Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2 pairs a 6-core, 12-thread AMD Ryzen 5 4600G with the flagship NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, creating a stark contrast between a mid-range Zen 2 processor and an Ada Lovelace GPU with 24 GB of GDDR6X memory. The measured frame rates across three resolutions and four quality presets reveal a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher settings, but increasingly CPU-limited as resolution drops and settings are lowered. The data suggests this combination is highly capable of delivering competitive esports-level performance, though the CPU’s 8 MB of shared L3 cache and 3.70 GHz base clock may leave performance on the table in the game’s most demanding scenarios.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate deltas from 1080p to 4K in Counter-Strike 2 clearly illustrate where the bottleneck lies. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 446 at 1920x1080 to 306 at 2560x1440, and further to 171 at 3840x2160. This represents a 61.7% reduction in FPS from 1080p to 4K, indicating that the GPU is being progressively saturated as pixel count increases. The scaling is not linear, however, suggesting that at 1080p the RTX 4090 is not fully utilized, and the CPU is beginning to impose limits.

At Low settings, the pattern becomes more pronounced. The average FPS at 1080p is 530, which drops to 462 at 1440p and 276 at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p delta is only 12.8%, a small reduction that hints at a CPU bottleneck at the lowest resolution. In contrast, the 1440p to 4K delta is 40.3%, a much steeper decline that shows the GPU workload increasing substantially. This suggests that at 1080p Low, the Ryzen 5 4600G’s single-thread performance is the limiting factor, while at 4K, the RTX 4090’s raw throughput becomes the primary constraint.

Ultra settings show the most aggressive scaling, with 359 FPS at 1080p falling to 238 FPS at 1440p and 133 FPS at 4K. The 4K result is less than half of the 1080p figure, a 63.0% drop that highlights the heavy graphical load. The RTX 4090’s 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 compute and 1.01 TB/s memory bandwidth are being pushed hard, yet the CPU’s influence is still visible in the non-linear scaling pattern. Medium settings, which include min and max FPS data, show a similar trend: 496 FPS at 1080p, 410 FPS at 1440p, and 229 FPS at 4K, with the 4K min FPS of 195 indicating occasional dips that could be CPU-related.

Overall, the data implies that this combo is best suited for high-refresh-rate 1440p gaming, where the balance between CPU and GPU load is most favorable, and the FPS remains above 300 at High settings.

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database, this specific combination of Ryzen 5 4600G and RTX 4090 ranks 232nd out of 3,719 tested combos for Counter-Strike 2, placing it in the top 6.2% of all configurations. This percentile ranking is impressive, but it must be interpreted with caution given the CPU’s modest specifications. The rank suggests that, in practice, the RTX 4090’s sheer power dominates the results, pushing this combo above many systems with more balanced mid-range GPUs.

The CPU’s standalone percentile is 71, meaning it outperforms 71% of all CPUs in the database, but its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355GE with an average score of 17,482 (0.1% higher) and the Intel Core 7 150U at 17,395 (0.6% lower). These are all 4-core or lower-power parts, indicating that the 4600G’s 6-core/12-thread configuration is competitive in synthetic tests but not exceptional. The GPU, by contrast, sits in the 88th percentile, with an average benchmark score of 60,347, just 0.3% behind the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 and 0.6% above the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M.

The discrepancy between the GPU’s high percentile and the CPU’s lower percentile is telling. In Counter-Strike 2, the combo rank of 232 suggests that the RTX 4090 is doing most of the heavy lifting, but the CPU’s limitations are likely preventing this combo from reaching the top 100. The data indicates that pairing this GPU with a stronger CPU would yield significantly better results, especially at 1080p where the CPU bottleneck is most evident.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications explain the high frame rates observed. The GPU features a base clock of 2235 MHz and a boost clock of 2520 MHz, with 16,384 shading units and 512 tensor cores. Its 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus provides 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for feeding the 128 RT cores and 176 ROPs at 4K resolution.

In Counter-Strike 2, the GPU’s role shifts with settings. At Low settings, the RTX 4090 is largely underutilized, as evidenced by the 530 FPS at 1080p. The GPU’s 5 nm process node and 76,300 million transistors allow it to process frames quickly, but the CPU cannot issue draw calls fast enough to keep it fully occupied. At Ultra settings, however, the GPU is the clear bottleneck, with the 4K average of 133 FPS reflecting the intense shading and pixel workload.

The GPU’s memory bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s is particularly relevant at 4K, where the 24 GB frame buffer must handle high-resolution textures. The measured 4K Medium results show a min FPS of 195, which is still high but indicates that memory bandwidth is being taxed. The GPU’s FP32 performance of 82.58 TFLOPS is more than sufficient for this game, and the PassMark G3D score of 38,194 confirms its top-tier status. However, the data suggests that the RTX 4090’s potential is only fully realized at 4K Ultra, where it is the sole limiting factor.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 359 at Ultra to 530 at Low, with High at 446 and Medium at 496. The Medium preset includes a min FPS of 422 and a max of 571, showing a 149 FPS variance that indicates occasional CPU-induced stutters. At 1440p, the averages are 238 (Ultra), 306 (High), 410 (Medium), and 462 (Low). The Medium variance is 123 FPS (348 min to 471 max), which is tighter than at 1080p, suggesting the GPU is taking on more load.

At 2160p, the averages drop significantly: 133 (Ultra), 171 (High), 229 (Medium), and 276 (Low). The Medium preset shows a min of 195 and max of 263, a 68 FPS spread that is narrower than at lower resolutions, confirming that the GPU is now the primary bottleneck. The 1080p Low result of 530 FPS is the highest measured, but the data implies that this is a CPU-limited scenario, as the RTX 4090 is capable of far more in other games.

Comparing settings, the delta between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 171 FPS (530 vs 359), a 47.6% improvement from Ultra to Low. At 1440p, the delta is 224 FPS (462 vs 238), a 94.1% improvement, and at 4K, the delta is 143 FPS (276 vs 133), a 107.5% improvement. This trend shows that lowering settings has a greater relative impact at higher resolutions, where the GPU is more stressed. The data also shows that High settings offer a good middle ground, with 446 FPS at 1080p and 306 FPS at 1440p, both well above the 240 Hz refresh rate that many competitive players target.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Counter-Strike 2?

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 at High settings delivers 306 FPS, which is an excellent balance. At 1080p, the CPU becomes a limiting factor, while at 4K, the GPU is heavily taxed.

Q: How much FPS does lowering settings from Ultra to Low gain at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the average FPS increases from 359 at Ultra to 530 at Low, a gain of 171 FPS or 47.6%.

Q: Is the RTX 4090 bottlenecked by the Ryzen 5 4600G?

A: Yes, at 1080p Low settings, the 530 FPS average indicates a CPU bottleneck, as the GPU is not fully utilized. The CPU’s 3.70 GHz base clock and 8 MB L3 cache limit frame pacing.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded in the data?

A: The lowest min FPS recorded is 195, which occurs at 3840x2160 with Medium settings. This is still a playable frame rate for most users.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems?

A: It ranks 232nd out of 3,719 combos, placing it in the top 6.2% of all configurations tested for this game.

Q: Does the CPU’s integrated graphics affect performance?

A: No, the Radeon Vega 7 iGPU is not used when the RTX 4090 is installed, but its presence does not impact the measured discrete GPU performance.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings depend on the target refresh rate. For players with a 360 Hz monitor, 1920x1080 with Low settings provides 530 FPS, which exceeds that refresh rate. However, the data suggests that High settings at 1080p (446 FPS) still offer a smooth experience with better visual fidelity. For 1440p, High settings at 306 FPS are the best choice, as they deliver a high frame rate without the visual compromises of Low settings.

At 4K, the data shows that Medium settings (229 FPS) are the most balanced, offering a playable frame rate with a min FPS of 195. Ultra settings at 4K drop to 133 FPS, which may be acceptable for slower-paced play but is not ideal for competitive Counter-Strike 2. The Medium preset’s max FPS of 263 at 1440p and 571 at 1080p indicates that this setting provides the most consistent performance, with fewer frame time spikes than other presets.

For esports purists, Low settings at 1440p yield 462 FPS, which is 50.7% higher than High at the same resolution. This suggests that competitive players should prioritize Low settings to minimize input latency, even at 1440p. The data does not include frame time data, but the higher average FPS at Low settings implies lower latency. The RTX 4090’s 24 GB VRAM is not a limiting factor in this game at any setting, so the choice between presets is purely about balancing FPS and visual quality.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 4600G is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 2 architecture, codenamed Renoir, and manufactured on a 7 nm process by TSMC. It has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz, with 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 512 KB of L2 per core, and 8 MB of shared L3 cache. Its memory bandwidth is 51.2 GB/s over a dual-channel DDR4 interface, and it supports PCIe Gen 3 with 20 lanes.

In Counter-Strike 2, the CPU’s role is critical at lower resolutions and settings. The 1080p Low result of 530 FPS is likely limited by the CPU’s single-thread performance, as the game is known to be sensitive to core clock speeds. The 3DMark single-thread score of 726 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1,919 indicate that this CPU is not a top performer in single-threaded tasks, which directly impacts CS2’s frame pacing. The 8 MB L3 cache is also relatively small for a modern game, which can lead to cache misses and reduced performance in scenarios with many entities.

The CPU’s multi-threaded performance is more robust, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 13,593 and a PassMark multi-thread score of 15,992. This suggests that the 12 threads are useful for background tasks, but CS2’s main thread is the bottleneck. The nearest CPU rival, the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355GE, has a similar average score (17,482 vs 17,507), but with fewer cores, indicating that the 4600G’s advantage lies in its 6-core layout. However, the data shows that upgrading to a CPU with higher single-thread performance would likely yield significant FPS gains at 1080p, where the combo rank of 232 is constrained by the processor.