Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2 with an Intel Core i7-13700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 presents a fascinating case study in bottleneck dynamics. The data reveals a configuration that is exceptionally strong at lower resolutions but begins to show its limitations as pixel count climbs, with the CPU and GPU trading dominance depending on the workload. This analysis breaks down the measured performance across resolutions and settings, interprets the ranking against other combos, and examines the specific roles of the processor and graphics card.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K produces a dramatic shift in frame rates, clearly illustrating where the performance ceiling lies. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 382 FPS, but this drops to 253 FPS at 1440p and further to 141 FPS at 4K. This represents a 63% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, indicating that the GPU becomes increasingly stressed as resolution rises. The scaling pattern is telling: the drop from 1080p to 1440p is steep, but the subsequent drop to 4K is even more severe in absolute terms, suggesting the RTX 4060's 8 GB memory buffer and 128-bit bus are significant constraints.

At High settings, the resolution scaling is more moderate but still substantial. The combo delivers 237 FPS at 1080p, 157 FPS at 1440p, and 88 FPS at 4K. This is a 63% decrease from 1080p to 4K, mirroring the Low settings pattern. The consistency of this percentage across settings suggests that the limiting factor is resolution-driven rather than settings-driven. The data implies that at 1080p, the Core i7-13700K is able to feed frames fast enough that the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck, while at 4K, the GPU's raw throughput and memory bandwidth are insufficient to maintain high frame rates.

The Medium settings row provides additional insight with minimum and maximum FPS values. At 4K Medium, the average is 117 FPS with a minimum of 100 and maximum of 135, showing a fairly tight frame time distribution. At 1440p Medium, the average jumps to 210 FPS with a range of 179 to 242, and at 1080p Medium, it reaches 317 FPS with a range of 270 to 365. The widening gap between minimum and maximum FPS as resolution drops suggests that CPU-bound scenarios at lower resolutions introduce frame time variance, while the GPU-bound scenarios at 4K are more consistent.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K is a 16-core, 24-thread processor from the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. Its benchmark scores are impressive, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 30745 and a single-core score of 2116. The CPU's performance percentile of 89 indicates it outperforms the vast majority of all CPUs in the database. In this game, the CPU's role is most evident at 1080p, where the frame rates exceed 300 FPS at Low and Medium settings, demonstrating that the processor can handle high draw call rates typical of competitive FPS titles.

The nearest rivals to this CPU, based on average benchmark scores, include the AMD Ryzen 9 5900 and AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375, both with a delta of -0.2% and -0.3% respectively. This places the i7-13700K in a tightly contested performance band, though its 30 MB of shared L3 cache and 5.40 GHz boost clock likely contribute to strong gaming performance. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system reaches 382 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's practical limit for this game engine, as increasing resolution to 1440p only drops this to 253 FPS (a 34% reduction), while the settings increase from Low to Ultra at 1080p only reduces FPS to 184 (a 52% reduction).

The CPU's 16 cores and 24 threads provide ample parallelism, but Counter-Strike 2 is known to be sensitive to single-thread performance. The 3DMark single-thread score of 1136 and Geekbench single-core score of 2529 are strong indicators that the i7-13700K excels in this regard. The PassMark single-thread score of 4333 further confirms this. The data suggests that at 1080p, the CPU is the primary driver of performance, as evidenced by the high frame rates that would be difficult to achieve with a weaker processor.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers 382 FPS, which is far beyond what any display can show, making it unnecessary for most users. The High preset at 237 FPS is more reasonable, offering a balance between visual quality and performance. The Medium preset at 317 FPS sits between these, providing a good middle ground. The Ultra preset at 184 FPS is still very playable and provides the best visual experience, but the frame rate drop from Medium is significant.

At 1440p, the Medium preset at 210 FPS is the standout choice, offering excellent smoothness with a minimum of 179 FPS. The High preset at 157 FPS is also viable, but the Ultra preset at 122 FPS may be preferred by those who prioritize image quality over raw frame rate. The Low preset at 253 FPS is overkill for most displays, but competitive players might favor it for the lowest input latency.

At 4K, the situation changes dramatically. The Medium preset at 117 FPS is the only option that provides a consistently smooth experience, with a minimum of 100 FPS. The High preset at 88 FPS is playable but may feel less responsive, while the Ultra preset at 68 FPS is likely too demanding for a competitive title. The Low preset at 141 FPS is surprisingly strong, indicating that the game scales well with reduced visual fidelity. Given that the RTX 4060 has 8 GB of VRAM, the Medium preset appears to be the sweet spot at 4K, balancing the GPU's memory bandwidth and shading capabilities.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Core i7-13700K and RTX 4060 ranks 2003 out of 3719 tested combos in Counter-Strike 2, placing it in the 46th percentile of all configurations. This is a middling rank for a system with such a powerful CPU, suggesting that the GPU is holding back the overall performance in this specific game. The rank indicates that many other combinations, likely with more powerful GPUs, achieve higher frame rates, even if their CPUs are less capable.

The GPU's percentile of 61 versus the CPU's percentile of 89 highlights this imbalance. The RTX 4060's average benchmark score of 17639 is closely matched by the AMD Radeon HD 7790 (delta -0.2%) and AMD Radeon 780M (delta 0.3%), which are significantly older or lower-tier products. This suggests that the RTX 4060 is not a high-end performer, and in a CPU-intensive game like Counter-Strike 2, the CPU's capabilities are not fully utilized at higher resolutions where the GPU becomes the limiting factor.

The combo's rank of 2003 out of 3719 means that 1716 combos perform worse, but 1715 perform better. This places the system in the middle of the pack, which is expected given the GPU's mid-range positioning. The data implies that to improve this combo's ranking, a GPU with higher memory bandwidth and more shading units would be necessary, as the CPU has more headroom to push higher frame rates.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is based on the AD107 chip with the Ada Lovelace architecture, manufactured on a 5 nm process by TSMC. It features 3072 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units, with a boost clock of 2460 MHz. The GPU's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s, which is a key limitation at higher resolutions. The FP32 performance of 15.11 TFLOPS is respectable for a mid-range card, but the memory subsystem is clearly the bottleneck in this game.

The GPU's benchmark results show a PassMark G3D score of 19545 and a PassMark GPU Compute score of 9213. Its percentile of 61 indicates that it performs better than 61% of all GPUs, but it falls short of more powerful options. In Counter-Strike 2, the GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution increases. At 4K, the frame rates drop to 88 FPS at High settings and 68 FPS at Ultra, which are well below the refresh rates of many gaming monitors. The 8 GB VRAM is likely a contributing factor, as high-resolution textures can exceed this capacity, causing performance degradation.

The GPU's memory clock of 2125 MHz (17 Gbps effective) and 128-bit bus width result in a bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s, which is modest by modern standards. This is evident in the scaling from 1440p to 4K, where the frame rate drops by approximately 44% at High settings (from 157 to 88 FPS). The GPU's 24 RT cores and 96 tensor cores are present but not heavily utilized in this game, as Counter-Strike 2 does not rely on ray tracing or DLSS for its core performance. The data shows that the GPU is the limiting component at 4K, while the CPU dominates at 1080p.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the system's performance across all resolution and settings combinations. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 382 FPS, the Medium preset achieves 317 FPS (with a minimum of 270 and maximum of 365), the High preset achieves 237 FPS, and the Ultra preset achieves 184 FPS. This represents a 52% performance drop from Low to Ultra, indicating that the settings have a significant impact on frame rate at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset delivers 253 FPS, the Medium preset delivers 210 FPS (with a minimum of 179 and maximum of 242), the High preset delivers 157 FPS, and the Ultra preset delivers 122 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra is 52%, consistent with the 1080p scaling. However, the absolute frame rates are lower, with the Ultra preset barely maintaining 120 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset achieves 141 FPS, the Medium preset achieves 117 FPS (with a minimum of 100 and maximum of 135), the High preset achieves 88 FPS, and the Ultra preset achieves 68 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra is 52% as well, but the starting point is much lower. The Medium preset is the only one that maintains a minimum above 100 FPS, making it the recommended choice for 4K gaming.

The data reveals a consistent pattern: the performance gap between Low and Ultra is roughly 52% at all resolutions, indicating that the settings scale uniformly. However, the resolution scaling is steeper, with 4K performance being approximately 63% lower than 1080p performance at the same settings. This suggests that the GPU's memory bandwidth is the primary constraint at high resolutions, while the CPU's performance is sufficient to maintain high frame rates at lower resolutions.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1080p provides the highest frame rates, with 382 FPS at Low settings and 237 FPS at High settings. At 1440p, the High preset still delivers 157 FPS, which is playable, but 4K performance drops significantly, with the High preset only reaching 88 FPS.

Q: Which settings preset should I use at 1440p?

A: The Medium preset at 1440p achieves an average of 210 FPS with a minimum of 179 FPS, making it the best balance of visual quality and performance. The High preset at 157 FPS is also viable, but the Ultra preset at 122 FPS may be preferred for image quality.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The extremely high frame rates at 1080p, reaching 382 FPS at Low settings, suggest that the CPU is the primary driver, as the GPU would struggle to produce such high frame rates if it were the bottleneck. The RTX 4060's performance percentile of 61 is lower than the CPU's 89, indicating the CPU has more headroom.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested combinations?

A: The combo ranks 2003 out of 3719 tested combos in Counter-Strike 2, placing it in the 46th percentile. This is a mid-range ranking, indicating that many other configurations with more powerful GPUs achieve higher frame rates.

Q: What is the minimum FPS at 4K Medium settings?

A: The measured data shows a minimum FPS of 100 at 4K Medium settings, with an average of 117 FPS and a maximum of 135 FPS. This is the only 4K preset that maintains a minimum above 100 FPS.

Q: Does the RTX 4060's 8 GB VRAM affect performance in this game?

A: The significant performance drop from 1440p to 4K, particularly at High and Ultra settings, suggests that the 8 GB VRAM and 272.0 GB/s bandwidth are limiting factors at high resolutions. The GPU's 128-bit bus width is a notable constraint for this game's texture-heavy scenes.