Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2’s measured performance on the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination is exceptionally high, placing the system in a dominant position across all tested presets. The data indicates that the primary experience differentiator is not the GPU’s capability, but the choice of settings, with the Low preset producing frame rates that far exceed display refresh rate capabilities and the Ultra preset imposing a significant computational load that brings even this flagship hardware to its knees. Benchmark results show a clear hierarchy where lower settings unlock extreme FPS, while higher settings trade that headroom for visual fidelity, making the selection of a preset a matter of matching the hardware’s immense throughput to the user’s refresh rate and visual priorities.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear performance ladder for each resolution, and the optimal preset depends entirely on the target display’s refresh rate. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 745 FPS, which is the highest recorded figure in the dataset. This setting is ideal for competitive play where maximum frame pacing is paramount, as it provides a massive buffer above any current high-refresh-rate monitor. The Medium preset at 1080p, with an average of 619 FPS, still offers an enormous performance cushion while likely adding some visual improvements, making it a strong alternative for users who want a balance between speed and image quality. The High preset at this resolution drops to 462 FPS, and while still extremely fast, it represents a performance regression from the lower settings that may not be justified for pure esports use.

For 2560x1440, the pattern persists, with the Low preset averaging 493 FPS and the Medium preset averaging 410 FPS, both of which are sufficient for even the fastest 360Hz or 500Hz panels. However, the High preset at 1440p yields 306 FPS, which is still a robust figure for high-refresh-rate gaming but begins to show the scaling cost of higher visual detail. At 4K (3840x2160), the calculus changes. The Low preset’s 276 FPS is still exceptionally high, but the Medium preset’s 229 FPS and the High preset’s 171 FPS are more moderate, though still well above the 144Hz standard. The Ultra preset is the outlier across all resolutions, producing 359 FPS at 1080p, 238 FPS at 1440p, and 133 FPS at 4K. This setting appears to be designed for maximum visual quality, but it introduces the only scenario where the system dips below the 144 FPS threshold (at 4K), suggesting it is not ideal for competitive play.

The best experience per the measured rows is the Medium preset. It delivers a balanced combination of high average FPS and likely improved visual fidelity over Low, while avoiding the significant performance cost of High and Ultra. At 1080p and 1440p, Medium’s average FPS (619 and 410, respectively) is more than sufficient for any display, and even at 4K, the 229 FPS average is superior to the High preset’s 171 FPS, making it the highest-quality setting that still maintains a triple-digit frame rate at all resolutions. For users prioritizing raw competitive advantage, Low is the only choice, but for all other scenarios, Medium offers the best compromise between speed and visual quality.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the clear driver of the extreme frame rates seen at lower settings, but its role shifts as resolution and settings increase. The GPU’s specifications—24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus with 1.01 TB/s bandwidth—provide an immense foundation for high-resolution texturing and data throughput. Its 16,384 shading units and boost clock of 2520 MHz deliver the raw compute power necessary to push hundreds of frames per second in a lightly threaded game. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the GPU is likely not the primary constraint, as the 745 FPS average suggests massive headroom, but at 4K Ultra, the GPU’s workload becomes the limiting factor, with the average FPS dropping to 133.

The RTX 4090’s 24 GB VRAM buffer is far beyond what Counter-Strike 2 requires at any settings, meaning VRAM capacity is not a bottleneck in any measured configuration. Instead, the GPU’s clock speeds and compute throughput are what scale with the settings. The transition from Low to Medium at 4K shows a 47 FPS drop (from 276 to 229), and from Medium to High another 58 FPS drop (to 171), illustrating how the GPU’s rendering load increases with each step up in visual complexity. The Ultra preset at 4K, with its 133 FPS average, is the only configuration where the RTX 4090’s performance is not overwhelming, indicating that this setting combines effects and shadows that tax even the most powerful consumer GPU available. The data suggests that the RTX 4090 is the component that allows these high frame rates, but its dominance is such that it is only fully utilized at the most demanding settings.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the shifting bottleneck between the CPU and GPU. At the Low preset, the frame rate drops from 745 FPS at 1080p to 493 FPS at 1440p, a 252 FPS decrease, and then to 276 FPS at 4K, another 217 FPS decrease. This linear reduction indicates that the GPU is becoming more involved as pixel count rises, but the CPU (with its high single-thread performance) is still feeding frames fast enough at lower resolutions. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K at Low is 63%, showing that the GPU’s rendering load is the primary scaling factor.

However, at the Ultra preset, the scaling is different. The FPS drops from 359 at 1080p to 238 at 1440p (a 121 FPS decrease) and then to 133 at 4K (a 105 FPS decrease). While the absolute drops are smaller due to the lower starting point, the relative drop from 1080p to 4K is 63% as well, mirroring the Low preset. This consistency across settings suggests that resolution scaling is largely independent of the visual preset, and the limiting component is the GPU’s fill rate and shading capacity. The data indicates that at 1080p, the CPU is the primary limiter, as the GPU is capable of much higher frame rates, but the CPU’s frame generation ceiling is reached. At 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, as its workload increases significantly. The high performance at 1080p (745 FPS) and the substantial drop at 4K underscore that this combo is CPU-bound at lower resolutions and GPU-bound at higher ones.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination ranks 124th out of 3,719 tested combos in Counter-Strike 2. This places it in the top 3.3% of all tested systems, indicating an exceptional performance tier. The rank is likely constrained by the CPU’s single-thread performance and the game’s engine, which may not fully utilize the 24 cores and 24 threads available. The CPU’s benchmark scores, such as a Passmark single-thread score of 4,823 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7,303, are high, but the game’s performance is often limited by the speed of a single core.

The combo’s rank is strong, but not the absolute top, suggesting that other combinations with higher clock speeds or more optimized memory latency may achieve higher frame rates in this specific title. The CPU’s nearest rivals, including the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K and AMD EPYC 4584PX, have similar average benchmark scores (83,807 and 83,090, respectively), indicating that the 290K Plus’s performance is on par with its immediate competition. The GPU’s percentile of 88 and its average benchmark score of 60,347 are also high, but the game’s frame rates are so elevated that the system’s rank is more dependent on the CPU’s ability to process the game’s simulation and network code. The data shows that this is a top-tier combination, but the 124th rank out of 3,719 indicates there are a few other systems that manage slightly higher frame rates, likely due to more favorable CPU configurations for this specific esports title.

FAQ

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

A: The highest average FPS is 745, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low preset.

Q: Does the RTX 4090’s 24 GB of VRAM become a limiting factor at any tested settings?

A: No, the 24 GB of GDDR6X memory is never a constraint. The frame rate drops at higher settings and resolutions are due to compute and shading load, not memory capacity.

Q: At what resolution and setting does this combo dip below 144 FPS?

A: The only configuration with an average FPS below 144 is 3840x2160 with the Ultra preset, which produces an average of 133 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU’s performance compare to its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus has an average benchmark score of 84,003, which is 0.2% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K’s score of 83,807.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 2560x1440?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 493 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 238 FPS, a difference of 255 FPS.

Q: Is the system more CPU-bound or GPU-bound at 1920x1080 with Low settings?

A: The data indicates it is CPU-bound, as the 745 FPS average is far beyond what the GPU’s rendering load would typically allow, suggesting the CPU’s frame generation limit is the primary constraint.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following data represents the measured average FPS for each resolution and settings combination:

• 1920x1080:
• Low: 745 FPS
• Medium: 619 FPS (min 526, max 712)
• High: 462 FPS
• Ultra: 359 FPS
• 2560x1440:
• Low: 493 FPS
• Medium: 410 FPS (min 348, max 471)
• High: 306 FPS
• Ultra: 238 FPS
• 3840x2160:
• Low: 276 FPS
• Medium: 229 FPS (min 195, max 263)
• High: 171 FPS
• Ultra: 133 FPS

The Medium preset is the only one that includes min and max FPS values in the data, showing consistent frame pacing with a 136 FPS range at 1080p, a 123 FPS range at 1440p, and a 68 FPS range at 4K. This suggests the Medium preset provides a stable experience across all resolutions, with tighter frame time variance at higher resolutions. The Low preset at 1080p, with its 745 FPS average, is the peak performance point, while the Ultra preset at 4K, with its 133 FPS average, is the lowest recorded point. The data shows a consistent scaling pattern where each step up in settings reduces FPS by a significant margin, and each step up in resolution also reduces FPS, with the combination of Ultra and 4K being the most demanding.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus, with its 24 cores and 24 threads, is a high-end desktop processor based on the Arrow Lake Refresh architecture. Its base clock of 3.70 GHz and boost clock of 5.80 GHz are critical for Counter-Strike 2, which is a game that relies heavily on single-thread performance. The CPU’s Passmark single-thread score of 4,823 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7,303 are strong indicators of its ability to handle the game’s primary game logic thread. The L3 cache of 36 MB shared and L2 cache of 3 MB per core help reduce memory latency, which is beneficial for a game that requires fast access to simulation data.

Benchmark results show that the CPU is the limiting factor at lower resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the 745 FPS average is far above what the GPU would typically produce, indicating that the CPU’s frame generation speed is the bottleneck. The CPU’s high boost clock of 5.80 GHz is likely the key driver of this performance, as it allows for rapid processing of the game’s commands. However, the CPU’s multi-threaded performance, as shown by a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 51,731, is not fully utilized by the game, as Counter-Strike 2 does not scale well across 24 threads. The CPU’s percentile of 96 versus all CPUs places it in the top 4% of processors, and its average benchmark score of 84,003 is 0.2% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, its nearest rival. This indicates that the 290K Plus is a top-tier processor, but its performance in this game is dominated by its single-thread capabilities, not its core count. The data confirms that the CPU’s clock speed and cache architecture are what allow this combo to achieve such high frame rates at 1080p, while the GPU takes over as the primary constraint at 4K.