Counter-Strike 2

# Counter-Strike 2 with Intel Core Ultra 5 225 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070

This combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 delivers exceptionally high frame rates in Counter-Strike 2 across all tested resolutions and settings. The measured data shows a system capable of maintaining competitive-level performance even at 4K, with the RTX 4070's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and the Core Ultra 5 225's 10 cores working together to push frame rates well beyond typical display refresh rates at lower resolutions. The combination ranks 609th out of 2870 tested combos in this game, placing it in the top quartile of all systems tested.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a system that becomes progressively more GPU-bound as resolution increases, though even the most demanding configuration remains highly playable. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 527 at 1920x1080 to 349 at 2560x1440, representing a 34% reduction, then further to 195 at 3840x2160, another 44% drop from the 1440p figure. This steep decline indicates that at Low settings, the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU at 1080p, but the GPU's rendering workload becomes the limiting factor as pixel count rises.

Moving to High settings, the scaling pattern shifts. The average FPS at 1080p is 327, dropping to 216 at 1440p (a 34% decrease) and then to 121 at 4K (a 44% decrease from 1440p). The consistency of these percentage drops across Low and High settings suggests that the RTX 4070's compute resources scale predictably with resolution, with the 5888 shading units and 64 ROPs handling the increased pixel workload without unexpected bottlenecks.

The Medium preset shows a similar trajectory: 438 FPS at 1080p, 290 at 1440p, and 162 at 4K. The gap between Low and Medium at 1080p is 89 FPS (527 vs 438), but this narrows to 59 FPS at 1440p (349 vs 290) and 33 FPS at 4K (195 vs 162). This convergence indicates that at higher resolutions, the additional visual complexity of Medium settings becomes less impactful on frame rate because the GPU is already saturated with pixel shading work.

Ultra settings present the most demanding scenario, with 254 FPS at 1080p, 168 at 1440p, and 94 at 4K. The 4K Ultra result, while the lowest in the dataset, still exceeds 60 FPS by a comfortable margin, demonstrating that this combination handles even maximum settings at 4K without dropping below playable thresholds. The scaling from 1080p to 4K at Ultra is a 63% reduction, slightly more pronounced than the 62% reduction seen at High settings, reflecting the additional GPU workload from enhanced effects.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD104 chip, provides the graphical horsepower for this combination. Its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus delivers a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s, which proves sufficient for Counter-Strike 2's texture and geometry demands even at 4K Ultra settings. The memory clocks run at 1313 MHz with 21 Gbps effective speed, and the GPU's boost clock of 2475 MHz enables the high frame rates observed across all settings.

The GPU's 29.15 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 455.4 GTexel/s texture rate are directly reflected in the measured performance. At 4K Medium, the average FPS of 162 with a minimum of 138 and maximum of 186 shows consistent frame delivery, suggesting the GPU maintains stable clock behavior under sustained load. The 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores, while not directly utilized in this non-ray-traced title, contribute to the overall architectural efficiency that keeps frame times low.

The RTX 4070's 200 W TDP and dual-slot design allow for sustained performance without thermal throttling in typical desktop configurations. The PCIe 4.0 x16 interface provides ample bandwidth for the 12 GB frame buffer, and the 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs support high-refresh-rate displays at all tested resolutions. The GPU's 81st percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37648, places it slightly ahead of the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (37507, 0.4% faster) and behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (38135, 1.3% faster) in synthetic tests.

In Counter-Strike 2 specifically, the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck at 4K, where the difference between Low and Ultra settings is 101 FPS (195 vs 94). This 51% performance gap at 4K contrasts with the 1080p gap of 273 FPS (527 vs 254), a 52% reduction, indicating that the GPU's workload scaling is roughly proportional across resolutions. The 64 ROPs handle pixel output efficiently, with a pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s supporting the high frame rates observed at 1080p.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225, part of the Core Ultra Series 2 with Arrow Lake architecture, provides the processing foundation for this combination. Its 10 cores and 10 threads operate at a 3.30 GHz base clock and boost up to 4.90 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB per-core L2 cache, combined with 192 KB per-core L1 cache, give the CPU sufficient memory hierarchy for Counter-Strike 2's game logic and physics calculations.

The CPU's single-thread performance is critical for Counter-Strike 2's engine, which relies heavily on a few main threads. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3655 and multi-core score of 25891 demonstrate strong per-core efficiency. The PassMark single-thread score of 4412 and multithread score of 30459 further confirm the CPU's capability. The 85th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 36938, places it nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F (36945, 0% difference) and slightly behind the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D (37018, 0.2% faster).

At 1080p Low settings, the 527 FPS average suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with over 500 frames per second, indicating that the Core Ultra 5 225 does not bottleneck the system even at the lowest GPU workload. The 3 nm process node from TSMC, with 17,800 million transistors on a 243 mm² die, provides high efficiency that keeps the CPU responsive during intense firefights. The dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth ensures the CPU can quickly access game data, while the Gen 5 PCIe with 20 lanes offers future-proofing for storage and expansion.

The CPU's role becomes more apparent when comparing frame rates across settings at the same resolution. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 273 FPS, while at 4K it is 101 FPS. This narrowing gap indicates that at lower resolutions, the CPU is capable of driving higher frame rates, but the GPU's rendering limits the ultimate output. The 10-thread configuration handles Counter-Strike 2's multi-threaded audio, physics, and network code without creating a bottleneck, as evidenced by the sustained high frame rates even in the most demanding 4K Ultra scenario.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combination?

A: The highest average FPS is 527, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4070 scores 37648 on average, which is 0.1% faster than the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (37628) and 0.4% faster than the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (37507).

Q: What is the lowest average FPS across all tested configurations?

A: The lowest average FPS is 94, recorded at 3840x2160 resolution with Ultra settings.

Q: Does the Core Ultra 5 225 bottleneck the system at any tested resolution?

A: The data shows no evidence of CPU bottlenecking; at 1080p Low, the system achieves 527 FPS, and even at 4K Ultra it maintains 94 FPS, indicating the CPU keeps pace with the GPU's output.

Q: How does the Core Ultra 5 225 compare to the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F in average benchmark score?

A: The Core Ultra 5 225 scores 36938, which is essentially identical to the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F's 36945, a 0% difference.

Q: What is the frame rate range at 1440p Medium settings?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the average FPS is 290, with a minimum of 246 and maximum of 333.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings preset depends on the user's display refresh rate and resolution priorities. At 1920x1080, all four presets exceed 250 FPS on average, making even Ultra settings viable for 240 Hz displays. The Medium preset at 1080p delivers 438 FPS average with a 372 FPS minimum, providing a strong balance between visual fidelity and frame rate headroom for competitive play. For users with 360 Hz or higher refresh monitors, the Low preset at 527 FPS offers the maximum frame rate, though the visual trade-offs may not be worth the additional 89 FPS over Medium.

At 2560x1440, the High preset delivers 216 FPS average, which comfortably drives 144 Hz and even 240 Hz displays. The Medium preset at 290 FPS offers more headroom for 240 Hz panels, while Ultra at 168 FPS still exceeds 144 Hz requirements. For 1440p users prioritizing competitive advantage, Low settings at 349 FPS provide the highest frame rates, but High settings offer a better visual experience with only a 38% frame rate penalty.

At 3840x2160, the recommendation becomes more nuanced. The High preset at 121 FPS supports 120 Hz displays, while Medium at 162 FPS provides headroom for 144 Hz panels. Ultra at 94 FPS remains above 60 Hz but may not satisfy users with high-refresh 4K monitors. The Low preset at 195 FPS is the best choice for 4K competitive play, though the visual compromise is significant. The Medium preset at 4K, with its 138-186 FPS range, offers the best balance of visual quality and performance for most 4K users, as it maintains frame rates above 120 FPS while providing better graphical fidelity than Low.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest performance across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 527 FPS, Medium produces 438 FPS with a minimum of 372 and maximum of 503, High produces 327 FPS, and Ultra produces 254 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 52% reduction in average FPS, reflecting the increasing GPU workload from enhanced shadows, textures, and effects.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show the expected resolution penalty. Low settings average 349 FPS, Medium averages 290 FPS with a minimum of 246 and maximum of 333, High averages 216 FPS, and Ultra averages 168 FPS. The 1440p results represent a 34% reduction from 1080p across all settings, consistent with the 1.78x pixel count increase.

At 3840x2160, the system still delivers playable frame rates across all presets. Low settings average 195 FPS, Medium averages 162 FPS with a minimum of 138 and maximum of 186, High averages 121 FPS, and Ultra averages 94 FPS. The 4K results show a 62-63% reduction from 1080p, with the gap between settings narrowing as the GPU becomes the dominant factor. The Medium preset at 4K shows the tightest frame time consistency with a 48 FPS spread between minimum and maximum, indicating stable performance under load.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination ranks 609th out of 2870 tested combos in Counter-Strike 2, placing it in the 79th percentile of all systems tested. This ranking reflects the strong synergy between the CPU and GPU in this title, where the Core Ultra 5 225's high single-thread performance complements the RTX 4070's substantial compute capabilities.

The CPU's 85th percentile ranking among all CPUs and the GPU's 81st percentile ranking among all GPUs suggest that this combination leverages two above-average components effectively. The CPU's nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F, has an identical average benchmark score (36945 vs 36938), while the GPU's nearest rival, the NVIDIA Tesla P4, is 0.1% slower. This balance between CPU and GPU performance ensures that neither component consistently bottlenecks the other in Counter-Strike 2.

The 609th rank out of 2870 combos indicates that while this system is not at the absolute top of the performance hierarchy, it outperforms the majority of tested configurations. The combination's ability to maintain over 90 FPS at 4K Ultra and over 500 FPS at 1080p Low demonstrates that it can handle both competitive settings and high-fidelity configurations. The substantial gap between the combo's rank and the top systems likely stems from the RTX 4070 being a mid-to-high-range GPU rather than a flagship, but the measured results show that this pairing delivers exceptional value in practical gaming scenarios without sacrificing playability at any resolution or settings combination.