Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2 is a title where frame rate trumps almost everything else, and the data for the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combo shows a system built to deliver it. Out of 3,719 tested combos, this pairing ranks 237th in-game, placing it in the top 7% of all configurations. That rank reflects a pairing that is heavily skewed toward GPU performance, with the RTX 4080 providing the overwhelming majority of the rendering muscle while the Core Ultra 5 225 keeps pace without becoming a bottleneck at most settings. The result is a machine that can push past 400 FPS at 1080p on high settings, which is the kind of headroom competitive players look for.

How This Combo Ranks

The comboRankInGame of 237 out of 3,719 is a strong showing, but the data suggests it is not purely about raw component power. The Core Ultra 5 225 sits at the 85th percentile among all CPUs, and the RTX 4080 sits at the 86th percentile among all GPUs, yet the combo lands in the top 6.4% of tested pairs. That gap indicates that Counter-Strike 2's engine rewards the specific balance here—particularly the GPU's ability to handle high frame rates at lower resolutions without the CPU becoming a limiting factor. In CPU-only benchmarks, the Core Ultra 5 225 scores 36,938 on average, which places it nearly even with the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F (36,945, deltaPct 0) and just 0.2% behind the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D. Those are tight margins, so the CPU is not a standout performer in isolation, but it does not need to be for this game.

The GPU side tells a clearer story. The RTX 4080 averages 54,247 in benchmarks, putting it 0.1% ahead of the RTX 4080 SUPER (54,209) and 1.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X. The nearest rival below it, the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB, trails by 2.6%, which shows the 4080 is a top-tier card even as it approaches end-of-life status. In the context of Counter-Strike 2, that GPU dominance translates directly into the measured FPS numbers, especially at 1080p and 1440p where the CPU can feed frames fast enough. The rank of 237 suggests there are 236 combos that do better, likely pairing faster CPUs with similar or better GPUs, but for practical purposes, this combo sits comfortably in the upper echelon of what is available.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data offers four settings presets—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—at three resolutions. The sweet spot for most players is the High preset, because it delivers a massive frame rate while still maintaining visual fidelity. At 1080p, High produces 418 FPS, which is 93 FPS more than Ultra (325) but only 108 FPS less than Low (674). The trade-off is worthwhile: High gives you 64% of the Low preset's performance while looking substantially better. At 1440p, High hits 277 FPS, still far above the 240Hz refresh rate that many competitive monitors use, and it is 62 FPS ahead of Ultra (215). The pattern holds at 4K, where High manages 155 FPS, which is still playable on high-refresh 4K panels, but the drop from 1440p is steep enough that you may want to adjust expectations.

Medium is the safer choice if you want consistent frame times. The data includes min/max values only for Medium: at 1080p, it ranges from 476 to 644 FPS (560 average), at 1440p from 315 to 426 (371 average), and at 4K from 176 to 238 (207 average). Those ranges are tight, indicating stable performance without major hitches. Low is the performance king, reaching 674 FPS at 1080p and 446 at 1440p, but it sacrifices too much visual quality for the marginal gain over High. Ultra is the worst value proposition—it drops to 325 FPS at 1080p, 215 at 1440p, and 120 at 4K, which is a 22% reduction from High at 1080p and a 23% reduction at 1440p, all for settings that are barely noticeable in a fast-paced shooter. The recommendation is clear: run High for the best balance, or Medium if you prioritize frame pacing over raw average FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals where the bottleneck shifts. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 418 to 277 to 155 as you move from 1080p to 1440p to 4K. That is a 34% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a 63% reduction from 1080p to 4K. The scaling is not linear—the gap between 1440p and 4K is larger than the gap between 1080p and 1440p, which is a sign that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the CPU has enough headroom to feed the RTX 4080, but as pixel count rises, the GPU's rendering load increases faster than the CPU can compensate.

This is classic GPU-bound behavior at 4K. The RTX 4080, with 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth, is the component doing the heavy lifting when resolution climbs. The CPU's 10 cores and 10 threads are sufficient at 1080p, where the game's engine is less demanding on the processor, but the data suggests that the Core Ultra 5 225 would struggle to maintain those frame rates if paired with a weaker GPU. The Low preset tells a similar story: 674 FPS at 1080p drops to 446 at 1440p and 249 at 4K, with the 4K figure being just 37% of the 1080p result. The difference between Low and High at 1080p is 256 FPS, but at 4K that gap narrows to 94 FPS, further confirming that the GPU is the primary constraint at higher resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the data shows a wide spread across settings. Low produces 674 FPS, Medium 560 FPS (with a min of 476 and max of 644), High 418 FPS, and Ultra 325 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 349 FPS, which is a 51.8% reduction, but even the lowest setting here is far above what any monitor can display. These numbers indicate that at 1080p, the combo is rarely GPU-bound—the RTX 4080 is not being pushed hard enough to hit its limits, and the CPU is feeding it frames as fast as the engine allows.

At 2560x1440, the pattern persists but with tighter margins. Low delivers 446 FPS, Medium 371 FPS (min 315, max 426), High 277 FPS, and Ultra 215 FPS. The reduction from Low to Ultra is 231 FPS, or 51.8%, which mirrors the 1080p scaling. The Medium preset's min of 315 FPS is still comfortably above 240Hz, making it a strong choice for high-refresh 1440p monitors. High at 277 FPS is also excellent, and even Ultra at 215 FPS is playable on most displays.

At 3840x2160, the numbers drop significantly. Low yields 249 FPS, Medium 207 FPS (min 176, max 238), High 155 FPS, and Ultra 120 FPS. The reduction from Low to Ultra is 129 FPS, or 51.8%, consistent with the other resolutions. However, the absolute values matter more here: 155 FPS at High is the minimum you would want for a smooth 4K experience, and 120 FPS at Ultra is borderline. The Medium preset, with a min of 176 FPS, is the most reliable option at 4K, offering a good balance between visual quality and frame rate stability.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo strong enough for 240Hz gaming at 1080p?

A: Yes. At 1080p High settings, the combo delivers 418 FPS, and Low reaches 674 FPS. Even Ultra produces 325 FPS, which is well above 240Hz. The only scenario where you might dip below 240Hz is at 4K Ultra (120 FPS), but at 1080p, every preset exceeds the threshold.

Q: How much of a performance drop should I expect when moving from 1080p to 1440p?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 418 to 277, a 34% reduction. At Low, it drops from 674 to 446, a 34% reduction as well. The scaling is consistent across presets, indicating a predictable GPU load increase.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more responsible for the frame rates in Counter-Strike 2?

A: At 1080p and 1440p, the CPU plays a significant role—the Core Ultra 5 225's 10 cores are enough to keep up. At 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, as evidenced by the 63% FPS drop from 1080p to 4K at High settings, which is far larger than the CPU's benchmark deficit against rivals.

Q: Which settings preset offers the most stable frame times?

A: The Medium preset is the only one with recorded min/max values, showing a range of 476-644 FPS at 1080p, 315-426 at 1440p, and 176-238 at 4K. Those tight ranges indicate stable performance without major frame hitches.

Q: How does this combo compare to the RTX 4080 SUPER?

A: The RTX 4080 in this combo scores 54,247 on average, which is 0.1% higher than the RTX 4080 SUPER's 54,209. The performance difference is negligible, so you are not losing out by using the non-SUPER variant.

Q: What is the best resolution for competitive play with this combo?

A: 1080p with High settings gives 418 FPS, which maximizes responsiveness. If you prefer 1440p, High at 277 FPS is still excellent. 4K at High (155 FPS) is playable but not ideal for competitive play where frame rate is paramount.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 is a 10-core, 10-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, built on a 3 nm process by TSMC. It has a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, with a 65W TDP. The CPU's cache layout includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 20 MB of shared L3 cache. These specifications position it as a mid-range desktop chip, and its benchmark scores reflect that: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 25,891 and a single-core score of 3,655. In PassMark, it scores 30,459 in multithread and 4,412 in single-thread, with an overall average of 36,938.

In Counter-Strike 2, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic updates. The data shows that the Core Ultra 5 225 is up to the task at 1080p and 1440p, where frame rates remain high across all settings. However, its nearest rivals—the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F (36,945, deltaPct 0), AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D (37,018, deltaPct -0.2), and AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 (37,093, deltaPct -0.4)—are all within 0.5% of its average score. That means the CPU is not a differentiator in this game; it is adequate but not exceptional. The 10 threads are enough for Counter-Strike 2's engine, which is not heavily multithreaded, and the single-thread performance (4,412 in PassMark) is strong enough to avoid bottlenecking the RTX 4080 at lower resolutions.

The CPU's memory support for DDR5 with dual-channel configuration and 102.4 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for the game's needs. The lack of ECC memory support is irrelevant for gaming. The integrated Arc Xe-LPG Graphics 16EU is present but not used in this configuration. The CPU's 20 PCIe Gen 5 lanes provide ample bandwidth for the GPU, which uses PCIe 4.0 x16. The 65W TDP means it runs cool and draws less power than higher-end chips, but that does not translate to a performance advantage here. In short, the Core Ultra 5 225 is a capable companion for the RTX 4080 in Counter-Strike 2, but it is not the reason this combo ranks 237th—that credit goes to the GPU's raw throughput.