Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2 is a title where the CPU often dictates the ceiling, but this specific pairing of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 shows a nuanced balance. The benchmark data indicates that the processor is the dominant force, but the graphics card still imposes significant limits at higher resolutions. The measured results reveal that this combo ranks in the 52nd percentile of all tested configurations, placing it in the middle of the pack for this game.

Settings Recommendations

The optimal preset for this configuration is Medium, as it provides the best balance between visual fidelity and frame rate stability. The data shows that at 1080p, Medium settings produce an average of 317 FPS with a minimum of 270 FPS. This is a stark contrast to the High preset, which yields 237 FPS, and the Ultra preset, which drops to 184 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum FPS of 270 is critically important for a competitive FPS like Counter-Strike 2, as it ensures the frame rate never dips below the refresh rate of most high-end monitors.

While the Low preset at 1080p pushes the average to 382 FPS, the visual compromises are often too severe for a game where spotting enemies at distance is vital. The jump from Low to Medium costs 65 FPS on average (from 382 to 317), but the improvement in rendering quality is substantial. Conversely, the jump from Medium to High costs 80 FPS (from 317 to 237), a much steeper penalty for what is typically a marginal visual gain. The data supports Medium as the sweet spot, especially since the minimum FPS data is only provided for this setting, confirming its stability.

At 1440p, the Medium preset continues to be the strongest choice. It delivers an average of 210 FPS with a minimum of 179 FPS, which remains well above the 144Hz threshold that many competitive players target. The High preset at this resolution drops to 157 FPS, which is still playable but leaves less headroom for demanding in-game moments. The Ultra preset falls to 122 FPS, which is below the ideal for high-refresh-rate play. The Low preset, while hitting 253 FPS, suffers from the same visual drawbacks as at 1080p.

At 4K, the Medium settings produce an average of 117 FPS with a minimum of 100 FPS. This is the only preset at this resolution that maintains an average above 100 FPS. The High preset manages 88 FPS, which is acceptable for casual play but not for competitive integrity. The Ultra preset drops to a demanding 68 FPS, and even the Low preset only reaches 141 FPS, indicating that the GPU is becoming the primary bottleneck at this resolution. For a consistent experience across all resolutions, Medium is the clear recommendation.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 plays a critical, yet secondary, role in this configuration. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with a bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s is sufficient for Counter-Strike 2's engine. The data shows that the GPU's memory bandwidth is not the limiting factor, as the frame rates scale predictably with resolution. The card's boost clock of 2460 MHz and base clock of 1830 MHz are key to its performance, but the benchmark results suggest that the CPU can feed it enough data to keep it busy at lower resolutions.

The GPU's performance percentile is 61st, with an average benchmark score of 17639. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon 780M, which is 0.3% behind, and the AMD Radeon Pro 560, which is 0.5% behind. This indicates that the RTX 4060 is a solid mid-range performer, but it is not a high-end card. In Counter-Strike 2, this translates to a situation where the GPU is the limiting component at 4K, but the CPU takes over that role at 1080p.

The FP32 performance of 15.11 TFLOPS and the 3072 shading units are the raw compute resources that drive the rendering. However, the frame rate data shows that the RTX 4060 is not the star of this show. At 1080p, the GPU is barely challenged, as evidenced by the huge frame rates. The card's 8 GB VRAM is ample for this game, as there is no data suggesting a memory capacity cap at any settings. The 115 W TDP and dual-slot design make it a power-efficient component, but the key takeaway is that this GPU is a capable partner that only becomes the primary bottleneck when the resolution is pushed to 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K clearly illustrates the shifting bottleneck. At 1080p with Medium settings, the combo produces 317 FPS. Moving to 1440p, the frame rate drops to 210 FPS, a 34% reduction. Moving from 1440p to 4K, the frame rate further drops to 117 FPS, a 44% reduction from the 1440p result. This indicates that the GPU is being increasingly stressed as pixel count rises.

The data shows a similar pattern across all settings. With High settings, the frame rate drops from 237 FPS at 1080p to 157 FPS at 1440p (a 34% drop), and then to 88 FPS at 4K (a 44% drop from 1440p). This consistent pattern of roughly a one-third drop from 1080p to 1440p and a further one-third drop from 1440p to 4K is a classic sign of a GPU that is reaching its limits. The Ryzen 9 9900X3D, with its 12 cores and 24 threads, is not the limiting factor in this scaling.

The performance delta between resolutions is more pronounced at lower settings. With Low settings, the frame rate goes from 382 FPS at 1080p to 253 FPS at 1440p, a 34% drop, and then to 141 FPS at 4K, a 44% drop. This shows that the RTX 4060's rendering capabilities are the primary constraint. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rates would remain more constant across resolutions. The data strongly suggests that for this game, the CPU is powerful enough to handle any resolution, and the GPU is the component that determines the playable settings at higher resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a detailed picture of the combo's capabilities. At 1920x1080, the performance is exceptional. The Low preset yields an average of 382 FPS. The Medium preset produces 317 FPS with a minimum of 270 FPS and a maximum of 365 FPS. The High preset averages 237 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 184 FPS. This shows that at 1080p, the combo is never CPU-bound, and even the most demanding Ultra preset is easily playable on high-refresh-rate monitors.

At 2560x1440, the performance remains strong. The Low preset averages 253 FPS. The Medium preset drops to an average of 210 FPS, with a minimum of 179 FPS and a maximum of 242 FPS. The High preset produces 157 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 122 FPS. This resolution marks the point where the GPU starts to work harder, but the frame rates are still high enough for competitive play, especially on Medium settings.

At 3840x2160, the performance becomes more constrained. The Low preset averages 141 FPS. The Medium preset averages 117 FPS, with a minimum of 100 FPS and a maximum of 135 FPS. The High preset manages 88 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 68 FPS. The data shows that 4K is the only resolution where the GPU struggles to maintain triple-digit frame rates on Medium settings, and the Ultra preset is only viable for slower-paced gameplay.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 ranks 1510th out of 2870 tested combos in Counter-Strike 2. This places it in the 52nd percentile, meaning it performs better than just over half of all other configurations tested. This is a middling result for a system with a high-end CPU, indicating that the GPU is holding the combo back from a top-tier ranking.

The CPU itself is a top performer, with a percentile rank of 91st among all CPUs. Its average benchmark score is 54762, and its nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF, which is 0.6% slower, and the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K, which is 1.3% slower. This confirms the CPU's strength. However, the GPU's percentile rank is only 61st, with an average benchmark score of 17639. This is the weak link in the chain, and it explains why the combo does not rank higher.

The data suggests that the combo's rank is dragged down by the GPU. In a game like Counter-Strike 2, where high frame rates are paramount, the RTX 4060's mid-range performance caps the system's potential. The 1510th rank is a direct result of the GPU being unable to fully leverage the CPU's immense processing power. This is a clear example of a bottleneck, where the GPU is the limiting factor in achieving a higher rank in the database.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D is the undisputed star of this pairing. With 12 cores, 24 threads, and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, it is a powerhouse. Its 128 MB of L3 cache is particularly beneficial for gaming, as it allows for more data to be stored on-chip, reducing latency. The benchmark data confirms its dominance: it scores 47737 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 6739 in single-core tests. Its single-thread performance is critical for Counter-Strike 2, which relies heavily on a few fast cores.

The CPU's role is to feed the GPU with frame data as quickly as possible. The data shows that at 1080p, the CPU is more than capable of doing this, as frame rates exceed 300 FPS. The 3DMark single-thread score of 1269 and the Geekbench single-core score of 3041 indicate that this CPU has the raw processing speed to handle the game's simulation and physics logic without becoming a bottleneck.

The CPU's performance is also reflected in its nearest rivals. It is only 0.6% behind the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF and 1.3% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K in average benchmark scores. This places it at the top of its class. However, in this specific game, the CPU's power is not fully utilized due to the GPU's limitations. At 4K, the frame rates are identical to what a lesser CPU could achieve, proving that the CPU is not the limiting factor. The Ryzen 9 9900X3D provides the headroom, but the RTX 4060 cannot take full advantage of it, resulting in a combo that is more balanced than the component specs would suggest.