Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2 presents a fascinating case study for the Intel Core i7-13700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination. The measured data shows this pairing is exceptionally powerful, ranking in the 100th percentile out of 1632 tested combinations for this title. The benchmark results indicate a system that is not merely capable of high frame rates, but one that delivers performance so far beyond typical display refresh rates that the choice of settings becomes a matter of maximizing competitive advantage rather than struggling for playability.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for this hardware combination reveals a clear hierarchy across the four available presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 667.7 FPS, which is the highest frame rate recorded in any configuration. This is 109.2 FPS faster than the Medium preset and 248.7 FPS faster than the High preset at the same resolution. For a competitive first-person shooter, this delta is substantial, as higher frame rates can translate to reduced input latency and smoother target tracking.

The benchmark results indicate that the Low preset is the optimal choice for players seeking the absolute maximum performance. Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset still delivers a commanding 443.1 FPS, which remains far above the refresh rate capabilities of even the most advanced high-refresh-rate monitors. At 3840x2160, the Low preset produces 250.6 FPS, still a very high figure. The data suggests that the Low preset minimizes graphical overhead while maximizing the frame rate ceiling, which is often the primary objective in a game like Counter-Strike 2 where every millisecond counts.

However, the Medium preset offers a compelling alternative. At 1080p, it delivers 558.5 FPS, and at 1440p, it achieves 365.5 FPS. These are still extraordinarily high frame rates that would saturate any current display. The performance gap between Low and Medium is significant, but the absolute numbers remain so high that the visual improvements from Medium settings may be worth the modest FPS cost for some users. The High preset at 1080p produces 419 FPS, which is still excellent, but the data shows a clear step down from the lower presets. The Ultra preset, while visually demanding, yields the lowest frame rates across all resolutions, with 326.1 FPS at 1080p.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is a substantial piece of hardware, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using a 5 nm process from TSMC. It features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s. The GPU's boost clock is rated at 2550 MHz, with a base clock of 2295 MHz. These specifications support a raw compute capability of 52.22 TFLOPS for FP32 operations.

In the context of Counter-Strike 2, the data shows that the GPU is rarely the limiting factor, especially at lower resolutions. The difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 1080p is 341.6 FPS, which is a massive spread. This indicates that the GPU has tremendous headroom. The GPU's percentile ranking of 88 among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 53610, places it in the high-performance tier. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, has an average score of 53489, a delta of only 0.2%, showing that the RTX 4080 SUPER sits at the very top of the performance spectrum. The 16 GB VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor in this game, as the data shows no signs of performance degradation or memory-related bottlenecks at any tested setting.

FAQ

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

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 667.7 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset.

Q: How much of a performance drop is seen when moving from 1080p to 1440p on the Low preset?

A: The average FPS on the Low preset drops from 667.7 at 1920x1080 to 443.1 at 2560x1440, a decrease of 224.6 FPS.

Q: Does the Ultra preset provide playable frame rates at 4K resolution?

A: Yes, the Ultra preset at 3840x2160 yields an average of 121.3 FPS, which is still a high frame rate suitable for competitive play.

Q: Is there a significant difference between the Medium and High presets at 1440p?

A: Yes, the benchmark results show the Medium preset achieves 365.5 FPS, while the High preset achieves 276.8 FPS at 2560x1440, a difference of 88.7 FPS.

Q: How does this specific CPU and GPU combination rank among all tested systems?

A: This combination is ranked 100th percentile out of 1632 total tested combinations, placing it at the very top of the performance leaderboard.

Q: What is the performance delta between the RTX 4080 SUPER and its closest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 53610, while its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, scores 53489, a difference of 0.2% in favor of the NVIDIA card.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a comprehensive view of performance across all settings and resolutions. At 1920x1080, the frame rates are exceptionally high across the board. The Low preset leads with 667.7 FPS, followed by the Medium preset at 558.5 FPS. The High preset achieves 419 FPS, and the Ultra preset rounds out the group with 326.1 FPS. This represents a performance range of 341.6 FPS from the lowest to the highest quality setting.

At 2560x1440, the pattern remains consistent, but the absolute numbers decrease. The Low preset produces 443.1 FPS, the Medium preset achieves 365.5 FPS, the High preset delivers 276.8 FPS, and the Ultra preset maintains 214.4 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 228.7 FPS. Moving to 3840x2160, the performance impact of the higher resolution becomes more pronounced. The Low preset averages 250.6 FPS, the Medium preset achieves 204.4 FPS, the High preset delivers 152.9 FPS, and the Ultra preset manages 121.3 FPS. The range here narrows to 129.3 FPS, indicating that the GPU is becoming a more significant factor at 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The data reveals how the system scales with resolution. From 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 on the Low preset, the average FPS drops from 667.7 to 443.1, a reduction of approximately 33.6%. Moving from 2560x1440 to 3840x2160 on the same preset, the FPS drops from 443.1 to 250.6, a further reduction of approximately 43.4%. This shows that the scaling is not linear; the jump to 4K has a more significant impact on performance.

This scaling behavior indicates that at 1080p, the system is heavily CPU-bound. The Intel Core i7-13700K, with its 16 cores and 24 threads, is capable of feeding the GPU at an immense rate, but the game engine's single-threaded nature likely limits the frame rate. The GPU's utilization is not fully saturated at these lower resolutions. As resolution increases, the workload shifts to the GPU, which is why the frame rate drops more steeply when moving to 4K. At 3840x2160, the RTX 4080 SUPER is working much harder, and the frame rate becomes more dependent on its capabilities. The fact that even at 4K with Ultra settings the system maintains 121.3 FPS shows that this GPU is powerful enough to handle high-fidelity rendering at high refresh rates.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K is a Raptor Lake-S architecture processor with 16 cores and 24 threads. Its base clock is 3.40 GHz, and it can boost up to 5.40 GHz. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU scores 39000 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 5505 in single-core, demonstrating exceptional multi-threaded and strong single-threaded performance. Its percentile ranking of 93 among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 47282, places it in the high-end tier. The nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-13700KF, has an average score of 47334, a delta of only -0.1%, indicating they are effectively equal in performance.

In Counter-Strike 2, the CPU's role is critical. The benchmark results show that at 1080p, the frame rate differences between presets are enormous, with the Low preset hitting 667.7 FPS. This suggests that the game's frame rate is primarily dictated by the CPU's ability to process game logic and draw calls. The i7-13700K's high boost clock of 5.40 GHz is a key factor here, as it provides the single-threaded speed that Counter-Strike 2 relies on. The data does not show a scenario where the CPU becomes a bottleneck, even at the lowest settings where the GPU is least utilized. This indicates that the i7-13700K is more than sufficient to push this GPU to its limits, and the measured performance reflects the balance of this pairing.