and maximum suggests some variability but still maintains a high floor.

Q: Which settings preset provides the highest minimum frame rate?

A: The 1920x1080 Medium preset has the highest recorded minimum at 334 FPS. This is the only resolution where Medium settings show a minimum above 300 FPS, as the 1440p Medium floor is 285 FPS and the 4K Medium floor is 227 FPS.

Q: Is the RTX 2060 SUPER's 8 GB VRAM sufficient for Valorant at 4K?

A: The measured results show no VRAM-related bottlenecks. At 4K, even the Ultra preset maintains 243 FPS average, indicating that the 8 GB GDDR6 memory with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth is adequate for this game's demands.

Q: How does this combo rank against all tested combinations?

A: The combo ranks 1702 out of 2883 tested combinations in Valorant, placing it in the top 41% of all tested systems.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER serves as the primary graphics processor in this configuration, built on the Turing architecture with a TU106 chip manufactured on a 12 nm process. The GPU operates with a base clock of 1470 MHz and a boost clock of 1650 MHz, paired with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus. The memory runs at 1750 MHz with 14 Gbps effective speed, yielding a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. These specifications position the card with 2176 shading units, 136 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation units.

In Valorant, the GPU's role is evident in the resolution scaling data. At 1080p, the frame rates are remarkably high—596 FPS on Low, 392 FPS on Medium, 374 FPS on High, and 356 FPS on Ultra. The differences between presets at 1080p are relatively small (ranging from 356 to 596 FPS), suggesting that the CPU's high single-thread performance allows the GPU to operate near its limits. At 4K, the preset differences become more pronounced: Low yields 406 FPS, Medium 268 FPS, High 255 FPS, and Ultra 243 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 163 FPS, compared to a 240 FPS gap at 1080p.

The GPU's compute capabilities include 7.181 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 14.36 TFLOPS FP16 with a 2:1 ratio. The card also features 34 ray tracing cores and 272 tensor cores, though Valorant does not heavily utilize these features. The pixel rate of 105.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 224.4 GTexel/s provide adequate throughput for the game's stylized visuals. The measured frame times at Medium settings show the GPU's consistency: at 4K Medium, the minimum is 227 FPS and maximum is 308 FPS, while at 1440p Medium the range is 285-385 FPS, and at 1080p Medium it spans 334-451 FPS.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 62 against all GPUs indicates it sits above the median performer. Its average benchmark score of 18093 places it near the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile (18159, deltaPct -0.4) and AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (18189, deltaPct -0.5). This positioning suggests the RTX 2060 SUPER delivers solid performance for its class, and in Valorant specifically, it proves more than sufficient for high-refresh-rate gaming at any resolution tested.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance for optimizing the Valorant experience with this hardware combination. For players prioritizing maximum frame rates, the Low preset at 1080p delivers 596 FPS average, which is 50% higher than the next best 1080p result (392 FPS on Medium). However, the jump from Low to Medium at 1080p costs 204 FPS (from 596 to 392) while the jump from Medium to High costs only 18 FPS (392 to 374), and High to Ultra costs another 18 FPS (374 to 356). This suggests that Medium settings offer a better balance between visual quality and performance than Low, as the frame rate hit is substantial but the visual improvements are likely more noticeable.

At 1440p, the Medium preset provides 335 FPS average with a minimum of 285 FPS, which is the only 1440p preset with a recorded minimum above 300 FPS. The High preset at 1440p yields 319 FPS, while Ultra gives 304 FPS. The differences between Medium, High, and Ultra at 1440p are 16 FPS and 15 FPS respectively, indicating that visual quality can be increased without severe performance penalties. The Low preset at 1440p achieves 508 FPS, but the drop from Low to Medium (173 FPS) is substantial.

For 4K gaming, the Medium preset appears optimal. It delivers 268 FPS average with a minimum of 227 FPS and maximum of 308 FPS, providing the most complete frame time data. The High preset at 255 FPS and Ultra at 243 FPS are only 13 and 25 FPS lower respectively, while Low at 406 FPS is 138 FPS higher. Given that all 4K presets exceed 240 FPS, the choice depends on whether the user prioritizes visual fidelity or maximum headroom. The Ultra preset at 4K still maintains 243 FPS, which is sufficient for most high-refresh-rate displays.

The measured data supports Medium as the recommended preset across all resolutions. At 1080p, it offers 392 FPS average; at 1440p, 335 FPS; and at 4K, 268 FPS. These figures represent a reasonable compromise between the frame rate ceiling of Low settings and the visual enhancements of High or Ultra. The Medium preset also provides the only complete min/max data across all resolutions, indicating more consistent frame pacing compared to other presets where min/max values are not recorded.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER ranks 1702 out of 2883 tested combos in Valorant, placing it in the top 59% of all systems tested. This ranking reflects the strong performance of the CPU, which sits in the 96th percentile among all CPUs, paired with a GPU that ranks in the 62nd percentile among all GPUs. The combination produces frame rates that are exceptionally high for a competitive FPS title, with even the lowest measured average (243 FPS at 4K Ultra) exceeding the refresh rates of most gaming monitors.

The CPU's nearest rivals provide context for its contribution to this ranking. The Intel Core Ultra 9 285K has an average benchmark score of 83807, which is 0.2% lower than the 290K Plus's 84003. The AMD EPYC 4584PX scores 83090 (1.1% lower), and the AMD EPYC 9135 scores 82980 (1.2% lower). The AMD EPYC 7F72 scores 85072, which is 1.3% higher. These small deltas indicate that the 290K Plus performs similarly to its closest competitors, and its high single-thread performance (as evidenced by a 4823 Passmark single-thread score) is particularly relevant for Valorant's CPU-bound nature at lower resolutions.

The GPU's rivals also inform the overall ranking. The RTX 2060 SUPER's average benchmark score of 18093 is close to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile (18159, deltaPct -0.4), AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (18189, deltaPct -0.5), AMD Radeon RX 460 (18373, deltaPct -1.5), and Intel Arc A770M (18383, deltaPct -1.6). While the GPU is not top-tier by synthetic benchmarks, its real-world performance in Valorant is more than adequate, as demonstrated by the measured FPS data.

The ranking of 1702 out of 2883 suggests that many combinations achieve higher frame rates in Valorant, likely due to newer or more powerful GPUs. However, the absolute performance here is so high that the practical difference is minimal for most users. The combination's strength lies in the CPU's ability to feed the GPU enough data to maintain high frame rates, particularly at 1080p where the CPU's single-thread performance shines. The 24 cores and 24 threads with a boost clock of 5.80 GHz provide ample processing power, while the GPU's 8 GB VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth handle the game's rendering requirements efficiently.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured frame rates for this combination spans three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 596 FPS average, the Medium preset delivers 392 FPS average with a minimum of 334 FPS and maximum of 451 FPS, the High preset delivers 374 FPS average, and the Ultra preset delivers 356 FPS average. The Medium preset is the only 1080p configuration with recorded min/max values, showing a spread of 117 FPS between the lowest and highest frames.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves 508 FPS average, the Medium preset achieves 335 FPS average with a minimum of 285 FPS and maximum of 385 FPS, the High preset achieves 319 FPS average, and the Ultra preset achieves 304 FPS average. The Medium preset at 1440p shows a 100 FPS spread between minimum and maximum, indicating slightly more variability than at 1080p but still maintaining a high floor above 280 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset delivers 406 FPS average, the Medium preset delivers 268 FPS average with a minimum of 227 FPS and maximum of 308 FPS, the High preset delivers 255 FPS average, and the Ultra preset delivers 243 FPS average. The 4K Medium preset has the tightest relative spread of the three Medium presets, with an 81 FPS difference between minimum and maximum, suggesting that the GPU maintains consistent performance even at higher resolutions.

Across all resolutions, the Low preset consistently provides the highest frame rates, followed by Medium, then High, and finally Ultra. The performance drop from Low to Medium is substantial at every resolution: 204 FPS at 1080p, 173 FPS at 1440p, and 138 FPS at 4K. The drop from Medium to High is much smaller: 18 FPS at 1080p, 16 FPS at 1440p, and 13 FPS at 4K. The drop from High to Ultra is similarly modest: 18 FPS at 1080p, 15 FPS at 1440p, and 12 FPS at 4K. This pattern indicates that the Medium preset captures most of the visual benefits while avoiding the significant frame rate penalty associated with the Low preset.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is the central processor in this configuration, built on the Arrow Lake Refresh architecture with a 3 nm process node from TSMC. It features 24 cores and 24 threads, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz. The CPU includes 192 KB of L1 cache per core, 3 MB of L2 cache per core, and 36 MB of shared L3 cache. Its memory support includes DDR5 with dual-channel configuration and a bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s, along with ECC memory support. The CPU also integrates Intel's Arc Xe-LPG Graphics with 64 execution units, though the dedicated RTX 2060 SUPER handles the game's rendering.

In Valorant, the CPU's role is particularly important at lower resolutions where the GPU is not the limiting factor. The 1080p Low preset achieves 596 FPS, which likely approaches the CPU's maximum frame generation capability in this game. The CPU's single-thread performance is exceptional, as shown by its Passmark single-thread score of 4823 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7303. These scores place it in the 96th percentile among all CPUs, indicating that its per-core performance is among the best available. This is critical for a game like Valorant, which typically relies heavily on a single thread for game logic and rendering commands.

The CPU's multi-threaded capabilities also support the system's overall performance. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 51731 and Passmark multithread score of 60860 demonstrate strong parallel processing power, which helps maintain consistent frame delivery even when background tasks compete for resources. The 24 cores and 24 threads provide ample headroom for the game's engine, and the 36 MB L3 cache reduces memory latency, which can improve frame pacing.

The benchmark data shows that the CPU's nearest rivals are all close in average score. The Intel Core Ultra 9 285K is 0.2% slower, while the AMD EPYC 7F72 is 1.3% faster. These small differences suggest that the 290K Plus is well-positioned among high-end desktop processors. For Valorant specifically, the CPU's high boost clock of 5.80 GHz and strong single-core performance allow it to feed the GPU with enough data to maintain the high frame rates observed in the 1080p measurements. At 4K, the CPU's role diminishes slightly as the GPU becomes more of a bottleneck, but even the 4K Ultra result of 243 FPS indicates that the CPU is not holding back performance. The combination of the 290K Plus's processing power and the RTX 2060 SUPER's rendering capabilities results in a system that delivers playable frame rates at every resolution and settings preset tested.