Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2 with the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X and Intel Arc B370 presents a distinctive performance profile where the integrated graphics solution becomes the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of scaling from 1080p to 4K, with the gap between settings widening as pixel count increases. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 78 on Ultra to 162 on Low, while at 2560x1440 the range tightens to 52-107, and at 3840x2160 it narrows further to 29-60. This progression indicates that the CPU has sufficient headroom at lower resolutions, but the GPU's capabilities are rapidly exhausted as resolution climbs.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial across all settings, but the magnitude varies significantly. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 162 at 1920x1080 to 107 at 2560x1440 (a 34% reduction), then to 60 at 3840x2160 (a 63% reduction from 1080p). This steep decline suggests that the Intel Arc B370's compute resources are heavily taxed by the increased pixel throughput, with the 6.144 TFLOPS FP32 performance becoming the limiting factor. The High preset shows a similar pattern: 100 FPS at 1080p drops to 66 at 1440p (34% lower) and 37 at 4K (63% lower). The consistency of these percentage drops across Low and High settings indicates that resolution scaling is primarily GPU-bound, with the CPU maintaining adequate frame delivery throughout.

The Medium preset provides additional data points with min/max FPS values, offering insight into frame pacing. At 1920x1080 Medium, the average is 134 FPS with a range of 114-154 FPS, while at 2560x1440 Medium the average drops to 89 FPS with a range of 76-102 FPS. The 3840x2160 Medium result shows 50 FPS average with 42-57 FPS range. The consistent ~20 FPS spread between min and max across resolutions suggests that frame time variance remains stable even as the average drops, indicating that the bottleneck is throughput rather than stuttering or CPU-side hitches. The Ultra preset shows the most severe scaling, with 78 FPS at 1080p falling to 52 FPS at 1440p and just 29 FPS at 4K — the latter being barely playable for a competitive FPS.

What the resolution scaling reveals about the limiting component is nuanced. At 1080p, the 162 FPS Low result shows that the CPU can deliver high frame rates in Counter-Strike 2, but the GPU cannot maintain those rates as resolution increases. The transition from 1440p to 4K produces a roughly 44-45% FPS drop across all settings, which is consistent with the doubling of pixel count from 3.7 million to 8.3 million. This mathematical correlation strongly indicates that the Intel Arc B370's fill rate (48.00 GPixel/s pixel rate) and texture throughput (96.00 GTexel/s) are the constraining factors at higher resolutions, not the CPU's processing capabilities.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated graphics processor based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on Intel's 3 nm process node. Its clock speeds are modest, with a 300 MHz base clock and 2400 MHz boost clock, which directly impacts its 6.144 TFLOPS FP32 throughput. The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184 places it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs, with nearest rivals including the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186, -0.2% delta), ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190, -0.5% delta), AMD Radeon HD 7650M (1192, -0.7% delta), and AMD FirePro M2000 (1168, +1.4% delta). These comparisons highlight that the Arc B370 sits in a performance class roughly equivalent to decade-old discrete GPUs, which explains its struggles at higher resolutions in a modern esports title.

The GPU's memory configuration is "System Shared" for both size and type, with bandwidth listed as "System Dependent" and a memory clock of "System Shared". This means the Arc B370 relies on the Ryzen 5 9600X's dual-channel DDR5 memory, which has a theoretical bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s. However, because the GPU shares this bandwidth with the CPU, actual available bandwidth for graphics operations is reduced. This shared memory architecture is a significant factor in the FPS drops observed at 4K, where the GPU must access system memory more frequently for textures and frame buffers. The 25 W TDP further constrains performance, as the GPU cannot boost to higher clocks for extended periods without thermal or power limits being reached.

The GPU's feature set includes 1280 shading units, 40 TMUs, 20 ROPs, and 10 RT cores, supporting DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. While Counter-Strike 2 does not heavily utilize ray tracing, the 10 RT cores do not contribute to the measured FPS results, and the standard rasterization pipeline is what drives the observed performance. The 1280 shading units at 2400 MHz boost produce the 6.144 TFLOPS figure, but the low 20 ROP count (48.00 GPixel/s pixel rate) becomes a bottleneck at 4K, where pixel fill requirements scale quadratically with resolution. This explains why the Ultra preset at 3840x2160 yields only 29 FPS — the ROP throughput cannot sustain the pixel processing demands.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 9000 series, based on Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge) and fabricated on TSMC's 4 nm process. Its base clock of 3.90 GHz and boost clock of 5.40 GHz provide strong single-thread performance, which is critical for Counter-Strike 2's engine. The CPU's 32 MB shared L3 cache and 1 MB per-core L2 cache help reduce memory latency, while the 89.6 GB/s dual-channel DDR5 memory bandwidth supports both CPU and GPU operations. The 65 W TDP indicates efficient power draw, and the unlocked multiplier allows overclocking potential, though the measured FPS data reflects stock settings.

The CPU's benchmark scores demonstrate its capability relative to other processors. The 3DMark single-thread score of 1253 and multi-thread score of 7590 show balanced performance, while the Cinebench R23 scores of 2183.5 single-core and 17528.5 multi-core position it well above average. The Geekbench scores (2923 single-core, 14438 multi-core) and PassMark single-thread score of 4570 further confirm this. The CPU's 81st percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 29713, places it near rivals like the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755GE (29656, +0.2% delta), AMD Ryzen 7 7840H (29868, -0.5% delta), AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT (29879, -0.6% delta), and AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS (29955, -0.8% delta).

In Counter-Strike 2, the CPU's role is evident from the 1080p results. At Low settings, the 162 FPS average suggests that the CPU can drive frame rates well above what the GPU can sustain at higher resolutions. The 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient for the game's threading model, and the high boost clock of 5.40 GHz ensures that single-threaded game logic and draw call processing are not bottlenecks. The PassMark physics score of 2012 and data compression score of 341021 indicate strong general-purpose compute, which translates to consistent frame delivery. However, the CPU's potential is capped by the GPU's limitations — the data shows that at 4K Ultra, the CPU is likely idle waiting for the GPU to finish rendering, as evidenced by the 29 FPS result that is far below what the CPU could theoretically support.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X and Intel Arc B370 ranks 2642 out of 2870 tested combos in Counter-Strike 2, placing it in the bottom 8% of all system configurations. This low ranking is primarily attributable to the GPU's 5th percentile performance, which drags down an otherwise capable CPU. The CPU's 81st percentile ranking contrasts sharply with the GPU's 5th percentile, creating a significant imbalance where the processor's potential is largely unrealized. The combo rank reflects this mismatch — the system performs as well as its weakest component, and the Arc B370 is decidedly weak relative to the 9600X.

The ranking data suggests that this combination is not optimized for Counter-Strike 2's competitive nature, where high and consistent frame rates are paramount. The 162 FPS at 1080p Low is respectable, but the drop to 37 FPS at 4K High demonstrates that the combo cannot handle higher resolutions. For context, the GPU's nearest rivals (ATI Radeon HD 5770, etc.) are all legacy parts from over a decade ago, indicating that the Arc B370's performance class is far below what modern esports titles expect. The combo's position in the 2642nd spot out of 2870 means there are 228 combos that perform worse, but the vast majority of tested systems deliver better results.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 Low delivers 162 FPS average, which is the highest measured frame rate. At 2560x1440 Low, the average drops to 107 FPS, and at 3840x2160 Low, it falls to 60 FPS. For competitive play, 1080p is the only resolution that provides frame rates above 100 FPS.

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

A: The Ryzen 5 9600X has an average benchmark score of 29713, which is 0.2% higher than the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755GE (29656), 0.5% higher than the AMD Ryzen 7 7840H (29868), 0.6% higher than the AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT (29879), and 0.8% higher than the AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS (29955). The differences are minimal, within 1%.

Q: What is the GPU's performance percentile?

A: The Intel Arc B370 scores 1184 on 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, placing it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570, scores 1186 (-0.2% delta), while the AMD FirePro M2000 scores 1168 (+1.4% delta).

Q: Is the system CPU-bound or GPU-bound in this game?

A: The data indicates GPU-bound behavior at higher resolutions. At 1080p Low, the 162 FPS suggests CPU headroom exists, but the sharp FPS drops at 1440p and 4K (to 107 and 60 FPS respectively) show that the GPU becomes the limiting factor as pixel count increases.

Q: What are the FPS ranges for the Medium preset?

A: At 1920x1080 Medium, the average is 134 FPS with a min of 114 and max of 154. At 2560x1440 Medium, the average is 89 FPS with a min of 76 and max of 102. At 3840x2160 Medium, the average is 50 FPS with a min of 42 and max of 57.

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

A: This combination ranks 2642 out of 2870 tested combos in Counter-Strike 2, placing it in the bottom 8% of systems. This low ranking is due to the GPU's 5th percentile performance, which cannot utilize the CPU's 81st percentile capability.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the results are: Low 162 FPS, Medium 134 FPS (min 114, max 154), High 100 FPS, and Ultra 78 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 84 FPS, representing a 52% reduction from the lowest to highest settings. At 2560x1440, the results are: Low 107 FPS, Medium 89 FPS (min 76, max 102), High 66 FPS, and Ultra 52 FPS. The spread narrows to 55 FPS, a 51% reduction. At 3840x2160, the results are: Low 60 FPS, Medium 50 FPS (min 42, max 57), High 37 FPS, and Ultra 29 FPS. The spread narrows further to 31 FPS, a 52% reduction.

The consistent ~52% reduction from Low to Ultra across all resolutions indicates that the settings presets scale uniformly, with each step (Low to Medium, Medium to High, High to Ultra) imposing a similar performance penalty. The Medium preset's min/max values show that frame times are relatively stable, with the max FPS typically 20-35% above the min. The data also reveals that the gap between High and Ultra is larger than between Medium and High — for example, at 1080p, High yields 100 FPS while Ultra yields 78 FPS (22 FPS difference), whereas Medium yields 134 FPS and High yields 100 FPS (34 FPS difference). This suggests that the Ultra preset includes additional effects that disproportionately impact the GPU's limited resources.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the user's resolution and frame rate priorities. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 162 FPS, which is ideal for competitive play where high refresh rates matter. The Medium preset at 134 FPS still provides excellent responsiveness while offering improved visual quality, and its min FPS of 114 ensures no significant drops below 100 FPS. The High preset at 100 FPS is borderline for competitive play but acceptable for casual play. The Ultra preset at 78 FPS is not recommended for Counter-Strike 2, as the visual upgrade does not justify the 52% FPS reduction from Low.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset's 107 FPS is the only setting that maintains triple-digit frame rates. The Medium preset at 89 FPS (min 76) is playable but may exhibit noticeable frame drops in intense combat scenarios. The High preset at 66 FPS and Ultra at 52 FPS are below the threshold for smooth competitive play. At 3840x2160, all presets fail to deliver competitive frame rates — Low at 60 FPS is the minimum viable option, while Medium (50 FPS), High (37 FPS), and Ultra (29 FPS) are all too slow for a fast-paced FPS.

For the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, the Medium preset at 1920x1080 provides the most favorable trade-off, offering 134 FPS average with a minimum of 114 FPS. This ensures that the frame rate rarely drops below the 100 FPS threshold, which is important for maintaining smooth gameplay in Counter-Strike 2's competitive environment. Users prioritizing maximum frame rates should select Low at 1080p for 162 FPS, while those with 1440p displays should accept the 107 FPS Low preset as the best achievable performance. The Ultra preset should be avoided at all resolutions, as it consistently produces the lowest frame rates with diminishing visual returns.