Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2 with an Intel Core i7-13700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 produces a wide spread of frame rates depending on how the graphics options are configured. The measured data covers four presets across three resolutions, and the results show a clear hierarchy that favors lower settings for competitive play. The Low preset delivers the highest average frame rates at every resolution, making it the most responsive option in this dataset. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 294 FPS, which is the single highest score recorded for this combination. The Medium preset is the next fastest, with an average of 244 FPS at the same resolution, followed by High at 182 FPS and Ultra at 142 FPS. This pattern holds at 2560x1440, where Low averages 194 FPS, Medium 162 FPS, High 121 FPS, and Ultra 94 FPS. Even at 3840x2160, Low remains the strongest preset with an average of 109 FPS, while Medium reaches 90 FPS, High drops to 67 FPS, and Ultra falls to 52 FPS. For players who prioritize smooth motion and minimal input latency, the Low preset is the clear choice. It provides the highest frame rates across all tested resolutions, and the gap between Low and the next-best preset is substantial, ranging from 19 FPS at 4K to 50 FPS at 1080p. The Medium preset offers a balance, delivering playable frame rates even at 4K with an average of 90 FPS, but it does not match the Low preset’s headroom. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, and its average frame rates are the lowest in every resolution, making it unsuitable for high-refresh-rate displays. The data suggests that players should start with Low for maximum performance and only consider Medium if they need additional visual fidelity while accepting a measurable drop in frame rate.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is a Turing-architecture GPU with a 12 nm process node and a die size of 445 mm². It contains 10,800 million transistors, with a base clock of 1365 MHz and a boost clock of 1680 MHz. The memory subsystem consists of 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s. The GPU’s compute resources include 1920 shading units, 120 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units, along with 30 ray tracing cores and 240 tensor cores. Its peak FP32 performance is 6.451 TFLOPS, with a texture rate of 201.6 GTexel/s and a pixel rate of 80.64 GPixel/s. The card is rated for a 160 W TDP and requires a 450 W power supply, connecting via PCIe 3.0 x16.

In Counter-Strike 2, the GPU’s role is evident in how frame rates scale with settings changes. At 1920x1080, moving from Low to Ultra reduces the average FPS from 294 to 142, a decline of 152 FPS. This drop indicates that the RTX 2060’s rendering capabilities are increasingly taxed as visual effects and geometry complexity rise. The GPU’s memory bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s is likely a limiting factor at higher settings, particularly at 4K resolution where texture data demands more bandwidth. The measured data shows that the RTX 2060 can handle 1080p Low with ease, but the Ultra preset at 4K drops to an average of 52 FPS, suggesting the GPU is the bottleneck in that scenario. The GPU’s benchmark scores place it in the 58th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 15290. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 with a deltaPct of 0, the AMD Radeon 680M with a deltaPct of 0.1, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM with a deltaPct of 0.6, and the AMD Radeon RX 7600 with a deltaPct of 0.8. These close margins indicate that the RTX 2060 sits in a competitive performance tier, but in this game, its 6 GB VRAM and 192-bit bus are sufficient for the tested presets, as no resolution or settings combination appears to exceed memory capacity based on the frame rate patterns.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K is a Raptor Lake-S processor with 16 cores and 24 threads, running at a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. It has a 125 W TDP and supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory through a dual-channel interface. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 30 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU’s benchmark scores are strong, placing it in the 89th percentile among all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 46881. Its performance is closely matched by rivals: the AMD Ryzen 9 5900 has a deltaPct of -0.2, the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375 has a deltaPct of -0.3, the AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX has a deltaPct of 0.5, and the Intel Xeon w3-2535 has a deltaPct of 0.5.

In Counter-Strike 2, the CPU’s influence is most visible at lower resolutions and settings where the GPU is less stressed. At 1920x1080 Low, the average FPS reaches 294, which suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough frames to reach that level. The CPU’s high boost clock of 5.40 GHz is likely beneficial for the game’s single-threaded performance demands, as Counter-Strike 2 relies heavily on CPU for game logic and physics. The 3dmark single-thread score of 1136 and the cinebench R23 single-core score of 2116 indicate strong single-core performance, which is critical for maintaining high frame rates in this title. The CPU’s multicore capabilities, evidenced by a cinebench R23 multicore score of 30745 and a passmark multithread score of 45887, may help with background tasks and streaming, but the game itself likely benefits more from the single-thread speed. The data shows that at 1080p, the CPU is not the primary bottleneck even at Ultra settings, as the frame rate drops to 142 FPS, which is still high. However, at 4K Ultra, the frame rate falls to 52 FPS, indicating that the GPU is the limiting factor in that configuration. The CPU’s 30 MB of shared L3 cache and 16 cores provide ample processing headroom, but the measured frame rates suggest that the game’s performance is more constrained by the RTX 2060’s capabilities than by the i7-13700K’s processing power.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i7-13700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 ranks 2936 out of 3719 tested combos in Counter-Strike 2. This places it in the lower portion of the rankings, with about 79 percent of tested combos performing better. The rank is influenced by the GPU’s moderate performance tier rather than the CPU’s high percentile. The CPU alone is in the 89th percentile, but the GPU sits in the 58th percentile, creating a mismatch where the CPU’s potential is not fully realized in this game. The benchmark results indicate that the combo’s overall standing is dragged down by the GPU’s limitations, particularly at higher settings and resolutions. The ranking suggests that while the CPU is capable of high frame rates, the GPU prevents the combo from reaching the top tier. For context, the GPU’s nearest rivals include the GTX 580, Radeon 680M, RTX 3050 OEM, and RX 7600, all with deltaPct values within 0.8 percent, meaning the RTX 2060 is not far ahead of these alternatives. The combo’s rank of 2936 out of 3719 is consistent with a GPU that performs near the median of tested graphics cards. In practical terms, this combo is positioned for 1080p gaming with high refresh rates at lower settings, but it would struggle to compete with combos featuring more powerful GPUs in this game’s rankings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows how the combination scales from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, revealing the limiting component at each step. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 294 at 1080p to 194 at 1440p, a reduction of 100 FPS, and then to 109 at 4K, another 85 FPS drop. This steep decline indicates that even at Low settings, the GPU becomes increasingly stressed as resolution increases. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is substantial, with the 4K score being only 37 percent of the 1080p score. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 182 at 1080p to 121 at 1440p (a 61 FPS drop) and then to 67 at 4K (a 54 FPS drop), with the 4K score being 37 percent of the 1080p score as well. The Medium preset shows a similar pattern: 244 FPS at 1080p, 162 FPS at 1440p, and 90 FPS at 4K, with the 4K score at 37 percent of the 1080p score. The Ultra preset follows the same trend, going from 142 FPS at 1080p to 94 FPS at 1440p and 52 FPS at 4K, with the 4K score at 37 percent of the 1080p score. This consistent ratio across all settings suggests that resolution scaling is primarily GPU-bound, as the percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is nearly identical regardless of the preset. The CPU’s role is less significant in this scaling, as the frame rate reduction is more closely tied to the GPU’s rendering load. The data implies that the RTX 2060’s memory bandwidth and compute power are the limiting factors when moving to higher resolutions, with the CPU able to maintain adequate frame delivery at all tested resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table presents the exact measured average FPS for each resolution and settings combination, along with the min and max values where available.

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS |

|------------|----------|---------|---------|---------|

| 1920x1080 | Low | 294 | - | - |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 244 | 208 | 281 |

| 1920x1080 | High | 182 | - | - |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 142 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 194 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 162 | 137 | 186 |

| 2560x1440 | High | 121 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 94 | - | - |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 109 | - | - |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 90 | 77 | 104 |

| 3840x2160 | High | 67 | - | - |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 52 | - | - |

At 1080p, the Low preset’s average of 294 FPS is 50 FPS higher than Medium’s 244 FPS, which in turn is 62 FPS higher than High’s 182 FPS. The Ultra preset trails at 142 FPS, a 152 FPS gap from Low. The Medium preset’s min and max values at 1080p are 208 and 281 FPS, respectively, indicating a 73 FPS range. At 1440p, the Low preset averages 194 FPS, while Medium averages 162 FPS with a min of 137 and max of 186 FPS. The High preset drops to 121 FPS, and Ultra falls to 94 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p reduces frame rates by roughly 34 to 40 percent across all settings. At 4K, the Low preset averages 109 FPS, which is the only preset above 100 FPS at this resolution. Medium averages 90 FPS with min and max values of 77 and 104 FPS, High averages 67 FPS, and Ultra averages 52 FPS. The 4K Ultra score of 52 FPS is the lowest in the dataset, making it marginal for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset’s min FPS values across all resolutions (208 at 1080p, 137 at 1440p, and 77 at 4K) provide insight into frame time consistency, with the 4K min of 77 FPS being the lowest recorded minimum.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for this combo in Counter-Strike 2?

A: The Low preset delivers the highest average frame rates at every resolution, with 294 FPS at 1080p, 194 FPS at 1440p, and 109 FPS at 4K. This makes it the best choice for maximum performance.

Q: How does the RTX 2060’s performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 2060 has an average benchmark score of 15290 and sits in the 58th percentile. Its nearest rivals include the GTX 580 with a deltaPct of 0, the Radeon 680M with a deltaPct of 0.1, the RTX 3050 OEM with a deltaPct of 0.6, and the RX 7600 with a deltaPct of 0.8.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 4K resolution?

A: At 4K, the frame rates drop significantly across all settings, with the Ultra preset averaging only 52 FPS. This indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck at this resolution, as the CPU’s performance is sufficient to drive higher frame rates at lower resolutions.

Q: What is the combo’s rank among all tested combinations in this game?

A: The combo ranks 2936 out of 3719 tested combos, placing it in the lower portion of the rankings. The CPU is in the 89th percentile, while the GPU is in the 58th percentile, with the GPU likely holding the combo back.

Q: What is the average FPS difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 294 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 142 FPS, a difference of 152 FPS. This shows a substantial performance cost for enabling Ultra settings.

Q: What are the minimum FPS values for the Medium preset at each resolution?

A: The Medium preset has minimum FPS values of 208 at 1080p, 137 at 1440p, and 77 at 4K. These values represent the lowest recorded frame rates for this preset at each resolution.