Counter-Strike 2

Resolution Scaling

Counter-Strike 2 shows pronounced scaling behavior across the three tested resolutions, and the pattern reveals a system that is heavily CPU-bound at lower settings. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo pushes 563 FPS average. Dropping to 1440p Low yields 373 FPS, a 34% reduction, while 4K Low still manages 208 FPS, which is 63% below the 1080p figure. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p to 4K is not linear, indicating that the rendering load expands faster than the resolution multiplier.

The Medium preset tells a similar story with slightly compressed numbers: 468 FPS at 1080p, 309 FPS at 1440p, and 173 FPS at 4K. The gap between 1080p and 1440p Medium is 34%, identical to the Low preset's drop. However, the 4K Medium result of 173 FPS is 63% lower than 1080p Medium, matching the Low preset's scaling pattern almost exactly. This consistency suggests the game's engine scales resolution-dependent work uniformly regardless of the quality tier, at least between Low and Medium.

High settings introduce a steeper cliff. At 1080p High, the combo delivers 349 FPS. At 1440p High, that falls to 231 FPS, a 34% reduction. At 4K High, the average drops to 129 FPS, which is 63% below the 1080p High number. The consistent 34% and 63% reductions across Low, Medium, and High strongly imply that the limiting factor shifts progressively toward the GPU as resolution climbs, but the CPU headroom is so vast at 1080p that the GPU becomes the bottleneck even at Low settings.

The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling. At 1080p Ultra, the system produces 271 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, that falls to 179 FPS, a 34% drop. At 4K Ultra, the average collapses to 100 FPS, which is 63% below the 1080p Ultra result. The 4K Ultra figure of 100 FPS is the only measured result that dips below the 120 FPS threshold commonly cited for competitive play, and it highlights how the Ultra preset's additional effects tax the RTX 5070's 12 GB frame buffer and 192-bit memory bus.

The data indicates that at 1080p, even Ultra settings leave the GPU with headroom, as the 271 FPS average is far above what the CPU can feed in more demanding scenes. At 4K, the GPU takes over as the primary limiter across all presets, with the gap between Low (208 FPS) and Ultra (100 FPS) at 4K being 52%, a much larger spread than the 31% gap between Low (563 FPS) and Ultra (271 FPS) at 1080p. This widening delta as resolution increases confirms the RTX 5070 is the constraining component at 4K, while the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus has ample compute to drive frame rates into the hundreds at lower resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide a clear hierarchy for balancing frame rate and visual quality. For competitive play where maximum frame rate is paramount, the Low preset at 1080p delivers 563 FPS, which is the highest measured average in the entire dataset. At 1440p Low, the system still produces 373 FPS, and even 4K Low reaches 208 FPS. The Low preset sacrifices visual fidelity but offers the most headroom for high-refresh-rate monitors.

The Medium preset represents the best compromise for most users. At 1080p Medium, the average is 468 FPS, which is 17% lower than Low but still far above what any current display can show. At 1440p Medium, the 309 FPS average is 17% lower than Low at the same resolution, maintaining a comfortable margin above 240 Hz displays. The 4K Medium result of 173 FPS is the only 4K Medium figure that dips below 200 FPS, but it remains playable on 144 Hz panels. Medium also provides the only min/max data in the dataset: at 1080p, the range spans 397 FPS to 538 FPS; at 1440p, it spans 263 FPS to 356 FPS; at 4K, it spans 147 FPS to 199 FPS. These ranges indicate consistent frame pacing without severe dips.

High settings offer diminishing returns for the frame rate cost. At 1080p High, the 349 FPS average is 25% lower than Medium. At 1440p High, 231 FPS is 25% lower than Medium. At 4K High, 129 FPS is 25% lower than Medium. The consistent 25% penalty across resolutions suggests High adds a uniform load increase, but the 4K High result of 129 FPS may struggle to maintain a locked 120 FPS experience on all panels.

The Ultra preset is the most demanding and the least recommended for this game. At 1080p Ultra, 271 FPS is still high, but at 1440p Ultra, the 179 FPS average drops below the 240 Hz threshold. At 4K Ultra, the 100 FPS average is the only measured result below 120 FPS, making it unsuitable for high-refresh competitive play. The performance cost of Ultra over High is 22% at 1080p (349 to 271 FPS), 22% at 1440p (231 to 179 FPS), and 22% at 4K (129 to 100 FPS). Given that Ultra typically adds effects that are barely perceptible in a fast-paced FPS, the frame rate penalty is not justified.

For users with 144 Hz monitors, Medium at 1440p or High at 4K both provide sufficient headroom. For 240 Hz displays, Medium at 1080p or Low at 1440p are the safest choices. The data suggests that Medium is the sweet spot for this combination, as it maintains high frame rates while offering a meaningful visual upgrade over Low without the steep cost of High or Ultra.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 achieves a combo rank of 539 out of 2870 tested combinations in Counter-Strike 2. This places the combo in the top 19% of all tested systems, which is notable given the game's reputation as a CPU-bound title that favors high single-thread performance.

The CPU itself ranks in the 96th percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 84003. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, scores 83807, a delta of 0.2% — effectively a statistical tie. The AMD EPYC 4584PX scores 83090, which is 1.1% lower, and the AMD EPYC 9135 scores 82980, 1.2% lower. The only rival that beats it is the AMD EPYC 7F72, which scores 85072, a 1.3% advantage. This tight clustering means the 290K Plus is not a performance outlier in synthetic benchmarks, yet its rank in CS2 reflects the game's specific reliance on high boost clocks and cache efficiency.

The GPU ranks in the 82nd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 40377. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon Pro 580, scores 40318, a delta of 0.1%. The AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 scores 40063, 0.8% lower, while the NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile scores 39568, 2.0% lower. The AMD Radeon Pro 5300 scores 40870, which is 1.2% higher. These rivals are all workstation or mobile parts, which underscores that the RTX 5070's desktop gaming performance is not directly comparable to these professional-grade cards in synthetic workloads.

The combo rank of 539 suggests that while both components are individually strong, the pairing does not crack the top 500 combos for CS2. This is likely because the game's engine does not fully utilize the 24 cores and 24 threads of the 290K Plus, nor does it stress the RTX 5070's 6144 shading units at lower resolutions. The ranking reflects a system that is over-provisioned for CS2's actual requirements, yet still delivers exceptional frame rates, as evidenced by the 563 FPS 1080p Low result. In the context of all 2870 combos, a top 19% placement is strong, but it indicates that other pairings with faster single-thread CPUs or more efficient GPUs may edge it out in this specific title.

FAQ

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

A: The highest measured average is 563 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: Is this combo capable of 4K gaming in Counter-Strike 2?

A: Yes, at 4K the combo delivers 208 FPS on Low, 173 FPS on Medium, 129 FPS on High, and 100 FPS on Ultra.

Q: How does the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus compare to its nearest rival, the 285K?

A: The 290K Plus scores 84003 on average, which is 0.2% higher than the 285K's 83807.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded in the dataset?

A: The only min FPS values are recorded on Medium settings: 397 FPS at 1080p, 263 FPS at 1440p, and 147 FPS at 4K.

Q: What is the GPU's launch MSRP?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 has a launch MSRP of 549 USD.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations in CS2?

A: It ranks 539 out of 2870 tested combos, placing it in the top 19%.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a GB205 chip manufactured on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It houses 31,100 million transistors on a 263 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 118.3M per mm². The GPU operates at a base clock of 2325 MHz and a boost clock of 2512 MHz, with memory clocked at 1750 MHz, translating to 28 Gbps effective on GDDR7 memory.

The 12 GB frame buffer is paired with a 192-bit memory bus, delivering 672.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This configuration is adequate for CS2 at 1080p and 1440p, as evidenced by the frame rates above 300 FPS on Medium settings. However, at 4K Ultra, the 100 FPS average suggests the memory bandwidth and capacity become limiting factors. The 12 GB capacity is not stressed by CS2's textures at lower presets, but the Ultra preset's higher resolution textures and effects increase the memory pressure, contributing to the 52% performance gap between Low and Ultra at 4K.

The GPU's compute resources include 6144 shading units, 192 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output units. It also features 48 ray tracing cores and 192 tensor cores, which are not heavily utilized in CS2's traditional rasterization pipeline. The pixel rate is 201.0 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 482.3 GTexel/s, both of which scale with the clock speed. The FP32 performance is 30.87 TFLOPS, with FP16 also at 30.87 TFLOPS due to a 1:1 ratio. These figures indicate a GPU that is over-specified for CS2's engine, which explains why frame rates remain high even at 1440p.

The RTX 5070's 250 W TDP and dual-slot design require a 600 W suggested PSU, with power delivered via a single 16-pin connector. The card uses PCIe 5.0 x16 interface and offers 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1b outputs. In the context of CS2, the GPU's role as a bottleneck emerges only at 4K Ultra, where the 100 FPS average is the lowest measured result. The 82nd percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 40377, places it slightly above the AMD Radeon Pro 580 (40318) and below the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 (40870), though these rivals are not gaming-focused parts. The data shows the GPU handles 1080p and 1440p with ease, but 4K Ultra requires compromises.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake Refresh architecture, part of the Core Ultra Series 2. It is manufactured on a 3 nm process at TSMC, with 17,800 million transistors on a 243 mm² die. The base clock is 3.70 GHz, and the boost clock reaches 5.80 GHz, which is critical for CS2's single-threaded performance demands. The CPU has a 125 W TDP and supports DDR5 memory on a dual-channel bus, with a memory bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s.

The cache hierarchy consists of 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 36 MB of shared L3 cache. This large L3 cache is beneficial for CS2, as the game's engine frequently accesses small working sets. The CPU also includes ECC memory support and an integrated Arc Xe-LPG Graphics 64EU, though the discrete RTX 5070 handles all rendering. The PCIe Gen 5 interface provides 20 lanes from the CPU, which is sufficient for the RTX 5070's PCIe 5.0 x16 connection.

In synthetic benchmarks, the 290K Plus achieves a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 51731 and a single-core score of 7303. The R20 scores are 21727 multicore and 3067 single-core, while R15 shows 5214 multicore and 736 single-core. Passmark results include a multithread score of 60860, a single-thread score of 4823, and a physics score of 3315. The data compression score is 698346, encryption is 52563, and floating-point math is 214760. These numbers place the CPU in the 96th percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 84003.

The CPU's role in CS2 is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. At 1080p Low, the 563 FPS average indicates the CPU is not the bottleneck, as the GPU can render frames faster than the CPU can issue commands. However, the 24-core configuration is largely underutilized in CS2, which typically scales with a few high-frequency cores. The boost clock of 5.80 GHz is likely the primary driver of the high frame rates, as single-thread performance is paramount. The nearest rival, the Core Ultra 9 285K, scores nearly identically (0.2% delta), suggesting that the 290K Plus's advantage in CS2 comes more from its clock speed than core count.

The CPU's 96th percentile ranking and the tight clustering of rivals (all within 1.3% of the 290K Plus's average score) indicate that this processor is not a standout in synthetic workloads. Yet in CS2, the measured frame rates exceed those of many lower-ranked CPUs, confirming that the game rewards the combination of high boost clocks and large cache. The 36 MB L3 cache helps maintain consistent frame pacing, as evidenced by the Medium preset's min FPS of 397 at 1080p, which is only 15% below the average of 468 FPS. The CPU's memory bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s over dual-channel DDR5 is sufficient to avoid starving the GPU, as the frame rates show no signs of memory-related stutters in the available data.