Counter-Strike 2

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured frame rates for the Intel Core i9-14900K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 in Counter-Strike 2 reveal a dramatic scaling curve that shifts character as resolution climbs. At 1080p High settings, the combo produces 462 FPS average. Moving to 1440p High drops that to 306 FPS, a 33.8% reduction. Pushing further to 4K High yields 171 FPS, which is another 44.1% drop from the 1440p figure. The cumulative effect from 1080p to 4K at High settings is a 63.0% loss in average frame rate.

That steep decline tells a clear story about where the bottleneck lives. At 1080p, the GPU is nowhere near saturated; the CPU is feeding frames as fast as the engine allows. The 745 FPS at 1080p Low is the standout evidence — this is a frame rate that no display can even show, and it indicates the CPU is the primary constraint at that resolution and preset. The RTX 4090, with its 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 1.01 TB/s memory bandwidth, is effectively waiting for work.

At 4K Ultra, the average falls to 133 FPS. The gap between 1080p Low (745 FPS) and 4K Ultra (133 FPS) is an 82.1% reduction, which is far larger than the pixel count increase alone would suggest. This indicates that at the highest resolution and preset, the GPU becomes the dominant limiting factor. The RTX 4090 is finally being pushed hard, and the CPU has headroom to spare.

The Medium preset data reinforces this dual-phase behavior. At 1080p Medium, the average is 619 FPS with a minimum of 526 FPS. At 1440p Medium, it's 410 FPS average with a 348 FPS minimum. At 4K Medium, the average drops to 229 FPS with a 195 FPS minimum. The min-to-max spread at 4K Medium (195 to 263 FPS) is 68 FPS, which is proportionally smaller than the spread at 1080p Medium (526 to 712 FPS, a 186 FPS range). This narrowing spread at higher resolution is typical of a GPU-bound scenario, where frame time variance is compressed compared to CPU-bound situations.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 brings substantial resources to Counter-Strike 2, and the data suggests that most of them go underutilized at lower resolutions. The card's 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus provides 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth. Counter-Strike 2 is not a title known for massive VRAM consumption, and the measured frame rates at 1080p and 1440p indicate that memory capacity is never a limiting factor. Even at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS drops to 133, the GPU's memory subsystem is unlikely to be the constraint.

The clock behavior is more revealing. The RTX 4090 has a base clock of 2235 MHz and a boost clock of 2520 MHz. In a CPU-bound scenario like 1080p Low (745 FPS), the GPU may not sustain its boost clock because it's not under full load. The power delivery and thermal headroom are not stressed. At 4K Ultra, however, the GPU is working much harder, and the boost clock behavior will directly influence the 133 FPS result.

The GPU's architecture — Ada Lovelace on a 5 nm process from TSMC — includes 16384 shading units and 128 RT cores. Counter-Strike 2 does use ray tracing in some visual effects, but the game's competitive nature means most players prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity. The measured data shows that even at 4K Ultra, the RTX 4090 maintains 133 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

The percentile ranking for this GPU is 88th among all GPUs, and its average benchmark score is 60347. Interestingly, its nearest rival in the database is the Intel Arc Pro A60 with a deltaPct of 0, meaning they score essentially identically on average. This is a quirk of the benchmark aggregation — the RTX 4090's raw gaming performance is far beyond that of a workstation-oriented Arc card, but the average score calculation brings them close. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 is 0.3% ahead, and the AMD Radeon PRO V710 is 2.9% behind. These comparisons are based on aggregated benchmark scores, not game-specific results.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

The measured FPS rows provide a clear hierarchy across all three resolutions. At 1080p, Low produces 745 FPS, Medium 619 FPS, High 462 FPS, and Ultra 359 FPS. The step from Medium to High is a 25.4% drop, while the step from High to Ultra is a 22.3% drop. For competitive play at 1080p, Low is the obvious choice if raw frame rate is the only consideration, but Medium provides 619 FPS with presumably better visual quality and only a 16.9% penalty versus Low.

At 1440p, the pattern is similar: Low 493 FPS, Medium 410 FPS, High 306 FPS, Ultra 238 FPS. The drop from Medium to High is 25.4%, and from High to Ultra is 22.2%. Medium at 1440p offers 410 FPS average with a 348 FPS minimum, which is still far above any display refresh rate currently available. This makes Medium the recommended preset for 1440p — the visual upgrade over Low is meaningful, and the frame rate remains excessive.

At 4K, Low produces 276 FPS, Medium 229 FPS, High 171 FPS, and Ultra 133 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K has a minimum of 195 FPS, which is still well above the 144 Hz threshold that many high-end monitors use. High at 4K drops to 171 FPS, which is still very playable, but the step down from Medium is 25.3%. Ultra at 4K at 133 FPS is the only configuration that approaches the lower bound of high-refresh displays, and for players with 120 Hz monitors, it remains viable.

The best experience per the measured rows is Medium at any resolution. It consistently delivers a frame rate that is 1.8 to 2.7 times the High preset's value, while providing a substantial visual improvement over Low. The data shows that the gap between Medium and High is where diminishing returns begin to accelerate.

FAQ — 4-6 Q&A pairs answerable from FACT PACK data

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

A: The highest measured average FPS is 745, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the maximum value across all measured resolution and settings combinations.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra preset compare to 1080p Low in terms of frame rate?

A: The 4K Ultra preset produces an average of 133 FPS, while 1080p Low produces 745 FPS. This represents an 82.1% reduction in average frame rate, indicating a shift from CPU-bound to GPU-bound behavior.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded at 4K Medium settings?

A: The minimum FPS at 3840x2160 with Medium settings is 195 FPS. The maximum at that configuration is 263 FPS, giving an average of 229 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p Low settings?

A: At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 745. This extremely high frame rate, combined with the RTX 4090's capability, strongly suggests the Intel Core i9-14900K is the limiting factor — the CPU is feeding frames as fast as the engine can produce them.

Q: How does the 1440p Medium preset's minimum FPS compare to the 4K Medium preset's minimum?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the minimum FPS is 348. At 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the minimum FPS is 195. The 1440p minimum is 78.5% higher than the 4K minimum.

Q: What rank does this combo hold among all tested combinations in Counter-Strike 2?

A: The Intel Core i9-14900K with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 124th out of 3719 tested combos in Counter-Strike 2, placing it in the top 3.3% of all configurations.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i9-14900K is a 24-core, 32-thread processor based on Raptor Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 10 nm process. Its base clock is 3.20 GHz with a boost clock of 6.00 GHz. In Counter-Strike 2, which is known for being sensitive to single-thread performance, the boost clock is the critical specification. The 6.00 GHz maximum boost is exceptionally high, and the benchmark results show that this processor can feed the RTX 4090 at 745 FPS in 1080p Low.

The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 36 MB of shared L3. For a game like Counter-Strike 2, where map geometry and entity data need to be quickly accessible, the 36 MB L3 cache is likely beneficial. The fact that this CPU sits in the 95th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 79097, supports its capability to drive high frame rates.

The nearest rivals in the aggregated CPU benchmarks are instructive. The Intel Core i9-14900KF scores 79371, a deltaPct of -0.3% relative to the i9-14900K, meaning it's essentially identical. The Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus scores 79574, 0.6% higher. The AMD EPYC 7413 scores 80041, 1.2% higher — a server processor that would not be used for gaming. The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 scores 77740, which is 1.7% lower. These deltas are all within 2%, indicating that at the very top of the CPU performance stack, the differences are marginal in aggregated benchmarks.

In the context of Counter-Strike 2, the CPU's single-core performance is what matters most. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2262.5 and the Geekbench single-core score of 2655 both indicate top-tier single-thread capability. The PassMark single-thread score of 4697 reinforces this. The game's engine relies heavily on a single main thread for game logic, and the 6.00 GHz boost clock gives the i9-14900K a decisive advantage in this workload.

At 1080p Low, where the CPU is the bottleneck, the 745 FPS result is a direct reflection of the CPU's ability to process game state and issue draw calls. The 32 threads are not all utilized — Counter-Strike 2 typically uses a handful of threads — but the high clock speed and large cache make the difference. The data shows that even at 4K Low (276 FPS), the CPU is still providing enough throughput to keep the GPU well fed.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The complete measured FPS dataset is as follows.

At 1920x1080:

• Low: 745 FPS average
• Medium: 619 FPS average, 526 FPS minimum, 712 FPS maximum
• High: 462 FPS average
• Ultra: 359 FPS average

At 2560x1440:

• Low: 493 FPS average
• Medium: 410 FPS average, 348 FPS minimum, 471 FPS maximum
• High: 306 FPS average
• Ultra: 238 FPS average

At 3840x2160:

• Low: 276 FPS average
• Medium: 229 FPS average, 195 FPS minimum, 263 FPS maximum
• High: 171 FPS average
• Ultra: 133 FPS average

The Medium preset is the only one with min/max data across all resolutions. At 1080p, the range is 526 to 712 FPS, a spread of 186 FPS. At 1440p, the range is 348 to 471 FPS, a spread of 123 FPS. At 4K, the range is 195 to 263 FPS, a spread of 68 FPS. The narrowing spread as resolution increases is a classic indicator of the bottleneck shifting from the CPU (which can cause large frame time variance) to the GPU (which tends to have more consistent frame times under load).

The scaling factors from 1080p to 4K for each preset are consistent: Low drops from 745 to 276 (63.0% reduction), Medium from 619 to 229 (63.0% reduction), High from 462 to 171 (63.0% reduction), and Ultra from 359 to 133 (63.0% reduction). The uniformity of these percentages across presets is noteworthy — it suggests that the resolution scaling behavior is independent of the visual quality setting, which is typical for a game where resolution primarily affects pixel shading load rather than geometry complexity.

The step from Low to Medium at each resolution is roughly 16-17% reduction. The step from Medium to High is 25-26% reduction. The step from High to Ultra is 22-23% reduction. This means the Medium to High transition is the largest performance penalty, suggesting that the High preset enables effects or quality features that are disproportionately expensive relative to their visual impact.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The Intel Core i9-14900K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination ranks 124th out of 3719 tested combos in Counter-Strike 2. This places it in the top 3.3% of all configurations in the database. Given that this is one of the most powerful CPU and GPU pairings available, the rank is surprisingly not higher — it's not even in the top 100.

The data suggests that the rank is influenced by factors beyond raw hardware capability. Counter-Strike 2 is a game where the CPU can be the limiting factor at lower resolutions, and the i9-14900K's 6.00 GHz boost clock is near the practical limit for silicon. However, other combos may include processors with even higher single-thread performance or more optimized memory configurations. The 124th rank implies that there are 123 combos that achieve higher average FPS in this game, which could include processors like the i9-14900KS or other special edition chips, or combos with faster memory overclocks.

The percentile ranking of the CPU alone is 95th, and the GPU alone is 88th. When combined, the percentile in this specific game drops to roughly 96.7th (124 out of 3719). This is actually higher than either component's individual percentile would suggest — the combination of a top-tier CPU and top-tier GPU produces a result that is better than the sum of its parts in terms of ranking.

Notably, the RTX 4090's nearest rivals in the aggregated GPU benchmark are not gaming GPUs — the Intel Arc Pro A60 and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 are workstation cards. This is an artifact of the benchmark aggregation methodology, and it means the GPU's 88th percentile ranking may not reflect its gaming performance relative to other gaming GPUs. In the context of Counter-Strike 2, the RTX 4090's 24 GB of VRAM and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth are far beyond what this game requires, and the 133 FPS at 4K Ultra is still a very high result.

The rank of 124th out of 3719 is a strong result, placing this combo in the top tier of all tested configurations. For a game that is often played at 1080p with competitive settings, this combo's 745 FPS at 1080p Low is far beyond what any display can show, making the hardware effectively overkill for the title. The 4K Ultra result of 133 FPS is more relevant for players using high-resolution, high-refresh-rate displays.