Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2 is a demanding esports title that rewards high refresh rates, and the Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER delivers a wide performance envelope depending on your resolution and preset choices. The measured data shows this combination is capable of competitive frame rates at 1080p, but requires careful settings management to maintain that experience at higher resolutions. The benchmark results indicate a system that is well-balanced for 1080p and 1440p play, with clear scaling patterns that reveal where each component takes the lead.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data suggests that the High preset offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance for most users. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers an average of 223.8 FPS, which is more than sufficient for any high-refresh-rate monitor and still leaves headroom for demanding scenes. Stepping down to Medium raises the average to 292.4 FPS, a substantial jump that competitive players will notice, but the visual trade-off may not be worth it for those who prioritize image quality. Low settings push the average to 353.3 FPS, but this preset strips away many visual effects that can impact visibility and situational awareness.

At 2560x1440, the High preset maintains a solid 147.5 FPS average, which remains above the threshold for most 144Hz monitors. This makes High the recommended preset for 1440p gaming, as it preserves enough graphical detail while keeping frame rates in a playable range. The Medium preset at this resolution produces 196 FPS, which is excellent for competitive play, but the visual clarity gains from High are generally preferred by players who need to spot enemies at a distance. Low settings at 1440p yield 233.9 FPS, but the reduced draw distances and simplified textures can be a disadvantage in a game where reading the environment is critical.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes dramatically. The High preset drops to 82.1 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced competitive play. Medium produces 110.4 FPS, which is a better target, but this is where the GPU begins to struggle. For 4K, the data suggests that High is the maximum viable preset, with Medium being the sweet spot for those who want higher frame rates. Ultra settings are not recommended at any resolution, as they cause a significant performance hit: 172.7 FPS at 1080p, 111.8 FPS at 1440p, and 61.9 FPS at 4K, which falls below the minimum for smooth competitive play.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Rocket Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its benchmark results show strong multi-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14372 and a single-core score of 2029. This places the CPU in the 75th percentile among all tested processors, with an average benchmark score of 17181. The nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U with a deltaPct of 0, the Intel Core i7-1260P at -0.2, and the Intel Core Ultra 7 164U at -0.2, indicating that the i5-11400F sits in a competitive mid-range tier.

In Counter-Strike 2, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions where the GPU is not the bottleneck. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the average FPS reaches 353.3, which suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding frames at a very high rate. The boost clock of 4.40 GHz is crucial here, as the game's engine benefits from high single-thread performance. The 12 MB of shared L3 cache also helps with the game's map loading and entity management. At 4K, the CPU's influence diminishes, as the GPU becomes the limiting factor, but the i5-11400F still provides enough processing power to avoid introducing stutters or frame drops.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER features the TU104 chip with 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units. It has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The GPU's base clock is 1605 MHz with a boost clock of 1770 MHz, and it supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6. Its benchmark results are solid, with a PassMark G3D score of 18169 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 94918. The GPU ranks in the 65th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 22206. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA RTX A400 at -0.5 deltaPct, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z at 0.9, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile at -2.3.

The GPU's role in Counter-Strike 2 becomes apparent at higher resolutions and settings. At 1080p, the GPU is not the primary bottleneck, as the CPU can keep up with the frame generation. However, at 1440p and especially 4K, the GPU's 8 GB of VRAM and its compute capabilities become the limiting factor. The data shows a clear trend: as resolution increases, the FPS drops significantly, indicating that the RTX 2070 SUPER is being pushed to its limits. The 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K, the GPU struggles to maintain high frame rates, particularly on Ultra settings where the average drops to 61.9 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER ranks 1003 out of 1632 tested combos in Counter-Strike 2. This places it in the lower-middle tier of all possible system configurations, which is expected given the age of both components. The ranking indicates that while this combo is capable of delivering playable frame rates, it is not among the top performers. The data suggests that this system is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where it can achieve high frame rates, but it falls behind newer hardware in raw performance.

The rank of 1003 out of 1632 means that roughly 61% of tested configurations perform better than this one. This is not a surprising result, as both the CPU and GPU are from earlier generations: the i5-11400F was released in 2021, and the RTX 2070 SUPER in 2019. However, the measured FPS data shows that this combo still holds its own in a game like Counter-Strike 2, which is more CPU-bound at lower resolutions. The combination of a capable 6-core processor and a mid-range GPU from the Turing architecture provides a balanced experience for most players, even if it doesn't top the charts.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear pattern of GPU bottlenecking at higher resolutions. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 223.8 at 1080p to 147.5 at 1440p, a reduction of 34%, and then to 82.1 at 4K, a further reduction of 44%. This steep decline indicates that the RTX 2070 SUPER is struggling to handle the increased pixel count, while the CPU remains capable of keeping up. At Low settings, the drop is even more pronounced: from 353.3 FPS at 1080p to 233.9 FPS at 1440p and 128.7 FPS at 4K. The fact that Low settings at 4K still achieve 128.7 FPS suggests that the GPU is the limiting factor, as reducing visual quality does not fully compensate for the resolution increase.

The data shows that the CPU is the primary bottleneck at 1080p, especially on Low settings where the FPS exceeds 350. This indicates that the i5-11400F is working near its maximum capacity, but the GPU has headroom. As resolution increases to 1440p and 4K, the balance shifts, and the GPU becomes the limiting component. The transition point appears to be around 1440p, where the system is well-balanced and delivers 147.5 FPS on High settings. At 4K, the GPU's limitations are obvious, and the system is no longer suitable for high-refresh-rate competitive play.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured FPS across all settings shows the system's potential for high refresh rates. Low settings produce an average of 353.3 FPS, while Medium yields 292.4 FPS. High settings drop to 223.8 FPS, and Ultra falls to 172.7 FPS. These numbers indicate that the system is capable of driving a 240Hz monitor at 1080p with Low or Medium settings, and a 144Hz monitor with High settings. The gap between Medium and High is 68.6 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is 51.1 FPS, showing diminishing returns at the highest preset.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down but remains competitive. Low settings deliver 233.9 FPS, Medium produces 196 FPS, High achieves 147.5 FPS, and Ultra drops to 111.8 FPS. This resolution is where the system finds its sweet spot for competitive play, as High settings still exceed 144 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at High settings is 76.3 FPS, which is a significant reduction but still leaves the system in a playable range.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles to maintain high frame rates. Low settings yield 128.7 FPS, Medium produces 110.4 FPS, High drops to 82.1 FPS, and Ultra falls to 61.9 FPS. The data reveals that 4K is not a viable resolution for this combo if you want to play competitively, as even Low settings barely reach 130 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 4K at High settings shows a drop of 65.4 FPS, emphasizing the GPU's limitations at this resolution. For 4K gaming, the system is better suited for single-player experiences where 60 FPS is acceptable, but it is not recommended for fast-paced esports titles.