Counter-Strike 2

The Intel Core i5-12400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D produces exceptionally high frame rates in Counter-Strike 2, with the data showing this combination ranked 39th out of 2870 tested combos. The measured results reveal a system that scales predictably across resolutions and settings, though the performance ceiling at lower resolutions is clearly influenced by the CPU's six-core architecture. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS data, component roles, and practical settings for this specific configuration.

FAQ

Q: What is the overall performance ranking for this CPU and GPU combo in Counter-Strike 2?

A: The combo ranks 39th out of 2870 tested combinations, placing it in the top 1.4% of all tested systems.

Q: What is the best performance result recorded at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system achieves an average of 693 FPS, which is the highest measured result across all resolution and settings combinations.

Q: How much faster is the 1080p Low setting compared to 1080p Ultra?

A: The Low preset delivers 693 FPS average, which is 301 FPS higher than the Ultra preset's 392 FPS average at the same resolution.

Q: What is the difference between the 1440p High and 2160p High results?

A: The 2560x1440 High setting produces 334 FPS average, while the 3840x2160 High setting produces 187 FPS average, representing a 147 FPS drop when moving to 4K.

Q: Does the system maintain high frame rates at 4K resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, the Medium preset still delivers 250 FPS average with a minimum of 213 FPS, while the Low preset reaches 301 FPS average, showing the GPU maintains strong performance even at 4K.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all tested GPUs?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D has a percentile rank of 92, with an average benchmark score of 77712, placing it among the top tier of graphics cards.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's position at rank 39 out of 2870 tested combinations indicates that this pairing sits at the upper echelon of tested systems. The database shows this rank considers all tested hardware combinations, not just those using similar components. The CPU's percentile rank of 72 among all tested CPUs suggests that while the processor is capable, it is not the absolute top performer in the database. The GPU, however, holds a percentile rank of 92, which is notably higher and indicates that the graphics card is the stronger component in this pairing.

The combination of a mid-range six-core processor with a flagship GPU creates an interesting dynamic. The GPU's average benchmark score of 77712 places it near the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT, which scores 78940 with a deltaPct of -1.6%. The data shows the RTX 5090 D outperforms the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT by 1.1%, which scores 76904. These rival comparisons come from the GPU's synthetic benchmark performance rather than in-game results, but they help contextualize the GPU's overall capability.

For the CPU, the average benchmark score of 18683 places it just below the AMD EPYC 7643, which scores 18697 with a deltaPct of -0.1%. The Intel Core i7-1355U scores 18730 with a deltaPct of -0.3%, and the AMD Ryzen AI 5 330 scores 18811 with a deltaPct of -0.7%. The Intel Core i3-14100F scores 18519, which is 0.9% lower than the i5-12400. These tight margins in synthetic benchmarks suggest the CPU's performance is competitive with several other processors, but the in-game results show how this specific pairing performs in Counter-Strike 2.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is the dominant component in this pairing, evidenced by its 92nd percentile ranking and the high frame rates observed across all tested configurations. The GPU features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. The memory operates at 1750 MHz with 28 Gbps effective speed. The base clock runs at 2017 MHz with a boost clock of 2407 MHz, and the GPU contains 21760 shading units along with 176 ROPs.

The GPU's role becomes more apparent as resolution increases. At 3840x2160, the frame rates remain highly playable, with the Low preset achieving 301 FPS average and the High preset achieving 187 FPS average. The Medium preset at 4K shows a minimum of 213 FPS, which indicates the GPU maintains consistent performance even under heavier loads. The GPU's 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 1,636.8 GTexel/s texture rate provide substantial headroom for Counter-Strike 2's rendering demands.

The GPU data shows a pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s, which helps explain why the system can push such high frame rates at 4K resolution. The 32 GB memory capacity is more than sufficient for this game, and the 1.79 TB/s bandwidth ensures that texture streaming and memory access do not become bottlenecks. The GPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT with a deltaPct of -1.6% and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB with a deltaPct of -2.4%, showing the RTX 5090 D outperforms these alternatives in aggregate benchmark scores.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 505 FPS average, which is more than sufficient for competitive play. The Medium preset at 1080p achieves 649 FPS average with a minimum of 551 FPS, offering a solid balance between visual quality and performance. The Low preset reaches 693 FPS average, which is the highest measured result in the entire dataset.

For 2560x1440, the High preset delivers 334 FPS average, which remains well above the refresh rates of most monitors. The Medium preset at this resolution achieves 448 FPS average with a minimum of 380 FPS, providing a strong combination of visual fidelity and performance. The Low preset reaches 539 FPS average, which is exceptionally high for 1440p gaming.

At 3840x2160, the High preset produces 187 FPS average, which is still playable but represents a significant drop from lower resolutions. The Medium preset at 4K achieves 250 FPS average with a minimum of 213 FPS, making it the recommended choice for 4K gaming with this combo. The Low preset at 4K reaches 301 FPS average, which is excellent for competitive play at 4K resolution. The Ultra preset consistently shows the lowest frame rates across all resolutions, with 392 FPS at 1080p, 260 FPS at 1440p, and 145 FPS at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings levels. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 693 FPS average, followed by Medium at 649 FPS with a minimum of 551 FPS and a maximum of 746 FPS. The High preset delivers 505 FPS average, and the Ultra preset produces 392 FPS average. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 301 FPS, showing that settings have a substantial impact on performance at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves 539 FPS average, which is 154 FPS lower than the 1080p Low result. The Medium preset at 1440p delivers 448 FPS average with a minimum of 380 FPS and a maximum of 515 FPS. The High preset produces 334 FPS average, and the Ultra preset drops to 260 FPS average. The performance drop from 1080p to 1440p ranges from 26% at Low settings to 34% at Ultra settings.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset achieves 301 FPS average, which represents a 392 FPS decrease from the 1080p Low result. The Medium preset at 4K delivers 250 FPS average with a minimum of 213 FPS and a maximum of 288 FPS. The High preset produces 187 FPS average, and the Ultra preset drops to 145 FPS average. The scaling from 1440p to 4K shows a 44% performance reduction at Low settings and a 44% reduction at Ultra settings, indicating consistent scaling behavior across the resolution range.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture. It operates with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with a thermal design power of 65 W. 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. The processor supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration and connects via PCIe Gen 5 with 16 lanes from the CPU.

The CPU's role in Counter-Strike 2 becomes evident when examining the performance scaling across resolutions. At 1080p, the frame rates are exceptionally high, with the Low preset reaching 693 FPS average. These high frame rates suggest the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough data to maintain such performance. The CPU's single-thread score of 3456 in Passmark and 910 in 3DMark single-thread tests indicate strong per-core performance, which is critical for a game like Counter-Strike 2 that relies heavily on single-threaded performance.

The CPU's multi-threaded capabilities are demonstrated by its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 15989 and Geekbench multicore score of 8564. These scores place the CPU in the 72nd percentile among all tested CPUs. However, the data suggests the CPU may become a limiting factor at 1080p, as the frame rates at this resolution are extremely high but show a larger drop when moving from Low to Ultra settings compared to higher resolutions. This indicates that the CPU's six cores are sufficient for the game's requirements, but the GPU's massive performance headroom at lower resolutions means the CPU must work harder to maintain maximum frame rates.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals clear scaling patterns as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K. At Low settings, the frame rates drop from 693 FPS at 1080p to 539 FPS at 1440p, representing a 22% reduction. Moving from 1440p to 4K at Low settings, the frame rates drop from 539 FPS to 301 FPS, a 44% reduction. The total drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is 392 FPS, or 57%.

At High settings, the scaling shows a similar pattern. The 1080p High preset achieves 505 FPS, dropping to 334 FPS at 1440p (a 34% reduction) and then to 187 FPS at 4K (a 44% reduction from 1440p). The total drop from 1080p to 4K at High settings is 318 FPS, or 63%. The Medium preset shows 649 FPS at 1080p, 448 FPS at 1440p (a 31% reduction), and 250 FPS at 4K (a 44% reduction from 1440p).

The scaling behavior indicates that the GPU becomes increasingly important as resolution increases. At 1080p, the percentage drops between settings are larger, suggesting the CPU has more influence on performance. At 4K, the frame rates remain high but the relative drops between settings are smaller, indicating the GPU is handling the increased pixel count efficiently. The 4K Medium preset's minimum of 213 FPS shows that even with demanding settings, the system maintains playable frame rates. This scaling analysis points to a balanced system where the CPU handles lower resolutions effectively while the GPU's 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth provide ample resources for higher resolution rendering.