Counter-Strike 2

# Counter-Strike 2 with Intel Core i5-13400F + AMD Radeon RX 7700

This pairing combines Intel's Raptor Lake 10-core processor with AMD's RDNA 3.0 graphics card, delivering a competitive setup for Counter-Strike 2. The i5-13400F sits at the 77th percentile among all CPUs, while the RX 7700 lands at the 58th percentile among GPUs. Benchmark results show this combo achieving triple-digit frame rates at every tested resolution, with performance scaling predictably as settings and resolution are adjusted.

FAQ

Q: What average FPS can I expect at 1920x1080 with High settings?

A: The measured average is 251 FPS at 1080p High. This drops to 195 FPS at Ultra, but rises to 405 FPS at Low and 336 FPS at Medium settings.

Q: How does this combo handle 4K gaming in Counter-Strike 2?

A: At 3840x2160, the system averages 93 FPS on High settings, 124 FPS on Medium, 150 FPS on Low, and 72 FPS on Ultra. The 16 GB VRAM buffer on the RX 7700 helps maintain playable frame rates even at this demanding resolution.

Q: Is the Medium preset a good middle ground?

A: Yes. Medium delivers 336 FPS at 1080p, 223 FPS at 1440p, and 124 FPS at 4K, with the only min/max measurements recorded in the data (e.g., 286–387 FPS at 1080p). This preset offers a strong balance between visual quality and raw performance.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The i5-13400F's average benchmark score of 25,292 is virtually identical to the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS (25,284, 0% delta). It trails the Intel Core 5 120 by 0.3% and the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D by 0.3%, while leading the AMD Ryzen 7 6800H by 0.4%.

Q: What about the GPU's standing among similar cards?

A: The RX 7700's average score of 15,852 places it within 1.7% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (16,129). It is 1% behind the AMD Radeon RX 9060 and 1.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W5500, with the R9 370X being essentially tied at -0.1%.

Q: Does this combo rank well among all tested combinations?

A: The combo ranks 1,273rd out of 2,870 tested combinations, placing it in the upper half of all paired CPU/GPU setups in the database for this game.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F is built on the Raptor Lake architecture using Intel's 10 nm process. It provides 10 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 20 MB of shared L3 cache. This configuration supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory through a dual-channel memory bus, with PCIe Gen 5 connectivity offering 16 lanes from the CPU.

For Counter-Strike 2, a game that responds well to strong single-thread performance, the i5-13400F's boost clock of 4.60 GHz is significant. Single-thread benchmark scores include a Geekbench single-core result of 1,996 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3,191. These figures indicate robust per-core throughput, which translates to consistent frame pacing in competitive shooters where CPU-bound scenarios are common.

Multi-threaded performance is equally solid for a 10-core part. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score reaches 22,604, while Geekbench multi-core hits 11,068. The 3DMark results show scaling from 1,880 (2 threads) to 7,314 (16 threads), demonstrating efficient thread utilization. PassMark multithread score of 25,032 further confirms the CPU's capability to handle background tasks while gaming.

The processor's 65 W TDP classification means it runs within a modest thermal envelope, though actual power delivery depends on motherboard settings. The CPU's percentile ranking at 77% of all processors puts it ahead of the majority of installed CPUs, which is relevant for a game like Counter-Strike 2 where high frame rates demand strong CPU throughput. The nearest rivals' scores—all within 0.4% of the i5-13400F—suggest that this processor is competitive with several AMD options, though the 0.3% deficit to the Ryzen 5 5600X3D indicates the AMD chip holds a slight edge in synthetic averages.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 uses the Navi 32 chip built on TSMC's 5 nm process, featuring 28,100 million transistors on a 346 mm² die. The RDNA 3.0 architecture provides 2,560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 96 raster operation pipelines, along with 40 ray tracing cores. Clock speeds are set at a base of 1900 MHz, a game clock of 2041 MHz, and a boost clock of 2459 MHz.

Memory configuration is substantial: 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory clock runs at 2438 MHz, which translates to 19.5 Gbps effective. This large VRAM pool is particularly relevant for Counter-Strike 2 at higher resolutions, where texture data and frame buffers can consume significant memory. The pixel rate of 236.1 GPixel/s and texture rate of 393.4 GTexel/s support the high fill rates needed for fast-paced FPS rendering.

The GPU's FP32 compute reaches 25.18 TFLOPS, with FP16 at the same 1:1 ratio. DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) ensures compatibility with modern rendering features. The card requires a 550 W suggested PSU and uses two 8-pin power connectors, with a 200 W TDP. Display outputs include HDMI 2.1a, two DisplayPort 2.1 ports, and a USB Type-C connection.

In Counter-Strike 2 benchmarks, the GPU's influence is most visible at higher resolutions. At 4K, frame rates drop from 150 FPS on Low to 72 FPS on Ultra, showing the GPU becoming the limiting factor as pixel count rises. The 16 GB VRAM ensures that even at Ultra settings with 4K resolution, there is no memory capacity bottleneck. The GPU's percentile ranking at 58% places it slightly above the median, and while the PassMark G3D score of 20,974 suggests solid DirectX performance, the nearest rival comparisons show the RX 7700 within 1.7% of the RTX 3060 Ti, indicating similar raw throughput in this workload.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance on optimal settings for this combo. At 1920x1080, the Low preset yields 405 FPS, Medium gives 336 FPS, High produces 251 FPS, and Ultra drops to 195 FPS. For competitive play where frame rate is paramount, Low or Medium offers the highest headroom. However, High at 251 FPS still exceeds the refresh rates of most high-end monitors, making it a viable choice for those wanting better visuals without sacrificing responsiveness.

At 2560x1440, the pattern continues: Low hits 268 FPS, Medium reaches 223 FPS, High delivers 166 FPS, and Ultra falls to 129 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p strikes an excellent balance—223 FPS is well above the 144 Hz threshold and the min/max readings of 189–256 FPS show consistent performance. For gamers with QHD displays, Medium is the recommended starting point, with High remaining playable if visual fidelity is prioritized.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes. Low achieves 150 FPS, Medium manages 124 FPS, High drops to 93 FPS, and Ultra falls to 72 FPS. For 4K displays, Medium is the sweet spot, providing 124 FPS with a min of 106 FPS and max of 143 FPS. This keeps the experience smooth even during intense firefights. High at 93 FPS is acceptable for less demanding players, but Ultra at 72 FPS approaches the lower boundary of what most consider comfortable for a competitive shooter.

The overall recommendation is to use Medium settings across all resolutions as the default, given the consistent min/max data and strong average FPS figures. Players with 1080p monitors can push to High without concern, while 4K users should avoid Ultra unless they prioritize visuals over frame rate.

How This Combo Ranks

This CPU/GPU pairing ranks 1,273rd out of 2,870 tested combinations in Counter-Strike 2, placing it in the 56th percentile of all combos. This position reflects a balanced system that outperforms a majority of tested pairings while not reaching the top tier dominated by flagship components.

The ranking makes sense given the individual component percentiles. The i5-13400F at the 77th CPU percentile provides strong processing power, but the RX 7700 at the 58th GPU percentile tempers overall performance. In a CPU-light game like Counter-Strike 2, one might expect the CPU to dominate, but the measured FPS values at 4K Ultra (72 FPS) versus 1080p Low (405 FPS) show that the GPU becomes the bottleneck at higher settings and resolutions.

Relative to the combo's component rivals, the performance is competitive. The CPU's near-tie with the Ryzen 5 5600X3D and Ryzen 9 6900HS suggests that alternative pairings with these chips would produce similar results. On the GPU side, the RX 7700's proximity to the RTX 3060 Ti means that swapping to the NVIDIA card would likely yield frame rates within a couple of percent. The 1% gap to the RX 9060 indicates that newer AMD options may offer marginal improvements.

The ranking of 1,273 out of 2,870 places this combo firmly in the upper-middle tier of the database. For a system built around a 10-core CPU and 16 GB VRAM GPU, this result is consistent with expectations—strong 1080p and 1440p performance, with 4K remaining viable at Medium settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured averages across settings are:

• Low: 405 FPS
• Medium: 336 FPS (min 286, max 387)
• High: 251 FPS
• Ultra: 195 FPS

The Medium preset at 1080p shows the only complete min/max dataset in this resolution group, with a 336 FPS average and a narrow 101 FPS spread between minimum and maximum. The jump from Low to Medium costs 69 FPS (a 17% reduction), while moving from Medium to High costs 85 FPS (25% reduction), and High to Ultra costs 56 FPS (22% reduction).

At 2560x1440, the averages are:

• Low: 268 FPS
• Medium: 223 FPS (min 189, max 256)
• High: 166 FPS
• Ultra: 129 FPS

The 1440p Medium preset maintains a 223 FPS average with a 67 FPS spread between min and max. The performance drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent: Low loses 137 FPS (34% reduction), Medium loses 113 FPS (34% reduction), High loses 85 FPS (34% reduction), and Ultra loses 66 FPS (34% reduction). This uniform scaling suggests the GPU is handling the resolution increase without unexpected bottlenecks.

At 3840x2160, the averages are:

• Low: 150 FPS
• Medium: 124 FPS (min 106, max 143)
• High: 93 FPS
• Ultra: 72 FPS

The 4K results show more pronounced drops when moving from 1440p. Low loses 118 FPS (44% reduction), Medium loses 99 FPS (44% reduction), High loses 73 FPS (44% reduction), and Ultra loses 57 FPS (44% reduction). The consistent 44% reduction across all settings at 4K indicates that the GPU is scaling linearly with pixel count, and the 16 GB VRAM is sufficient to avoid capacity-related performance cliffs.

The Medium preset at each resolution provides the only complete min/max data points: 286–387 FPS at 1080p, 189–256 FPS at 1440p, and 106–143 FPS at 4K. These ranges indicate stable frame delivery without severe dips, which is critical for a competitive FPS where frame time consistency matters as much as average FPS. The 93 FPS average at 4K High and 72 FPS at 4K Ultra are workable for casual play but fall short of the 100+ FPS target that competitive players typically prefer.