Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2 is a competitive FPS that scales dramatically across resolutions, and the measured data for the Intel Core i5-9400 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER reveals a clear separation between GPU-bound scenarios at high pixel counts and CPU-bound scenarios at lower resolutions. At 4K (3840x2160), the average frame rate drops from 217 FPS on Low to 135 FPS on High and 105 FPS on Ultra, showing that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at this resolution. Moving down to 1440p (2560x1440), the same pattern holds but with higher absolute numbers: Low delivers 362 FPS, High 241 FPS, and Ultra 187 FPS. At 1080p (1920x1080), the gap between settings narrows significantly—Low produces 415 FPS, High 349 FPS, and Ultra 283 FPS—indicating that the CPU begins to exert more influence on performance at this resolution, though the RTX 4070 SUPER still maintains frame rates well above typical high-refresh-rate monitors.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a consistent reduction in frame rates as resolution increases, but the rate of that reduction varies by settings preset. When comparing Low settings across resolutions, the drop from 1080p to 1440p is 415 FPS to 362 FPS (a 12.8% decrease), and from 1440p to 4K it is 362 FPS to 217 FPS (a 40.1% decrease). This accelerating loss indicates that at 4K, the GPU’s pixel throughput becomes the dominant constraint, as the RTX 4070 SUPER’s 80 ROPs and 504.2 GB/s of memory bandwidth are pushed harder by the four-fold increase in pixel count from 1080p to 4K. For High settings, the scaling is steeper: 349 FPS at 1080p, 241 FPS at 1440p (30.9% drop), and 135 FPS at 4K (44.0% drop from 1440p). The Ultra preset shows the most pronounced degradation, falling from 283 FPS at 1080p to 187 FPS at 1440p (33.9% drop) and then to 105 FPS at 4K (43.9% drop), suggesting that the additional shading work from Ultra effects saturates the GPU’s 35.48 TFLOPS FP32 compute capacity earlier.

The Medium preset, which includes minimum frame rate data, provides additional insight into stability. At 4K Medium, the average is 180 FPS with a minimum of 153 FPS, yielding a tighter range than the 4K High preset’s average of 135 FPS (no min/max recorded). At 1440p Medium, the average rises to 323 FPS with a minimum of 274 FPS and a maximum of 371 FPS, a spread of 97 FPS that indicates some frame pacing variability. At 1080p Medium, the average reaches 389 FPS with a minimum of 330 FPS and a maximum of 447 FPS. The fact that the 1080p Medium minimum (330 FPS) is higher than the 1440p High average (241 FPS) confirms that resolution, not settings complexity, is the primary lever for frame rate in this configuration, and that the i5-9400’s six cores and six threads are sufficient to feed the GPU at lower resolutions without creating a bottleneck visible in average FPS.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achievable with this CPU-GPU combo in Counter-Strike 2?

A: The highest recorded average FPS is 415, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This is followed closely by 389 FPS at 1080p Medium and 362 FPS at 1440p Low.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K on High settings?

A: On High settings, the average frame rate drops from 349 FPS at 1920x1080 to 241 FPS at 2560x1440 (a 31% reduction) and then to 135 FPS at 3840x2160 (a 44% reduction from 1440p). The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 214 FPS, representing a 61.3% decrease.

Q: Is the RTX 4070 SUPER or the i5-9400 more likely to limit performance at 4K?

A: Benchmark results indicate the GPU is the limiting component at 4K, as evidenced by the wide gap between Low (217 FPS) and Ultra (105 FPS) settings at 3840x2160. The CPU’s role becomes more apparent at 1080p, where the difference between Low (415 FPS) and Ultra (283 FPS) narrows to 132 FPS, suggesting the CPU can deliver high frame rates but the GPU’s rendering load still dominates.

Q: What is the combo’s rank among all tested configurations for this game?

A: The Intel Core i5-9400 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER ranks 821st out of 3,719 tested combos in Counter-Strike 2, placing it in the top 22% of all configurations.

Q: Does the Medium preset offer consistent frame times across resolutions?

A: The data includes minimum and maximum FPS only for Medium settings. At 1080p, the range is 330 to 447 FPS (117 FPS spread); at 1440p, it is 274 to 371 FPS (97 FPS spread); at 4K, it is 153 to 207 FPS (54 FPS spread). The narrowing spread at higher resolutions indicates more consistent frame pacing despite lower averages.

Q: How does the i5-9400 compare to its nearest CPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2,254, which is 0.2% lower than the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (2,259) and 0.4% lower than the Intel Core i3-10305 (2,264). It outperforms the Intel Core i7-10710U by 0.3% and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 by 0.4%.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a six-core, six-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. In Counter-Strike 2, which is known for being sensitive to single-threaded performance, the CPU’s 4.10 GHz boost clock and 9 MB of shared L3 cache are relevant factors. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 415 FPS, which is close to the CPU’s practical ceiling for this game, given that the RTX 4070 SUPER is capable of much higher frame rates in less CPU-limited titles. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 935 and multi-core score of 6,629 provide context: the single-core result is modest by modern standards, but Counter-Strike 2’s engine appears to scale well with the six physical cores, as evidenced by the high frame rates at 1080p.

The CPU’s 47th percentile ranking among all CPUs and its average benchmark score of 2,254 place it near the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (2,259, 0.2% faster) and Intel Core i3-10305 (2,264, 0.4% faster), while being slightly ahead of the Intel Core i7-10710U (2,248) and AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 (2,246). In game-specific terms, the i5-9400’s six threads are fully utilized in Counter-Strike 2, but the data does not show a hard CPU bottleneck at any resolution tested. At 4K Ultra, the 105 FPS average is clearly GPU-limited, while at 1080p Low, the 415 FPS result suggests the CPU is approaching its limit but still delivering playable frame rates for competitive gaming. The processor’s 65 W TDP and DDR4-2666 memory support (42.7 GB/s bandwidth) are modest, yet they do not appear to constrain the GPU in this title based on the measured results.

Settings Recommendations

For players prioritizing maximum frame rates at 1080p, the Low preset yields the highest average at 415 FPS, but the Medium preset at 389 FPS offers a better balance with only a 6.3% reduction in FPS while likely providing improved visual clarity. The Medium preset’s minimum of 330 FPS at 1080p ensures that even the most demanding scenes stay well above 300 FPS, making it the recommended choice for high-refresh-rate monitors. At 1440p, the Medium preset delivers 323 FPS average with a 274 FPS minimum, which is superior to the High preset’s 241 FPS average and only slightly below the Low preset’s 362 FPS. Given that the minimum FPS for 1440p Medium (274) is still above the 240 Hz refresh rate common on competitive monitors, Medium at 1440p is the optimal setting for this resolution.

At 4K, the choice depends on whether the user has a 144 Hz or 120 Hz display. The Medium preset provides 180 FPS average with a 153 FPS minimum, which comfortably exceeds 144 Hz, making it the best option for 4K gaming. The Low preset at 217 FPS is also viable, but the Medium preset offers better visual quality with only a 17.1% FPS penalty. The High preset at 135 FPS and Ultra at 105 FPS are less suitable for high-refresh-rate displays, as their averages fall below 144 FPS. For users with 60 Hz displays, the Ultra preset at 105 FPS is acceptable, but the data suggests that Medium at 4K provides the best combination of smoothness and fidelity, given that its minimum FPS of 153 is more than double the 60 Hz target.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER achieves a rank of 821 out of 3,719 tested combos in Counter-Strike 2, placing it in the 77.9th percentile of all configurations. This rank indicates that the combo outperforms 77.9% of all tested setups in this specific game, which is notable given that the CPU is a 2018-era six-core processor with a 47th percentile ranking among all CPUs. The RTX 4070 SUPER, by contrast, sits at the 83rd percentile among all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 43,223, and its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB (43,262, 0.1% faster) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile (43,268, 0.1% faster). The GPU’s strong synthetic performance, combined with the CPU’s adequate six threads, results in a combo that ranks in the top quarter of all tested systems for Counter-Strike 2.

The ranking implies that while the i5-9400 is not a top-tier processor, it does not severely bottleneck the RTX 4070 SUPER in this game, as evidenced by the high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p. The combo’s rank of 821 is likely driven by the GPU’s ability to maintain high FPS even at 4K, where the CPU’s limitations are less exposed. For comparison, the GPU’s nearest rival, the RTX 5050 Mobile, has a similar average benchmark score but would likely perform differently in Counter-Strike 2 due to laptop power constraints, though the data does not include such comparisons. The combo’s position in the rankings suggests that users with this pairing can expect competitive frame rates without needing to upgrade the CPU for this title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions and four settings presets, with full averages for all twelve combinations and min/max values for the Medium preset. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 415 (Low) to 283 (Ultra), with High at 349 and Medium at 389 (min 330, max 447). At 2560x1440, the averages are 362 (Low), 323 (Medium, min 274, max 371), 241 (High), and 187 (Ultra). At 3840x2160, the averages are 217 (Low), 180 (Medium, min 153, max 207), 135 (High), and 105 (Ultra). The data shows a monotonic decrease in FPS as both resolution and settings complexity increase, with the exception that the gap between Low and Medium narrows at higher resolutions: at 1080p, the difference is 26 FPS (415 vs 389); at 1440p, it is 39 FPS (362 vs 323); at 4K, it is 37 FPS (217 vs 180). The gap between Medium and High widens with resolution: 40 FPS at 1080p, 82 FPS at 1440p, and 45 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset consistently delivers the lowest FPS, with the largest drop occurring at 1440p where it falls 136 FPS below the Low preset.

The Medium preset’s min/max data provides insight into frame time consistency. At 1080p, the minimum of 330 FPS is 84.8% of the average, indicating some spikes but overall smooth performance. At 1440p, the minimum of 274 FPS is 84.8% of the average, showing similar consistency. At 4K, the minimum of 153 FPS is 85% of the average, meaning the frame pacing is proportionally stable across resolutions. The maximum FPS values—447 at 1080p, 371 at 1440p, and 207 at 4K—suggest that the GPU has headroom in less demanding scenes, but the averages are the more reliable indicator of sustained performance. For competitive play, the 1080p Medium setting’s 389 FPS average with a 330 FPS minimum is the most robust option, while 1440p Medium’s 323 FPS average with a 274 FPS minimum is ideal for users with 1440p monitors.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process at TSMC, featuring 7,168 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 80 ROPs. It operates at a base clock of 1,980 MHz and a boost clock of 2,475 MHz, with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus providing 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. In Counter-Strike 2, the GPU’s role is primarily to fill pixels and process the game’s effects, and the measured FPS data shows that it is capable of delivering over 200 FPS at 4K Low and over 400 FPS at 1080p Low. The GPU’s 35.48 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 198.0 GPixel/s pixel rate are directly relevant to the resolution scaling observed: at 4K, the pixel rate becomes a limiting factor, as the 8.3 million pixels per frame require more ROP throughput than at lower resolutions.

The GPU’s 83rd percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 43,223, places it just below the Quadro M6000 24 GB (43,262) and RTX 5050 Mobile (43,268), and 1% below the RTX 4090 Mobile (43,667). In Counter-Strike 2, the RTX 4070 SUPER’s performance is strong enough to avoid being the bottleneck at 1080p, where the CPU’s six threads limit the frame rate to around 415 FPS. At 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, as shown by the 52.4% reduction in FPS from Low to Ultra settings (217 to 105). The GPU’s 12 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for Counter-Strike 2 at any settings, as the game is not VRAM-intensive, and the 504.2 GB/s memory bandwidth ensures that texture streaming does not cause stutters, as evidenced by the relatively high minimum FPS values on the Medium preset. The 220 W TDP and dual-slot design are typical for this performance class, and the PCIe 4.0 x16 interface provides ample bandwidth for the game’s data transfer needs.