Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2 with the Intel Core i9-14900K and Intel Arc B390 presents a highly unusual pairing: a flagship 24-core desktop processor driving an integrated-class GPU. The data shows this combination is severely bottlenecked by the graphics solution in nearly every scenario, with the CPU's substantial headroom going largely unused. The measured results indicate that the user experience hinges entirely on preset selection and resolution, with playable frame rates achievable only by making significant visual compromises.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data makes the optimal preset selection clear: Low is the only settings tier that provides a consistently smooth experience across all resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 179 FPS, which is 30 FPS higher than the Medium preset's 149 FPS and 68 FPS higher than High's 111 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium costs 30 FPS (a 16.8% reduction), while the jump from Medium to High costs another 38 FPS (a 25.5% reduction). The Ultra preset is the least viable option, dropping to 86 FPS at 1080p, which is less than half of the Low preset's output.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset remains the only tier above the 100 FPS threshold, averaging 118 FPS. Medium drops to 98 FPS, High to 73 FPS, and Ultra falls to 57 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium at 1440p is 20 FPS (17% reduction), while the gap between Medium and High is a steeper 25 FPS (25.5% reduction). At 3840x2160, even the Low preset only manages 66 FPS on average, which is below the 70 FPS mark that many competitive players would consider acceptable. Medium at 4K averages 55 FPS, High averages 41 FPS, and Ultra averages just 32 FPS.

The data suggests that for players prioritizing frame rate over visual fidelity—which is typical for Counter-Strike 2—the Low preset is the recommended starting point. It is the only tier that keeps the average FPS above 60 at 4K and above 100 at both 1080p and 1440p. The Medium preset can be considered at 1080p if the 30 FPS loss relative to Low is acceptable, but at 1440p it dips below the 100 FPS mark, and at 4K it falls well below 60 FPS. High and Ultra are difficult to recommend for any resolution, as they consistently produce sub-60 FPS results at 4K and sub-90 FPS results at 1440p.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is the dominant limiting factor in this configuration. This GPU is based on the Xe3-LPG architecture on a 3 nm process node, with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz. Its memory is designated as "System Shared," meaning it relies on the host system's RAM rather than dedicated VRAM, and its bandwidth is listed as "System Dependent." The GPU has 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster output units, along with 12 ray tracing cores. Its pixel rate is 60.00 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 120.0 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance of 7.680 TFLOPS.

The benchmark data places this GPU at the 9th percentile of all GPUs, with an average score of 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. Its nearest rivals are all older NVIDIA parts: the GeForce GT 520MX (1.3% ahead), GeForce 800M (1.5% ahead), GeForce GT 625 OEM (2.5% ahead), and GeForce GT 710 (2.7% ahead). This places the Arc B390 in the entry-level segment, which is consistent with its measured FPS results in Counter-Strike 2. The fact that it is an integrated GPU (IGP) with a 80 W TDP and no dedicated power connectors further confirms its low-performance positioning.

The GPU's role in these benchmark results is straightforward: it cannot feed the i9-14900K's processing power into high frame rates. Even at 1080p Low, the 179 FPS average is likely constrained by the GPU's rendering limits rather than the CPU. The 24 ROPs and 48 TMUs are modest numbers for modern game rendering, and the shared memory bandwidth is a bottleneck for texture-heavy scenes. The GPU's boost clock of 2500 MHz is respectable for an integrated part, but the small execution resource count (1536 shading units) caps the throughput. The data shows that the Arc B390 is the component that determines playability, as the CPU has far more capability than this GPU can utilize.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K is a flagship desktop processor with 24 cores and 32 threads, running at a base clock of 3.20 GHz and a boost clock of 6.00 GHz. It has 36 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB of L2 cache per core, with 80 KB of L1 cache per core. Its 125 W TDP is typical for a high-end desktop part, and it is built on Intel's 10 nm process. The processor sits at the 95th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 79097.

In synthetic benchmarks, the i9-14900K scores 39399.5 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 2262.5 in single-core. Its Geekbench scores are 21697 multi-core and 2655 single-core. PassMark results show 58674 in multithread and 4697 in single-thread. Its nearest rivals in the overall CPU benchmark ranking are the Core i9-14900KF (0.3% lower), Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus (0.6% lower), and AMD EPYC 7413 (1.2% lower), while the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 is 1.7% lower. These are all high-end parts, confirming the i9-14900K's top-tier status.

In Counter-Strike 2, the CPU's role is to process game logic, physics, and frame preparation, but the measured FPS data shows that this CPU is almost never the bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the 179 FPS average is likely near the GPU's ceiling, not the CPU's. The CPU's vast thread count and high boost clock are largely irrelevant because the Arc B390 produces frame times that mask the CPU's speed. The data indicates that the i9-14900K is massively overqualified for this pairing—a lower-tier CPU could achieve identical FPS results with this GPU. The 6.00 GHz boost clock and 36 MB L3 cache are wasted potential, as the GPU cannot generate enough frames for the CPU to process faster than it already does.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the i9-14900K and Arc B390 ranks 2535th out of 2870 tested combinations in Counter-Strike 2, placing it in the bottom 12% of all combos. This ranking reflects the GPU's severe limitation, as the combo's position is far below what the CPU's 95th percentile status would suggest. The data shows that the pairing's performance is essentially the GPU's performance, with the CPU providing negligible benefit.

The discrepancy between the CPU's high percentile (95th) and the combo's low rank (2535th) confirms that the Arc B390 is the sole determinant of FPS in this game. The 2870 tested combos likely span a wide range of GPU capabilities, and the Arc B390's 9th percentile GPU score explains why this combo sits near the bottom. For context, the CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks are all within 1.7% of its score, but that precision is meaningless here because the GPU cannot leverage the difference. The combo rank would improve substantially with a more capable GPU, but as configured, it is a heavily CPU-overkill, GPU-starved system.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for this combo at 1080p?

A: The Low preset delivers the highest average FPS at 1920x1080, with 179 FPS. Medium averages 149 FPS, High averages 111 FPS, and Ultra averages 86 FPS. The data shows Low is the only preset that stays above 150 FPS.

Q: Can this combo run the game at 4K with playable frame rates?

A: At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 66 FPS, which is the only tier above 60 FPS. Medium averages 55 FPS, High averages 41 FPS, and Ultra averages 32 FPS. The data suggests that 4K is only viable on Low settings.

Q: How does the Arc B390 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B390 has an average 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1482. The GeForce GT 520MX is 1.3% higher, the GeForce 800M is 1.5% higher, the GeForce GT 625 OEM is 2.5% higher, and the GeForce GT 710 is 2.7% higher. These are all older entry-level parts.

Q: Is the Core i9-14900K the bottleneck in this setup?

A: No. The CPU scores at the 95th percentile of all CPUs, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 39399.5. The measured FPS is far lower than what this CPU can support, indicating the GPU is the limiting component.

Q: What is the frame rate drop from 1080p to 1440p on Low settings?

A: At 1920x1080 Low, the average FPS is 179. At 2560x1440 Low, it drops to 118 FPS, a reduction of 61 FPS (34.1%). This indicates a GPU-limited scenario.

Q: How many cores does the CPU have and what is its boost clock?

A: The Intel Core i9-14900K has 24 cores and 32 threads, with a base clock of 3.20 GHz and a boost clock of 6.00 GHz. It has 36 MB of shared L3 cache.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of this combo's performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 179 FPS, which is the highest score in the entire dataset. The Medium preset averages 149 FPS, with a minimum of 126 FPS and a maximum of 171 FPS. The High preset averages 111 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 86 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 93 FPS, showing the dramatic impact of settings on this GPU.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 118 FPS, which is 61 FPS lower than the 1080p Low result. The Medium preset averages 98 FPS, with a minimum of 84 FPS and a maximum of 113 FPS. The High preset averages 73 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 57 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 61 FPS, narrower than at 1080p, indicating the GPU is already struggling at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 66 FPS, which is the only result above 60 FPS at 4K. The Medium preset averages 55 FPS, with a minimum of 47 FPS and a maximum of 63 FPS. The High preset averages 41 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 32 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 34 FPS, showing diminishing returns as the resolution increases. The data consistently shows that only the Low preset provides acceptable frame rates, and even then only at 1080p and 1440p.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling behavior reveals a GPU-bound system. Going from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 on the Low preset, the FPS drops from 179 to 118, a reduction of 61 FPS (34.1%). Going from 2560x1440 to 3840x2160 on the same preset, the FPS drops from 118 to 66, a reduction of 52 FPS (44.1%). The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 113 FPS (63.1%). This scaling pattern is typical for a GPU that is overwhelmed by pixel count—the FPS drops nearly linearly with the increase in pixel count.

On the Medium preset, the scaling is similar: 149 FPS at 1080p, 98 FPS at 1440p (34.2% drop), and 55 FPS at 4K (43.9% drop from 1440p). The High preset shows 111 FPS at 1080p, 73 FPS at 1440p (34.2% drop), and 41 FPS at 4K (43.8% drop). The Ultra preset shows 86 FPS at 1080p, 57 FPS at 1440p (33.7% drop), and 32 FPS at 4K (43.9% drop). The consistency of these percentage drops across all presets confirms that the limiting component is the GPU, as the CPU's performance does not change with resolution.

The data shows that this combo is heavily GPU-limited at all resolutions. The i9-14900K's 6.00 GHz boost clock and 24 cores cannot compensate for the Arc B390's limited throughput. The FPS scaling with resolution is a textbook example of a graphics-bound workload, where the CPU has ample headroom and the GPU is the sole constraint. Players using this combo should expect to play at 1080p Low for competitive frame rates, with 1440p Low as a compromise, and 4K only on Low settings if they accept sub-70 FPS averages.