Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2, a competitive FPS released on 2023-09-26, is analyzed here with the AMD Ryzen 5 7600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER. The CPU, a 6-core/12-thread Zen 4 part with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and boost of 5.10 GHz, carries a launch MSRP of $229. The GPU, based on Ada Lovelace, features 12 GB GDDR6X memory, a boost clock of 2475 MHz, and a launch MSRP of $599 USD. Measured frame rates span four resolutions and four presets, and the combo ranks 272nd out of 1632 tested combinations.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear scaling pattern across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the average is 584.4 FPS; at 1440p Low it drops to 388.6 FPS; at 4K Low it is 219 FPS. For High settings, the progression is 365 FPS at 1080p, 239.3 FPS at 1440p, and 136.8 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset yields 283.8 FPS at 1080p, 186.9 FPS at 1440p, and 107.4 FPS at 4K. This indicates that the GPU becomes increasingly the limiting factor as resolution rises, since the relative drop from 1080p to 4K is larger for higher settings. For instance, at Low the 4K figure is 219 FPS, which is still very high, while at Ultra the 4K figure is 107.4 FPS, suggesting that the GPU's compute and memory bandwidth are more stressed at higher quality presets.

The scaling behavior also reveals the CPU's headroom. At 1080p, even the Ultra preset exceeds 280 FPS, and the Low preset reaches 584.4 FPS. These numbers imply that the Ryzen 5 7600 is capable of feeding the RTX 4070 SUPER at lower resolutions without becoming a bottleneck. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is substantial—584.4 versus 283.8 FPS—but both are far above typical display refresh rates. At 4K, the same gap narrows in absolute terms: Low at 219 FPS and Ultra at 107.4 FPS. This pattern is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions, where the GPU's shading and memory throughput dominate the frame rate.

GPU Role

The RTX 4070 SUPER has 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. Its base clock is 1980 MHz and boost clock is 2475 MHz, with a memory clock of 1313 MHz and an effective data rate of 21 Gbps. In this game, the 12 GB capacity is sufficient even at 4K Ultra, as the measured FPS remains above 100. The GPU's benchmark scores place it in the 84th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 42576. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA RTX A6000, which scores 42653 (a delta of -0.2%), and the AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE at 42723 (-0.3%). The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 4627, and its Geekbench OpenCL score is 192684, indicating strong compute performance.

The CPU complements the GPU with its own specifications. The Ryzen 5 7600 has 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and boost of 5.10 GHz. Its L3 cache is 32 MB shared, and it supports DDR5 memory with a dual-channel bus and a bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s. In single-thread tests, the CPU scores 999 in 3DMark single-thread and 3246 in Cinebench R23 single-core. These single-thread results are relevant for a game like Counter-Strike 2, where frame rates at lower resolutions often depend on CPU performance. The CPU's average benchmark score is 26617, placing it in the 83rd percentile. It is within 0.2% of the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D (26574) and 0.2% of the AMD EPYC 8024P (26555), and -0.2% of the Intel Core i9-12900HK (26672).

How This Combo Ranks

Among 1632 tested combinations, this CPU-GPU pair ranks 272nd. This places it in the upper tier of systems. The CPU's percentile is 83, and the GPU's is 84, indicating both components are above average. The combo's rank suggests that the pairing is well balanced for this game, as the frame rates are consistently high across all tested settings. The nearest CPU rivals, such as the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, have nearly identical average scores, so the choice of CPU is unlikely to be a differentiator in this title. Similarly, the GPU's nearest rivals, including the RTX A6000, are within 0.3% in average score, meaning the RTX 4070 SUPER delivers comparable performance to much more expensive workstation cards in synthetic benchmarks.

The rank of 272 out of 1632 also implies that a significant number of tested combos achieve higher frame rates, but the absolute performance here is still strong. The CPU's 83rd percentile and GPU's 84th percentile are both above the median, and the measured FPS values reflect that. For a competitive shooter, the combination of a high single-thread CPU and a fast GPU is well suited to maintaining high frame rates even at 1440p and 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table lists all measured average FPS values from the data:

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS |

|------------|----------|---------|

| 3840x2160 | High | 136.8 |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 219 |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 182.4 |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 107.4 |

| 2560x1440 | High | 239.3 |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 388.6 |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 321.2 |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 186.9 |

| 1920x1080 | High | 365 |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 584.4 |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 486.5 |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 283.8 |

The highest average FPS is 584.4 at 1080p Low, while the lowest is 107.4 at 4K Ultra. At 1440p, the Medium preset delivers 321.2 FPS, which is above the High preset's 239.3 FPS. The data shows a consistent ordering: Low > Medium > High > Ultra at every resolution, with the gap between Low and Ultra widening as resolution increases. For example, at 1080p the Low preset is 584.4 FPS, while Ultra is 283.8 FPS; at 4K, Low is 219 FPS and Ultra is 107.4 FPS. This ordering is typical for a GPU-bound workload, where higher settings increase shading and memory pressure.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal preset depends on the target resolution and the desired frame rate. At 1080p, all presets deliver at least 283.8 FPS, so the Ultra preset is viable for maximum visual quality without sacrificing frame rate. The Low preset at 584.4 FPS offers the highest headroom, which may be preferred for competitive play where every frame counts. At 1440p, the High preset yields 239.3 FPS, which is a good balance; the Ultra preset at 186.9 FPS is also playable, but the Medium preset at 321.2 FPS provides a larger margin. For 4K, the Low preset at 219 FPS is the only one that exceeds 200 FPS; the Medium preset at 182.4 FPS and High at 136.8 FPS are still smooth, while Ultra at 107.4 FPS is the minimum for a playable experience. Given that Counter-Strike 2 is a competitive shooter, the Low preset at 1080p provides the highest frame rate at 584.4 FPS, which may be preferred for maximum responsiveness. However, the data shows that even at 4K Ultra, the frame rate remains above 100 FPS, so the game is playable at all settings.