Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2 with an Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 7700 presents a dataset that clearly separates the capabilities of the CPU and GPU depending on the workload. The measured frames per second (FPS) across resolutions and settings reveal a configuration that is heavily influenced by the graphics card at higher fidelity levels, while the processor becomes the limiting factor at lower settings and resolutions. This analysis walks through the data step by step, interpreting the measured results and ranking this specific combo against the broader database.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 produces a dramatic shift in performance that highlights the changing bottleneck. At the "Low" preset, the average FPS drops from 405 at 1080p to 268 at 1440p, and finally to 150 at 4K. This represents a 63% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K. Such a steep decline indicates that even at the lowest settings, the GPU is being taxed heavily as pixel count quadruples, though the 150 FPS at 4K Low still demonstrates substantial headroom.

Examining the "High" preset shows a similar scaling pattern. The average FPS falls from 251 at 1080p to 166 at 1440p, then to 93 at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is 63%, identical to the Low preset. This consistency suggests that the scaling factor is primarily resolution-driven rather than setting-driven, which is typical for a GPU-bound scenario. However, the absolute values at 4K High (93 FPS) versus 4K Low (150 FPS) show that the preset still matters significantly.

The "Ultra" preset reveals the most constrained performance. Starting at 195 FPS at 1080p, it drops to 129 FPS at 1440p and further to 72 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result of 72 FPS is the lowest measured value in the entire dataset. The scaling from 1080p to 4K here is a 63% reduction as well, which reinforces the pattern. The consistency of this percentage across all presets strongly indicates that resolution scaling is the dominant factor, with the GPU's rendering capabilities being the primary constraint.

A closer look at the "Medium" preset data, which includes minimum and maximum FPS, provides additional insight. At 1080p, the average is 336 FPS with a minimum of 286 and a maximum of 387. At 1440p, the average drops to 223 FPS with a range of 189 to 256. At 4K, the average is 124 FPS with a range of 106 to 143. The relative spread between minimum and maximum FPS remains proportionally similar across resolutions, suggesting stable frame pacing rather than sudden spikes or drops. This indicates that the limiting component, likely the GPU at higher resolutions, is working consistently without hitting severe stutters.

The data suggests that at 1080p and 1440p with lower settings, the CPU begins to play a larger role. The jump from 150 FPS at 4K Low to 405 FPS at 1080p Low is substantial, but the fact that the 1080p Low result does not scale linearly with pixel count compared to 4K Low (a 2.7x increase from 4x fewer pixels) implies that the CPU is preventing the GPU from reaching even higher frame rates. This is a classic sign of a CPU bottleneck emerging at lower resolutions where the GPU has spare capacity.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide a clear picture of how each preset balances performance. The "Low" preset at 1080p delivers an average of 405 FPS, which is exceptionally high and suitable for competitive play where frame rate is paramount. However, the jump to "Medium" at 1080p yields 336 FPS, a 17% reduction. While still very high, this difference may be noticeable on a high-refresh-rate monitor. The "High" preset at 1080p drops further to 251 FPS, and "Ultra" falls to 195 FPS.

For players prioritizing smoothness and response time, the "Low" preset at 1080p offers the highest average FPS. The data shows that this preset maximizes the frame rate ceiling. At 1440p, the "Low" preset still provides 268 FPS, which remains competitive. The "Medium" preset at 1440p delivers 223 FPS, which is a reasonable compromise for those seeking better visual quality without sacrificing too much performance. The 4K "Medium" setting yields 124 FPS, which is playable but below the threshold many competitive players prefer.

The "Ultra" preset consistently shows the lowest performance across all resolutions. At 1080p, it achieves 195 FPS, at 1440p it drops to 129 FPS, and at 4K it reaches only 72 FPS. Given that "High" at 4K achieves 93 FPS, the "Ultra" preset at 4K is the least recommended option if frame rate is a priority. The incremental visual gains from "High" to "Ultra" come at a significant performance cost, as seen by the 21 FPS difference at 4K (93 vs 72 FPS).

Based on the measured data, the "Medium" preset appears to be the best overall experience for this combo. It provides a strong balance between visual fidelity and performance. At 1080p, it hits 336 FPS, which is ample for any display. At 1440p, it maintains 223 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate gaming. Even at 4K, 124 FPS is respectable. The "Low" preset is recommended for those who prioritize maximum frame rates above all else, particularly at 1080p and 1440p. The "High" preset is a middle ground, but the "Ultra" preset is only advisable for those with a 1080p display who demand maximum visual quality and can tolerate a 195 FPS average.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s. The GPU has a base clock of 1900 MHz, a game clock of 2041 MHz, and a boost clock of 2459 MHz. These specifications directly influence the measured performance. The high memory bandwidth is crucial for handling the texture data and geometry at higher resolutions, which explains why the FPS scales down as resolution increases.

The GPU's architecture is RDNA 3.0, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It contains 28,100 million transistors on a die size of 346 mm². The shading units number 2560, with 160 texture mapping units and 96 render output units. The pixel rate is 236.1 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 393.4 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is 25.18 TFLOPS. These raw compute figures correlate with the ability to sustain high frame rates at lower resolutions, as evidenced by the 405 FPS at 1080p Low.

The 16 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for Counter-Strike 2 at any of the tested settings, so memory capacity is not a limiting factor in this dataset. Instead, the memory bandwidth and compute throughput are the primary GPU-related constraints. The boost clock of 2459 MHz indicates the maximum sustained frequency under load, and the game clock of 2041 MHz represents the typical frequency during gaming workloads. The measured FPS numbers reflect the performance of these clocks in practice.

The GPU's percentile rank among all GPUs is 58, and its average benchmark score is 15852. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon R9 370X with an average score of 15862 and a delta of -0.1%, the AMD Radeon RX 9060 with a score of 16014 and a delta of -1%, the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 with a score of 15679 and a delta of 1.1%, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti with a score of 16129 and a delta of -1.7%. These comparisons show that the RX 7700 performs nearly identically to these rivals in synthetic benchmarks, which aligns with the measured FPS being competitive for its class.

In the context of this game, the GPU's role is dominant at higher resolutions and settings. The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the FPS drops to 72, indicating the GPU is fully saturated. At 1080p Low, the GPU has enough headroom to push 405 FPS, but the CPU likely prevents it from going higher. The GPU's specifications, particularly its bandwidth and compute units, are well-matched to the demands of Counter-Strike 2 at 1440p and below, where it delivers over 200 FPS on most presets.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the "Low" preset delivers an average of 405 FPS, the highest in the dataset. The "Medium" preset averages 336 FPS with a minimum of 286 and a maximum of 387. The "High" preset averages 251 FPS, and the "Ultra" preset averages 195 FPS. This shows a clear progression where each step up in settings costs a significant number of frames. The difference between Low and Medium is 69 FPS, between Medium and High is 85 FPS, and between High and Ultra is 56 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the "Low" preset averages 268 FPS. The "Medium" preset averages 223 FPS with a minimum of 189 and a maximum of 256. The "High" preset averages 166 FPS, and the "Ultra" preset averages 129 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows a consistent reduction across all settings. For example, the "High" preset drops from 251 to 166 FPS, a 34% decrease. The "Ultra" preset drops from 195 to 129 FPS, a 34% decrease as well.

At 3840x2160, the "Low" preset averages 150 FPS. The "Medium" preset averages 124 FPS with a minimum of 106 and a maximum of 143. The "High" preset averages 93 FPS, and the "Ultra" preset averages 72 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is more pronounced in absolute terms. For instance, the "High" preset drops from 166 to 93 FPS, a 44% decrease. The "Low" preset drops from 268 to 150 FPS, a 44% decrease as well.

The "Medium" preset is the only one with complete minimum and maximum FPS data across all resolutions. At 1080p, the range is 286 to 387, a spread of 101 FPS. At 1440p, the range is 189 to 256, a spread of 67 FPS. At 4K, the range is 106 to 143, a spread of 37 FPS. The shrinking spread at higher resolutions suggests that frame times become more consistent as the GPU becomes the bottleneck, reducing the variance caused by CPU-side frame pacing.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 7700 ranks 1273 out of 2870 tested combos in Counter-Strike 2. This places it in the 44th percentile of all combos, meaning it outperforms roughly 44% of the tested configurations. This rank reflects the balanced nature of the combo, where the GPU is capable but the CPU is an older, lower-core-count part.

Looking at the CPU's nearest rivals, the Intel Core i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2254. Its closest competitor is the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 with a score of 2259 and a delta of -0.2%, meaning the i5-9400 is 0.2% slower. The Intel Core i7-10710U scores 2248 with a delta of 0.3%, meaning the i5-9400 is 0.3% faster. The AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 scores 2246 with a delta of 0.4%, and the Intel Core i3-10305 scores 2264 with a delta of -0.4%. These tiny deltas indicate that the CPU's synthetic performance is nearly identical to these rivals, which explains why the combo rank is not higher or lower.

The GPU's nearest rivals show a similar pattern. The AMD Radeon RX 7700 has an average benchmark score of 15852. The AMD Radeon R9 370X scores 15862 with a delta of -0.1%, the AMD Radeon RX 9060 scores 16014 with a delta of -1%, the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 scores 15679 with a delta of 1.1%, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti scores 16129 with a delta of -1.7%. The RX 7700 is essentially on par with these cards, with the largest difference being 1.7% slower than the RTX 3060 Ti.

The combo rank of 1273 out of 2870 suggests that while this hardware pairing is capable, it does not reach the top tier of performance. The CPU's percentile rank of 47 and the GPU's percentile rank of 58 indicate that both components are mid-range in their respective categories. The combination of a mid-range CPU and a slightly-above-mid-range GPU results in a system that is well-suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, as the measured FPS confirms, but it falls short of the highest-performing combos in the database.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Counter-Strike 2?

A: The highest average FPS is 405, measured at 1920x1080 with the "Low" preset.

Q: How does the 4K "Ultra" preset compare to the 1080p "Low" preset?

A: The 4K "Ultra" preset averages 72 FPS, while the 1080p "Low" preset averages 405 FPS. This is a difference of 333 FPS, with the 4K Ultra being 82% slower.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p with low settings?

A: The data indicates the CPU is the limiting factor at 1080p Low. The GPU could likely render more frames, but the CPU's performance caps the average at 405 FPS.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for the "Medium" preset at 1440p?

A: The minimum FPS for the "Medium" preset at 2560x1440 is 189.

Q: How does the RX 7700 compare to the RTX 3060 Ti in average benchmark score?

A: The RX 7700 has an average benchmark score of 15852, while the RTX 3060 Ti has a score of 16129. The RX 7700 is 1.7% slower.

Q: What is the combo's rank out of all tested combos in this game?

A: The combo ranks 1273 out of 2870 total tested combos.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. The CPU has a TDP of 65 W and uses the Intel Socket 1151. Its cache configuration includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 256 KB of L2 per core, and 9 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports DDR4 memory in a dual-channel configuration, providing a memory bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s.

In this game, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions and settings where the GPU has spare capacity. At 1080p Low, the CPU must handle the game's simulation and draw call overhead to keep the GPU fed. The measured 405 FPS suggests the CPU is capable of processing a high number of frames per second, but the fact that this is not proportionally higher than 4K Low (150 FPS) indicates the CPU is near its limit. The 6-core, 6-thread configuration is sufficient for Counter-Strike 2, which is not heavily multithreaded, but it lacks the headroom of higher-core-count processors.

The CPU's benchmark scores provide context. In Cinebench R23, it scores 6629 in multicore and 935 in singlecore. In Geekbench, it scores 5141 in multicore and 1389 in singlecore. The single-core performance is particularly relevant for games like Counter-Strike 2, which often rely on strong single-thread performance. The boost clock of 4.10 GHz helps in this regard, but the older architecture limits its efficiency compared to newer processors.

The CPU's percentile rank of 47 among all CPUs indicates it is slightly below average in the database. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (0.2% slower), the Intel Core i7-10710U (0.3% faster), the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 (0.4% faster), and the Intel Core i3-10305 (0.4% slower). These tiny performance deltas show that the i5-9400 is firmly in a mid-range bracket, which aligns with the measured FPS results.

The CPU's memory support for DDR4 at dual-channel speeds, with a bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s, is adequate for feeding the GPU. However, the lack of hyper-threading means only 6 threads are available, which can be a limitation in more CPU-intensive scenarios. In this dataset, the CPU role is most pronounced at 1080p Low, where the 405 FPS result is likely capped by the processor's ability to issue draw calls and update game state, rather than the GPU's rendering speed. As resolution increases, the GPU becomes the bottleneck, and the CPU's influence on the final FPS diminishes.