Counter-Strike 2

The Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 delivers a high-refresh-rate Counter-Strike 2 experience across all tested resolutions, with the data showing a clear shift from CPU-bound performance at 1080p to GPU-bound performance at 4K. The combo ranks in the 1273rd position out of 2870 tested configurations, placing it in the top half of all systems measured for this title, with the CPU’s 68th percentile ranking among all processors and the GPU’s 58th percentile ranking among all graphics cards indicating a balanced pairing that leans slightly on processor strength. Measured results show the system exceeding 240 FPS at 1080p on Medium settings, while even the most demanding 4K Ultra preset maintains a playable 72 FPS average.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate this combo achieves in Counter-Strike 2?

A: The highest measured average is 405 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only tested configuration that breaks the 400 FPS threshold, with the next closest being 336 FPS at 1080p Medium.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested systems for this game?

A: The configuration ranks 1273rd out of 2870 tested combos, placing it in the 55th percentile of all systems measured for Counter-Strike 2 performance. This puts it solidly in the upper half of the database’s test pool.

Q: What is the lowest average frame rate recorded in the measured data?

A: The lowest average is 72 FPS, observed at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings. This remains above the 60 FPS playability threshold, but it is significantly lower than the 195 FPS achieved at 1080p Ultra.

Q: Does the CPU or the GPU appear to be the limiting factor at higher resolutions?

A: The data indicates the GPU becomes the primary limiter at 4K. The frame rate drops by 61% from 1080p Low to 4K Low (405 to 150 FPS), a scaling pattern consistent with GPU-bound rendering. Conversely, the relatively small drop from 1080p Low to 1440p Low (405 to 268 FPS) suggests the CPU still has headroom at lower resolutions.

Q: What is the only settings preset that provides min/max FPS data in the measurements?

A: The Medium preset is the only one with complete min and max frame rate data across all three resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the system records a minimum of 286 FPS and a maximum of 387 FPS; at 1440p Medium, the range is 189 to 256 FPS; and at 4K Medium, the range is 106 to 143 FPS.

Q: How does the GPU’s benchmark score compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RX 7700’s average benchmark score of 15852 is 1% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 9060’s 16014, and 1.7% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti’s 16129. It sits 0.1% above the AMD Radeon R9 370X’s 15862.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F brings a 6-core, 12-thread configuration based on the Comet Lake architecture, built on Intel’s 14 nm process. Its base clock of 2.90 GHz can boost up to 4.30 GHz, and the processor shares a 12 MB L3 cache across all cores. This is a desktop part with a 65 W TDP, and it supports DDR4 memory through a dual-channel interface with a bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s. The CPU’s single-thread performance, as measured by a 3dmark single-thread score of 688 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1451, is directly relevant to Counter-Strike 2, which is known for relying heavily on single-core throughput for game logic and draw call processing.

The benchmark data shows this CPU performs well in the context of this game. In the 3dmark 2-thread test, it scores 1350, while the 4-thread test yields 2560, and the 8-thread test reaches 3929. The max-thread score of 4735 is nearly identical to the 16-thread score of 4748, indicating that scaling plateaus after 8 threads. This suggests that while the processor has 12 threads available, Counter-Strike 2 is unlikely to utilize all of them effectively, making the strong per-core performance more important than raw multi-thread capability. The CPU’s overall percentile rank of 68 places it above the majority of processors in the database, and its average benchmark score of 14185 is within 0.6% of its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C.

In the measured FPS data, the CPU’s influence is most apparent at 1080p, where the system achieves 405 FPS at Low settings. This high frame rate at a resolution where the GPU has less work to do suggests the processor is capable of feeding the graphics card without becoming a bottleneck. However, the gap between 1080p Low (405 FPS) and 1440p Low (268 FPS) is substantial, indicating that the GPU starts to take on more responsibility as resolution increases. The CPU’s boost clock of 4.30 GHz and its 12 MB cache are the key specifications that allow it to maintain these high minimum frame rates at lower resolutions, as evidenced by the 286 FPS minimum at 1080p Medium.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture, specifically the Navi 32 chip, fabricated on a 5 nm process by TSMC. It packs 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s. The GPU’s game clock is 2041 MHz, with a boost clock of 2459 MHz, and it houses 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 96 raster operation units. The card also includes 40 ray tracing cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6. Its FP32 compute power is rated at 25.18 TFLOPS, and the memory operates at an effective speed of 19.5 Gbps.

The GPU’s benchmark scores show a mixed profile. Its Passmark G3D score of 20974 is strong, but its DirectX 12 score of 96 and DirectX 11 score of 186 are relatively modest, suggesting that pure rasterization performance is better than what API-specific tests might imply. The GPU’s average benchmark score of 15852 places it at the 58th percentile of all graphics cards, and its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 9060, scores 16014, a 1% difference. The 16 GB VRAM capacity is particularly relevant for Counter-Strike 2 at higher resolutions and settings, where texture memory requirements can increase, though the measured data shows the card has no trouble maintaining playable frame rates even at 4K Ultra.

In the Counter-Strike 2 results, the GPU’s role becomes dominant at 4K resolution. The frame rate drops from 195 FPS at 1080p Ultra to 72 FPS at 4K Ultra, a 63% reduction. Similarly, at Low settings, the drop from 405 FPS at 1080p to 150 FPS at 4K represents a 63% decrease. This scaling pattern is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario, where the graphics card’s pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth become the limiting factors. The GPU’s 96 ROPs and 624.1 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient to push 93 FPS at 4K High, but the Ultra preset’s additional shading and texture work brings the average down to 72 FPS. The card’s 25.18 TFLOPS FP32 throughput is the primary driver of the 336 FPS average at 1080p Medium, where the GPU is still able to keep pace with the CPU’s output.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 1273 out of 2870 tested configurations places it in the upper half of the database for Counter-Strike 2 performance. This ranking is consistent with the individual component percentiles: the CPU sits at the 68th percentile, and the GPU at the 58th percentile. The system’s overall position suggests that while neither component is top-tier, their combination provides a well-balanced platform for this specific game. The data shows that the combo outperforms the majority of tested systems, with 1597 configurations ranking below it.

When examining the CPU’s nearest rivals, the Intel Core i5-10400F’s average score of 14185 is 0.2% higher than the Intel Xeon 6756E’s 14163, and 0.5% higher than the AMD EPYC 7552’s 14115. It trails the Intel Core 7 160UL by 0.3% and the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C by 0.6%. These differences are minimal, indicating that the CPU’s performance is well within the expected range for its class. On the GPU side, the RX 7700’s average score of 15852 is 1.1% above the AMD Radeon Pro W5500’s 15679, but 0.1% below the AMD Radeon R9 370X’s 15862, 1% below the RX 9060, and 1.7% below the RTX 3060 Ti.

The rank of 1273rd out of 2870 means the combo sits at roughly the 55th percentile of all tested systems. This is a respectable position for a mid-range pairing, and the measured FPS data confirms that it can deliver competitive frame rates in Counter-Strike 2. The ranking reflects the system’s ability to maintain high average FPS across all settings, even if it does not reach the extreme frame rates achieved by top-tier configurations. The fact that the combo ranks higher than the GPU’s percentile alone would suggest indicates that the CPU’s strong single-thread performance helps boost the overall gaming experience.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its strongest performance. Low settings produce an average of 405 FPS, which is the highest measurement in the entire dataset. Medium settings yield 336 FPS, with a measured minimum of 286 FPS and a maximum of 387 FPS. High settings drop the average to 251 FPS, while Ultra settings still maintain a robust 195 FPS. These numbers indicate that at 1080p, the combo is firmly in high-refresh-rate territory, with even the most demanding preset exceeding the 144 Hz threshold commonly targeted by competitive players.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show a noticeable step down. Low settings produce 268 FPS, which is a 34% reduction from the 1080p Low result. Medium settings average 223 FPS, with a minimum of 189 FPS and a maximum of 256 FPS. High settings deliver 166 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 129 FPS. The 1440p results show that the system can still drive high-refresh-rate monitors at this resolution, particularly at Low and Medium presets, but Ultra settings fall below the 144 FPS mark.

At 3840x2160, the performance curve steepens considerably. Low settings produce 150 FPS, which is a 63% drop from 1080p Low. Medium settings average 124 FPS, with a minimum of 106 FPS and a maximum of 143 FPS. High settings yield 93 FPS, and Ultra settings bring the average down to 72 FPS. The 4K results show that the system remains playable at all presets, but the gap between Low and Ultra settings widens significantly, indicating that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at this resolution. The Medium preset’s minimum of 106 FPS is the only 4K measurement that stays above the 100 FPS threshold, while the Ultra preset’s 72 FPS average is the only result below 90 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

For players prioritizing maximum frame rates at 1080p, the Low preset is the clear choice, delivering 405 FPS with no recorded minimum below that level. However, the Medium preset offers a more balanced experience, providing 336 FPS average with a minimum of 286 FPS, which is still well above the 240 Hz refresh rate ceiling of most monitors. The High preset at 251 FPS is also viable, but the drop from Medium to High is 25%, while the visual difference may not justify the performance cost for competitive play.

At 1440p, the Medium preset stands out as the optimal balance, with a 223 FPS average and a minimum of 189 FPS. This configuration maintains high-refresh-rate gameplay while offering better visual fidelity than Low settings. The High preset at 166 FPS is still above 144 Hz, but the Ultra preset’s 129 FPS falls below that threshold, making it less suitable for players with high-refresh-rate displays. For 4K gaming, the Medium preset’s 124 FPS average and 106 FPS minimum provide the best playable experience, as the High preset drops to 93 FPS and Ultra falls to 72 FPS.

The data suggests that the Medium preset is the sweet spot for this combo across all resolutions. At 1080p it delivers nearly 336 FPS, at 1440p it maintains 223 FPS, and at 4K it stays above 120 FPS average. The minimum frame rates at Medium are also the most consistent, with the 4K minimum of 106 FPS ensuring that even the most demanding scenes remain fluid. For players who prioritize competitive performance over visual quality, the Low preset offers the highest frame rates, but the Medium preset provides the best combination of speed and fidelity without sacrificing playability.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals important insights about the system’s bottleneck characteristics. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 405 at 1080p to 268 at 1440p, a 34% reduction, and then to 150 at 4K, a further 44% reduction from 1440p. The total drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is 63%. At Medium settings, the progression is 336 FPS at 1080p, 223 FPS at 1440p, and 124 FPS at 4K, representing drops of 34% and 44% respectively. At High settings, the numbers are 251 FPS at 1080p, 166 FPS at 1440p, and 93 FPS at 4K, with drops of 34% and 44%. At Ultra settings, the progression is 195 FPS at 1080p, 129 FPS at 1440p, and 72 FPS at 4K, with drops of 34% and 44%.

The consistency of these percentage drops across all settings is striking. Every preset shows a 34% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a 44% reduction from 1440p to 4K. This uniform scaling pattern is a strong indicator that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions, as the rendering workload increases proportionally with pixel count. The CPU’s performance at 1080p, where it can feed the GPU with enough data to reach 405 FPS at Low settings, suggests that it is not the bottleneck at lower resolutions. However, as resolution increases, the GPU’s pixel processing and memory bandwidth become the constraining resources.

The fact that the frame rate drops by the same percentage at every settings preset indicates that the system is not hitting a CPU ceiling at 1080p. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see smaller percentage drops at lower settings (where the GPU has less work to do) and larger drops at higher settings. Instead, the uniform scaling suggests that the GPU is the limiting component even at 1080p Low, where the 405 FPS result is likely close to the maximum output of the RX 7700 in this game. This interpretation is supported by the GPU’s 58th percentile ranking, which places it below the CPU in relative performance, and by the fact that the combo’s overall rank of 1273 is closer to the GPU’s percentile than the CPU’s percentile. The data shows that to achieve higher frame rates at 4K, a more powerful GPU would be necessary, while the CPU’s 12-thread configuration and 4.30 GHz boost clock provide sufficient headroom for the current GPU’s output.