For competitive gamers, aspiring streamers, and anyone looking to squeeze every ounce of performance from their PC in Riot Games’ fast-paced tactical shooter, Valorant, benchmarking remains a critical practice. Understanding how your system performs under pressure, and how to fine-tune it for optimal frame rates and responsiveness, can be the difference between victory and defeat.
While Valorant doesn’t feature a dedicated in-game benchmark tool, a combination of savvy techniques and third-party software empowers players to accurately assess and maximize their performance.
Why Benchmarking Matters in Valorant
Valorant’s highly competitive nature means that stable, high FPS (frames per second) and minimal input lag are paramount.
Even seemingly minor adjustments to hardware or in-game settings can significantly impact your gameplay experience. Benchmarking provides the data needed to:
- Optimize Visual Settings: Find the perfect balance between graphical fidelity and performance.
- Evaluate Hardware Upgrades: Understand the real-world impact of a new CPU, GPU, or RAM.
- Diagnose Performance Issues: Pinpoint sources of stutters, frame drops, or unresponsive controls.
- Ensure Smooth Gameplay: Guarantee the most fluid and responsive experience possible for critical moments.
The Best Approaches to Benchmarking Valorant
Since Valorant doesn’t have a built-in benchmark mode, players rely on a blend of in-game observations and external tools:
1. In-Game Benchmarking (Manual Observation)
- FPS Counter: The easiest way to get real-time feedback. Simply press Ctrl + F during a match to display your current FPS overlay.
- Consistent Scenarios: For repeatable and comparable results, utilize specific game environments:
- The Practice Range: Ideal for testing, as engaging bots and deploying abilities consistently stresses both your GPU and CPU.
- Team Deathmatch: Offers a more “real-world” simulation of chaotic combat scenarios, providing insights into worst-case FPS readings.
2. Third-Party Benchmark Tools (Detailed Data)
These applications offer more granular data, tracking various system metrics over time:
- MSI Afterburner: A powerful tool that monitors FPS, CPU/GPU usage, frame times, and even temperatures. Its customizable overlay allows for in-depth performance analysis during live matches.
- FRAPS: A classic benchmarking utility that records minimum, maximum, and average FPS over specific periods, capable of exporting detailed reports.
- Nvidia ShadowPlay / AMD Radeon Overlay: GPU-specific tools that provide FPS counters and performance telemetry with minimal overhead for users of respective graphics cards.
3. Benchmarking with Aim Trainers (Aim Performance)
For players focused on raw aiming skill, communities like Voltaic offer dedicated benchmarking scenarios within external aim trainers like Aim Lab. These benchmarks assess specific aiming mechanics (flicks, tracking, reflexes) relevant to Valorant, though they do not directly measure in-game FPS.
Step-by-Step: Running a Valorant Benchmark
To ensure accurate and comparable results, follow these steps:
- Close Background Applications: Minimize interference by closing any unnecessary programs running in the background.
- Launch Valorant: Start the game in your preferred display mode (windowed or full-screen).
- Enable FPS Counter: Activate Valorant’s in-game FPS counter (Ctrl + F) or your chosen third-party overlay.
- Select a Scenario:
- For hardware comparisons and consistency: The Practice Range.
- For real-world combat stress testing: A Custom Game with multiple bots or Team Deathmatch.
- Play Actively: Engage in gunfights, use abilities, and execute rotations. These high-activity moments exert the most stress on your system.
- Record Data: Run your test for several minutes to gather a representative average, noting minimum, maximum, and average FPS. Pay close attention to minimum FPS during intense action, as this heavily influences perceived smoothness.
- Analyze and Adjust: Review your data. Make targeted changes to in-game graphics settings or hardware, then repeat the benchmark to compare the impact.
What Settings Should You Test?
Optimizing Valorant involves tweaking various in-game graphics settings.6 Here’s a quick guide to their impact and general recommendations for benchmarking:
| Setting | Impact on FPS | Recommendation for Benchmarking |
| Material Quality | High | Test MED or LOW for significant FPS gains. |
| Texture Quality | Medium | MED or LOW settings save VRAM with minimal visual impact. |
| Multithreaded Rendering | Very High | Always ON for modern CPUs to maximize performance. |
| Anti-Aliasing | Medium | MSAA 2x/4x provides a balance between visual sharpness and performance. |
| Shadows, Bloom, Distortion | High | Disable these for the best possible performance. |
| Vsync | Reduces FPS | OFF for the lowest possible input lag, crucial for competitive play. |
Tips for Accurate Benchmarking
- Repeat Tests: Conduct multiple runs under identical conditions to ensure consistent and reliable results.
- Monitor for Spikes: Pay close attention to sudden frame drops or stutters during intense gunfights, agent abilities, or busy scenes.
- Consistent Conditions: When comparing hardware, use the exact same map, agent, and in-game actions for each test run.
- Resolution: Typically, test at 1920×1080 (Full HD), as it’s standard for most setups. For GPU-heavy comparisons, you can also test at higher resolutions.
- Frame Times: Beyond raw FPS, observe frame times. Consistent frame times indicate smoother gameplay, even if raw FPS fluctuates slightly.
Example Performance (Community & Pro Testing)
Real-world testing from the community and professional setups provides a general idea of expected FPS at 1080p:
| CPU / GPU Combo | Avg FPS (1080p) |
| Core i9-9900K / RTX 3080 | 450–500 |
| Ryzen 9 3900X / RTX 3070 | 400–450 |
| Core i5 / GTX 1660 Super | 200–250 |
| iGPU (Ryzen 3400G, low-end) | 80–120 |
Conclusion
Benchmarking Valorant is an indispensable practice for any player striving for peak, lag-free gameplay. While Riot Games has yet to introduce a dedicated in-game tool, the combination of Valorant’s built-in FPS counter, robust third-party overlays, and strategic use of consistent test scenarios—particularly the Practice Range and busy game modes—provides highly accurate insights into your PC’s performance.
For those pushing the limits of their aiming prowess, external aim trainers with dedicated Valorant scenarios offer a supplementary layer of analysis.
By diligently following these steps and understanding the impact of various settings, you can effectively optimize your system to deliver the smoothest, most competitive Valorant experience possible, ensuring you’re always ready for the next clutch play.
Would you like to read more? Click the following link to learn how what the size of Valorant is on PC or why does the computer freeze when you tab out of Valorant?
Written by:
Christian