Counter-Strike 2

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER combination delivers a highly playable Counter-Strike 2 experience, with performance scaling that clearly identifies the GPU as the primary constraint at higher resolutions. The measured data shows a consistent and predictable pattern: as resolution increases, frame rates drop significantly, indicating that the RTX 2060 SUPER is the limiting factor in this pairing, while the Ryzen 7 7700 provides ample headroom.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K demonstrates the expected inverse relationship between resolution and performance, but the magnitude of the drop is particularly telling. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 322 FPS, which drops to 213 FPS at 1440p and further to 119 FPS at 4K. This represents a 63% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, which is substantial and points directly at the GPU as the bottleneck.

The scaling pattern holds across all settings presets. At High settings, the frame rate falls from 200 FPS at 1080p to 132 FPS at 1440p and then to 74 FPS at 4K. This is a 63% drop from 1080p to 4K, mirroring the Low settings percentage almost exactly. Such consistency suggests that the RTX 2060 SUPER is being pushed to its limits in a uniform manner, regardless of the graphical preset chosen.

For Medium settings, the data shows a similar trajectory: 268 FPS at 1080p, 177 FPS at 1440p, and 99 FPS at 4K. The 4K figure represents a 63% decrease from the 1080p baseline. The Ultra preset exhibits the steepest absolute decline, moving from 155 FPS at 1080p to 103 FPS at 1440p and finally to 57 FPS at 4K—a 63% reduction as well. The uniformity of these percentage drops across all presets is a strong indicator that resolution scaling is purely GPU-bound; the CPU has no involvement in this performance degradation.

The data also reveals an interesting pattern in the 1440p to 4K transition specifically. At High settings, the drop is from 132 to 74 FPS, a 44% decrease. At Ultra settings, the drop is from 103 to 57 FPS, a 45% decrease. This consistent halving of performance when quadrupling the pixel count underscores that the RTX 2060 SUPER's rendering throughput is the decisive factor. The Ryzen 7 7700, with its 8 cores and 16 threads, is clearly not the limiting component at any resolution; the frame rate deltas are entirely attributable to the GPU's workload.

GPU Role

The RTX 2060 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture and features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The GPU has a base clock of 1470 MHz and a boost clock of 1650 MHz, with 2176 shading units and 64 ROPs. These specifications align with the measured performance, which shows the card handling Counter-Strike 2 competently at 1080p and 1440p but struggling to maintain high frame rates at 4K.

The memory configuration is particularly relevant to the 4K results. With 8 GB of VRAM and 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, the card can manage the texture and geometry loads at 4K, as evidenced by the 74 FPS average at High settings and 99 FPS at Medium. However, the Ultra preset at 4K drops to 57 FPS, suggesting that the GPU's compute resources, rather than memory capacity, are the limiting factor. The FP32 performance of 7.181 TFLOPS and texture rate of 224.4 GTexel/s are modest by modern standards, and the data shows these are insufficient for high-refresh 4K gaming.

The GPU's benchmark scores place it at the 62nd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 18093. Its nearest rivals in terms of average score include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile at 18159 (0.4% higher) and the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 at 18189 (0.5% higher). The RTX 2060 SUPER is also closely matched with the AMD Radeon RX 460 at 18373 (1.5% higher) and the Intel Arc A770M at 18383 (1.6% higher). These marginal differences in synthetic benchmarks translate to the real-world gaming performance observed here, where the card consistently delivers playable frame rates but cannot reach the extreme highs of more powerful GPUs.

The 175 W TDP and dual-slot design suggest a card that runs within reasonable thermal bounds, though the measured FPS data does not include temperature or power draw figures. The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support and Vulkan 1.4 API compatibility are relevant for a modern title like Counter-Strike 2, which can leverage these features. The 229 mm length and 113 mm height indicate a compact form factor that should fit in most cases.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with High settings?

A: The combo achieves an average of 200 FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER compare to its nearest rival in benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 18093, which is 0.4% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile's 18159 and 0.5% lower than the AMD Radeon Pro 5700's 18189.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 7700 the bottleneck in this configuration?

A: No. The consistent 63% FPS drop from 1080p to 4K across all settings presets indicates the GPU is the limiting component, not the CPU.

Q: What is the best performance at 4K?

A: The highest average FPS at 3840x2160 is 119 FPS, achieved with Low settings. The Ultra preset drops to 57 FPS.

Q: Does the combo support modern graphics APIs?

A: Yes, the RTX 2060 SUPER supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Q: What is the combo's rank among tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 2620 out of 3719 tested combinations in Counter-Strike 2.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance for optimizing the experience across different resolutions. At 1080p, all settings presets deliver high frame rates, but the Medium preset at 268 FPS offers the best balance of visual quality and performance headroom. The Low preset at 322 FPS is excessive for most displays, while the High preset at 200 FPS and Ultra at 155 FPS are both playable but leave less margin for demanding scenes. Given that the Medium preset also provides the only complete min/max data (228 FPS minimum, 308 FPS maximum), it is the most consistent choice for competitive play at 1080p.

At 1440p, the Medium preset again stands out with 177 FPS average and a minimum of 151 FPS. This is sufficient for high-refresh-rate monitors and provides a smooth experience. The High preset at 132 FPS is also viable, but the Medium preset's lower variance and higher average make it the superior choice. The Low preset at 213 FPS is ideal for players prioritizing maximum frame rates over visual fidelity, while the Ultra preset at 103 FPS is borderline for competitive play.

At 4K, the situation is more constrained. The Low preset at 119 FPS is the only option that maintains a triple-digit frame rate, making it the recommended choice for 4K gaming. The Medium preset at 99 FPS is playable but approaches the threshold where input latency may become noticeable. The High preset at 74 FPS and Ultra at 57 FPS are not recommended for fast-paced FPS gameplay, as the frame rates are too low for consistent tracking and reaction. For the best experience at 4K, Low settings are the clear winner, sacrificing visual quality for the 119 FPS average that keeps the game responsive.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS dataset provides a comprehensive view of the combo's performance across twelve distinct configurations. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers the highest average at 322 FPS, followed by Medium at 268 FPS (min 228, max 308), High at 200 FPS, and Ultra at 155 FPS. The 1440p results show a similar ordering: Low at 213 FPS, Medium at 177 FPS (min 151, max 204), High at 132 FPS, and Ultra at 103 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the performance hierarchy remains consistent but with lower absolute values. Low settings produce 119 FPS, Medium settings yield 99 FPS (min 84, max 114), High settings achieve 74 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 57 FPS. The complete data set reveals that the Medium preset is the only configuration at any resolution that reports both minimum and maximum FPS values, suggesting it is the most stable preset in terms of frame pacing.

The progression from Low to Ultra at each resolution shows a consistent performance penalty. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 167 FPS (322 to 155), a 52% reduction. At 1440p, the gap is 110 FPS (213 to 103), a 52% reduction. At 4K, the gap is 62 FPS (119 to 57), also a 52% reduction. This uniform percentage drop across resolutions indicates that the graphical settings have a proportional impact on GPU workload, independent of resolution.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 is a Zen 4 architecture processor with 8 cores and 16 threads, running at a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. It features 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 1 MB of L2 cache per core, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU's benchmark scores are strong: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 18760 and a single-core score of 1930, along with a Geekbench multi-core score of 15371 and single-core score of 2525.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 87 indicates it outperforms 87% of all tested CPUs, and its average benchmark score of 40081 places it in close competition with its nearest rivals. The AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 scores 40048 (0.1% higher), the Intel Core 5 221E scores 40144 (0.2% lower), the AMD Ryzen 9 270 scores 40246 (0.4% lower), and the Intel Core i9-13905H scores 40313 (0.6% lower). These marginal differences suggest the Ryzen 7 7700 is a well-balanced mid-range processor.

In the context of Counter-Strike 2, the CPU's role is to handle game logic, physics, and AI, which are typically single-threaded or lightly threaded tasks. The Ryzen 7 7700's strong single-core performance, evidenced by a 3DMark single-thread score of 1049 and a PassMark single-thread score of 4063, ensures it can feed the GPU with sufficient data. However, the measured FPS data shows that the CPU is never the bottleneck, as the frame rates scale exclusively with resolution and settings changes that affect GPU load.

The CPU's 83.2 GB/s memory bandwidth and DDR5 support provide ample data throughput for the game. With a 5 nm process node and 6,570 million transistors on a 71 mm² die, the Ryzen 7 7700 is an efficient processor that maintains high clock speeds without excessive power draw. This efficiency is reflected in the consistently high frame rates at 1080p, where the CPU's performance ceiling is not reached even at Low settings with 322 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER combination ranks 2620 out of 3719 tested combos in Counter-Strike 2. This places it in the lower third of all tested configurations, which is consistent with the mid-range positioning of both components. The RTX 2060 SUPER, now end-of-life, is a previous-generation GPU that is outclassed by newer offerings, while the Ryzen 7 7700 is a current-generation CPU that remains competitive.

The combo's rank is influenced primarily by the GPU's performance ceiling. While the CPU ranks in the 87th percentile among all CPUs, the GPU ranks in the 62nd percentile, and the overall combo rank reflects this weaker link. The data shows that at 1080p, the combo provides frame rates that rival higher-ranked configurations, but at 4K, the GPU's limitations become apparent. The rank of 2620 suggests that many other combos with more powerful GPUs achieve better overall performance, particularly at higher resolutions.

However, the combo's performance is highly playable for the majority of gaming scenarios. At 1080p Medium settings, the 268 FPS average is competitive with more expensive configurations, and the 1440p Medium results at 177 FPS are equally strong. The 4K performance, while limited to 119 FPS at Low settings, still exceeds the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The combo's rank of 2620 out of 3719 places it in the 70th percentile of all tested combos, meaning it outperforms more than a quarter of the tested configurations despite its mid-range GPU.