Counter-Strike 2

The Intel Core i5-12400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 delivers a measured combination for Counter-Strike 2 that sits at rank 494 out of 1632 tested combos, placing it in the upper third of all configurations. The data shows a CPU with 6 cores and 12 threads, base clock of 2.50 GHz and boost clock of 4.40 GHz, built on Intel’s Alder Lake architecture with a 10 nm process node. This processor carries a 65 W TDP and supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory through a dual-channel interface, with 18 MB of shared L3 cache. The GPU in this pairing is an Ampere-architecture part from Samsung’s 8 nm process, featuring 8704 shading units, 272 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, with a 10 GB GDDR6X memory pool on a 320-bit bus delivering 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The RTX 3080’s boost clock reaches 1710 MHz, and its FP32 throughput is measured at 29.77 TFLOPS.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Core i5-12400 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor, and in Counter-Strike 2 the measured frame rates indicate that this CPU configuration is not the primary constraint at most settings. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 504.6 FPS average, which is the highest recorded value across all tested rows. This result suggests that the CPU’s single-thread performance, evidenced by its 3dmark_single_thread score of 910 and cinebench_r23_singlecore score of 2249, is sufficient to feed the RTX 3080 at high frame rates. The processor’s boost clock of 4.40 GHz is a key factor here, as Counter-Strike 2 is a game that benefits from high per-core throughput rather than raw core count. The 12 threads allow for background tasks and game logic to be handled without starving the rendering pipeline, but the data shows diminishing returns when moving from Medium to Ultra settings at the same resolution.

The CPU’s benchmark profile places it near several rivals: it scores within 0.1% of the Intel Core i7-9700, 0.2% behind the Intel Core i7-8700, 0.4% behind the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5995WX, and 0.4% ahead of the Intel Core i5-11600K. These deltas are small, indicating that the i5-12400’s computational capability is tightly clustered with those older or higher-tier parts. In practical terms for Counter-Strike 2, the 3dmark_16_threads score of 5873 and 3dmark_max_threads score of 5890 show that even when all threads are active, the processor does not bottleneck the GPU at 1080p Medium, where the combo delivers 419.4 FPS. At 4K Ultra, the average drops to 89.3 FPS, which is a 82.3% reduction from the 1080p Low figure, indicating that the GPU becomes the limiting factor as resolution scales, not the CPU.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

The measured FPS rows provide a clear hierarchy across presets. At 1920x1080, Low produces 504.6 FPS, Medium yields 419.4 FPS, High gives 312.4 FPS, and Ultra drops to 240.6 FPS. The step from Low to Medium costs 85.2 FPS, while the step from Medium to High costs another 107.0 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 71.8 FPS. For competitive play, the Low preset offers the highest headroom, but the data shows that Medium still delivers over 400 FPS, which exceeds the refresh rate capabilities of most displays. The High preset at 312.4 FPS remains above 300 FPS, making it a viable choice for players who want better visual fidelity without sacrificing the fluidity that Counter-Strike 2 demands.

At 2560x1440, the pattern shifts: Low hits 333.7 FPS, Medium reaches 277.4 FPS, High drops to 207.3 FPS, and Ultra falls to 163.9 FPS. The delta between Low and Medium is 56.3 FPS, but the delta between High and Ultra is 43.4 FPS, showing that the game’s Ultra preset imposes a heavier cost at this resolution. At 3840x2160, the differences compress: Low gives 185.7 FPS, Medium 156.2 FPS, High 116.2 FPS, and Ultra 89.3 FPS. The best experience per the measured data depends on the target resolution. For 1080p, High is the sweet spot because it maintains over 300 FPS while providing more graphical detail than Low or Medium. For 1440p, Medium at 277.4 FPS is the recommended balance, as High at 207.3 FPS approaches the threshold where some players may notice frame pacing issues. For 4K, Low at 185.7 FPS is the only preset that stays above 150 FPS, making it the most responsive option, while Ultra at 89.3 FPS is only suitable for slower-paced viewing.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured data shows a steep FPS decline as resolution increases, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound workload. At High settings, the combo produces 312.4 FPS at 1080p, 207.3 FPS at 1440p (a 33.6% drop), and 116.2 FPS at 4K (a 62.8% drop from 1080p). This scaling pattern indicates that the RTX 3080’s rendering throughput, rather than the CPU’s processing capability, is the dominant factor at higher resolutions. The GPU’s 760.3 GB/s memory bandwidth and 10 GB GDDR6X frame buffer are being taxed as pixel count rises, which is consistent with the 62.8% reduction from 1080p to 4K.

At Low settings, the same resolution progression shows 504.6 FPS at 1080p, 333.7 FPS at 1440p (a 33.9% drop), and 185.7 FPS at 4K (a 63.2% drop from 1080p). The consistency of these percentage drops across presets reinforces that resolution scaling is governed by the GPU’s fill rate and shader throughput. The RTX 3080’s pixel rate of 164.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 465.1 GTexel/s are the hardware limits that manifest in these frame rate declines. At 1080p, the CPU’s 6 cores and 12 threads have enough headroom to push the GPU to its maximum, but at 4K, the GPU’s 29.77 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is the bottleneck, as evidenced by the Ultra preset at 4K dropping to 89.3 FPS, which is a 62.9% reduction from the 1080p Ultra figure of 240.6 FPS. This data confirms that the limiting component shifts from balanced at 1080p to clearly GPU-bound at 1440p and 4K.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combo of the Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 achieves rank 494 out of 1632 tested combinations in Counter-Strike 2. This places it in the 30.3rd percentile of all combos, meaning roughly 30% of configurations deliver higher average frame rates in this game. The rank reflects the aggregate performance across all measured resolutions and presets, and the data shows that this pairing is competitive but not top-tier. The CPU’s percentileVsAllCpus of 77 indicates that the i5-12400 outperforms 77% of all tested CPUs in general benchmarks, while the GPU’s percentileVsAllGpus of 80 shows the RTX 3080 beats 80% of all tested GPUs. However, the combo rank of 494 suggests that in Counter-Strike 2 specifically, other factors such as memory latency or driver overhead may reduce the effective performance relative to other parts.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the i5-12400’s avgBenchmarkScore of 19850 is nearly identical to the Intel Core i7-9700’s 19831 (0.1% difference), the Intel Core i7-8700’s 19894 (-0.2%), and the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5995WX’s 19928 (-0.4%). The RTX 3080’s avgBenchmarkScore of 35787 is similarly close to the AMD Radeon Pro Duo’s 35860 (-0.2%), the AMD Radeon 880M’s 35646 (0.4%), and the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE’s 36101 (-0.9%). These small deltas mean that swapping this CPU or GPU for one of these near-identical rivals would likely produce negligible changes in Counter-Strike 2 performance. The rank of 494 out of 1632 is solidly mid-pack, and the data does not show any anomalous behavior that would push this combo higher or lower than expected given its component scores.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications directly explain the measured frame rates. The GPU has 10 GB of GDDR6X memory with a 320-bit bus, providing 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth. In Counter-Strike 2, this bandwidth is sufficient to handle the game’s texture streaming and geometry data at all tested presets, as evidenced by the fact that even at 4K Ultra, the combo maintains 89.3 FPS without any reported min FPS drops. The GPU’s boost clock of 1710 MHz, combined with 8704 shading units, yields a theoretical FP32 throughput of 29.77 TFLOPS, which is the computational engine behind the high frame rates at lower resolutions.

The RTX 3080’s 80th percentile ranking among all GPUs underscores its capability, but the measured data shows that it is not fully utilized at 1080p Low, where the combo hits 504.6 FPS. At that setting, the CPU’s 6 cores may be the limiting factor, as the GPU’s rendering pipeline cannot be fed fast enough. However, as resolution increases to 1440p and 4K, the GPU’s role becomes more prominent. The 4K Low average of 185.7 FPS is still high, but the 4K Ultra average of 89.3 FPS shows that the GPU’s 10 GB VRAM and 760.3 GB/s bandwidth are being taxed by the higher fidelity preset. The GPU’s pixel rate of 164.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 465.1 GTexel/s are the hardware limits that dictate the 62.8% drop from 1080p High to 4K High. The data indicates that the RTX 3080 provides ample performance for Counter-Strike 2, but its end-of-life production status and 320 W TDP are factors to consider for long-term use, though neither affects the measured results directly.