Counter-Strike 2

The Intel Core i5-13400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti delivers exceptional performance in Counter-Strike 2, with measured frame rates that place this combination at rank 494 out of 3719 tested combos, putting it in the top tier for competitive play. This pairing leverages a 10-core, 16-thread Raptor Lake processor with a 4.60 GHz boost clock alongside a 12 GB Ada Lovelace GPU that produces triple-digit frame rates even at 4K resolution. The data shows that this system is capable of driving high-refresh monitors at any resolution tested, though the settings you choose will dramatically impact your headroom.

FAQ

Q: What is the combo rank for this CPU and GPU pairing in Counter-Strike 2?

A: This combination ranks 494 out of 3719 tested combos, placing it in the top 13 percent of all systems tested. That rank reflects the measured FPS data across all resolutions and settings tested, not synthetic benchmarks.

Q: How does the Intel Core i5-13400F compare to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The i5-13400F has an average benchmark score of 25292, which is essentially tied with the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS at 25284 (0% delta). It sits 0.3% behind the Intel Core 5 120 and AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D, and 0.4% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 7 6800H. These are negligible differences in practical gaming terms.

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 618 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. Even at 3840x2160 with Low settings, the system maintains a 229 FPS average, which is well above the refresh rate of most monitors.

Q: Does the RTX 4070 Ti have enough VRAM for Counter-Strike 2?

A: The GPU comes with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus with 504.2 GB/s bandwidth. This is far more than the game requires at any tested resolution, as evidenced by the consistent high frame rates even at 4K Ultra settings.

Q: What are the minimum FPS figures for Medium settings across resolutions?

A: At 1920x1080 Medium, the minimum FPS is 436; at 2560x1440 Medium, it is 289; and at 3840x2160 Medium, it is 161. These minimums indicate strong frame pacing, with no drops below playable thresholds.

Q: How does the GPU benchmark against its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 4070 Ti has an average benchmark score of 44795, which is 0.8% behind the RTX 5090 Mobile, 1.3% behind the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT, and 1.7% behind the Intel Arc A730M. It is 1.6% ahead of the NVIDIA RTX A6000.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 494 out of 3719 tested systems places this i5-13400F and RTX 4070 Ti pairing in the top 13 percent of all configurations evaluated in Counter-Strike 2. That percentile ranking is not a reflection of synthetic compute power but of actual measured frame rates across the full matrix of resolutions and presets in the data. To contextualize, there are over 3000 tested combos that fall below this system, meaning most players on the benchmark database are running slower hardware for this specific title.

The ranking gains significance when you consider the game's nature. Counter-Strike 2 is a competitive FPS where frame rate directly influences input latency and smoothness. A system ranking 494th out of 3719 means that the vast majority of tested builds cannot match its output. The measured data shows this combo never falls below 110 FPS average, even at the most demanding setting tested (3840x2160 Ultra). The lowest minimum FPS recorded across all Medium settings is 161 at 4K, which is still comfortably above the 144 Hz standard for high-refresh monitors.

What pushes this combo higher in the rankings is the combination of strong single-thread performance from the CPU and the massive rasterization throughput of the GPU. The CPU's 3DMark single-thread score of 960 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3191 indicate excellent per-core performance that scales well with Counter-Strike 2's engine, which favors a few fast cores. Meanwhile, the GPU's Passmark G3D score of 31624 shows the raw graphics horsepower needed to push those high frame rates at every resolution. The measured data confirms that neither component becomes a consistent bottleneck at the tested settings, which is why the combo ranks so highly.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor from the Raptor Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 10nm process. It has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz, with a 65W 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 processor supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration and connects to the system via Intel Socket 1700 with PCIe Gen 5 for 16 CPU lanes.

In Counter-Strike 2, the CPU's role is to handle game logic, physics, and draw calls, which are heavily single-thread dependent. The benchmark data shows the i5-13400F excels in this area. Its 3DMark single-thread score of 960 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3191 are strong indicators of the per-core speed needed for high minimum frame rates in competitive shooters. The multithreaded scores are also respectable — Cinebench R23 multicore hits 22604, and Geekbench multicore reaches 11068 — which helps when the game spawns background threads for asset streaming and audio processing.

The CPU's 16 threads provide enough parallelism for modern game engines without wasting power on excessive core counts that games rarely utilize. The measured FPS data supports this interpretation: at 1920x1080 Low settings, where the CPU is typically the bottleneck, the combo still reaches a 618 FPS average. That figure is only possible when the processor can feed the GPU with enough frames per second. The 3DMark 2-thread score of 1880 and 4-thread score of 3459 show that even with only two or four threads active, the i5-13400F maintains strong performance, which is critical for a game like Counter-Strike 2 that relies on a few primary threads.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the i5-13400F's average benchmark score of 25292 puts it within 0.4% of the AMD Ryzen 7 6800H and essentially tied with the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS. The data suggests that for this specific game, the CPU's performance envelope is more than sufficient; the measured FPS differences across resolutions are driven more by GPU load than by CPU limitations.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of how this combo performs across three resolutions and four settings presets. Starting at 1920x1080, the system produces an average of 618 FPS at Low settings, 513 FPS at Medium, 384 FPS at High, and 298 FPS at Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 436 FPS and a maximum of 591 FPS, indicating tight frame pacing even under load. At 1080p, every setting exceeds 240 Hz refresh rates, making this an ideal setup for esports monitors.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages remain exceptionally high: 409 FPS at Low, 340 FPS at Medium, 254 FPS at High, and 197 FPS at Ultra. The Medium preset records a minimum of 289 FPS and a maximum of 391 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p reduces frame rates by roughly 34% to 40% depending on the preset, which is expected as the GPU takes on more pixel workload. Still, even the Ultra preset at 1440p clears 197 FPS average, which is more than enough for 165 Hz or even 200 Hz displays.

At 3840x2160, the system shows its limits but remains competitive: 229 FPS at Low, 190 FPS at Medium, 142 FPS at High, and 110 FPS at Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 161 FPS and a maximum of 218 FPS. The 4K data reveals that the RTX 4070 Ti's 12 GB VRAM and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient to maintain playable frame rates at the highest resolution, though the jump from High to Ultra at 4K costs 32 FPS on average (from 142 to 110), a 22% reduction.

The scaling behavior across settings is consistent: Low to Medium gains roughly 20% to 30% more FPS, Medium to High gains another 20% to 30%, and High to Ultra gains a smaller but still noticeable 15% to 20%. The minimum FPS data for Medium presets shows the system never drops below 161 FPS at any resolution, which is a strong indicator of stable performance for competitive play.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using TSMC's 5nm process, with a die size of 294 mm² and 35,800 million transistors. It features 7680 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, and 80 ROPs, along with 60 RT cores and 240 tensor cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2310 MHz and a boost clock of 2610 MHz, with memory running at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). The 12 GB of GDDR6X memory is accessed over a 192-bit bus, delivering 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The card consumes up to 285W and requires a 600W power supply.

In Counter-Strike 2, the GPU's primary job is to render frames as fast as the CPU can feed them. At lower resolutions like 1080p, the GPU is often oversupplied, which is why the frame rates exceed 600 FPS at Low settings. The Passmark G3D score of 31624 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5024 indicate this GPU has substantial raw performance headroom. The measured FPS at 1080p High (384 average) versus 1080p Low (618 average) shows how much the GPU scales with setting changes when not bottlenecked by the CPU.

At 1440p and 4K, the GPU becomes the dominant factor. The transition from 1080p to 1440p reduces frame rates by 35% to 40%, and from 1440p to 4K by another 40% to 45%. This scaling pattern is consistent with a GPU that is strong but not unlimited. The 12 GB VRAM never becomes a limiting factor at the tested settings, as evidenced by the playable frame rates even at 4K Ultra.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 84 versus all GPUs places it comfortably in the upper echelon of graphics cards. Its nearest rivals include the RTX 5090 Mobile (0.8% higher score) and RTX A6000 (1.6% lower score), showing that the 4070 Ti sits in a competitive position relative to both mobile flagships and professional workstation cards. The measured frame rates in Counter-Strike 2 reflect this: the GPU delivers 142 FPS at 4K High, which is a demanding scenario for most hardware.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on your display's refresh rate and resolution. For 1920x1080 users, the Low preset at 618 FPS is overkill for all but the most extreme 500 Hz monitors, but the High preset at 384 FPS still provides massive headroom over any standard gaming display. The Medium preset at 513 FPS with a 436 FPS minimum is a balanced choice if you want to reduce visual noise without sacrificing competitive smoothness. For 1080p, the data suggests using High or Ultra if you prefer visual fidelity, since even Ultra maintains 298 FPS average, which exceeds 240 Hz refresh rates.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset delivers 340 FPS average with a 289 FPS minimum, making it the sweet spot for 240 Hz or 280 Hz monitors. The High preset at 254 FPS is still sufficient for 240 Hz displays, and even Ultra at 197 FPS clears 165 Hz panels. The data shows that 1440p Medium to High gives the best balance of frame rate and visual quality, with the minimum FPS never dropping below 289, which prevents stutter during intense firefights.

For 3840x2160, the Low preset at 229 FPS is the only option that fully saturates a 240 Hz display, but the Medium preset at 190 FPS is more realistic for 4K gaming, with a 161 FPS minimum that stays above 144 Hz. The High preset at 142 FPS is suitable for 144 Hz monitors, while Ultra at 110 FPS is best reserved for players who prioritize visual quality over competitive advantage. The measured data indicates that at 4K, Medium offers the best compromise, as it maintains an average above 190 FPS while the minimum never falls below 161, which is critical for maintaining smooth aim and response.

The overall recommendation from the data is to run Medium or High settings at 1080p and 1440p, and Medium at 4K. The performance difference between Medium and Low is not worth the visual downgrade, given that the system has ample headroom. Similarly, the jump from High to Ultra costs 20% to 30% of your frame rate for marginal visual improvements that are often imperceptible in fast-paced gameplay. For competitive play, the Minimum FPS figures for Medium settings across all resolutions (436, 289, and 161) are the strongest argument for that preset, as they guarantee no frame drops below the threshold needed for consistent aim.