As the world's most popular MOBA, League of Legends runs on a proprietary engine that has been updated for over a decade. Recently, Riot increased the minimum requirements to include AVX instruction support and dropped support for older OSs and DirectX 9. While still lightweight, modern team fights with complex particle effects can strain older integrated graphics. The game scales well with single-thread CPU performance, meaning even modern entry-level processors can deliver high frame rates.
Actual FPS may vary based on RAM speed, background processes, and other system factors
Performance Report
At 1080p, all quality settings exceed 381 FPS, suitable for 144Hz+ monitors. At 1440p, all settings exceed 341 FPS. At 4K, all settings exceed 237 FPS.
The GeForce RTX 4090 is 1277% above the recommended GPU (GeForce GTX 560) for League of Legends. The Core i9-7980XE is 363% above the recommended CPU (Core i5-3330).
The Core i9-7980XE determines the performance ceiling at 1080p low, 1440p (low/medium), while the GPU has headroom. The system is well balanced at 1080p (medium/high/ultra), 1440p (high/ultra), all 4k settings.
Approximated average price on current market:
Combo price: $1949. At 1080p Ultra, this combo delivers 381 FPS, equivalent to 0.2 FPS per dollar.
| Resolution | Low | Medium | High | Ultra |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1080p | 0.325 fps/$ | 0.280 fps/$ | 0.232 fps/$ | 0.195 fps/$ |
| 1440p | 0.273 fps/$ | 0.232 fps/$ | 0.204 fps/$ | 0.175 fps/$ |
| 4k | 0.215 fps/$ | 0.183 fps/$ | 0.157 fps/$ | 0.122 fps/$ |
* Table values represent FPS per Dollar (higher is better)
At 1440p low, the Core i9-7980XE sets the ceiling at about 533 FPS, while the GeForce RTX 4090 could reach 625 FPS. In this scenario, the CPU limits the GPU potential by 15% (FPS gap: 92 FPS). Overall distribution: CPU limits 4/12 cells, GPU limits 0/12, balanced 8/12.
The Core i9-7980XE and GeForce RTX 4090 stay close in effective frame-generation ceiling across most presets, so neither side consistently suppresses the other by a large margin.
| Resolution | Low | Medium | High | Ultra |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1080p (Full HD) | CPU Limits GPU 8% | Balanced | Balanced | Balanced |
| 1440p (2K QHD) | CPU Limits GPU 15% | CPU Limits GPU 9% | Balanced | Balanced |
| 4K (Ultra HD) | CPU Limits GPU 6% | Balanced | Balanced | Balanced |
We estimate the maximum FPS the processor can sustain and the maximum FPS the graphics card can sustain in each setting, then compare those limits directly.
Limit Factor formula: (stronger - weaker) / stronger. Example: if CPU ceiling is 200 FPS and GPU ceiling is 140 FPS, then GPU limits CPU by 30%.
CPU Limits GPU means the processor ceiling is lower. GPU Limits CPU means the graphics ceiling is lower. Balanced means the FPS ceilings are close enough that the gap is negligible.
The displayed percentages are derived from FPS ceilings, not generic utilization heuristics.
| Resolution | Low | Medium | High | Ultra |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1080p (Full HD) | CPU10% - 31% <> GPU32% - 42% <> | CPU16% - 44% <> GPU34% - 43% <> | CPU16% - 44% <> GPU34% - 43% <> | CPU14% - 39% <> GPU35% - 44% <> |
| 1440p (2K QHD) | CPU9% - 23% <> GPU39% - 43% <> | CPU15% - 36% <> GPU42% - 44% <> | CPU15% - 36% <> GPU42% - 44% <> | CPU13% - 31% <> GPU44% - 46% <> |
| 4K (Ultra HD) | CPU8% - 24% <> GPU54% - 62% <> | CPU14% - 35% <> GPU55% - 65% <> | CPU14% - 35% <> GPU55% - 65% <> | CPU12% - 31% <> GPU57% - 67% <> |
The Core i9-7980XE + GeForce RTX 4090 pairing runs this title with CPU utilization between 8% and 44% and GPU utilization between 32% and 67%. Core i9-7980XE keeps significant headroom across presets, while GeForce RTX 4090 is utilized efficiently without persistent saturation. As resolution scales, average GPU load rises from 38% at 1080p to 60% at 4K, while CPU averages move from 27% to 22%.
The utilization pattern is relatively balanced. The GeForce RTX 4090 reaches 62% average at its highest-load preset, while the Core i9-7980XE peaks at 30% average, with no single component consistently acting as a hard bottleneck.
At 1080p, averages sit around CPU 27% and GPU 38%. At 1440p, that shifts to CPU 23% and GPU 43%, and at 4K it reaches CPU 22% and GPU 60%. This shows that GPU demand scales sharply with resolution while CPU load remains comparatively stable.
4K (Ultra HD) Ultra is the most balanced preset based on this dataset. It runs around CPU 22% (12-31%) and GPU 62% (57-67%), which keeps GeForce RTX 4090 well utilized without constant max-out behavior while Core i9-7980XE remains stable for consistent frame delivery.
Current utilization does not show an urgent upgrade requirement for either component; the Core i9-7980XE and GeForce RTX 4090 remain reasonably matched for this title.
Understanding Hardware Utilization & Bottlenecks: These percentages represent how much of your component's maximum processing power is actively being used during gameplay. This is the key to identifying performance bottlenecks in any system.
Data generated by our Machine Learning engine trained on real-world benchmarks. Shows the approximate average utilization at each setting.
See how your processor and graphics card compare against the game official minimum and recommended system specs. The placement of your hardware is calculated using relative synthetic performance scores to help you gauge overall playability.
Your CPU is 363% above and your GPU is 1277% above the recommended specs. Ultra settings at 1080p, or High at 1440p/4K.
+363%vsrecommended
+1277%vsrecommended
+1312%vsminimum
+6755%vsminimum
Yes, the Core i9-7980XE paired with the GeForce RTX 4090 can run League of Legends smoothly up to 4k achieving around 237 FPS at Ultra quality. Your GPU is 1277% above the recommended specs, and your CPU is 363% above the recommended requirements.
This CPU + GPU combo costs approximately $1949 ($300 CPU (Rank #299 Value) + $1649 GPU (Rank #77 Value)). Since the CPU is the main limiting factor, investing in a stronger processor will improve your framerates and overall value. For example, the Ryzen 9 9950X is a great upgrade option for around $649 (Rank #5 for value).
For League of Legends, upgrading the CPU would have the biggest impact on performance. The Core i9-7980XE is currently the limiting factor — the GeForce RTX 4090 has extra headroom that a faster processor could take advantage of. This is especially noticeable at 1080p where CPU performance matters more. CPU-limited at: 1080p low, 1440p low, 1440p medium.
League of Legends does not currently support Frame Generation technologies like DLSS 3 or FSR 3. Your performance is based entirely on native rendering. If the game adds support in a future update, newer GPUs will benefit the most.
League of Legends requires at minimum a Core i3-530 (CPU) and GeForce 9600 GT (GPU) with 2 GB RAM and 16 GB storage. For the recommended experience, you need a Core i5-3330 and GeForce GTX 560 with 4 GB RAM. Your Core i9-7980XE and GeForce RTX 4090 both exceed the recommended specs, so you're well-positioned for a great experience.
These League of Legends FPS results are not arbitrary numbers. They come from calculations informed by thousands of real gaming benchmarks, and the typical accuracy range is around 10% to 15%. That makes them far more useful than generic FPS calculators that simply invent values without a benchmark foundation. Actual in-game performance can still vary with drivers, updates, RAM configuration, cooling, and the exact scene being rendered.
Performance estimates are based on synthetic benchmarks and hardware capabilities.
Results may vary based on drivers, OS, and background processes.
