Counter-Strike 2

The Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti delivers a formidable Counter-Strike 2 experience, ranking 362nd out of 1,632 tested combos. This places it in the top 22% of all configurations, a strong result driven primarily by the GPU’s immense throughput. The data shows that at 1920x1080, the combo exceeds 300 FPS on every preset, while even the demanding 3840x2160 Ultra setting remains playable. However, the six-core, six-thread Coffee Lake processor from 2018 emerges as a potential bottleneck at lower resolutions, where frame rates stretch far beyond what the CPU can likely feed.

FAQ

Q: What is the combo’s overall rank among tested systems in Counter-Strike 2?

A: The Intel Core i5-9400 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti combination ranks 362nd out of 1,632 tested combos, placing it in the top 22.2% of all configurations tested.

Q: How does the RTX 5070 Ti compare to its nearest rival, the RTX 4080?

A: The RTX 5070 Ti’s average benchmark score is 52,086, which is virtually identical to the RTX 4080’s 52,085, showing a deltaPct of 0. This indicates performance parity between the two cards in synthetic testing.

Q: What is the best frame rate achieved by this combo?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 418.1, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This is the only configuration in the data set that breaks the 400 FPS barrier.

Q: Is the RTX 5070 Ti’s memory bandwidth sufficient for 4K gaming?

A: Yes, the GPU features 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 896.0 GB/s. This allows the combo to maintain an average of 149.6 FPS at 3840x2160 with High settings.

Q: Does the CPU’s age limit performance in this game?

A: The data suggests a CPU constraint at lower resolutions. For example, moving from 2560x1440 Low (364.3 FPS) to 1920x1080 Low (418.1 FPS) yields a smaller gain than the move from 3840x2160 High (149.6 FPS) to 2560x1440 High (264.8 FPS), indicating diminishing returns as the CPU becomes the limiting factor.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a competitive experience?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers the highest average FPS at 418.1, but the Ultra preset still achieves a very high 308.2 FPS. For 1440p, the Low preset offers 364.3 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors.

How This Combo Ranks

The data places this specific pairing at rank 362 out of 1,632 combos, which is a strong showing given the age of the processor. The Intel Core i5-9400, released in late 2018, has a 50th percentile ranking among all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i3-10305, which is only 0.2% faster, and the Intel Xeon E-2134, which is 0.4% faster. This suggests the i5-9400 is still a capable mid-range processor, though it lacks the multi-threading of newer parts.

The GPU, however, is a different beast. The RTX 5070 Ti sits in the 87th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 52,086. Its nearest rival, the RTX 4080, has a deltaPct of 0, meaning the two are statistically tied in synthetic performance. The AMD Radeon RX 7700S is 0.8% faster, while the RTX A1000 is 2.5% slower. This GPU dominance is what propels the combo to its high rank, as the 896.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth and 43.94 TFLOPS of FP32 performance are more than enough to handle Counter-Strike 2’s engine.

In practice, the combo’s rank is likely held back by the CPU. At 4K, the GPU is fully utilized, but at 1080p, the frame rates plateau. Still, a top-22% placement in a field of 1,632 is an excellent result for a system with a six-core processor from 2018.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data reveals a clear hierarchy across presets. For players prioritizing maximum frame rates, the Low preset at 1920x1080 is the definitive choice, delivering 418.1 FPS. This is over 100 FPS higher than the Ultra preset at the same resolution, which still manages a smooth 308.2 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows at higher resolutions, indicating that the GPU becomes the bottleneck rather than the CPU.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset provides 364.3 FPS, which is well above the refresh rate of most high-end monitors. The Medium preset drops to 337.5 FPS, while High yields 264.8 FPS. Ultra at 1440p is still very playable at 207 FPS. For 4K gaming, the High preset offers the best balance, with 149.6 FPS, while Ultra drops to 116.5 FPS.

For a competitive esports title like Counter-Strike 2, the data strongly suggests using the Low preset at 1920x1080 to maximize responsiveness. However, if visual fidelity is a priority, the High preset at 1440p is a strong compromise, offering 264.8 FPS without sacrificing too much detail. The Ultra preset at 4K is the only configuration that dips below 120 FPS, making it less ideal for fast-paced play.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data spans three resolutions and four settings presets, providing a comprehensive view of performance. At 3840x2160, the combo starts at 116.5 FPS on Ultra, climbs to 149.6 FPS on High, jumps to 196.9 FPS on Medium, and peaks at 239.7 FPS on Low. This shows a scaling factor of roughly 2.06x from Ultra to Low, indicating that the GPU has significant headroom even at 4K.

Moving to 2560x1440, the numbers increase substantially. The Ultra preset hits 207 FPS, a 77.7% improvement over the 4K Ultra result. High reaches 264.8 FPS, Medium delivers 337.5 FPS, and Low tops out at 364.3 FPS. The scaling from Ultra to Low at 1440p is 1.76x, slightly less than at 4K, which suggests the CPU is beginning to limit performance at the lower resolution.

At 1920x1080, the results are extraordinary. The Ultra preset still manages 308.2 FPS, which is higher than the 1440p Ultra result. High jumps to 349.5 FPS, Medium to 392.1 FPS, and Low to 418.1 FPS. The scaling from Ultra to Low is just 1.36x, a clear sign that the Intel Core i5-9400 is the limiting factor. The jump from 1440p Low (364.3 FPS) to 1080p Low (418.1 FPS) is only 14.8%, whereas the jump from 4K High (149.6 FPS) to 1440p High (264.8 FPS) is 77.0%. This indicates that the CPU saturates before the GPU at lower resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is the undisputed star of this pairing. Built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process at TSMC, it packs 45,600 million transistors into a 378 mm² die. The GPU features 8,960 shading units, 280 texture mapping units, and 96 raster output pipelines. Its clock speeds are listed at a base of 2,295 MHz and a boost of 2,452 MHz, with memory running at 1,750 MHz (28 Gbps effective).

The 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 896.0 GB/s, which is crucial for high-resolution textures. The GPU’s raw compute power is substantial, with 43.94 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and a texture rate of 686.6 GTexel/s. The pixel rate of 235.4 GPixel/s ensures that even at 4K, the rasterizer is not a bottleneck.

In Counter-Strike 2, the GPU’s role is evident in the 4K results. At 3840x2160 Ultra, the combo achieves 116.5 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for competitive play. Dropping to High yields 149.6 FPS, a 28.4% improvement. The GPU’s headroom is clear when considering that the 1080p Low result of 418.1 FPS is over 3.5 times higher than the 4K Ultra result. The RTX 5070 Ti’s 87th percentile ranking among all GPUs, and its performance parity with the RTX 4080, confirms that it is a top-tier card. Its launch MSRP is 749 USD, though this is not a factor in the performance analysis. The data shows that the GPU is rarely the limiting factor, except at 4K Ultra, where the 116.5 FPS result still exceeds the refresh rate of most standard monitors.