Counter-Strike 2

The data for Counter-Strike 2 with the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 shows a combination that favors high refresh rates at 1440p, with 4K remaining playable but demanding compromises. The measured results indicate that the RTX 5060’s 8 GB VRAM and the CPU’s strong single-thread performance create a system where frame rates scale predictably, but the Ultra preset becomes a bottleneck at higher resolutions. Across the tested rows, the sweet spot is Medium at 2560x1440, delivering 224 FPS average with a minimum of 190 FPS, while 1080p Low reaches 408 FPS, showing the combo’s ceiling in esports conditions.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep but consistent with a GPU-limited scenario at higher settings. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 408 FPS at 1920x1080 to 270 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 138 FPS, and then to 151 FPS at 3840x2160, which is a 63% decline from the 1080p figure. This pattern indicates that the RTX 5060 is the primary limiting component at Low settings, as the CPU can feed frames faster than the GPU can render them at lower resolutions.

At High settings, the scaling is similar but with lower absolute numbers: 253 FPS at 1080p, 167 FPS at 1440p, and 94 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1440p to 4K is 73 FPS, which is less severe than the 161 FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p, suggesting that the GPU’s rendering load becomes more balanced as resolution increases. Medium settings show the same trend, with 339 FPS at 1080p, 224 FPS at 1440p, and 125 FPS at 4K.

The Ultra preset reveals the most dramatic scaling: 196 FPS at 1080p, 130 FPS at 1440p, and just 73 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is only 37% of the 1080p Ultra figure, which points to a combination of GPU compute limits and VRAM pressure. The 8 GB frame buffer likely becomes a constraint at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, as the measured minimum FPS at Medium 4K is 106, but no minima are recorded for Ultra, suggesting instability or frame drops below the recording threshold.

Benchmark results indicate that the CPU, with its 5.00 GHz boost clock and 14 cores, is not the bottleneck at 1080p Low, where 408 FPS is achieved. The GPU’s 19.18 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth are the limiting factors at 4K, with the gap between Low (151 FPS) and High (94 FPS) at that resolution showing that settings have a larger impact than resolution alone. For competitive play, the data suggests that 1440p Medium or Low is the optimal balance, as 4K requires dropping to Low (151 FPS) to approach the 144Hz refresh rate that the Medium 4K row’s max of 144 FPS implies.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Counter-Strike 2?

A: The measured data shows 2560x1440 provides the best balance, with Medium averaging 224 FPS and Low averaging 270 FPS. At 1920x1080, frame rates exceed 250 FPS on High and reach 408 FPS on Low, but the visual clarity of 1440p makes it the recommended choice for most players. At 3840x2160, only Low (151 FPS) and Medium (125 FPS) stay above 120 FPS average.

Q: How does the RTX 5060’s VRAM affect 4K performance?

A: The GPU has 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth. At 3840x2160 Ultra, the average FPS drops to 73, which is 22% lower than High (94 FPS) and 42% lower than Medium (125 FPS). This degradation suggests the frame buffer is saturated at Ultra, limiting the GPU’s ability to maintain consistent frame pacing.

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: No. At 1920x1080 Low, the combo achieves 408 FPS average, which is the highest measured result in the dataset. The CPU’s 14 cores and 14 threads, with a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, are sufficient to drive the RTX 5060 to its limits at this resolution. The 89th percentile ranking among all CPUs further supports that the processor is not the limiting factor.

Q: Which settings preset should I avoid for smooth gameplay?

A: Ultra at 3840x2160 is the worst option, with a 73 FPS average. Even at 1920x1080, Ultra drops to 196 FPS, which is below the Medium setting’s 339 FPS. The data shows Ultra provides diminishing returns, with the largest FPS penalty across all resolutions.

Q: How does the combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 1211 out of 2870 tested combinations, placing it in the 58th percentile of all combos. This mid-pack ranking reflects strong 1080p and 1440p performance but weaker 4K results, likely due to the GPU’s 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory interface.

Q: What is the minimum FPS I can expect at 1440p Medium?

A: The measured minimum is 190 FPS, with a maximum of 258 FPS and an average of 224 FPS. This is the only row at 1440p with explicit min/max data, making it the most reliable reference for frame consistency.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 operates with a base clock of 2280 MHz and a boost clock of 2497 MHz, paired with 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus. The memory runs at 1750 MHz with 28 Gbps effective speed, yielding 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. In Counter-Strike 2, these specs translate to a GPU that excels at 1080p and 1440p but struggles at 4K Ultra, as evidenced by the 73 FPS average at 3840x2160 Ultra.

The GPU’s 3840 shading units and 120 TMUs contribute to a texture rate of 299.6 GTexel/s, which handles the game’s environment details at Medium and High settings without issue. At 1440p Medium, the 224 FPS average with a 190 FPS minimum indicates the GPU maintains consistent frame delivery, while the 258 FPS maximum shows headroom for less demanding scenes. The 48 ROPs and pixel rate of 119.9 GPixel/s are sufficient for 1440p but become stretched at 4K, where the pixel count quadruples.

The 8 GB VRAM is the most significant limitation. At 4K Ultra, the 73 FPS average is 42% lower than Medium’s 125 FPS, and no minimum FPS is recorded for Ultra, which may indicate frame dips below the capture threshold. The 128-bit memory bus, with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth, is narrower than competing solutions, but the GDDR7 type mitigates this with higher effective speeds. The GPU’s 19.18 TFLOPS FP32 performance is adequate for the game’s source engine, but the data shows that resolution scaling is not linear: the 1080p Low to 4K Low drop is 63%, which is expected, but the 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra drop is 63% as well, indicating the GPU is uniformly taxed across settings.

The RTX 5060’s percentile ranking of 72 among all GPUs and its nearest rival on the CPU side—the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 with a 0.1% delta—show that this GPU is mid-range. In Counter-Strike 2, the GPU’s role is to provide high frame rates at competitive settings, and the data confirms it does so at 1440p Medium, where the 190 FPS minimum exceeds most 144Hz displays. For 4K, the GPU requires Low settings to stay above 150 FPS, which may be acceptable for casual play but not for competitive consistency.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and RTX 5060 combination ranks 1211 out of 2870 tested combos in Counter-Strike 2, placing it in the upper half of all systems. This ranking is consistent with the CPU’s 89th percentile score and the GPU’s 72nd percentile, but the game’s measured results show the combo outperforms its raw benchmark averages in certain scenarios. The CPU’s nearest rivals—the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (0.1% delta), Intel Core i9-13900HX (-0.1% delta), and AMD EPYC 4364P (0.2% delta)—all have similar average benchmark scores, yet the Core Ultra 5 235’s single-thread performance, reflected in its 2085 Cinebench R23 single-core score, is what matters for Counter-Strike 2’s physics and game logic.

The GPU’s nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon 860M (-0.3% delta) and NVIDIA GeForce MX550 (-0.3% delta), but these are integrated or low-end parts, while the RTX 5060’s 1.2% delta over the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT shows it competes with older mid-range discrete GPUs. The combo’s rank of 1211 is above the median of 1435, and the data suggests that most of the gap to higher-ranked combos comes from 4K performance, where the 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit bus limit the GPU. At 1080p and 1440p, the combo would rank significantly higher, as evidenced by the 408 FPS and 270 FPS Low averages respectively.

The ranking also reflects the CPU’s lack of multi-threading (14 threads for 14 cores), which is unusual but not a hindrance in this game, as the 408 FPS at 1080p Low shows. The 24 MB shared L3 cache and 102.4 GB/s memory bandwidth are sufficient for the game’s data streaming. Compared to the 2870 combos, this system is positioned for high-refresh esports rather than 4K AAA gaming, which aligns with Counter-Strike 2’s competitive nature.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal settings for this combo are Medium at 2560x1440. This preset delivers a 224 FPS average with a 190 FPS minimum and 258 FPS maximum, providing smooth gameplay on 144Hz or 240Hz monitors. The minimum FPS of 190 is higher than the average FPS of High at 1440p (167), meaning Medium offers better consistency. At 1920x1080, Medium reaches 339 FPS average with a 288 FPS minimum, which is ideal for 360Hz displays, but the visual fidelity difference between 1080p and 1440p makes the latter preferable.

For players prioritizing frame rate over visuals, Low at 1440p (270 FPS average) is the best choice, as it eliminates most shadows and effects while maintaining high clarity. Low at 1080p (408 FPS) is overkill for most displays, but it demonstrates the combo’s ceiling. High settings are not recommended at any resolution, as the jump from Medium to High costs 57 FPS at 1440p (224 to 167) and 86 FPS at 1080p (339 to 253), with minimal visual gains. Ultra is only viable at 1080p (196 FPS average), but the 143 FPS drop from Medium makes it suboptimal for competitive play.

At 3840x2160, the data shows that only Low (151 FPS) and Medium (125 FPS) are playable, with High (94 FPS) and Ultra (73 FPS) falling below 100 FPS. If 4K is required, Low is the only setting that maintains a frame rate above 144 FPS, but the lack of min/max data for Low makes Medium the safer choice with its 106 FPS minimum. For the best balance of frame rate and image quality, Medium at 1440p is the clear winner, as it provides a 190 FPS floor that avoids stutter in firefights.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured averages are 408 FPS on Low, 339 FPS on Medium (with a 288 FPS minimum and 389 FPS maximum), 253 FPS on High, and 196 FPS on Ultra. The Medium row is the only one with explicit min/max data, showing a 101 FPS range between minimum and maximum, which indicates moderate frame variability. Low’s 408 FPS is the highest in the entire dataset, suggesting the CPU is not the bottleneck at this resolution. High’s 253 FPS is 86 FPS lower than Medium, a significant drop for a single preset level, while Ultra’s 196 FPS is 57 FPS lower than High.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 270 FPS on Low, 224 FPS on Medium (with a 190 FPS minimum and 258 FPS maximum), 167 FPS on High, and 130 FPS on Ultra. The Medium row’s 68 FPS range is narrower than at 1080p, indicating better frame pacing. Low’s 270 FPS is 46 FPS lower than the 1080p Low figure, but still exceeds the refresh rate of most monitors. High’s 167 FPS and Ultra’s 130 FPS show a 37 FPS gap, which is smaller than the 1080p gap of 57 FPS, suggesting the GPU becomes more consistent at higher resolutions.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 151 FPS on Low, 125 FPS on Medium (with a 106 FPS minimum and 144 FPS maximum), 94 FPS on High, and 73 FPS on Ultra. The Medium row’s 38 FPS range is the smallest across all Medium rows, showing stable performance despite the high pixel count. Low’s 151 FPS is the only 4K setting above 150 FPS, while High’s 94 FPS and Ultra’s 73 FPS fall into the range where input lag becomes noticeable. The 4K Ultra result is 32 FPS lower than the 4K High, and the 4K High is 31 FPS lower than the 4K Medium, showing that each preset step costs roughly 30 FPS at this resolution.

The data’s overall pattern shows that Low settings at any resolution provide at least 151 FPS, Medium provides at least 125 FPS, High provides at least 94 FPS, and Ultra provides at least 73 FPS. The only rows with recorded minimum FPS values are Medium at all three resolutions, with 288 FPS (1080p), 190 FPS (1440p), and 106 FPS (4K). These minima are all above 100 FPS, confirming that the Medium preset is the most stable option for this combo.