Counter-Strike 2

The Intel Core i9-14900K and Intel Arc B570 pairing delivers a wide performance envelope in Counter-Strike 2, ranging from a highly playable 63 FPS at 4K High to a blistering 275 FPS at 1080p Low. The measured data indicates that this combination is capable of high refresh rate gaming at 1080p and 1440p, while 4K remains viable only at lower settings. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS rows to determine the optimal settings, isolate the roles of the CPU and GPU, and contextualize the combo’s overall ranking.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear hierarchy of settings presets, with the primary trade-off being between visual fidelity and frame rate headroom. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 275 FPS, which is the highest measured in the entire dataset. This makes it the unequivocal choice for competitive play or for users with high refresh rate monitors seeking maximum responsiveness. The Medium preset at the same resolution yields 229 FPS, still an exceptional figure that exceeds the refresh rate of most standard gaming displays, while High drops to 171 FPS and Ultra to 133 FPS. For 1080p users, the data suggests that Low or Medium are the optimal presets, as they provide a substantial FPS buffer that minimizes the risk of frame rate dips below the monitor's refresh rate.

Moving to 2560x1440, the pattern continues but with lower absolute numbers. The Low preset delivers 182 FPS, which remains excellent for smooth gameplay. Medium provides 151 FPS, still well above the 144 Hz threshold that many competitive gamers target. High at 113 FPS is more moderate, and Ultra falls to 88 FPS. At this resolution, the Medium preset appears to be the sweet spot, offering a balance between visual quality and performance that keeps the average FPS comfortably above 144. The Low preset remains the best choice for maximizing frame rate, but the gap between Low and Medium is smaller here (31 FPS) compared to 1080p (46 FPS), suggesting the GPU is becoming more of a limiting factor.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes dramatically. The Low preset is the only setting that provides a clearly smooth experience, with an average of 102 FPS. Medium drops to 85 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced FPS action. High falls to 63 FPS, a figure that is borderline for competitive play, and Ultra is nearly unplayable at 49 FPS. The data strongly indicates that for 4K resolution, the Low preset is the only sensible choice for this hardware combination if the goal is maintaining a fluid frame rate. The performance cliff between Low and Medium at 4K is steep (17 FPS), emphasizing the GPU's workload limitations.

Across all resolutions, the Ultra preset consistently delivers the largest performance penalty, with the drop from High to Ultra ranging from 38 FPS at 1080p to 14 FPS at 4K. Given that these are average FPS figures, the data suggests that users prioritizing frame rate stability should avoid Ultra entirely. The recommended path for the best experience is to select the Low preset for maximum FPS, or Medium as a compromise when visual quality is desired, particularly at 1080p and 1440p. For 4K users, Low is the only viable option.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 is the central component in determining the upper limits of performance at higher resolutions and settings. Its specifications include 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 380.0 GB/s. The GPU operates at a fixed clock speed of 2500 MHz for both base and boost, which is a relatively high clock rate. The shading units number 2304, with 144 texture mapping units and 80 render output units. These specifications, combined with the 11.52 TFLOPS FP32 compute throughput, dictate the GPU's ability to process the graphical workload of Counter-Strike 2.

The data shows a clear GPU bottleneck emerging as resolution increases. At 1080p, the GPU has ample headroom, as evidenced by the huge FPS jumps when lowering settings (275 FPS at Low vs 133 FPS at Ultra). This indicates that the CPU is feeding the GPU effectively, and the GPU is the primary limiter only at the highest settings. However, at 4K, the GPU's workload becomes far more demanding. The average FPS at 4K Low is 102, which is only 37% of the 1080p Low figure. This disproportionate drop highlights the GPU's struggle with the pixel count. The 10 GB VRAM buffer is not directly measured as a bottleneck in the data, but the consistent FPS drops at 4K across all settings point to the GPU's compute and memory subsystems being saturated.

The Arc B570's benchmark percentile versus all GPUs is 65, and its nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile, which has a deltaPct of 0.1. This indicates the Arc B570 is a mid-range performer. In practical terms for Counter-Strike 2, the GPU is more than sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but it is the clear limiting factor for achieving high frame rates at 4K. The data shows that the GPU's performance ceiling is reached at 4K Ultra, where it only manages an average of 49 FPS. The role of the GPU is thus to provide a solid foundation for lower resolutions, but it cannot sustain high performance at 4K, especially with higher graphical presets.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i9-14900K and Intel Arc B570 is ranked 2286 out of 2870 tested combos in Counter-Strike 2. This places it in the lower half of all tested configurations, specifically in the 20th percentile of performance. This ranking is a holistic measure that considers all settings and resolutions, and it accurately reflects the GPU's limitations. The CPU is a top-tier part, with a percentile versus all CPUs of 95, but its immense power is held back by the mid-range GPU in this specific game.

The data shows that while the CPU can push very high frame rates at 1080p, the combo's overall ranking is dragged down by its poor performance at 4K. A combo ranked in the 2286th position suggests that many other pairings, likely those with higher-end GPUs, achieve better average performance across the board. This does not mean the combo is bad, but rather that it is optimized for high-refresh-rate 1080p/1440p gaming rather than 4K. The CPU's benchmark scores, such as a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 39399.5 and a Geekbench single-core score of 2655, are excellent, but they do not translate to a top-tier gaming ranking when paired with this GPU.

The nearest rivals for the GPU, such as the Intel Arc A750 with a deltaPct of -0.1, perform almost identically in synthetic benchmarks, which suggests that swapping to a similar-tier GPU would not significantly change the ranking. The combo's rank is a direct consequence of the GPU's 65th percentile standing. The data supports a conclusion that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this pairing; the GPU is. Therefore, the ranking reflects a system that is unbalanced for 4K but exceptionally capable for competitive esports at lower resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to use for this combo to get the highest frame rate?

A: The measured data shows the highest average FPS is achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low preset, which delivers 275 FPS. This is the best resolution and setting combination for maximum performance.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Counter-Strike 2?

A: Yes, but only at lower settings. At 3840x2160, the Low preset achieves an average of 102 FPS, while the Medium preset drops to 85 FPS. The High and Ultra presets are not recommended, as they yield 63 FPS and 49 FPS respectively.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to the Medium preset at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 88 FPS, while the Medium preset delivers 151 FPS. The data shows a significant 63 FPS drop when switching from Medium to Ultra, indicating that Ultra is a poor choice for performance.

Q: Is the Intel Core i9-14900K limiting the performance of the Intel Arc B570?

A: No, the data does not indicate a CPU bottleneck. The CPU has a percentile of 95 versus all CPUs, and the frame rates at 1080p are exceptionally high. The limiting component is the GPU, as evidenced by the sharp FPS drops at higher resolutions.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded in the dataset?

A: The only measured minimum FPS values are for the Medium preset. The lowest minimum is 72 FPS at 3840x2160, 129 FPS at 2560x1440, and 194 FPS at 1920x1080.

Q: How does this combo's performance compare to a similar GPU like the Intel Arc A750?

A: In synthetic benchmarks, the Intel Arc A750 has a deltaPct of -0.1 compared to the Arc B570, meaning they are virtually identical in raw compute performance. Therefore, the gaming performance in Counter-Strike 2 is expected to be very similar.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a distinct scaling pattern as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 275. When moving to 1440p Low, the FPS drops to 182, a reduction of 93 FPS or about 34%. At 4K Low, the average FPS falls further to 102, which is a 73 FPS drop from 1440p, or a 40% reduction. This scaling is not linear; the performance penalty becomes more severe at higher resolutions. This non-linear drop indicates that the GPU is becoming increasingly saturated as the pixel count grows.

The pattern is consistent across all settings. For the High preset, the FPS drops from 171 at 1080p to 113 at 1440p (a 34% decrease), and then to 63 at 4K (a 44% decrease). Similarly, for the Ultra preset, the FPS drops from 133 at 1080p to 88 at 1440p (a 34% decrease), and then to 49 at 4K (a 44% decrease). The consistent percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p across settings suggests a balanced load, but the larger drop from 1440p to 4K points to a hard limit on the GPU's processing power.

The data strongly suggests that the GPU is the limiting component at 4K. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see the FPS remain relatively flat as resolution increases, since the CPU's workload stays constant. Instead, the FPS plummets, confirming that the Arc B570’s 11.52 TFLOPS compute throughput and 380.0 GB/s memory bandwidth are insufficient to maintain high frame rates at 4K. The scaling analysis shows that this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p, where the GPU can keep up with the CPU's output. At 4K, the GPU's limitations are fully exposed, resulting in a significant performance degradation that makes high-refresh-rate play impossible.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K is a flagship 24-core, 32-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 3.20 GHz and a boost clock of 6.00 GHz. The processor features a large 36 MB shared L3 cache and a 2 MB per-core L2 cache. These specifications make it one of the most powerful consumer CPUs available, with a benchmark percentile of 95 versus all CPUs. In Counter-Strike 2, the CPU's role is to handle the game's logic, physics, and draw calls, and to feed the GPU with data.

The measured data indicates that the CPU is not a bottleneck in this pairing. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 275, which is an extremely high figure that most CPUs would struggle to maintain. The fact that this combo achieves this score suggests that the i9-14900K's high single-core performance, reflected in a Geekbench single-core score of 2655 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2262.5, is more than adequate for Counter-Strike 2's engine. The game is known to be CPU-intensive, but the i9-14900K appears to handle it with ease.

The CPU's role becomes more apparent when comparing the FPS at different resolutions. At 1080p, the FPS is very high, and the difference between Low and Ultra is 142 FPS (275 vs 133). This large gap is due to the GPU being more heavily loaded at Ultra settings, even at 1080p. However, the CPU is still able to provide enough data to the GPU. If the CPU were weaker, we would see the FPS cap out at a lower ceiling. The data shows that the CPU allows the GPU to reach its full potential at 1080p and 1440p. The CPU's high memory bandwidth support and dual-channel memory configuration also contribute to its ability to feed the GPU. Overall, the i9-14900K provides an excellent foundation for this gaming system, ensuring that the GPU is the sole performance limiter in most scenarios.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following is a detailed breakdown of the measured average FPS, including minimum and maximum values where available, for each resolution and settings preset.

1920x1080

• Low: Average FPS 275. This is the highest score in the entire dataset, indicating the system is heavily CPU-bound or the GPU is underutilized.
• Medium: Average FPS 229, with a minimum of 194 and a maximum of 263. The 69 FPS range between min and max suggests some frame time variance, but the average is exceptionally high.
• High: Average FPS 171. This is a substantial drop from Medium, indicating a significant increase in GPU workload.
• Ultra: Average FPS 133. The gap between High and Ultra is 38 FPS, showing that Ultra settings impose a heavy load on the GPU.

2560x1440

• Low: Average FPS 182. This is a 93 FPS drop from 1080p Low, demonstrating the impact of increased resolution.
• Medium: Average FPS 151, with a minimum of 129 and a maximum of 174. The minimum is still above 120 FPS, ensuring a smooth experience.
• High: Average FPS 113. This is a suitable frame rate for standard 60 Hz monitors, but not for high refresh rate displays.
• Ultra: Average FPS 88. This is the lowest average at this resolution for the Ultra preset, but still playable.

3840x2160

• Low: Average FPS 102. This is the only 4K setting that provides a clearly smooth experience, though it is a 44% drop from 1440p Low.
• Medium: Average FPS 85, with a minimum of 72 and a maximum of 97. The minimum FPS of 72 could result in noticeable stutters in fast-paced scenes.
• High: Average FPS 63. This is right at the edge of playability for many users, and is not ideal for competitive play.
• Ultra: Average FPS 49. This is the lowest average FPS in the entire dataset, and is not recommended for a playable experience.

The data shows a consistent pattern: the Medium preset is the only one with measured minimum FPS values, and the range between min and max frames is relatively tight, indicating stable performance. The Low preset has no minimum FPS data, but its high averages suggest it is the most stable option. The Ultra preset consistently delivers the lowest frame rates, making it the least desirable choice for this combination.