Counter-Strike 2

The Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER presents a compelling, if CPU-heavy, configuration for Counter-Strike 2. The benchmark data shows that the processor’s high core count and boost clocks dominate the performance curve, while the GPU becomes a secondary factor at lower resolutions. The measured results indicate that this combo is best suited for high-refresh-rate 1080p and 1440p gaming, with settings adjustments serving as the primary lever for pushing frame rates well past the 200 FPS mark.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for this combo reveals that the Low preset offers the most dramatic performance uplift, particularly at 3840x2160 where it nearly doubles the High preset’s output. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 323.2 FPS, which is the highest recorded score across all tested configurations. This represents a significant advantage for competitive play, where higher frame rates translate directly to smoother input response and reduced latency. The jump from High to Low at 1080p is substantial—a 122 FPS difference—suggesting that the RTX 2060 SUPER’s shading units and texture units are the limiting factor when graphical fidelity is prioritized.

However, the Medium preset offers a more balanced trade-off. At 2560x1440, Medium delivers 179.5 FPS, which is 66 FPS lower than Low but still comfortably above the 144 Hz refresh rate common on modern monitors. The data indicates that Ultra settings should be avoided at 3840x2160, where the average dips to 55.5 FPS—a figure that falls below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. For most users, the Medium preset at 2560x1440 provides the best experience, as it maintains high frame rates while preserving enough visual detail for situational awareness. At 1920x1080, even Ultra achieves 157.2 FPS, so players with older 60 Hz displays can confidently use the highest settings without sacrificing playability.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo holds a rank of 1138 out of 1632 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database. This ranking reflects the RTX 2060 SUPER’s position as an older mid-range GPU, despite the i7-14700K being a top-tier processor. The CPU’s percentileVsAllCpus rating of 96 indicates it outperforms 96% of all tested processors, while the GPU’s percentileVsAllGpus rating of 63 shows it only surpasses 63% of all graphics cards. This disparity explains why the combo’s overall rank is modest—the GPU is the bottleneck in most scenarios, especially at higher resolutions. The i7-14700K’s nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-14700KF, scores nearly identically with a deltaPct of 0, meaning the two CPUs are interchangeable in performance. The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X trails by 0.5%, while the Intel Xeon Platinum 8270 is 1.4% behind, confirming that the CPU side of this combo is exceptionally strong.

GPU Role

The RTX 2060 SUPER, built on the Turing architecture with a TU106 chip, provides 8 GB of GDDR6 memory across a 256-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. Its base clock runs at 1470 MHz, boosting to 1650 MHz under load. The GPU’s 2176 shading units and 136 texture mapping units are responsible for the pixel and texture processing that directly impacts Counter-Strike 2’s rendering. The measured FPS scaling across resolutions shows a clear pattern: at 3840x2160, the GPU saturates its memory bandwidth and compute resources, as evidenced by the steep drop from 120.1 FPS on Low to 55.5 FPS on Ultra. This 64.6 FPS decline highlights the GPU’s limitations at 4K, where the 8 GB frame buffer and 7.181 TFLOPS FP32 throughput become constraining factors. The GPU’s pixel rate of 105.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 224.4 GTexel/s are adequate for 1080p and 1440p, but the data shows that even at 2560x1440, Ultra settings push the card to its limits, resulting in 103 FPS—a 110.5 FPS drop from the Low preset’s 213.5 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the combo delivers 72.5 FPS on High, 99.4 FPS on Medium, 55.5 FPS on Ultra, and 120.1 FPS on Low. The gap between Low and Ultra is substantial, representing a 116% performance difference. This resolution is clearly the most demanding, and the data suggests that only the Low preset provides a consistently playable experience above 100 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates improve markedly: High hits 134.5 FPS, Medium reaches 179.5 FPS, Low achieves 213.5 FPS, and Ultra maintains 103 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra narrows to 110.5 FPS, but Ultra still falls below the 144 Hz threshold that many competitive players target. At 1920x1080, the combo shines: Low produces 323.2 FPS, Medium delivers 266.2 FPS, High reaches 201.2 FPS, and Ultra still manages 157.2 FPS. This resolution is where the i7-14700K’s 5.60 GHz boost clock and 33 MB of shared L3 cache come into play, as the CPU can feed the GPU enough frames to saturate even the fastest monitors. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across settings—a roughly 34% drop—while the jump to 4K incurs a more severe 60-70% penalty, underscoring the GPU’s memory bandwidth constraints.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo can achieve in Counter-Strike 2?

A: The highest recorded average FPS is 323.2, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset. This represents the maximum performance ceiling for this configuration.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming at a consistent 60 FPS?

A: At 3840x2160, the High preset delivers 72.5 FPS, which exceeds 60 FPS, but the Ultra preset drops to 55.5 FPS, falling below the threshold. The Low preset at 4K reaches 120.1 FPS, so 4K gaming is viable only with reduced graphical settings.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER compare to its nearest rival in benchmarks?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER scores 19774 on average, placing it 0.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN and 0.5% ahead of the RTX 2070. The NVIDIA Quadro K5200 trails by 0.8%, and the Tesla K40m is 1.3% behind.

Q: What is the optimal resolution for competitive play with this combo?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 provides the best competitive experience, with the Low preset achieving 323.2 FPS and even the Ultra preset maintaining 157.2 FPS, both well above typical high-refresh-rate monitor capabilities.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU in this configuration?

A: The i7-14700K ranks in the 96th percentile among all CPUs, while the RTX 2060 SUPER sits in the 63rd percentile. Benchmark results indicate the CPU is not the limiting factor; rather, the GPU’s compute and memory resources constrain performance, particularly at higher resolutions.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between High and Medium settings at 2560x1440?

A: At 2560x1440, the High preset produces 134.5 FPS, while Medium delivers 179.5 FPS. This represents a 45 FPS difference, making Medium the better choice for players seeking higher refresh rates without sacrificing too much visual quality.