Counter-Strike 2

# Counter-Strike 2 with AMD Ryzen 5 4600G + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070

This pairing of a 6-core AMD Ryzen 5 4600G with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 produces a measured dataset that places it at rank 389 out of 1,632 tested combinations in Counter-Strike 2. That top-quartile placement (roughly the 76th percentile) suggests a system that can handle the game's demands, but the data reveals a significant imbalance: the GPU is clearly capable of far higher frame rates than the CPU can feed at lower resolutions, making this a study in bottleneck behavior.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 389 out of 1,632 places this pairing in the upper 24% of all tested configurations for Counter-Strike 2. This is a strong overall showing, but the ranking does not tell the full story. The CPU sits at the 75th percentile among all processors in the database, while the GPU ranks at the 81st percentile among all graphics cards. When combined in CS2, the system's performance is constrained more by the processor than by the graphics card, especially at 1080p where the RTX 4070's raw power is held back.

Looking at the nearest rivals for the CPU, the Ryzen 5 4600G posts an average benchmark score of 17,489, which is essentially tied with the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355GE (17,482, 0% delta) and the Intel Core i5-12450H (17,475, 0.1% delta). It trails the Intel Core i3-14100T (17,636, -0.8%) and the Intel Core i3-13100F (17,665, -1%) by less than a single percentage point. This tells us the CPU is competitive with modern budget and mid-range parts, but it is not a top-tier performer.

For the GPU, the RTX 4070's average benchmark score of 37,283 places it near the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (37,507, -0.6%) and ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A (38,008, -1.9%) and the RTX 4080 Mobile (38,135, -2.2%). The only rival it trails is the AMD Radeon RX 5300M (36,371, 2.5%). This shows the GPU is a solid mid-to-high-end part, but the measured CS2 results suggest the CPU is the limiting factor in many scenarios.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 4600G is a 6-core, 12-thread processor built on the Zen 2 architecture (codename Renoir) using TSMC's 7 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. The cache layout includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 512 KB of L2 per core, and 8 MB of shared L3 cache. This is a modest amount of L3 by modern standards, and in a game like Counter-Strike 2—which is known to be sensitive to memory latency and cache performance—that could contribute to the CPU's performance ceiling.

The CPU's benchmark results show a clear single-thread weakness relative to its multi-thread capability. In Cinebench R23, it scores 1,919 in single-core and 13,593 in multi-core. The single-core score is particularly relevant for CS2, which typically relies heavily on a few threads for game logic and physics. The 3DMark single-thread score of 726 reinforces this picture. The CPU's percentile rank of 75 among all CPUs suggests it is a capable part, but its nearest rivals (all within 1% in average score) indicate that it is not a standout.

In the measured results, the CPU's influence is most apparent at 1080p. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system hits 525.7 FPS average, but this is likely near the CPU's maximum frame delivery capability. The gap between Low and Medium at 1080p (525.7 vs 437.6 FPS) is 88.1 FPS, which is larger than the gap between Medium and High (437.6 vs 330.1 FPS, a 107.5 FPS drop). This non-linear scaling suggests the CPU is the primary constraint at these settings, as the GPU has plenty of headroom.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC. It features 5,888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units. The GPU has 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock is 1,920 MHz with a boost clock of 2,475 MHz, and memory runs at 1,313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). The GPU is configured with 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores, though these are not heavily utilized in CS2.

The RTX 4070's benchmark results show it is a strong performer in synthetic tests, with a Passmark G3D score of 26,927 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 168,006. Its percentile rank of 81 among all GPUs confirms it is a high-end part. However, in the measured CS2 data, the GPU's performance is only fully utilized at higher resolutions. At 4K, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, as the frame rates drop significantly from 1080p. At 3840x2160 with High settings, the system averages 121.3 FPS, which is a massive drop from the 330.1 FPS at 1080p High. This indicates the GPU is being pushed to its limits at 4K, while at 1080p it is underutilized.

The GPU's VRAM capacity of 12 GB is more than sufficient for CS2 at any resolution or settings preset, as the game is not VRAM-intensive. The 504.2 GB/s memory bandwidth also ensures that texture streaming and memory access are not bottlenecks, even at 4K Ultra settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured results provide a comprehensive picture of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the system achieves 525.7 FPS on Low, 437.6 FPS on Medium, 330.1 FPS on High, and 252.3 FPS on Ultra. At 2560x1440, the numbers are 347.3 FPS on Low, 288.8 FPS on Medium, 216.2 FPS on High, and 168.3 FPS on Ultra. At 3840x2160, the results are 197.3 FPS on Low, 163.3 FPS on Medium, 121.3 FPS on High, and 94 FPS on Ultra.

The pattern across all resolutions is consistent: Low settings always deliver the highest frame rates, followed by Medium, then High, with Ultra being the most demanding. The largest absolute drop from Low to Ultra occurs at 1080p, where the difference is 273.4 FPS (525.7 to 252.3). At 1440p, the drop is 179 FPS (347.3 to 168.3), and at 4K it is 103.3 FPS (197.3 to 94). This suggests that the performance cost of higher settings is relatively consistent in percentage terms, but the absolute impact is smaller at higher resolutions where the GPU is already the limiting factor.

Resolution Scaling

Analyzing the scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals which component is the bottleneck at each resolution. At Low settings, the frame rate drops from 525.7 FPS at 1080p to 347.3 FPS at 1440p (a 33.9% reduction) and then to 197.3 FPS at 4K (a 43.2% reduction from 1440p). This nearly linear scaling with pixel count (1440p has 1.78x the pixels of 1080p, and 4K has 2.25x the pixels of 1440p) indicates the GPU is becoming the limiting factor at higher resolutions, but the CPU still plays a role at 1080p.

At High settings, the scaling is 330.1 FPS at 1080p → 216.2 FPS at 1440p (34.5% drop) → 121.3 FPS at 4K (43.9% drop). The proportional drops are similar, suggesting that the GPU is the primary constraint across all resolutions at this preset. At Ultra settings, the numbers are 252.3 FPS at 1080p → 168.3 FPS at 1440p (33.3% drop) → 94 FPS at 4K (44.1% drop). The consistency of these percentage drops (roughly one-third from 1080p to 1440p, and another 44% from 1440p to 4K) shows that the GPU is scaling predictably with pixel count.

The exception is at Low settings, where the 1080p result of 525.7 FPS is likely CPU-limited. If the GPU were fully utilized at 1080p Low, we would expect the drop to 1440p to be closer to the pixel ratio (1.78x), but the actual drop is only 1.51x. This suggests the CPU is holding back the GPU at 1080p Low, preventing it from reaching its full potential.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings preset depends on the user's display resolution and target frame rate. At 1080p, even Ultra settings deliver 252.3 FPS, which is well above the 240 Hz refresh rate of most high-end monitors. The data shows that at 1080p, all settings presets are playable, but Low and Medium provide the highest frame rates (525.7 and 437.6 FPS respectively). For competitive play, Low settings at 1080p would maximize frame rate and minimize input latency, though the visual quality trade-off may not be worth it for all players.

At 1440p, High settings deliver 216.2 FPS, which is still excellent for competitive gaming. Medium settings provide 288.8 FPS, offering a good balance between visual fidelity and performance. Ultra at 1440p drops to 168.3 FPS, which is still above 144 Hz but below 240 Hz. For most users with a 144 Hz or 165 Hz monitor at 1440p, High settings would be the recommended choice, as it provides a comfortable margin above the refresh rate.

At 4K, High settings deliver 121.3 FPS, which is above 120 Hz and suitable for most displays. Ultra at 4K drops to 94 FPS, which is still playable but falls below the 120 Hz threshold. Medium at 4K provides 163.3 FPS, which would be the best choice for users with high-refresh-rate 4K monitors. The data suggests that Medium settings at 4K offer the best balance of visual quality and performance, as the jump from Medium to High costs 42 FPS (a 25.7% reduction) while the visual difference may be minimal in a fast-paced game like CS2.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo better suited for 1080p or 1440p gaming in Counter-Strike 2?

A: The data shows this combo excels at both 1080p and 1440p. At 1080p High, it averages 330.1 FPS, while at 1440p High it averages 216.2 FPS. Both are well above competitive thresholds, but the CPU appears to limit performance at 1080p Low (525.7 FPS), suggesting the GPU has more headroom than the CPU can utilize at lower resolutions.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 5 4600G has an average benchmark score of 17,489, which is virtually tied with the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355GE (17,482, 0% delta) and the Intel Core i5-12450H (17,475, 0.1% delta). It trails the Intel Core i3-14100T (17,636, -0.8%) and the Intel Core i3-13100F (17,665, -1%) by less than a single percentage point.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings average 347.3 FPS, while Ultra settings average 168.3 FPS. This represents a 179 FPS difference, meaning Ultra delivers approximately 48.5% of the frame rate of Low at this resolution.

Q: Is the RTX 4070's 12 GB VRAM sufficient for Counter-Strike 2?

A: Yes, the 12 GB of GDDR6X VRAM is more than adequate for CS2 at any resolution or settings preset. The game does not appear to be VRAM-limited based on the measured results, as the GPU's 504.2 GB/s memory bandwidth and 12 GB capacity are not constraining factors at 4K Ultra settings.

Q: How does the combo rank compare to other tested systems?

A: This pairing ranks 389 out of 1,632 tested combos for Counter-Strike 2, placing it in the top 24% of all configurations. This is a strong result, though the CPU's 75th percentile ranking (versus the GPU's 81st percentile) suggests the processor is the weaker link.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 240 Hz monitor at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, Low settings deliver 525.7 FPS, Medium delivers 437.6 FPS, and High delivers 330.1 FPS. All three presets exceed 240 FPS, so users with 240 Hz monitors can choose any of these settings and still maintain frame rates above the refresh rate, with Low providing the largest margin.