Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2 is a demanding esports title that rewards high frame rates, and the pairing of the Intel Core i5-13400F with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 produces a wide spectrum of results depending on resolution and settings. At 1080p, the combination delivers exceptional performance, pushing well beyond the refresh rates of most standard monitors. However, moving to 4K resolution reveals the limitations of the RTX 2060, with frame rates dropping to levels that may not satisfy competitive players. The data shows a system that is well-balanced at lower resolutions but increasingly GPU-bound as pixel count rises, making it a versatile yet resolution-sensitive configuration for this specific title.

FAQ

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

A: The Intel Core i5-13400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 combo ranks 2936 out of 3719 tested combinations. This places it in the lower-mid range of all tested systems, indicating that while it can run the game, it is not among the top-performing configurations in this database.

Q: How does the CPU's multi-threaded performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Core i5-13400F has an average benchmark score of 25292, putting it in the 77th percentile of all CPUs. Its closest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS, scores 25284, showing a delta of 0 percent. The Intel Core 5 120 and AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D score 25362 and 25365 respectively, both showing a delta of -0.3 percent, meaning the i5-13400F is marginally slower than these two.

Q: What is the GPU's benchmark percentile and how does it stack against its nearest competitors?

A: The RTX 2060 has a passmark G3D score of 14111, placing it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs. Its average benchmark score is 15290. The closest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 with an average score of 15283 (delta 0 percent), followed by the AMD Radeon 680M at 15270 (delta 0.1 percent) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM at 15199 (delta 0.6 percent). The RTX 2060 is effectively performance-equivalent to the GTX 580 in this synthetic metric.

Q: What is the best measured 1080p average frame rate for this combo?

A: The highest average frame rate at 1920x1080 is achieved on Low settings, with an average of 294 FPS. For higher visual fidelity, the Medium preset still delivers an average of 244 FPS, while High and Ultra presets produce 182 FPS and 142 FPS respectively.

Q: Does the combo maintain playable frame rates at 4K resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, the average frame rates vary significantly by setting. The Low preset yields an average of 109 FPS, which is playable. However, the Medium preset drops to 90 FPS, High to 67 FPS, and Ultra falls to 52 FPS. The Ultra preset's 52 FPS average is below the threshold many competitive players consider acceptable.

Q: How much does the CPU's single-thread performance contribute to the game's outcomes?

A: The Core i5-13400F shows strong single-thread capabilities with a 3dmark_single_thread score of 960 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3191. This is relevant for Counter-Strike 2, as the data indicates the system is likely CPU-limited at 1080p, where high frame rates of 294 FPS are observed, but this single-thread strength cannot compensate for the GPU's limitations at 4K resolution.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is built on the 12 nm Turing architecture with the TU106 chip, featuring 1920 shading units and 48 ROPs. Its memory configuration consists of 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1365 MHz and a boost clock of 1680 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). These specifications support a pixel rate of 80.64 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 201.6 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance rated at 6.451 TFLOPS.

In Counter-Strike 2, the GPU's role becomes increasingly prominent as resolution scales upward. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p, the GPU has ample headroom, allowing the CPU to push frame rates to 294 FPS on Low settings. However, at 1440p, the average frame rates across settings are 194 FPS (Low), 162 FPS (Medium), 121 FPS (High), and 94 FPS (Ultra). This represents a clear drop from 1080p, indicating the GPU is starting to become a bottleneck. At 4K, the GPU is definitively the limiting factor, with average frame rates falling to 109 FPS (Low), 90 FPS (Medium), 67 FPS (High), and 52 FPS (Ultra). The 6 GB VRAM capacity, while adequate for this game, is paired with a 192-bit bus that constrains memory throughput at higher resolutions.

The RTX 2060's overall benchmark percentiles reinforce this analysis. With a percentileVsAllGpus of 58, it sits slightly above the median GPU in this database. Its closest rivals in synthetic testing are the GTX 580, the Radeon 680M, and the RTX 3050 OEM, all within a 0.8 percent delta of its average score. This suggests that despite being a previous-generation card, its raw compute performance is still competitive with certain modern offerings, though the architecture's age shows in demanding scenarios like 4K gaming in Counter-Strike 2.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor from the Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and a shared 20 MB L3 cache. This configuration supports dual-channel DDR4 and DDR5 memory, though memory bandwidth figures are not specified in the data.

The CPU's benchmark results demonstrate strong multi-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 22604 and a Passmark multithread score of 25032. Single-thread performance is equally notable, with a Geekbench singlecore score of 1996 and a Passmark single thread score of 3634. The processor's percentileVsAllCpus of 77 indicates it outperforms 77 percent of all CPUs in the database. Its nearest rivals, including the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS and the Ryzen 5 5600X3D, show deltas of 0 percent and -0.3 percent respectively, meaning the i5-13400F is statistically tied with these parts in average benchmark score.

In Counter-Strike 2, the CPU's role is most evident at 1080p resolution. The measured data shows frame rates of 294 FPS on Low settings, which is exceptionally high and likely CPU-limited, as the GPU would struggle to produce such numbers in most scenarios. The 16 threads and high boost clock of 4.60 GHz allow the processor to feed the GPU efficiently at lower resolutions. However, as resolution increases to 1440p and 4K, the CPU's influence wanes, and the frame rate drops are more attributable to GPU constraints. The data suggests that this CPU is more than capable of handling Counter-Strike 2's physics and game logic, as evidenced by the high FPS at 1080p, but it cannot overcome the GPU's limitations at higher pixel counts.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-13400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 ranks 2936 out of 3719 tested combos in Counter-Strike 2. This ranking places the system in approximately the 79th percentile of all tested configurations, meaning it outperforms about 79 percent of combos but is outclassed by the top 21 percent. Given that the CPU alone sits in the 77th percentile and the GPU in the 58th percentile, the combo's overall rank is somewhat lower than the CPU's individual standing, reflecting the GPU's relative weakness.

The rank of 2936 suggests that while this system can handle Counter-Strike 2, it does so with less headroom than many other configurations. The data indicates that the combo is not optimized for maximum competitive performance, as higher-ranked systems likely feature more powerful GPUs that can sustain higher frame rates at all settings. However, the rank also shows that the system is far from the bottom, with 783 combos ranking below it. This positions the i5-13400F and RTX 2060 as a mid-pack solution that offers playable performance but requires settings adjustments to achieve high frame rates at higher resolutions. The gap between the CPU's strong percentile and the combo's lower rank highlights a potential imbalance, where the processor has untapped potential that the GPU cannot fully utilize in this game.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are 294 FPS (Low), 244 FPS (Medium), 182 FPS (High), and 142 FPS (Ultra). Moving to 2560x1440, these figures drop to 194 FPS (Low), 162 FPS (Medium), 121 FPS (High), and 94 FPS (Ultra). This represents a reduction of approximately 34 to 36 percent across all settings, indicating a consistent scaling factor.

At 3840x2160, the average frame rates fall further to 109 FPS (Low), 90 FPS (Medium), 67 FPS (High), and 52 FPS (Ultra). The drop from 1440p to 4K is more severe, ranging from 44 to 45 percent reduction. This non-linear scaling is a hallmark of GPU-bound scenarios. The data shows that at 1080p, the system is likely CPU-limited, as the frame rates are extremely high and relatively consistent across settings (294 FPS Low vs 142 FPS Ultra). At 4K, the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck, as evidenced by the dramatic drop in FPS and the wider spread between settings (109 FPS Low vs 52 FPS Ultra).

The limiting component analysis is straightforward: at 1080p, the CPU's strong single-thread performance allows it to drive high frame rates, but the GPU's capability is not fully taxed. At 4K, the GPU's 6 GB of VRAM and 336 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient to maintain high frame rates, causing the system to lose performance rapidly. The transition point appears to be around 1440p, where the system transitions from CPU-bound to GPU-bound behavior, as the FPS drops are more pronounced at this resolution compared to 1080p.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080 resolution, the data shows a range of average frame rates across four settings. Low settings produce an average of 294 FPS, which is the highest measured for this combo. Medium settings yield 244 FPS, with a minimum of 208 FPS and a maximum of 281 FPS. High settings produce 182 FPS, while Ultra settings drop to 142 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 152 FPS, indicating that the GPU has significant headroom at this resolution but also that Ultra settings impose a substantial performance penalty.

At 2560x1440, the average frame rates are lower but still playable for most users. Low settings produce 194 FPS, Medium settings deliver 162 FPS with a minimum of 137 FPS and a maximum of 186 FPS, High settings yield 121 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 94 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 100 FPS, showing a similar pattern to 1080p but with reduced absolute values. The minimum FPS of 137 on Medium settings indicates that even in demanding scenes, the system maintains playable frame rates.

At 3840x2160, the average frame rates are markedly lower. Low settings produce 109 FPS, Medium settings yield 90 FPS with a minimum of 77 FPS and a maximum of 104 FPS, High settings drop to 67 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 52 FPS. The minimum FPS of 77 on Medium settings is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, but the Ultra preset's 52 FPS average may result in noticeable stutter during intense firefights. The data across all resolutions demonstrates that the RTX 2060's performance is heavily influenced by resolution, with the gap between Low and Ultra settings widening from 152 FPS at 1080p to 57 FPS at 4K in absolute terms.

Settings Recommendations

For players prioritizing high frame rates at 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers the best experience with an average of 294 FPS. This is ideal for competitive play where maximum frame rates are critical. However, the Medium preset at 244 FPS offers a better balance between visual quality and performance, as the 50 FPS reduction from Low to Medium may be acceptable for most users. The High and Ultra presets, at 182 FPS and 142 FPS respectively, still provide smooth gameplay but may not be necessary given the diminishing returns in visual fidelity.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset at 194 FPS is recommended for competitive play, as it remains above the 144 Hz refresh rate that many monitors support. The Medium preset at 162 FPS is also a strong choice, providing a solid balance with a minimum of 137 FPS. High settings at 121 FPS are acceptable for casual play, while Ultra at 94 FPS may be too low for players with high refresh rate displays. The data suggests that Medium settings at 1440p offer the best overall experience for most users, balancing visual quality with frame rates above 150 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset at 109 FPS is the only setting that provides a consistently high frame rate. Medium at 90 FPS is playable, but the minimum of 77 FPS may dip below the 60 FPS threshold in demanding scenes. High and Ultra settings, at 67 FPS and 52 FPS respectively, are not recommended for competitive play due to low average frame rates. The data indicates that 4K gaming with this combo requires significant compromise on settings, and players should prioritize Low or Medium presets to maintain acceptable performance. For the best experience across all resolutions, the Medium preset at 1080p or Low at 1440p provides the highest frame rates while maintaining sufficient visual quality for a competitive title.