Valorant

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination delivers exceptional performance in Valorant, ranking in the top 5.3% of all tested system configurations for this title. The benchmark data shows that this pairing produces frame rates that far exceed the requirements of competitive play, with the CPU's high single-thread performance and the GPU's substantial memory bandwidth combining to create a system capable of handling even the most demanding scenarios at high resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor from the Core Ultra Series 2, built on a 3 nm process at TSMC. It operates with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and boosts up to 5.80 GHz, which is critical for Valorant's performance. The game's engine is heavily dependent on single-thread performance for frame generation, and the processor's high boost clock ensures that the primary game thread can execute at maximum speed. The CPU's benchmark scores support this, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7303 and a Passmark single-thread score of 4823, both indicating strong per-core performance.

The processor's cache hierarchy also plays a role in Valorant's performance. It features 192 KB of L1 cache per core, 3 MB of L2 cache per core, and a shared 36 MB L3 cache. This large L3 cache is beneficial for holding game assets and instructions close to the cores, reducing latency when the game engine needs to access frequently used data. The CPU supports DDR5 memory with a dual-channel bus and 115.2 GB/s bandwidth, which provides ample memory throughput for the game's data streams. In terms of overall CPU performance, the average benchmark score is 84003, placing it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs. This puts it 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K in average score, and 1.1% ahead of the AMD EPYC 4584PX, demonstrating that it is at the top of the performance pyramid.

For Valorant, the multi-core performance is less critical than single-core, but the 24 cores and 24 threads still provide a robust foundation. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 51731 and a Passmark multithread score of 60860 indicate that the CPU can handle background tasks and game engine overhead without impacting frame times. The processor's ability to maintain high clocks across its cores, as evidenced by its 125 W TDP, ensures that the game's rendering threads have access to processing power when needed. The data shows that the CPU is not a bottleneck at any resolution tested, as frame rates scale more with GPU settings than with CPU capabilities at the lower resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is a GeForce 40-series graphics card based on the AD104 chip and Ada Lovelace architecture, fabricated on a 5 nm process. It features 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation units. The card's clock speeds are a base of 1920 MHz and a boost of 2475 MHz, which are substantial for maintaining high frame rates in a lighter title like Valorant. The GPU is equipped with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. This memory configuration is more than sufficient for Valorant, which does not require large texture pools or massive memory allocations, allowing the card to focus its resources on raw frame output.

The GPU's compute capabilities are also noteworthy, with 29.15 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 46 RT cores. While ray tracing is not a primary feature in Valorant, the presence of these cores and the tensor cores (184) ensures that the GPU is future-proof for other titles. The card's pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s and texture rate of 455.4 GTexel/s are high, which helps in maintaining consistent frame times even when the game's engine has to process complex geometry or multiple character models. In terms of benchmark scores, the GPU has a Passmark G3D score of 26927 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 174152, placing it in the 81st percentile of all GPUs. It is 0.1% ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla P4 in average score, and 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, showing that it sits in a competitive mid-to-high range of graphics cards.

For Valorant, the GPU's role is to ensure that the frame rate is not limited by rendering overhead. At 1080p, the GPU is not the limiting factor, as the CPU's strong single-thread performance drives the frame rate. However, at higher resolutions and settings, the GPU's capabilities become more important. The data shows that the RTX 4070 can handle 4K resolution with ease, which reflects its raw power and memory bandwidth. The card's 12 GB VRAM is more than enough for Valorant's settings, and the GDDR6X memory type ensures that data transfer speeds do not introduce stutters or frame drops.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1080p with Low settings?

A: The average frame rate at 1920x1080 with Low settings is 733 FPS, which is the highest average frame rate recorded across all tested configurations.

Q: How does the CPU's single-thread performance compare to its rivals?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus has an average benchmark score of 84003, which is 0.2% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K and 1.1% higher than the AMD EPYC 4584PX.

Q: What is the GPU's memory type and size?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 comes with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s.

Q: What is the best average frame rate at 4K resolution?

A: The best average frame rate at 3840x2160 is 645 FPS, achieved with Low settings.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more important for Valorant at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the average frame rates range from 695 FPS on Low to 496 FPS on Ultra, indicating that the GPU's load increases with settings, but the CPU still provides enough headroom to maintain high frame rates.

Q: What is the combined performance rank of this system for Valorant?

A: This CPU and GPU combination ranks 153rd out of 2883 tested combos for Valorant, placing it in the top 5.3% of all configurations.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 ranks 153rd out of 2883 tested system configurations for Valorant. This places it in the 94.7th percentile of all combos, indicating that it outperforms the vast majority of systems tested for this game. The ranking reflects the synergy between the CPU's high single-thread performance and the GPU's ability to render frames quickly without becoming a bottleneck. The data shows that this system is positioned at the high end of performance, with only 152 other combinations achieving higher frame rates in the game.

The rank is particularly impressive when considering that the CPU is in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, and the GPU is in the 81st percentile of all GPUs. The combination of a top-tier CPU with a mid-to-high-tier GPU proves to be an excellent match for Valorant, as the game's engine is more sensitive to CPU performance than GPU performance. The high rank demonstrates that users of this system will experience exceptionally smooth gameplay with minimal frame drops, even in intense combat scenarios. The system's capability to maintain high average frame rates across all settings and resolutions, as evidenced by the measured FPS data, reinforces its top-tier status in the benchmark database.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates for this system show a clear pattern of performance scaling across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are consistently high, with Low settings yielding 733 FPS, Medium achieving 625 FPS (with a minimum of 531 FPS and maximum of 719 FPS), High producing 611 FPS, and Ultra reaching 582 FPS. These numbers indicate that even at the highest settings, the system maintains a frame rate well above the refresh rate of most monitors, ensuring a competitive advantage in fast-paced gameplay.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average frame rates remain excellent. Low settings deliver 695 FPS, Medium achieves 547 FPS (with a minimum of 465 FPS and maximum of 629 FPS), High produces 521 FPS, and Ultra reaches 496 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is modest, with the largest decrease being about 14% when comparing Low settings, which suggests that the GPU has enough headroom to handle the increased pixel count without significant performance loss. At 3840x2160, the system still delivers outstanding performance. Low settings yield 645 FPS, Medium achieves 437 FPS (with a minimum of 372 FPS and maximum of 503 FPS), High produces 417 FPS, and Ultra reaches 397 FPS. Even at 4K with Ultra settings, the average frame rate remains above 390 FPS, which is more than sufficient for a smooth gaming experience.

The data shows that the system's performance is consistent across all resolutions, with no significant bottlenecks or frame rate drops. The minimum FPS values recorded for Medium settings at each resolution (531 FPS at 1080p, 465 FPS at 1440p, and 372 FPS at 4K) indicate that even in the most demanding moments, the frame rate does not drop to a level that would cause noticeable stuttering. The scaling from 1080p to 4K results in a performance reduction of approximately 46% when comparing Low settings, which is a reasonable trade-off for the increased resolution.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this system depend on the user's display resolution and refresh rate. For users with a 1080p monitor, the High preset is recommended as it provides a balance between visual quality and performance, with an average frame rate of 611 FPS. This is more than enough to take advantage of a 240 Hz or 360 Hz monitor, and the minimal difference between High and Ultra (582 FPS) does not justify the potential for increased frame time variance. For 1440p users, the Medium preset is the best choice, delivering an average of 547 FPS. This setting provides a good visual experience while maintaining frame rates that are well above the threshold for competitive play, and the minimum FPS of 465 ensures that there are no significant drops during intense action.

For 4K gamers, the Low preset is recommended, which achieves an average of 645 FPS. While High and Ultra settings provide more visual fidelity, the difference in frame rate (417 FPS and 397 FPS, respectively) is substantial enough that Low is the best option for maintaining a high refresh rate experience. The Medium setting at 4K, with an average of 437 FPS and a minimum of 372 FPS, is also viable, but the lower minimum FPS might introduce slight hitches in very demanding scenes. In all cases, the system provides frame rates that exceed the requirements for smooth gameplay, but the recommended settings are chosen to maximize the consistency of the frame rate while still providing an acceptable level of visual quality. The data indicates that this system is capable of running Valorant at extremely high frame rates, and the settings recommendations are designed to optimize the experience based on the measured performance characteristics.