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 441 FPS, suitable for 144Hz+ monitors. At 1440p, all settings exceed 392 FPS. At 4K, all settings exceed 253 FPS.
The GeForce RTX 4090 is 1277% above the recommended GPU (GeForce GTX 560) for League of Legends. The Core i9-9960X is 367% above the recommended CPU (Core i5-3330).
At lower resolutions (1440p low), the Core i9-9960X determines the performance ceiling. As graphical load increases at (1080p (medium/high/ultra), 1440p (high/ultra), 4k (high/ultra)), the GeForce RTX 4090 takes over as the primary performance factor. The system is well balanced at 1080p low, 1440p medium, 4k (low/medium).
Approximated average price on current market:
Combo price: $1849. At 1080p Ultra, this combo delivers 441 FPS, equivalent to 0.24 FPS per dollar.
| Resolution | Low | Medium | High | Ultra |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1080p | 0.373 fps/$ | 0.324 fps/$ | 0.270 fps/$ | 0.239 fps/$ |
| 1440p | 0.309 fps/$ | 0.271 fps/$ | 0.246 fps/$ | 0.212 fps/$ |
| 4k | 0.237 fps/$ | 0.207 fps/$ | 0.177 fps/$ | 0.137 fps/$ |
* Table values represent FPS per Dollar (higher is better)
At 1440p ultra, the GeForce RTX 4090 sets the ceiling at about 329 FPS, while the Core i9-9960X has headroom up to 392 FPS. In this scenario, the GPU limits the CPU potential by 16% (FPS gap: 63 FPS). Overall distribution: GPU limits 7/12 cells, CPU limits 1/12, balanced 4/12.
Your GeForce RTX 4090 is the limiting side in the heaviest mismatch. This means part of the Core i9-9960X frame-generation potential remains unused in those settings.
| Resolution | Low | Medium | High | Ultra |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1080p (Full HD) | Balanced | GPU Limits CPU 6% | GPU Limits CPU 8% | GPU Limits CPU 10% |
| 1440p (2K QHD) | CPU Limits GPU 9% | Balanced | GPU Limits CPU 9% | GPU Limits CPU 16% |
| 4K (Ultra HD) | Balanced | Balanced | GPU Limits CPU 8% | GPU Limits CPU 8% |
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) | CPU5% - 27% <> GPU32% - 41% <> | CPU10% - 39% <> GPU35% - 42% <> | CPU10% - 39% <> GPU35% - 42% <> | CPU9% - 36% <> GPU36% - 44% <> |
| 1440p (2K QHD) | CPU5% - 21% <> GPU40% - 48% <> | CPU11% - 33% <> GPU43% - 49% <> | CPU11% - 33% <> GPU43% - 49% <> | CPU9% - 29% <> GPU45% - 51% <> |
| 4K (Ultra HD) | CPU5% - 21% <> GPU59% - 63% <> | CPU10% - 33% <> GPU60% - 66% <> | CPU10% - 33% <> GPU60% - 66% <> | CPU9% - 29% <> GPU62% - 68% <> |
The Core i9-9960X + GeForce RTX 4090 pairing runs this title with CPU utilization between 5% and 39% and GPU utilization between 32% and 68%. Core i9-9960X 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 63% at 4K, while CPU averages move from 22% to 19%.
The utilization pattern is relatively balanced. The GeForce RTX 4090 reaches 65% average at its highest-load preset, while the Core i9-9960X peaks at 24% average, with no single component consistently acting as a hard bottleneck.
At 1080p, averages sit around CPU 22% and GPU 38%. At 1440p, that shifts to CPU 19% and GPU 46%, and at 4K it reaches CPU 19% and GPU 63%. 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 19% (9-29%) and GPU 65% (62-68%), which keeps GeForce RTX 4090 well utilized without constant max-out behavior while Core i9-9960X remains stable for consistent frame delivery.
Current utilization does not show an urgent upgrade requirement for either component; the Core i9-9960X 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 367% above and your GPU is 1277% above the recommended specs. Ultra settings at 1080p, or High at 1440p/4K.
+367%vsrecommended
+1277%vsrecommended
+1326%vsminimum
+6755%vsminimum
Yes, the Core i9-9960X paired with the GeForce RTX 4090 can run League of Legends smoothly up to 4k achieving around 253 FPS at Ultra quality. Your GPU is 1277% above the recommended specs, and your CPU is 367% above the recommended requirements.
This CPU + GPU combo costs approximately $1849 ($200 CPU (Rank #61 Value) + $1649 GPU (Rank #77 Value)). Your GeForce RTX 4090 provides phenomenal top-tier performance but at a premium enthusiast price. Since you are essentially at the ceiling of current hardware capabilities, there are no meaningful performance upgrades available. However, if you wanted a more cost-effective build that still delivers a great experience, you could theoretically step down to a high-end card with a significantly better value rating.
Your GeForce RTX 4090 is already a top-tier graphics card. While it's technically the limiting factor here (which means you are fully utilizing your GPU's visual horsepower exactly as intended), there is no meaningful upgrade path that would drastically improve your League of Legends performance right now. GPU fully utilized at: 1080p medium, 1080p high, 1080p ultra, 1440p high, 1440p ultra, 4k high, 4k ultra. CPU-limited at: 1440p low.
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 i9-9960X 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.
