Counter-Strike 2

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 presents a compelling dataset for Counter-Strike 2, a title known for its sensitivity to CPU performance. This analysis examines the measured FPS across resolutions and settings, interpreting the results to identify the dominant hardware component and overall system capability. The data reveals a configuration that scales predictably with resolution, showing exceptional strength at 1080p and maintaining playable performance at 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and steep decline as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, which is typical for a game like Counter-Strike 2 where frame rates are exceptionally high at lower resolutions. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 349 FPS at 1080p to 231 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of roughly 34%. Moving to 4K High, the average further drops to 129 FPS, which is a 63% decrease from the 1080p figure. This scaling pattern indicates that while the GPU is becoming more of a limiting factor at higher resolutions, the CPU's strong single-thread performance keeps the baseline frame rates very high.

The scaling from 1440p to 4K is particularly sharp, with High settings losing 102 FPS (231 to 129). This suggests that the pixel throughput demand at 4K is significantly taxing the RTX 5070, as the gap between 1080p and 1440p is less severe. The data implies that at 1080p, the system is likely CPU-bound, with the Ryzen 7 9700F's high boost clock driving frame rates well beyond what the GPU needs to render. As resolution climbs, the workload shifts to the GPU, and the frame rate becomes increasingly dependent on the graphics card's fill rate and memory bandwidth.

For Low settings, the resolution scaling is even more pronounced. The average FPS at 1080p Low is 563, which drops to 373 at 1440p and 208 at 4K. This pattern reinforces that at lower graphical fidelity, the CPU has more headroom to push frames, but the GPU becomes the bottleneck as the pixel count rises. The fact that 4K Low still delivers over 200 FPS average indicates a highly capable combination, but the 63% performance hit from 1080p to 4K highlights the GPU's central role in high-resolution gaming.

The Medium preset shows a similar trend, with averages of 468 FPS at 1080p, 309 FPS at 1440p, and 173 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset, which is the most demanding, shows 271 FPS at 1080p, 179 FPS at 1440p, and 100 FPS at 4K. The consistent pattern across all presets is that 4K performance is roughly half or less of 1080p performance, confirming that the RTX 5070's capabilities are the primary determinant of frame rates at higher resolutions, while the CPU's strength is most evident at 1080p.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F is an 8-core, 16-thread processor from the Zen 5 architecture, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. This high boost clock is crucial for Counter-Strike 2, a game that heavily relies on single-thread performance for game logic and physics. The processor's PassMark single-thread score of 4691 places it in the 94th percentile among all CPUs, indicating exceptional per-core performance that directly translates to high frame rates in CPU-bound scenarios.

The CPU's benchmark scores further illustrate its strength. The PassMark multithread score of 36470 is substantial, but it is the single-thread score that matters most for this title. The nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score include the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (0.2% higher), Intel Core i7-14700KF (0.2% lower), AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (0.7% higher), and Intel Core i7-14700K (0.9% higher). These deltas are minimal, showing that the 9700F is competitive with high-end desktop and mobile parts, but its specific clock speed and architecture are what drive its performance in CS2.

In the measured FPS data, the CPU's influence is most apparent at 1080p Low settings, where the average frame rate reaches 563 FPS. This high number suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU far more frames than it can render at this resolution. The 8 cores and 16 threads may not all be fully utilized, but the high boost clock ensures that the primary game thread is processed quickly. The L3 cache of 32 MB shared also helps reduce memory latency, which can be beneficial in a fast-paced esports title.

The data indicates that the CPU is not the limiting factor in any of the tested configurations. Even at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS is 100, the frame rate is likely constrained by the GPU's rendering capabilities rather than the CPU's processing power. The Ryzen 7 9700F's performance in synthetic benchmarks, such as its PassMark single-thread score of 4691, supports the conclusion that it is a top-tier processor for gaming, providing a solid foundation for high refresh-rate monitors.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is a Blackwell 2.0 architecture GPU with 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s. The GPU has a base clock of 2325 MHz and a boost clock of 2512 MHz, with 6144 shading units. In terms of raw compute, it offers 30.87 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 29137 places it in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs, indicating it is a high-performance part, though its nearest rivals in benchmark scores are somewhat unexpected, including AMD Radeon Pro 580 and WX 7100, which have lower average scores.

The GPU's role in this pairing becomes more evident as resolution increases. At 1080p High, the average FPS of 349 is likely close to the CPU's limit, but the GPU still needs to render the scene. At 4K High, the average FPS of 129 shows a significant drop, which is directly attributable to the GPU's pixel processing workload. The 12 GB of VRAM is sufficient for CS2 at all settings, and the memory bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s ensures that textures and geometry data are fed to the rendering pipeline efficiently.

The RTX 5070's performance at 4K Ultra, averaging 100 FPS, demonstrates that it can handle the most demanding settings in this game, though it is not as dominant as at lower resolutions. The GPU's texture rate of 482.3 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 201.0 GPixel/s are high, but the sheer number of pixels at 3840x2160 requires substantial processing. The data shows that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at 4K, while at 1080p, the CPU's high frame generation capability means the GPU is not fully stressed.

The GPU's benchmark scores, such as its PassMark DirectX 12 score of 108 and Vulkan score of 178923, suggest strong API support, but the measured FPS provides the most relevant data. The RTX 5070's performance in this game is consistent with its high-end positioning, delivering playable frame rates at 4K and exceptionally high rates at 1080p. The 82nd percentile ranking indicates it outperforms the majority of GPUs, but the closest rivals in benchmark scores show that it is not an absolute top-tier part, which is reflected in the 4K performance drops.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the system's performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the system delivers exceptionally high frame rates across all settings. Low settings yield an average of 563 FPS, Medium 468 FPS, High 349 FPS, and Ultra 271 FPS. The Medium preset also recorded a minimum FPS of 397 and a maximum of 538, showing good frame consistency. These numbers indicate that at 1080p, the system is ideal for high refresh-rate gaming, with even the Ultra preset providing well over 240 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain very high but show a noticeable decline. Low settings average 373 FPS, Medium 309 FPS, High 231 FPS, and Ultra 179 FPS. The Medium preset again shows a tight range with a minimum of 263 FPS and a maximum of 356 FPS. At this resolution, the system is still capable of driving high refresh-rate monitors, with all presets exceeding 170 FPS on average. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is significant, but the performance level remains excellent for competitive play.

At 3840x2160, the system's performance is more moderate, with Low settings averaging 208 FPS, Medium 173 FPS, High 129 FPS, and Ultra 100 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K has a minimum of 147 FPS and a maximum of 199 FPS, indicating that the system can maintain above 144 FPS in less demanding scenes. These 4K results show that the configuration is capable of 4K gaming at high refresh rates on lower settings, but the Ultra preset drops to exactly 100 FPS average, which is suitable for 100 Hz displays but not for higher refresh rates.

Across all resolutions, the scaling from Low to Ultra settings shows a consistent pattern. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 292 FPS (563 to 271), at 1440p it is 194 FPS (373 to 179), and at 4K it is 108 FPS (208 to 100). This indicates that the performance cost of increasing settings is lower at higher resolutions, as the GPU is already heavily loaded. The data confirms that the system is balanced, with the CPU providing a strong base and the GPU scaling with resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 ranks 539th out of 2870 tested combos in this game, placing it in the top 19% of all configurations. This ranking is a strong indicator of overall performance, but it is important to contextualize it. The rank reflects the aggregate performance across various resolutions and settings, and the data shows that this combo is particularly strong at lower resolutions where the CPU's high single-thread performance shines.

The CPU's 94th percentile ranking among all CPUs and the GPU's 82nd percentile ranking among all GPUs suggest that both components are above average. However, the combo rank of 539 out of 2870 indicates that there are many other configurations that outperform it, likely those with even more powerful CPUs or GPUs. The nearest CPU rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX and Intel Core i7-14700KF, are within 0.2% in benchmark scores, meaning the 9700F is not a significant outlier in CPU performance.

In the context of this game, the combo's ranking is likely driven by the GPU's performance at 4K, where it is not as dominant. The data shows that at 1080p, the system can achieve frame rates that rival or exceed many higher-ranked combos, but the 4K results pull the overall ranking down. This suggests that the combo is better suited for competitive gaming at 1080p or 1440p rather than 4K ultra-high settings. The rank of 539 out of 2870 is still a strong result, placing it in the upper quintile of all tested systems.

The deltaPct values for the CPU's rivals show that the 9700F is closely matched with several high-end processors, but the combo rank indicates that the GPU choice plays a more significant role in the final ranking. The RTX 5070's performance at 4K, where it averages 100 FPS at Ultra settings, is a limiting factor compared to higher-tier GPUs. Overall, this combo is a high-performing configuration that excels in CPU-intensive scenarios but is somewhat constrained by GPU performance at 4K.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the user's resolution and refresh rate goals. For 1080p gaming, the Low preset delivers an average of 563 FPS, which is ideal for 360 Hz or 500 Hz monitors. However, the Medium preset at 468 FPS still provides an excellent experience for 240 Hz displays, with the added visual fidelity. The High preset at 349 FPS is also viable for 240 Hz, but the Ultra preset at 271 FPS is best suited for 144 Hz monitors, as it offers the highest visual quality while maintaining a high frame rate.

At 1440p, the Low preset's 373 FPS average is sufficient for 360 Hz monitors, but the Medium preset at 309 FPS is a better balance for 240 Hz displays. The High preset at 231 FPS is well-suited for 144 Hz to 240 Hz monitors, providing a good combination of visual quality and performance. The Ultra preset at 179 FPS is also viable for 144 Hz monitors, making it a good choice for users who prioritize visual quality over maximum frame rates.

For 4K gaming, the Medium preset is the most balanced choice, averaging 173 FPS with a minimum of 147 FPS, making it suitable for 144 Hz displays in most scenarios. The High preset at 129 FPS is better for 120 Hz monitors, while the Low preset at 208 FPS can drive 144 Hz displays but with reduced visual quality. The Ultra preset at 100 FPS is only recommended for 100 Hz monitors, as it provides the best visual quality but limits refresh rate potential.

The data suggests that the Medium preset offers the best overall experience across all resolutions, as it provides a significant visual improvement over Low while maintaining high frame rates. For competitive play where frame rate is paramount, the Low preset at 1080p or 1440p is recommended. For a balanced experience, Medium at 1440p or 4K is the sweet spot, delivering over 170 FPS on average without sacrificing too much visual fidelity.

FAQ

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

A: The system achieves an average of 349 FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings, indicating excellent performance for high refresh-rate gaming.

Q: How does the CPU's single-thread performance compare to its rivals?

A: The Ryzen 7 9700F has a PassMark single-thread score of 4691, which is competitive with rivals like the Intel Core i7-14700KF, which has an average benchmark score 0.2% lower.

Q: Is the system capable of 4K gaming at 144 Hz?

A: At 4K with Medium settings, the average FPS is 173 with a minimum of 147, which can support 144 Hz in many scenes. However, at High settings, the average drops to 129 FPS, which is better suited for 120 Hz.

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

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 combination ranks 539th out of 2870 tested combos in Counter-Strike 2, placing it in the top 19%.

Q: Which settings preset provides the highest frame rate?

A: The Low preset provides the highest frame rates at all resolutions, with a maximum average of 563 FPS at 1080p, 373 FPS at 1440p, and 208 FPS at 4K.

Q: What is the GPU's memory bandwidth?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 has a memory bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s, which contributes to its strong performance at high resolutions.