Counter-Strike 2

FAQ

Q: How does the Intel Core i5-10400F compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i5-10400F has an average benchmark score of 14168. It sits 0.4% above the AMD EPYC 7552 (score 14115), 0.8% below the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C (score 14277), 1.1% below the Intel Core i5-8500 (score 14332), and 1.2% below the AMD Ryzen Embedded V2546 (score 14336). These deltas are all within roughly a single percentage point, indicating the chip is closely matched with a broad set of competitors.

Q: What is the GPU's standing among all tested graphics cards?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 achieves an average benchmark score of 37283, placing it in the 81st percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, scores 37507, which is 0.6% higher. The RTX 4070 also trails the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A by 1.9% (score 38008) and the RTX 4080 Mobile by 2.2% (score 38135), while leading the AMD Radeon RX 5300M by 2.5% (score 36371).

Q: How does this CPU+GPU combination rank specifically for Counter-Strike 2?

A: The combo ranks 416th out of 1632 tested combinations for this game. This places it in the upper quarter of all tested pairings, though not among the top tier. The rank reflects the measured FPS data across all resolution and settings combinations, not synthetic scores.

Q: What is the memory configuration of this GPU and its bandwidth?

A: The RTX 4070 comes with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. Memory clocks run at 1313 MHz with 21 Gbps effective speed. This configuration is relevant for high-resolution textures in CS2, though the game is generally not memory-bandwidth limited at the tested settings.

Q: What are the CPU's core and thread counts, and its clock speeds?

A: The Intel Core i5-10400F features 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. It has 12 MB of shared L3 cache, with 64 KB L1 and 256 KB L2 per core. It supports DDR4 memory in dual-channel configuration with 42.7 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: What is the GPU's launch MSRP?

A: The launch MSRP is 599 USD.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 achieves rank 416 out of 1632 tested combos in Counter-Strike 2. This percentile position — roughly the 74th percentile — indicates a strong but not elite pairing for this title. The CPU itself sits in the 73rd percentile among all processors, while the GPU sits higher at the 81st percentile among all graphics cards. The gap between these two percentile positions suggests the CPU is the more limiting component in this pairing.

The data supports this interpretation when examining the measured FPS across settings. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 508.1 FPS average, which is extraordinarily high. At 1080p Ultra, it drops to 254.3 FPS. The fact that even the most demanding settings at 1080p remain above 250 FPS indicates the GPU has substantial headroom. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads, with a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, provide the foundation for these high frame rates. However, the 73rd percentile CPU ranking versus the 81st percentile GPU ranking implies that in CPU-bound scenarios — which typically occur at lower resolutions and settings — the i5-10400F will cap performance before the RTX 4070 reaches its full potential.

The ranking at 416 out of 1632 is consistent with a pairing where both components are above average but neither is flagship-tier. The i5-10400F, despite being an older architecture (14 nm Comet Lake), remains competitive in CS2 due to the game's modest thread requirements. The RTX 4070, with its Ada Lovelace architecture on a 5 nm process, provides ample rasterization throughput. The combination works well because CS2 is not heavily GPU-dependent at competitive settings, allowing the CPU's single-thread performance (1453 in Cinebench R23 single-core) to shine.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 plays a significant role in this pairing, particularly at higher resolutions and settings. The GPU features 5888 shading units, 184 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, with 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores. Its boost clock of 2475 MHz and base clock of 1920 MHz contribute to a FP32 throughput of 29.15 TFLOPS. The 12 GB GDDR6X memory with 504.2 GB/s bandwidth ensures that texture streaming and high-resolution rendering do not become bottlenecks.

In CS2, the GPU's role becomes more pronounced as resolution increases. At 4K Ultra, the combo delivers 96.1 FPS, which is the lowest measured result. This represents a substantial drop from 4K High (120.8 FPS) and 4K Medium (164.9 FPS). The GPU's pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s and texture rate of 455.4 GTexel/s are relevant here — these throughput metrics determine how quickly the card can fill pixels and sample textures at high resolutions.

The GPU's 81st percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37283, places it well above the median. Its nearest rival, the RX Vega 56, is only 0.6% ahead, while the RTX 4080 Mobile is 2.2% ahead. This indicates the desktop RTX 4070 is a high-performing card that can handle CS2's demands without strain. The 200 W TDP and suggested 550 W PSU are modest for the performance delivered, though these figures are not directly reflected in FPS measurements.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data across four settings presets — Low, Medium, High, and Ultra — at three resolutions provides a clear picture of optimal configurations. At 1080p, all settings deliver well above competitive thresholds: Low produces 508.1 FPS, Medium 438.9 FPS, High 328 FPS, and Ultra 254.3 FPS. The minimum of these, 254.3 FPS at Ultra, exceeds the refresh rate of most high-end monitors. For competitive play, the Low preset's 508.1 FPS offers maximal responsiveness, but the Medium preset at 438.9 FPS is a strong balance — it retains higher visual fidelity while still delivering frame rates far beyond what any display can show.

At 1440p, the pattern shifts. Low delivers 349.7 FPS, Medium 291.9 FPS, High 218.6 FPS, and Ultra 168.4 FPS. The High preset at 218.6 FPS remains excellent for high-refresh monitors (240 Hz class). The Ultra preset at 168.4 FPS is still viable for 144 Hz displays. For 1440p users, High is the recommended preset — it offers the best visual quality while maintaining frame rates that exceed typical refresh rate targets.

At 4K, the data shows more differentiation. Low delivers 196.8 FPS, Medium 164.9 FPS, High 120.8 FPS, and Ultra 96.1 FPS. The Medium preset at 164.9 FPS is the sweet spot for 4K gaming, providing high frame rates for 144 Hz displays. The High preset at 120.8 FPS is acceptable for 120 Hz monitors, but Ultra at 96.1 FPS dips below the 100 FPS threshold that many players consider a minimum for smooth gameplay. The recommendation is Medium for 4K, High for 1440p, and Medium or Low for 1080p depending on whether the player prioritizes maximum FPS or better visuals.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals the bottleneck characteristics of this pairing. At Low settings, the progression is 508.1 FPS (1080p) → 349.7 FPS (1440p) → 196.8 FPS (4K). This represents a 31.2% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 43.7% drop from 1440p to 4K. The total decline from 1080p to 4K is 61.3% of the original frame rate.

At High settings, the progression is 328 FPS (1080p) → 218.6 FPS (1440p) → 120.8 FPS (4K). This is a 33.4% drop to 1440p and a 44.7% drop from 1440p to 4K. The pattern is consistent — the scaling is roughly linear with pixel count, which suggests the GPU is becoming the limiting factor at higher resolutions. If the CPU were the primary constraint, we would expect to see smaller FPS differences as resolution increases, because the CPU's workload remains relatively constant regardless of resolution.

The fact that frame rates still exceed 120 FPS at 4K High indicates the RTX 4070 has substantial headroom. The GPU's 504.2 GB/s memory bandwidth and 29.15 TFLOPS FP32 throughput are more than sufficient for CS2's rendering demands. The CPU, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, is capable of feeding the GPU at 4K without becoming a bottleneck. The scaling behavior suggests that at 1080p and 1440p, the CPU's single-thread performance (1453 in Cinebench R23 single-core) may impose a ceiling, but at 4K, the GPU's rendering workload dominates the frame time.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are as follows: Low settings produce 508.1 FPS, the highest result in the entire dataset. Medium settings deliver 438.9 FPS, a 13.6% reduction from Low. High settings yield 328 FPS, which is 35.4% lower than Low. Ultra settings produce 254.3 FPS, a 50% reduction from Low. The spread from Low to Ultra is 253.8 FPS, indicating that visual quality settings have a substantial impact on performance at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the values are: Low at 349.7 FPS, Medium at 291.9 FPS, High at 218.6 FPS, and Ultra at 168.4 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra is 181.3 FPS, a 51.8% reduction. Compared to 1080p, each setting loses roughly 30-35% of its frame rate. The High preset at 218.6 FPS remains above the 144 Hz refresh rate threshold, making this a viable option for high-refresh 1440p monitors.

At 3840x2160, the values are: Low at 196.8 FPS, Medium at 164.9 FPS, High at 120.8 FPS, and Ultra at 96.1 FPS. The Low to Ultra spread is 100.7 FPS, a 51.2% reduction. The Ultra preset at 96.1 FPS is the only measured result below 100 FPS across the entire dataset. This indicates that 4K Ultra is the most demanding configuration, but even this remains playable on displays with refresh rates up to 96 Hz.

The data shows a consistent pattern: the gap between Low and Medium is smaller than the gap between High and Ultra. At 1080p, Low-to-Medium is 69.2 FPS, while High-to-Ultra is 73.7 FPS. At 1440p, Low-to-Medium is 57.8 FPS, and High-to-Ultra is 50.2 FPS. At 4K, Low-to-Medium is 31.9 FPS, and High-to-Ultra is 24.7 FPS. This suggests that the Ultra preset introduces disproportionately higher rendering costs compared to High, likely due to additional effects or shadow quality that strain the GPU's pixel rate and texture rate.