Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2 is a demanding esports title that scales dramatically with both CPU and GPU, and the pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER produces a wide spectrum of performance depending on the resolution and preset. The data shows that this combination is capable of extremely high frame rates, but the balance between the processor and graphics card shifts significantly as you move from 1080p to 4K.

FAQ

Q: What is the best performance this combo can achieve in Counter-Strike 2?

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 561 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This suggests that the combination is heavily CPU-bound at lower resolutions, as even the most demanding preset at 1080p yields 323 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its direct rivals in general benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 5 5600F has an average benchmark score of 36945, placing it at the 85th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 5 225, scores 36938, a delta of 0%. The AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D is slightly ahead at 37018, showing a -0.2% delta for the 5600F.

Q: Is the GPU's performance in line with its competitors?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 54209, which is at the 86th percentile of all GPUs. Its closest rival is the non-SUPER RTX 4080, which scores 54247, representing a negligible delta of -0.1%. The AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB scores higher at 55698, a -2.7% delta.

Q: Does the game favor a specific preset for high refresh rate monitors?

A: For 1440p and 4K displays, the High preset offers an excellent balance, delivering 275 FPS and 154 FPS respectively. For 1080p, even the Ultra preset provides 323 FPS, which is sufficient for most high refresh rate panels, while the Medium preset hits 525 FPS.

Q: How does the system's performance rank among other tested combos?

A: In Counter-Strike 2, this specific CPU and GPU combination ranks 239th out of 2870 tested combos. This places it in the top 8.3% of all systems tested for this game, indicating a very strong overall pairing.

Q: What are the key specs of the CPU and GPU?

A: The Ryzen 5 5600F is a 6-core, 12-thread Zen 3 processor with a base clock of 3.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.00 GHz, featuring 32 MB of shared L3 cache. The RTX 4080 SUPER features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, with a boost clock of 2550 MHz and a TDP of 320 W.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data shows that the optimal settings preset is heavily dependent on the target resolution and refresh rate. There is no single "best" preset, but rather a set of recommendations based on the gameplay experience you seek.

For gamers with a high refresh rate 1080p monitor (240Hz or higher), the Medium preset provides a compelling mix of visual fidelity and performance. It delivers an average of 525 FPS, which is 351 FPS higher than the Ultra preset at the same resolution. This headroom ensures the system can easily saturate any high-refresh display without compromising too much on visual quality. While Low at 1080p offers the absolute maximum frame rate of 561 FPS, the Medium preset's 525 FPS is only 36 FPS lower and provides better image quality, making it the superior choice for competitive play at this resolution.

At 1440p, the High preset emerges as the clear recommendation. It achieves an average of 275 FPS, which is more than enough for high refresh rate 1440p monitors. This preset provides a significant visual uplift over Medium (369 FPS) and Low (444 FPS) while still maintaining a frame rate well above the threshold for smooth, responsive gameplay. The Ultra preset at 1440p drops to 214 FPS, which is still playable but offers diminishing returns for the performance cost.

For 4K gaming, the High preset is the most balanced choice. It delivers an average of 154 FPS, which is excellent for a 4K panel. Dropping to Medium increases the average to 206 FPS, but the visual fidelity loss is more noticeable at this resolution. The Ultra preset at 4K yields 120 FPS, which is the minimum for a smooth experience, but the High preset offers a better balance between visual quality and performance headroom. Low at 4K produces 248 FPS, but it typically looks significantly worse than the High preset.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear shift in bottleneck. At 1080p, the system is severely CPU-limited, as evidenced by the relatively small frame rate gap between settings. The difference between Low (561 FPS) and Ultra (323 FPS) at 1080p is 238 FPS. This indicates that the RTX 4080 SUPER is being held back by the Ryzen 5 5600F at lower resolutions.

Moving to 1440p, the frame rates remain very high, but the scaling becomes more linear with settings. The Low preset sees a drop from 561 FPS at 1080p to 444 FPS at 1440p, a 21% decrease. The Ultra preset drops from 323 FPS to 214 FPS, a 34% decrease. This shows that the GPU is starting to take on more of the workload, but the CPU is still a factor.

At 4K, the system becomes predominantly GPU-bound. The frame rates across all settings drop significantly, but the relative performance gap between presets narrows. The High preset at 4K (154 FPS) is 37% lower than at 1080p (416 FPS), while the Low preset at 4K (248 FPS) is 56% lower than at 1080p (561 FPS). This larger drop for the Low preset indicates that the GPU is now the primary limiting component, as the CPU has more headroom to feed it frames. The data shows that this combo is versatile, but its peak performance is best realized at 1080p and 1440p, where the CPU is the limiting factor.

How This Combo Ranks

In the specific context of Counter-Strike 2, this pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER ranks 239th out of 2870 tested combinations. This places it in the top 8.3% of all systems tested for this game, making it a high-end configuration.

This rank is particularly notable given the CPU's position in the market. The Ryzen 5 5600F is a 6-core processor that sits at the 85th percentile of all CPUs, with a benchmark score of 36945. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 (36938, 0% delta) and AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D (37018, -0.2% delta). The fact that this combo still ranks 239th overall suggests that the powerful RTX 4080 SUPER is able to compensate for the CPU's mid-range standing, especially in a game like Counter-Strike 2 where high frame rates are paramount.

The GPU's performance is near the top of the charts, ranking at the 86th percentile with a score of 54209. Its closest rival is the standard RTX 4080 (54247, -0.1% delta). The combo's ranking of 239th out of 2870 shows that while the GPU is a top-tier part, the overall system is not in the top 1% of all configurations. This is likely because many of the combos ranked above it pair the RTX 4080 SUPER with a more powerful CPU, such as a top-end Ryzen 9 or Intel Core i9, which would push frame rates even higher at lower resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER plays a dominant role in this system, especially at higher resolutions. It features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s. The GPU has a base clock of 2295 MHz and a boost clock of 2550 MHz, with a TDP of 320 W. This hardware is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture and contains 10240 shading units.

In Counter-Strike 2, the GPU's role becomes more pronounced as the resolution increases. At 1080p, the frame rates are so high (416 FPS on High) that the GPU is not fully utilized, as the CPU becomes the bottleneck. However, at 4K, the GPU's power is essential. The difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 4K is 128 FPS (248 vs 120), showing that the GPU is the primary driver of performance at this resolution.

The VRAM capacity of 16 GB is more than sufficient for this game, even at 4K with High settings. The data does not show any signs of VRAM limitations, as the frame rates are consistently high across all settings. The GPU's memory bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s also contributes to the smooth performance at high resolutions, ensuring that textures and geometry can be streamed quickly. The GPU's performance in this game is in line with its overall benchmark standing, but its impact is most clearly seen when the resolution is pushed to 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across three resolutions and four presets.

At 1920x1080, the system delivers exceptional performance across the board. The Low preset achieves the highest average frame rate of 561 FPS. The Medium preset yields an average of 525 FPS, with a minimum of 446 and a maximum of 604. The High preset produces an average of 416 FPS. The most demanding Ultra preset still manages a very high average of 323 FPS. This data indicates that the CPU is the primary bottleneck at this resolution, as even the highest quality settings cannot push the frame rate low enough to stress the GPU.

Stepping up to 2560x1440, performance remains very high. The Low preset drops to an average of 444 FPS. The Medium preset averages 369 FPS, with a minimum of 313 and a maximum of 424. The High preset delivers a strong 275 FPS average, which is ideal for high refresh rate 1440p monitors. The Ultra preset still provides a smooth 214 FPS average. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is more noticeable here, indicating that the GPU is beginning to play a larger role.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the clear limiting factor. The Low preset averages 248 FPS, which is a significant drop from 444 FPS at 1440p. The Medium preset averages 206 FPS, with a minimum of 175 and a maximum of 237. The High preset delivers a very playable 154 FPS average, making it the best choice for 4K gaming. The Ultra preset yields 120 FPS, which is the minimum threshold for a smooth experience. The data at 4K clearly shows that the RTX 4080 SUPER is being fully utilized, as the performance scaling between presets is much larger than at lower resolutions.