Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2 with the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER produces a dataset that clearly separates the workload between the processor and the graphics card. The measured FPS values across three resolutions and four quality presets reveal a system that is heavily CPU-bound at lower settings, while the GPU becomes the limiting factor at 4K with higher presets. This analysis walks through the scaling behavior, the individual component roles, and the exact measured frames to provide a clear picture of what this combination delivers.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 is steep across all settings, but the pattern shifts depending on the quality preset. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 322 FPS at 1080p to 119 FPS at 4K, which is a reduction of 203 FPS or approximately 63%. This stark decline indicates that even on Low, the resolution increase quadruples the pixel count and overwhelms the RTX 2060 SUPER's fill rate and memory bandwidth. The GPU, with its 8 GB GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus providing 448.0 GB/s bandwidth, simply cannot sustain the same frame throughput when the pixel workload quadruples.

At Medium settings, the drop is from 268 FPS at 1080p to 99 FPS at 4K, a 169 FPS decrease. The relative drop is slightly less severe in percentage terms because the higher settings add shading and texture work that already taxes the GPU at lower resolutions. The High preset shows a similar pattern, falling from 200 FPS at 1080p to 74 FPS at 4K, a 126 FPS reduction. The Ultra preset, which is the most demanding, falls from 155 FPS at 1080p to 57 FPS at 4K, a 98 FPS drop.

The scaling between 1080p and 1440p is more moderate. At Low settings, 213 FPS at 1440p represents a 34% drop from the 322 FPS at 1080p. At High settings, 132 FPS at 1440p is a 34% drop from 200 FPS at 1080p. This consistency suggests that the CPU is still delivering a strong baseline at 1440p, and the GPU is handling the intermediate resolution without becoming fully saturated. The gap between 1440p and 4K is where the GPU bottleneck becomes dominant, with the 4K numbers dropping to roughly half of the 1440p figures across all settings. For example, at Medium, 177 FPS at 1440p falls to 99 FPS at 4K, a 44% reduction. This indicates that at 4K, the RTX 2060 SUPER is the clear limiting component, while at 1080p, the Ryzen 7 9700F's capabilities are what keep frame rates so high.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, codenamed Granite Ridge. It operates with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and boosts up to 5.50 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. This processor sits in the 94th percentile against all CPUs in the benchmark database, with an average benchmark score of 69996. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX, which scores 69875 (a 0.2% difference), and the Intel Core i7-14700KF, which scores 70163 (a -0.2% difference). The 9700F also edges out the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (69515, a 0.7% delta) and the Intel Core i7-14700K (69355, a 0.9% delta). This placement shows the 9700F is a top-tier performer for gaming workloads, particularly in scenarios where single-thread performance matters.

In Counter-Strike 2, the CPU's role is evident in the 1080p Low and Medium results. At 1080p Low, the system delivers 322 FPS, which is far beyond what the GPU would normally produce at this resolution if the CPU were a bottleneck. The 5.50 GHz boost clock and the Zen 5 architecture's high instructions-per-clock yield excellent frame pacing in a game that relies heavily on draw calls and physics calculations. The 32 MB of shared L3 cache is also beneficial for keeping frequently accessed game data close to the cores, reducing latency during fast-paced action sequences.

The CPU's multithreaded performance, measured at 36470 in the PassMark multithread test, supports the high frame rates seen at 1440p Low (213 FPS) and 1080p Medium (268 FPS). Even with 16 threads available, Counter-Strike 2 does not fully utilize all of them, but the strong single-thread score of 4691 ensures that the primary game thread runs without stalling. The data suggests that at 1080p, the CPU is delivering frames faster than the GPU can render them, which is why we see such high numbers. The processor's 94th percentile ranking reinforces that this is not a weak link in the system; rather, it is the GPU that limits the higher resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture, using the TU106 chip fabricated on a 12 nm process. It features 2176 shading units, 136 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units, with base and boost clocks of 1470 MHz and 1650 MHz respectively. The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) across a 256-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The GPU sits in the 62nd percentile against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 18093. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile (18159, a -0.4% delta) and the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (18189, a -0.5% delta), placing it in a competitive mid-range tier.

In this game, the GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution climbs. At 4K Ultra, the system produces 57 FPS, which is a playable but not high-refresh-rate experience. The 4K Medium result of 99 FPS shows that the GPU can handle the resolution when the setting load is reduced. The GPU's 7.181 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power and 105.6 GPixel/s pixel rate are the key specs that determine these outcomes. The pixel rate, in particular, is what limits 4K performance, as the card must fill over 8 million pixels per frame.

The VRAM capacity of 8 GB is sufficient for Counter-Strike 2 at 4K with these settings, as the game is not a VRAM-heavy title compared to modern AAA releases. However, the memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s is what allows the card to maintain reasonable frame rates at 1440p High (132 FPS) and 4K Low (119 FPS). The data shows that the GPU is the bottleneck at 4K across all settings, as the frame rates scale almost linearly with the resolution's pixel count. At 1080p, the GPU is not the limiting factor, as evidenced by the 322 FPS Low result, which is more than double what the GPU would typically deliver if it were the primary constraint.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The full dataset provides a grid of twelve measured points, with each resolution and settings combination offering a specific average frame rate. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 322 FPS, which is the highest measured value in the entire dataset. The Medium preset at 1080p produces 268 FPS, with a minimum of 228 FPS and a maximum of 308 FPS. The High preset at 1080p yields 200 FPS, while the Ultra preset drops to 155 FPS. These numbers indicate that at 1080p, even the most demanding preset remains far above the 144 Hz refresh rate that many competitive players target.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset delivers 213 FPS, which is still a very high frame rate for a 1440p panel. The Medium preset produces 177 FPS, with a minimum of 151 FPS and a maximum of 204 FPS. The High preset at 1440p yields 132 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to 103 FPS. This resolution shows a more balanced distribution, with the gap between Low and Ultra being 110 FPS. The 1440p Medium result of 177 FPS is particularly notable, as it stays above 144 FPS, making it a strong choice for competitive play on a high-refresh-rate 1440p monitor.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset delivers 119 FPS, which is the only 4K setting that exceeds 100 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K produces 99 FPS, with a minimum of 84 FPS and a maximum of 114 FPS. The High preset at 4K yields 74 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 57 FPS. The 4K results show a clear progression: as settings increase, the frame rate drops by roughly 20-25 FPS per preset step. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 62 FPS, which is a smaller absolute difference than at 1080p (167 FPS) or 1440p (110 FPS), further confirming that the GPU is the limiting factor at this resolution.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo can achieve in Counter-Strike 2?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 322, achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low preset.

Q: At what resolution and settings does this combo drop below 60 FPS?

A: The only measured scenario below 60 FPS is at 3840x2160 with the Ultra preset, which produces 57 FPS average.

Q: How does the Ryzen 7 9700F compare to its nearest rival in CPU benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 7 9700F scores 69996, which is 0.2% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (69875) and 0.2% lower than the Intel Core i7-14700KF (70163).

Q: What is the FPS difference between 1080p and 1440p at Medium settings?

A: At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 268 at 1920x1080 to 177 at 2560x1440, a difference of 91 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 4K resolution?

A: The 4K results show the GPU as the limiting factor, as the frame rates drop to 57-119 FPS depending on settings, while the CPU's 94th percentile ranking suggests it has more headroom.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for the 1440p Medium preset?

A: The 2560x1440 Medium preset has a minimum FPS of 151 and a maximum of 204.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal preset depends on the target resolution and refresh rate. For 1920x1080, the High preset at 200 FPS average is the best balance of visual quality and performance, as it stays well above 144 FPS while providing better image fidelity than Low or Medium. The Ultra preset at 155 FPS is also viable for 1080p, but the 45 FPS cost over High is significant for the visual gains. For competitive play where frame rate is paramount, the Low preset at 322 FPS is the clear choice, but the Medium preset at 268 FPS offers a better visual experience while maintaining a very high frame rate.

For 2560x1440, the Medium preset delivers 177 FPS average, which is the best choice for high-refresh-rate gaming on a 1440p monitor. The Low preset at 213 FPS is acceptable for those prioritizing maximum frame rate, but the Medium setting adds enough visual fidelity to justify the 36 FPS drop. The High preset at 132 FPS is borderline for 144 Hz displays, while the Ultra preset at 103 FPS is suitable for 60-100 Hz panels. For 3840x2160, the Low preset at 119 FPS is the only setting that provides a smooth experience on a 4K display, as it stays above 100 FPS. The Medium preset at 99 FPS is playable but may exhibit occasional dips to 84 FPS. The High and Ultra presets at 74 FPS and 57 FPS respectively are not recommended for 4K gaming, as they fall below the 60 FPS threshold that most players consider the minimum for smooth gameplay.

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database, this specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER ranks 2012 out of 2870 tested combos for Counter-Strike 2. This places it in the 70th percentile of all tested system combinations, meaning roughly 30% of tested combos deliver higher frame rates in this game. The ranking is somewhat surprising given the CPU's high performance, but it is dragged down by the GPU's mid-range position. The RTX 2060 SUPER sits in the 62nd percentile of all GPUs, and its age (released in 2019) shows in the 4K results where it cannot keep up with more modern cards.

The combo's position in the lower half of the top 30% suggests that while this system handles 1080p and 1440p admirably, it is not a top-tier contender for 4K gaming. The CPU's 94th percentile ranking and the GPU's 62nd percentile ranking create an imbalance where the processor is significantly stronger than the graphics card. This is reflected in the benchmark results, where the 1080p scores are excellent but the 4K scores fall off dramatically. For players who prioritize high frame rates at 1080p or 1440p, this combo performs well above average. For those targeting 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, and the system will struggle to maintain high frame rates at higher settings. The data indicates that this is a well-balanced combo for competitive esports at standard resolutions, but it is not designed for 4K ultra settings in this title.