Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2 is a competitive FPS that rewards high frame rates and responsive input. The data for the Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 shows a combination that scales predictably across resolutions, but with a clear shift in which component dictates performance. At 1080p, the average frame rates are exceptionally high, indicating that the system is not struggling to feed a competitive display. However, as resolution climbs, the load transitions from the processor to the graphics card, revealing the RTX 4060's character in this specific title. The benchmark results provide a quantitative look at this behavior, allowing for a precise analysis of the CPU-GPU balance at each setting level.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals that Counter-Strike 2 is highly sensitive to resolution changes, but the degree of impact varies significantly with the graphics settings. Dropping from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at Ultra settings reduces the average frame rate from 184.3 to 120, a substantial 64.3 FPS decrease. This trend continues when moving to 3840x2160, where the Ultra preset yields an average of 68.7 FPS. The scaling indicates that at higher resolutions and demanding settings, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 becomes the limiting factor, as the GPU's rendering workload increases faster than the CPU's ability to prepare frames.

Conversely, at Low settings, the frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is more dramatic in absolute terms but less indicative of a GPU bottleneck at the lower end. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system achieves an average of 380.8 FPS. This drops to 251.9 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 140 FPS at 3840x2160. The fact that the 1080p Low result is so high suggests that the Intel Core i5-10400F is still capable of pushing significant frame rates, but the gap between 1440p and 4K at Low settings (111.9 FPS) highlights that the RTX 4060's memory bandwidth and compute resources are stretched at 4K, even with a light workload.

The data shows a clear inflection point. At 1080p, the system is likely CPU-bound in most scenarios, as evidenced by the minimal difference between Medium and High settings (314.5 vs 238.8 FPS), which is a smaller gap than what the GPU would typically produce. By 4K, the GPU is definitively the bottleneck, as the frame rate at High settings (89 FPS) is only slightly better than at Medium (119.1 FPS) and significantly worse than Low (140 FPS), showing that the GPU's fill rate and pixel processing are the primary constraints. The 4K Ultra result of 68.7 FPS is playable but falls short of the high-refresh-rate targets that competitive players often seek.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of tested combos for Counter-Strike 2, this specific configuration of the Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 holds a rank of 933 out of 1632 tested combinations. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the performance distribution, which is interesting given the high frame rates observed at 1080p. The ranking suggests that while the absolute FPS numbers are high, many other combinations of newer CPUs and more powerful GPUs are able to achieve even higher frame rates, particularly at lower resolutions where the CPU is more influential.

The percentile data for the individual components helps contextualize this ranking. The i5-10400F sits at the 73rd percentile among all CPUs, while the RTX 4060 is at the 66th percentile among all GPUs. The combo's in-game rank, however, is not a direct average of these percentiles, indicating that Counter-Strike 2's specific engine and thread utilization patterns favor certain hardware. The CPU's 3DMark single-thread score of 688 and the GPU's Passmark G3D score of 19545 are solid, but the game's rank implies that the CPU's single-core performance is a limiting factor when trying to push beyond the 300-400 FPS range at 1080p.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the RTX 4060's average benchmark score of 23181 is only 0.7% lower than the Intel Arc B580 and 0.6% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 6600M, indicating that these GPUs are closely matched in raw compute. However, the in-game results for this combo are what matter, and the 933rd rank suggests that the i5-10400F's aging architecture may prevent the system from fully utilizing the GPU's potential in a CPU-heavy game like CS2. The CPU's nearest rival, the AMD EPYC 7552, has a 0.4% higher average score, but that is a server chip with different characteristics, so the comparison is not directly relevant for gaming.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average FPS this combo can achieve at 1080p?

A: The highest measured average frame rate for this combo in Counter-Strike 2 is 380.8 FPS, which is achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: Is the RTX 4060 capable of running the game at 4K?

A: Yes, the data shows it can run at 3840x2160, but performance varies significantly by settings. At High settings, it averages 89 FPS, while at Ultra, it drops to 68.7 FPS. At Low settings, it reaches an average of 140 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU's single-thread performance factor into the results?

A: The Intel Core i5-10400F has a 3DMark single-thread score of 688 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1453. This level of performance is sufficient to drive high frame rates at 1080p, but it likely contributes to the combination's rank of 933 out of 1632, as the game benefits from stronger single-core throughput.

Q: What is the difference in average FPS between Medium and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the average frame rate on Medium settings is 210.5 FPS, while on Ultra settings, it drops to 120 FPS. This represents a 90.5 FPS decrease when moving from Medium to Ultra.

Q: Does the GPU's VRAM capacity appear to be a limiting factor in this game?

A: The RTX 4060 has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory. The benchmark data does not show any direct indication of VRAM capacity being a bottleneck at the tested settings, as frame rates scale consistently with resolution and settings rather than showing a sudden cliff, suggesting that the 8 GB allocation is sufficient for CS2's requirements.

Q: How does this combo's performance at 1080p Low compare to other settings at the same resolution?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 380.8 FPS, which is significantly higher than the Medium preset's 314.5 FPS and the High preset's 238.8 FPS. This indicates that the game is highly sensitive to shadow and texture quality settings on this hardware.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rate data provides a complete picture of the combo's capabilities across three resolutions and four quality presets.

At 1920x1080, the system demonstrates its peak performance. The Low preset yields an average of 380.8 FPS, which is the highest recorded value for this combo. Moving to Medium, the average drops to 314.5 FPS, and at High, it is 238.8 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1080p produces an average of 184.3 FPS. These numbers indicate that for competitive play at standard high-refresh-rate monitors (144Hz or 240Hz), the system is more than adequate, even with Ultra settings.

At 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but begins to show the GPU's workload. The Low preset still delivers a high average of 251.9 FPS, which is excellent for 1440p gaming. Medium settings drop this to 210.5 FPS, and High settings to 159.5 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p averages 120 FPS, which is still smooth but requires a 120Hz monitor to fully utilize. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1440p shows a 131.9 FPS range, highlighting the impact of graphical fidelity on performance.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is the clear limiting factor. The Low preset averages 140 FPS, which is playable, but the higher presets show diminishing returns. Medium settings yield 119.1 FPS, High settings 89 FPS, and Ultra settings 68.7 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra at 4K is 71.3 FPS, and the Ultra result is the only one below the 70 FPS mark. This data suggests that for 4K gaming, users should stick to Medium or Low presets to maintain a high refresh rate experience, as the Ultra preset may not be suitable for fast-paced competitive play.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using a 5 nm process at TSMC. It has 3072 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 48 render output units. The GPU's boost clock is rated at 2460 MHz, and it has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s. In Counter-Strike 2, these specifications translate into the frame rates seen at higher resolutions. The GPU's Passmark G3D score of 19545 places it at the 66th percentile among all GPUs, and its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6600M, is only 0.6% faster in average benchmark score.

The GPU's role in this combo becomes more pronounced as resolution increases. At 1080p, the RTX 4060 is often not the bottleneck, as the CPU can feed it frames faster than it can render them at Low settings. However, at 4K, the GPU's pixel rate of 118.1 GPixel/s and texture rate of 236.2 GTexel/s are strained by the increased workload. The 4K Ultra result of 68.7 FPS is a reflection of the GPU's raw compute limits, as the 15.11 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is spread across more pixels. The GPU's 24 RT cores and 96 tensor cores are not heavily utilized in CS2, as the game does not rely on ray tracing or DLSS to the same extent as other modern titles.

The memory subsystem is also a key factor. The 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth is sufficient for the textures and geometry in CS2 at 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K, the larger render targets require more data to be moved, which can contribute to the frame rate drops. The 8 GB VRAM capacity does not appear to be a hard limit, as the game's system requirements are modest, but the bandwidth and bus width are more critical at high resolutions. The GPU's performance in the measured data shows a consistent pattern: it is a capable 1080p and 1440p card that can handle 4K with adjusted settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Comet Lake architecture, manufactured on a 14 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. The CPU's cache configuration includes 64 KB of L1 and 256 KB of L2 per core, with a shared 12 MB L3 cache. It supports DDR4 memory with a dual-channel bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s. In Counter-Strike 2, the CPU's single-thread performance is crucial, as the game's engine is known to be sensitive to IPC and clock speed.

The CPU's benchmark scores reflect its position in the market. Its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1453 and multi-core score of 10297 are solid for a 10th-gen part, but they are not class-leading. The CPU's 3DMark single-thread score of 688 and the Passmark single-thread score of 2541 indicate that it is capable, but newer architectures offer higher per-core performance. The CPU is at the 73rd percentile among all CPUs, but its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C and Intel Core i5-8500, which have similar average scores, showing that the i5-10400F is in a competitive but not dominant position.

In terms of the measured game performance, the CPU's role is most evident at 1080p with Low settings, where the average FPS of 380.8 suggests that the CPU is still able to push a high number of frames. However, the combo's rank of 933 out of 1632 indicates that many other CPUs, particularly those with higher boost clocks and better IPC, can push CS2 to even higher frame rates. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient for the game's multi-threaded aspects, but the single-thread performance is the primary driver of high FPS in CS2. The CPU's TDP of 65 W and support for DDR4 memory are practical for a budget-oriented build, but the data suggests that for users seeking maximum frame rates in competitive shooters, a newer CPU would offer a more significant advantage.