Counter-Strike 2

The Intel Core i5-12400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers a top-tier Counter-Strike 2 experience, securing a combo rank of 50 out of 1,632 tested combinations. This places the pairing in the 97th percentile of all combos, indicating that the vast majority of systems tested will deliver lower frame rates. The ranking reflects an exceptionally high-performance pairing, though the data reveals that the CPU is the primary constraint at lower resolutions, while the GPU takes over as the bottleneck at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 50 out of 1,632 tested combos puts it in the top 3% of all systems. This is a remarkable result, driven by the combination of a strong mid-range CPU and the most powerful consumer GPU available. The i5-12400 itself sits in the 77th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19,850. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-9700 (avg score 19,831, delta 0.1%), the Intel Core i5-11600K (avg score 19,771, delta 0.4%), and the Intel Core i7-8700 (avg score 19,894, delta -0.2%). These deltas are negligible, meaning the i5-12400 performs nearly identically to these older i7 parts in general compute tasks.

The GPU, meanwhile, is in the 91st percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 66,473. Its nearest rivals are all professional or workstation cards: the NVIDIA Tesla T4 (avg score 66,733, delta -0.4%), the NVIDIA Tesla P40 (avg score 66,127, delta 0.5%), the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 (avg score 67,097, delta -0.9%), and the NVIDIA Quadro P6000 (avg score 67,320, delta -1.3%). The RTX 4090’s consumer-oriented drivers and architecture give it a unique edge in gaming, even though its raw compute score is comparable to those professional cards.

The rank of 50 is not the top spot, which indicates that some combos with faster CPUs (such as flagship Core i9 or Ryzen 9 parts) achieve higher frame rates, particularly at 1080p. However, the margin is likely small, as the i5-12400’s single-thread performance is strong, with a 3DMark single-thread score of 910 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2,249.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel’s 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with a TDP of 65 W. It supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration. The CPU features 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core, and 18 MB of shared L3 cache. Its integrated graphics are the UHD Graphics 730, though they are irrelevant for this discrete GPU setup.

In Counter-Strike 2, the CPU’s role is critical, especially at lower resolutions where the GPU is not the limiting factor. The i5-12400’s 3DMark scores show a clear scaling pattern: 1,692 for 2 threads, 3,012 for 4 threads, 4,745 for 8 threads, and 5,873 for 16 threads. This indicates that the processor benefits from up to 8 threads, with diminishing returns beyond that. The game’s engine is well-optimized for multiple cores, but the single-thread performance is paramount for high frame rates.

The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 695.9 FPS, which is a massive number. At this resolution, the CPU is the primary bottleneck; the RTX 4090 is capable of rendering far more frames than the i5-12400 can feed it. The CPU’s 3DMark max-threads score of 5,890 and its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 15,935 are solid, but they are not the highest in the database, which explains why the combo does not rank first. The i5-12400’s PassMark single-thread score of 3,456 is strong, but the game’s physics and logic threads can tax the 6 physical cores heavily.

The 65 W TDP is low for a desktop part, but the boost clock of 4.40 GHz ensures that the CPU can deliver competitive performance in lightly-threaded workloads. The 18 MB of L3 cache is shared across all cores, which helps with game data locality. Overall, the CPU provides a solid foundation, but it is the limiting factor in high-FPS scenarios below 4K.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using TSMC’s 5 nm process. It features 16,384 shading units, 512 texture mapping units, and 176 raster output units. The GPU has 128 ray tracing cores and 512 tensor cores. Its base clock is 2,235 MHz, with a boost clock of 2,520 MHz. The memory subsystem consists of 24 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s. The memory clock is 1,313 MHz, which translates to 21 Gbps effective. The GPU’s FP32 performance is 82.58 TFLOPS, and its pixel rate is 443.5 GPixel/s.

The RTX 4090’s role in Counter-Strike 2 is to provide headroom. At 4K Ultra, the combo still manages 133 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS target for most monitors. The GPU’s immense compute power means that even at 4K, it is not fully utilized unless the resolution and settings are maximized. The GPU’s PassMark G3D score of 38,194 and its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 9,223 are indicative of its dominance.

The 24 GB of VRAM is overkill for Counter-Strike 2, but it ensures that there are no memory-related stutters, even at 4K Ultra. The GPU’s 1.01 TB/s bandwidth allows for rapid texture loading, which is beneficial for the game’s fast-paced action. The RTX 4090’s TDP is 450 W, and it requires a suggested PSU of 850 W, but these figures are not directly relevant to the FPS results.

The data shows that the GPU becomes the limiting factor only at 4K with high or ultra settings. At 1080p and 1440p, the GPU has spare capacity, as evidenced by the large FPS jumps when lowering settings. The RTX 4090 is an end-of-life product, with a launch MSRP of 1,599 USD, but its performance remains top-tier in this title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the combo’s performance across resolutions and settings.

At 1920x1080, the results are:

• Low: 695.9 FPS
• Medium: 622.3 FPS
• High: 466.0 FPS
• Ultra: 361.1 FPS

At 2560x1440, the results are:

• Low: 496.8 FPS
• Medium: 409.8 FPS
• High: 308.4 FPS
• Ultra: 237.0 FPS

At 3840x2160, the results are:

• Low: 273.8 FPS
• Medium: 228.2 FPS
• High: 170.7 FPS
• Ultra: 133.0 FPS

The data shows a clear pattern: the FPS drop is more pronounced when moving from 1080p to 1440p than from 1440p to 4K for the same settings. For example, at Low settings, the FPS drops from 695.9 to 496.8 (a 28.6% reduction) when going from 1080p to 1440p, and then to 273.8 (a 44.9% reduction) when going to 4K. This suggests that the CPU is the bottleneck at 1080p Low, as the GPU has so much headroom that the frame rate is limited by the processor’s ability to issue draw calls.

At Ultra settings, the FPS drops from 361.1 at 1080p to 237.0 at 1440p (a 34.4% reduction), and then to 133.0 at 4K (a 43.9% reduction). The percentage drop from 1440p to 4K is smaller than from 1080p to 1440p, indicating that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor at higher resolutions and settings. The difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p is 334.8 FPS (695.9 vs 361.1), which highlights the GPU’s ability to render at extremely high frame rates when the CPU can keep up.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling analysis reveals the bottleneck shift. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 695.9 FPS, but at 1080p Ultra, it drops to 361.1 FPS. This 48% reduction in FPS due to settings alone shows that the GPU is still doing significant work, but the CPU is clearly the primary limiter at this resolution. The 1080p Low result of 695.9 FPS is the highest in the dataset, and it is unlikely that any CPU could push much higher in this game due to engine limitations.

When moving to 1440p, the FPS at Low settings drops to 496.8, which is a 28.6% reduction from 1080p. This is a large drop, indicating that the GPU is starting to take on more responsibility. At 1440p Ultra, the FPS is 237.0, which is a 52.3% reduction from the 1080p Ultra result. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is steeper at Ultra settings, suggesting that the GPU is becoming the bottleneck.

At 4K, the scaling becomes more GPU-bound. The 4K Low result of 273.8 FPS is 44.9% lower than the 1440p Low result. The 4K Ultra result of 133.0 FPS is 43.9% lower than the 1440p Ultra result. These similar percentage drops indicate that at 4K, the GPU is the dominant constraint, regardless of settings. The CPU’s role diminishes, and the RTX 4090’s raw compute power determines the frame rate.

The data shows that the i5-12400 is a capable CPU for this game, but it cannot fully saturate the RTX 4090 at 1080p. The GPU’s performance is so high that the CPU becomes the limiting factor, leaving performance on the table. At 4K, the GPU is the limiting component, and the CPU’s 6 cores are sufficient to feed it. The combo is best suited for high-refresh-rate 1440p or 4K gaming, where the balance between CPU and GPU is more even. At 1080p, the CPU holds back the GPU, and at 4K, the GPU is fully utilized, making this a well-rounded but slightly CPU-limited pairing at the lowest resolutions.