Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2 with the Intel Core i7-14700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER demonstrates a pronounced shift in bottleneck behavior as resolution scales. At 1920x1080, the low preset yields 588.6 FPS, while the ultra preset drops to 281.2 FPS, a gap of 307.4 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440, the low preset still achieves 390.2 FPS, but ultra falls to 185.2 FPS. At 3840x2160, the spread narrows considerably: low produces 219.4 FPS, while ultra manages 106.5 FPS. The frame rate drop from 1080p low to 4K low is 369.2 FPS, whereas the same resolution change on ultra costs only 174.7 FPS. This compression indicates that at lower resolutions, the CPU’s 20 cores and 28 threads are the primary driver, but as pixel count rises, the GPU’s workload becomes dominant, limiting absolute throughput. The data shows that the RTX 4070 SUPER’s 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient to maintain playable rates even at 4K, though the scaling pattern suggests the graphics card is the constraining factor at higher settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frames per second reveal a clear trend: the i7-14700KF and RTX 4070 SUPER combination is heavily CPU-bound at 1080p, with the GPU taking over as the limiting component at 4K. At 1920x1080 low, the system produces 588.6 FPS, which is 2.68 times the 4K low result of 219.4 FPS. This ratio shrinks for higher presets; for high settings, 1080p yields 362.3 FPS versus 137.8 FPS at 4K, a 2.63x difference. The medium preset shows a similar pattern: 488 FPS at 1080p drops to 182.8 FPS at 4K, a 2.67x reduction. Ultra settings exhibit the smallest relative drop, going from 281.2 FPS at 1080p to 106.5 FPS at 4K, a 2.64x decrease. These consistent multipliers indicate that the engine scales predictably with resolution, but the absolute frame rates at 4K remain above 100 FPS even on ultra, suggesting the GPU has headroom for high-refresh-rate 4K monitors. The 1440p results sit between the extremes: low hits 390.2 FPS, high reaches 241.8 FPS, and ultra stays at 185.2 FPS, all of which exceed typical 144Hz display refresh rates. The data implies that at 1080p, the CPU’s single-core performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6290, is the ceiling, while at 4K, the GPU’s 35.48 TFLOPS FP32 throughput becomes the bottleneck.

GPU Role

The RTX 4070 SUPER’s specifications directly correlate with the measured performance in Counter-Strike 2. The GPU operates with a base clock of 1980 MHz and a boost clock of 2475 MHz, and its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory runs at an effective 21 Gbps across a 192-bit bus, yielding 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. In this game, the 4K ultra result of 106.5 FPS demonstrates that the card can handle the highest settings at the most demanding resolution, though it falls short of the 144 Hz threshold. The 4K medium result of 182.8 FPS indicates that reducing settings from ultra to medium provides a 71.7% performance uplift, which is substantial for competitive play. The GPU’s 80 ROPs and 224 texture mapping units contribute to its ability to maintain high fill rates, as shown by the 198.0 GPixel/s pixel rate and 554.4 GTexel/s texture rate. Compared to its nearest rivals, the RTX 4070 SUPER scores 0.2% below the NVIDIA RTX A6000 in average benchmark score, with a deltaPct of -0.2, and 0.3% below the AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE. The card’s 84th percentile ranking among all GPUs places it firmly in the upper tier, and its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 4627 reflects strong raw compute capability. The data shows that the GPU’s memory subsystem is not a limiting factor in this title, as even the 4K ultra setting does not appear to exceed the 12 GB frame buffer.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this specific combination of the i7-14700KF and RTX 4070 SUPER ranks 266th out of 1632 tested combos in Counter-Strike 2, placing it in the top 16.3% of all configurations. This ranking is notable given that the CPU itself sits in the 96th percentile among all processors, while the GPU is in the 84th percentile. The disparity between the component percentiles and the combo ranking suggests that the game’s engine does not fully utilize the CPU’s multithreaded capabilities, as evidenced by the relatively modest 20-core, 28-thread configuration performing well but not dominating. The combo’s position is influenced by the fact that Counter-Strike 2 favors high single-core clock speeds, and the i7-14700KF’s 5.60 GHz boost clock is a key asset. However, the 4K results, where the GPU becomes the bottleneck, drag the overall ranking down compared to systems with more powerful graphics cards. The data indicates that this combo is well-balanced for 1440p gaming, where it achieves over 185 FPS on all presets, but loses ground at 4K ultra to combos featuring higher-tier GPUs. The 266th rank out of 1632 combos represents a strong showing, but it is not a top-tier position, reflecting the GPU’s mid-range standing relative to the entire database.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the low preset delivers 588.6 FPS, which drops to 488 FPS on medium, 362.3 FPS on high, and 281.2 FPS on ultra. The difference between low and ultra at this resolution is 307.4 FPS, a 52.2% reduction in performance. The medium preset offers a 20.6% drop from low, while high represents a 38.4% drop from low. Moving to 2560x1440, the low preset produces 390.2 FPS, medium yields 324.3 FPS, high reaches 241.8 FPS, and ultra falls to 185.2 FPS. The gap between low and ultra at 1440p is 205 FPS, a 52.5% reduction, mirroring the 1080p scaling. At 3840x2160, the results are 219.4 FPS on low, 182.8 FPS on medium, 137.8 FPS on high, and 106.5 FPS on ultra. The difference between low and ultra at 4K is 112.9 FPS, a 51.5% reduction. Across all resolutions, the percentage drop from low to ultra is remarkably consistent, hovering around 52%, indicating that the game’s settings scale linearly with GPU load. The absolute numbers show that 1080p low is the only configuration exceeding 500 FPS, while 4K ultra is the only one below 110 FPS. All other settings and resolution combinations stay above 137 FPS, meaning even the most demanding preset at 1440p clears the 144 Hz refresh rate commonly found in gaming monitors.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the medium preset at 2560x1440 offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, delivering 324.3 FPS. This is 2.34 times the frame rate of the 4K ultra setting and 1.34 times the 1440p high result. For players prioritizing maximum frame rates, the 1080p low preset at 588.6 FPS is the clear choice, though it sacrifices visual quality. The data suggests that the 1440p medium setting is optimal for competitive play, as it maintains a frame rate well above the 240 Hz threshold while providing better image clarity than 1080p. The 4K high preset at 137.8 FPS is the lowest result that stays above 120 FPS, making it viable for 120 Hz displays, but the 4K medium at 182.8 FPS is a better option for those seeking higher refresh rates at that resolution. The 1080p ultra setting at 281.2 FPS is redundant for most users, as the 1440p medium outperforms it while offering a higher native resolution. The data indicates that the low preset at any resolution provides diminishing returns, as the jump from low to medium costs an average of 18% performance while providing significant visual improvements. For the RTX 4070 SUPER, the 1440p medium preset leverages the GPU’s capabilities without pushing it into a CPU-bound state, as evidenced by the 324.3 FPS result being 1.48 times the 4K medium score.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF’s 20 cores and 28 threads, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.60 GHz, play a critical role in Counter-Strike 2’s performance, particularly at lower resolutions. The CPU’s Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44557 and single-core score of 6290 highlight its strength in both threaded and single-threaded workloads. The game, being an esports title, benefits disproportionately from the single-core performance, as shown by the 1080p low result of 588.6 FPS, which is 2.68 times the 4K low result. This indicates that at 1080p, the CPU is the limiting factor, and the i7-14700KF’s high boost clock is what enables such extreme frame rates. The CPU’s L3 cache of 33 MB shared is ample for the game’s data sets, and the 125 W TDP reflects a power envelope that allows sustained boost clocks. Compared to its nearest rivals, the i7-14700KF scores 0.3% above the AMD EPYC 9115 and 0.4% below the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X, with deltaPct values of 0.3 and -0.4 respectively. The CPU ranks in the 96th percentile among all processors, and its PassMark single-thread score of 4480 confirms its ability to handle high-frequency workloads. The data shows that the CPU’s role diminishes as resolution increases, since the 4K ultra result of 106.5 FPS is primarily determined by the GPU’s rendering capabilities rather than the CPU’s processing speed. However, even at 4K, the CPU provides enough headroom to avoid bottlenecking the GPU, as the frame rates stay consistent with the GPU’s expected performance.