Counter-Strike 2

# Counter-Strike 2 with AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050

The data set for Counter-Strike 2 with the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 covers four settings presets across three resolutions, providing a complete picture of how this mobile CPU-GPU pairing behaves in a competitive FPS. The combination ranks 2274th out of 2870 tested combos in this game, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database. The measured FPS values show a system that can handle 1080p esports play with ease, but struggles to maintain high refresh rates at 4K, pointing to a GPU-limited configuration at higher pixel counts.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals the RTX 5050 as the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 281 FPS at 1920x1080 to 186 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 95 FPS, and then further to 104 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 63% decrease from 1080p to 4K at Low preset. The scaling pattern is consistent across all presets, with the GPU workload increasing proportionally with pixel count.

At Medium settings, the measured averages are 233 FPS at 1080p, 154 FPS at 1440p, and 86 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1440p to 4K is 68 FPS, which is steeper than the 79 FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p in absolute terms but similar in percentage. High settings show 174 FPS at 1080p, 115 FPS at 1440p, and 64 FPS at 4K. Ultra settings produce 135 FPS at 1080p, 90 FPS at 1440p, and 50 FPS at 4K.

The resolution scaling data indicates that the CPU is not the limiting factor at lower resolutions. The Ryzen 9 8945HX with 16 cores and 32 threads can feed the GPU sufficiently at 1080p, as evidenced by the 281 FPS Low result. However, the RTX 5050's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 128-bit bus width constrain performance as resolution increases. The memory bandwidth of 320.0 GB/s becomes a limiting factor at 4K, where the GPU must process four times the pixels of 1080p.

The percentage drops between resolutions are informative. From 1080p to 1440p at Low settings, the FPS drops by 33.8%. From 1440p to 4K at Low, the drop is 44.1%. This accelerating decline suggests that the GPU's shading units, 2560 in total, and its 32 ROPs are overwhelmed at 4K. The pixel rate of 82.30 GPixel/s and texture rate of 205.8 GTexel/s are simply insufficient for 4K rendering at high frame rates.

Settings Recommendations

For players targeting 144 Hz or higher refresh rates, the Low preset at 1920x1080 is the only configuration that delivers consistently above that threshold, with an average of 281 FPS. Medium at 1080p also exceeds 200 FPS with an average of 233 FPS, making it a viable option for high-refresh displays. The minimum FPS recorded at Medium 1080p is 198, which stays above 144 Hz, indicating that even in demanding scenes, the frame rate remains competitive.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset delivers 186 FPS average, which is sufficient for 144 Hz displays but not for 165 Hz or 240 Hz panels. Medium at 1440p produces 154 FPS average with a minimum of 131 FPS, meaning that occasional drops below 144 Hz will occur. For players with 144 Hz 1440p monitors, Low is the safer choice, while Medium is acceptable if minor frame drops are tolerable.

The 4K results are less encouraging. Even at Low settings, the average FPS is 104, which falls below 120 Hz and is only suitable for 60 Hz displays. Medium at 4K averages 86 FPS with a minimum of 73 FPS, providing a playable but not smooth experience on 60 Hz monitors. High and Ultra at 4K produce 64 and 50 FPS averages respectively, which are below the 60 FPS threshold that most players consider the minimum for acceptable gameplay.

The data suggests that the optimal experience is Medium at 1080p, balancing visual quality with a 233 FPS average and a 198 FPS minimum. This configuration leverages the CPU's strength while keeping the GPU within its comfort zone. For competitive play where maximum frame rates matter, Low at 1080p is the clear choice, sacrificing visual fidelity for a 281 FPS average.

FAQ

Q: Can this combination achieve 240 FPS in Counter-Strike 2?

A: Yes, but only at 1920x1080 with Low settings, where the average FPS is 281. At Medium settings, the average drops to 233 FPS, which is below 240 FPS. At higher resolutions, 240 FPS is not achievable with any preset.

Q: What is the best resolution for competitive play with this hardware?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 as the only resolution where all presets exceed 100 FPS. At 2560x1440, only Low and Medium presets exceed 100 FPS, with averages of 186 and 154 FPS respectively. At 3840x2160, no preset reaches 120 FPS.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High in terms of frame rate?

A: At 1080p, Ultra averages 135 FPS compared to High's 174 FPS, a difference of 39 FPS. At 1440p, the gap is 25 FPS (90 vs 115), and at 4K, it narrows to 14 FPS (50 vs 64). The relative cost of Ultra increases at lower resolutions.

Q: Is the 8 GB VRAM sufficient for this game?

A: The measured results indicate that 8 GB is adequate for all tested settings and resolutions, as the game ran at every preset. However, the 128-bit memory bus and 320.0 GB/s bandwidth appear to be limiting factors at 4K, where even Low settings only reach 104 FPS.

Q: What frame rate can players expect at 1440p with Medium settings?

A: The average FPS is 154, with a minimum of 131 and maximum of 178. This provides a playable experience on 144 Hz monitors, though frame drops below 144 Hz may occur during intense scenes.

Q: Does the CPU's 16-core configuration help in this game?

A: Counter-Strike 2 benefits from the Ryzen 9 8945HX's high single-core performance, indicated by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6030. The 1080p Low result of 281 FPS suggests the CPU is not a bottleneck at lower resolutions, though the game likely uses a fraction of the 16 cores.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 ranks 2274th out of 2870 tested combinations in Counter-Strike 2. This places the pairing in the 21st percentile, meaning roughly 79% of tested combos perform better in this specific game. The rank reflects the GPU's mid-range positioning rather than the CPU's capabilities, as the Ryzen 9 8945HX is a high-end mobile processor.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 76212 places it in the 95th percentile of all CPUs, with nearest rivals including the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX at a 0.1% higher score, the AMD EPYC Embedded 8224P at 0.4% lower, the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9945WX at 0.4% lower, and the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D at 0.6% higher. This indicates that the CPU is competitive with top-tier desktop and mobile processors.

The GPU's average benchmark score of 21035 places it in the 66th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL at 0.6% lower, the AMD Radeon HD 8970M at 1% lower, the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT at 1.6% higher, and the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile at 1.6% lower. This positioning explains the combo's rank: a strong CPU paired with a mid-range GPU results in a system that excels at CPU-bound tasks but is constrained in GPU-heavy scenarios like high-resolution gaming.

The rank of 2274 out of 2870 suggests that the RTX 5050 is the weaker link in this pairing for Counter-Strike 2. Games that rely more on CPU performance would likely see this combo rank higher, while GPU-intensive titles would push it lower. The measured FPS data confirms this interpretation, as the system's performance scales inversely with resolution.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 320.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's base clock is 2317 MHz with a boost clock of 2572 MHz, and memory operates at 2500 MHz with 20 Gbps effective speed. The chip, designated GB207, is built on TSMC's 5 nm process with 16,900 million transistors on a 149 mm² die.

The GPU's 2560 shading units, 80 texture mapping units, and 32 render output units determine its pixel throughput of 82.30 GPixel/s and texture rate of 205.8 GTexel/s. These specifications explain the 4K performance ceiling observed in the data. At 3840x2160, even Low settings only produce 104 FPS, while Ultra drops to 50 FPS. The 13.17 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is modest for modern titles, and Counter-Strike 2's rendering demands at 4K exceed what this GPU can deliver at high frame rates.

The 8 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for this game at all tested settings, as evidenced by the successful execution of Ultra presets at all resolutions. However, the memory bandwidth of 320.0 GB/s appears to be a limiting factor at higher resolutions. The measured FPS decline from 1440p to 4K is steeper than the decline from 1080p to 1440p, suggesting that bandwidth constraints become more pronounced as pixel count increases.

The GPU's benchmark results, including a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2502 and a Passmark G3D score of 17326, place it in the 66th percentile of all GPUs. The nearest rival comparisons show it performing within 1.6% of the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT and the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile, indicating that the RTX 5050 occupies a specific performance tier that is adequate for 1080p gaming but not for high-refresh 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers the highest average FPS at 281, with Medium at 233, High at 174, and Ultra at 135. The Medium preset provides minimum and maximum values of 198 and 268 FPS respectively. The gap between Low and Ultra is 146 FPS, demonstrating the significant performance cost of higher quality settings at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, Low averages 186 FPS, Medium averages 154 FPS with a range of 131 to 178 FPS, High averages 115 FPS, and Ultra averages 90 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 96 FPS, which is smaller in absolute terms than at 1080p but proportionally similar. The minimum FPS at Medium, 131, is below the 144 Hz threshold, indicating that even the second-lowest preset cannot maintain high refresh rates consistently at 1440p.

At 3840x2160, Low averages 104 FPS, Medium averages 86 FPS with a range of 73 to 99 FPS, High averages 64 FPS, and Ultra averages 50 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 73 FPS is above 60 Hz, making it the only 4K configuration that consistently exceeds the 60 FPS baseline. The maximum FPS at 4K Medium, 99, is lower than the minimum FPS at 1080p Medium, 198, highlighting the dramatic impact of resolution on this GPU.

The data shows that each resolution step halves the available frame rate at corresponding settings. For example, High settings produce 174 FPS at 1080p, 115 FPS at 1440p, and 64 FPS at 4K. This consistent pattern indicates that the GPU's performance scales predictably with pixel count, and the RTX 5050 is best suited for 1080p gaming with medium to high settings for smooth play.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX is a 16-core, 32-thread mobile processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, codenamed Dragon Range. It operates with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, with a TDP of 55 W. The CPU features 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 1 MB of L2 cache per core, and 64 MB of L3 cache, providing substantial cache capacity for game workloads.

The CPU's benchmark results demonstrate strong multi-threaded and single-threaded performance. Its Cinebench R23 scores are 42713 multi-core and 6030 single-core, while Cinebench R20 scores are 17939 multi-core and 2532 single-core. The Passmark multi-thread score is 51405, and the single-thread score is 3907. These results place the CPU in the 95th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 76212.

In Counter-Strike 2, the CPU's role is to maintain high frame rates by minimizing bottleneck at lower resolutions. The 281 FPS average at 1080p Low indicates that the processor can feed the GPU effectively even at high frame rates. The 16 cores and 32 threads provide headroom for background tasks and streaming, but the game likely benefits most from the high single-core performance, as indicated by the 6030 Cinebench R23 single-core score.

The CPU's memory support for DDR5 with dual-channel configuration and 83.2 GB/s bandwidth ensures that memory bandwidth is not a bottleneck in this game. The PCIe Gen 5 interface with 28 lanes provides ample bandwidth for the RTX 5050, which uses a PCIe 5.0 x8 connection. The processor's 5 nm process node from TSMC with 13,140 million transistors on a 2x 71 mm² die contributes to its efficiency and performance.

The nearest rivals to this CPU include the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX with a 0.1% higher average score, the AMD EPYC Embedded 8224P at 0.4% lower, the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9945WX at 0.4% lower, and the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D at 0.6% higher. These comparisons show that the 8945HX performs competitively with both desktop and mobile flagship processors, making it a strong foundation for gaming systems. However, in Counter-Strike 2, the CPU's capabilities are not fully utilized at higher resolutions, where the GPU becomes the limiting factor.