Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X paired with the Intel Arc B370 produces a distinctive performance profile in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, one defined by the stark contrast between a high-end 12-core processor and a low-power integrated-class GPU. The measured data reveals a system that is heavily constrained by its graphics solution at every setting tier, yet still delivers playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p due to the CPU's substantial headroom. The following analysis breaks down the resolution scaling, settings behavior, and component-level roles based strictly on the measured FPS rows and benchmark data provided.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 demonstrates a classic GPU-bound scenario, where the Arc B370's rendering limits become the primary bottleneck. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 202 at 1080p to 139 at 1440p—a reduction of 63 frames per second—and then further to 82 at 4K. This represents a 59.4% performance decline from the lowest to the highest tested resolution, indicating that the GPU's pixel throughput is the limiting factor rather than the CPU's compute power.

The Low settings row reveals a similar pattern with a steeper absolute decline. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 273 FPS, which falls to 188 at 1440p and then to 111 at 4K. The 162-frame gap between 1080p and 4K at Low settings is the largest across all presets, confirming that lowering graphical load shifts the bottleneck even more firmly onto the GPU's fillrate and shading capabilities. The Arc B370's 20 ROPs and 40 TMUs, coupled with its 48.00 GPixel/s pixel rate, are simply insufficient to maintain high frame rates as pixel count quadruples.

The Medium settings row provides the only complete min/max data across all resolutions, which adds nuance to the scaling analysis. At 1080p Medium, the average is 233 FPS with a minimum of 198 and a maximum of 268. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 160 FPS with min/max of 136/184. Finally, at 4K Medium, the average falls to 95 FPS with min/max of 80/109. The min FPS figures degrade proportionally to averages, suggesting consistent frame pacing rather than sudden spikes or stutters, which is typical for a GPU-bound title where the CPU has ample spare capacity.

The difference between 1080p and 1440p is roughly 30-35% across all settings (e.g., 202 to 139 at High), while the difference between 1440p and 4K is another 40-45% (139 to 82 at High). This nonlinear scaling is characteristic of a GPU that struggles with increasing pixel counts, especially given its System Shared memory configuration, which has bandwidth that is "System Dependent" rather than dedicated. In practical terms, the data suggests that 4K gaming is only viable at Low settings (111 FPS), and even then, the experience is far less smooth than the 1080p results.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows provide a clear hierarchy of settings for each resolution, and the optimal choice depends on whether the user prioritizes frame rate or visual fidelity. At 1920x1080, all four presets exceed 170 FPS, making the decision purely about preference. Low settings yield 273 FPS, Medium 233 FPS, High 202 FPS, and Ultra 172 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium costs 40 FPS but likely provides a meaningful visual upgrade, while the jump from High to Ultra costs 30 FPS for what is typically a marginal improvement in CS:GO.

For 1440p, the data shows that Low (188 FPS) and Medium (160 FPS) are the most balanced options, as they stay comfortably above the 144 Hz refresh rate that many monitors at this resolution use. High settings at 139 FPS fall just below that threshold, and Ultra at 118 FPS begins to feel less responsive for a competitive FPS. The recommendation here is Medium, which offers a 21 FPS advantage over High while retaining most of the visual detail that matters in CS:GO's relatively simple scenes.

At 4K, the situation becomes more constrained. Ultra (70 FPS) and High (82 FPS) are both below the 90 FPS threshold that many players consider the minimum for smooth gameplay, while Medium (95 FPS) and Low (111 FPS) are viable. Given that CS:GO is a competitive title where frame rate directly impacts input latency, Low settings at 4K are the most defensible choice, providing 111 FPS and the lowest rendering load. However, the min FPS of 80 at 4K Medium suggests that even that setting can dip into less desirable territory, so players seeking consistency should stick with Low.

The data does not include any direct comparison of visual quality, only FPS numbers, so the recommendation is purely performance-based. For a competitive FPS like CS:GO, the measured results indicate that Medium settings at 1080p (233 FPS) or Low at 1440p (188 FPS) offer the best balance between frame rate and load on the system. The gap between Medium and High at any resolution is roughly 15-20%, which is significant enough to justify the lower preset for most players.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the Ryzen 9 7900X and Arc B370 ranks 2615 out of 2848 tested combos for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, placing it in the bottom 8.2% of all configurations. This ranking is a direct consequence of the GPU's performance class, as the CPU itself sits in the 91st percentile among all processors. The GPU's 5th percentile ranking among all GPUs, based on its 1184 average benchmark score, drags the entire system down despite the CPU's strength.

Comparisons with the GPU's nearest rivals illustrate the tight cluster at the bottom of the performance spectrum. The Arc B370's 1184 average score is within 1.4% of the AMD FirePro M2000 (1168) and within 0.7% of the AMD Radeon HD 7650M (1192). The closest rival, the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570, scores 1186, a delta of -0.2% relative to the Arc B370. These are all legacy or low-end parts, confirming that the Arc B370 sits at the very bottom of the current GPU hierarchy.

On the CPU side, the Ryzen 9 7900X's 53288 average benchmark score is nearly identical to its nearest rivals, with deltas of just 0.2% to -0.6% against the AMD EPYC 7313P (53206), Intel Xeon Phi 7290 (53469), Intel Xeon 634 (52974), and Intel Core i7-14700F (53620). This indicates that the CPU is not the differentiator in this combo's ranking; any of these processors would produce nearly identical FPS results given the same GPU. The 2615th place ranking is therefore almost entirely attributable to the Arc B370's limited 6.144 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 25 W TDP, which classify it as an integrated graphics solution rather than a discrete gaming GPU.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo achieve 144 FPS at 1080p?

A: Yes, the measured data shows 202 FPS at High settings and 273 FPS at Low settings for 1920x1080. All four presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) exceed 172 FPS, so a 144 Hz monitor is fully supported.

Q: What is the best resolution for this system?

A: Based on the measured FPS, 1920x1080 is the safest choice, as even Ultra settings produce 172 FPS. At 2560x1440, only Low (188 FPS) and Medium (160 FPS) are comfortably above 144 FPS, while 3840x2160 requires Low settings (111 FPS) for a smooth experience.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its closest rivals?

A: The Arc B370's 1184 benchmark score is nearly identical to the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186, -0.2% delta), the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190, -0.5%), and the AMD Radeon HD 7650M (1192, -0.7%). It is 1.4% faster than the AMD FirePro M2000 (1168).

Q: Is the CPU holding the system back?

A: No, the data indicates the opposite. The Ryzen 9 7900X ranks in the 91st percentile of CPUs, and its nearest rivals show deltas of less than 1%. The GPU's 5th percentile ranking is the limiting factor, as seen in the FPS scaling with resolution.

Q: What min FPS can be expected at Medium settings?

A: The measured min FPS values are 198 at 1080p, 136 at 1440p, and 80 at 4K, all at Medium settings. The corresponding average FPS are 233, 160, and 95, respectively.

Q: Does the system support modern graphics APIs?

A: Yes, the Arc B370 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. CS:GO is an older title, but the hardware is ready for newer APIs if needed.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is the dominant factor in this combo's performance, and its specifications explain the measured FPS numbers. With a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz, the GPU's 1280 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 20 ROPs deliver a peak FP32 throughput of 6.144 TFLOPS. This is an extremely low figure for a gaming GPU, placing it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs, and it is reflected in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184.

The GPU's memory configuration is System Shared, meaning it uses the Ryzen 9 7900X's DDR5 memory rather than dedicated VRAM. The memory bus width and bandwidth are also listed as "System Shared" and "System Dependent," respectively, which introduces a significant penalty in GPU-bound scenarios. The CPU's dual-channel DDR5 memory bus provides 83.2 GB/s of bandwidth, but this is shared between the CPU and GPU, and it is nowhere near the dedicated bandwidth of even mid-range discrete GPUs. This explains why the FPS drops so sharply as resolution increases—the GPU must contend for memory bandwidth while also handling more pixels.

The Arc B370's 25 W TDP and IGP slot width classify it as an integrated part, despite carrying the Arc branding. Its pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s are the hard limits for CS:GO's rendering pipeline. At 4K Ultra, the combo only manages 70 FPS, which is consistent with a GPU that cannot sustain high fill rates. The RT cores (10) and DirectX 12 Ultimate support are irrelevant for CS:GO, which was released in 2012 and does not use ray tracing. The GPU's role is strictly to provide a baseline level of rasterization performance, and the data shows that baseline is very low.

The GPU's benchmark score of 1184 places it alongside legacy parts like the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190) and AMD Radeon HD 7650M (1192), which are over a decade old. This is not a slight on the architecture (Xe3-LPG, 3 nm process) but a reflection of its intended market segment as an integrated solution. The measured FPS in CS:GO, while playable at lower resolutions, are only possible because the Ryzen 9 7900X provides enough CPU headroom to keep the GPU's frame queue full. Without that CPU, the FPS would likely be even lower, but the GPU is unquestionably the limiting component.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X is a high-end desktop processor that provides far more compute power than the Arc B370 can utilize in CS:GO. With 12 cores and 24 threads based on Zen 4 architecture (Raphael codename), it runs at a base clock of 4.70 GHz and boosts to 5.60 GHz. Its benchmark results are strong: a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 29300 and a single-core score of 2016.5, a Geekbench multicore score of 19267, and a Passmark multithread score of 51406. The CPU's 91st percentile ranking among all processors confirms its position as a top-tier part.

In CS:GO, which is a CPU-light title by modern standards, the 7900X's single-thread performance is the most relevant metric. Its 3DMark single-thread score of 1093 and Passmark single-thread score of 4238 indicate strong per-core performance, which is essential for the game's main thread. However, the measured FPS data shows that the CPU is never the bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 273 FPS, but at 4K Ultra, it drops to 70 FPS. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the FPS would remain similar across resolutions, which is clearly not the case.

The CPU's cache hierarchy—64 KB L1 per core, 1 MB L2 per core, and 64 MB shared L3—is ample for CS:GO, and its dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 83.2 GB/s bandwidth is more than sufficient for the game's data demands. The 7900X also includes integrated Radeon Graphics, but the system uses the Arc B370 as the primary display output, as evidenced by the measured FPS data. The CPU's TDP of 170 W and Socket AM5 platform are typical for a desktop enthusiast part, and its launch MSRP is $549.

The CPU's nearest rivals on the benchmark database include the AMD EPYC 7313P (53206 average score, 0.2% delta) and the Intel Core i7-14700F (53620 average score, -0.6% delta). These deltas are negligible, meaning the 7900X is not an outlier in either direction. For the purposes of this combo, the CPU's role is to provide a stable platform that never limits the GPU. The 273 FPS at 1080p Low confirms the CPU's ability to feed frames quickly, but the GPU's inability to sustain that performance at higher resolutions is the defining characteristic of this pairing.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured FPS values is as follows, organized by resolution and settings:

1920x1080:

• Low: 273 FPS average
• Medium: 233 FPS average, 198 min, 268 max
• High: 202 FPS average
• Ultra: 172 FPS average

2560x1440:

• Low: 188 FPS average
• Medium: 160 FPS average, 136 min, 184 max
• High: 139 FPS average
• Ultra: 118 FPS average

3840x2160:

• Low: 111 FPS average
• Medium: 95 FPS average, 80 min, 109 max
• High: 82 FPS average
• Ultra: 70 FPS average

The Medium setting is the only preset with complete min/max data across all three resolutions, which allows for a deeper look at frame consistency. At 1080p, the min FPS of 198 is 85% of the average (233), indicating tight frame pacing. At 1440p, the min of 136 is 85% of the average (160), and at 4K, the min of 80 is 84% of the average (95). This consistency suggests that the GPU is not experiencing intermittent stutters but rather a steady decline in throughput as resolution increases.

The delta between Low and Ultra at each resolution is worth noting. At 1080p, the gap is 101 FPS (273 vs 172); at 1440p, it is 70 FPS (188 vs 118); at 4K, it is 41 FPS (111 vs 70). The absolute gap shrinks as resolution increases, but the percentage gap remains similar (37-39% reduction from Low to Ultra). This indicates that the GPU's shading and fillrate limits scale proportionally with settings, regardless of resolution.

The High settings row shows a consistent pattern: 202 FPS at 1080p, 139 at 1440p, and 82 at 4K. This represents a 31% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 41% drop from 1440p to 4K. These figures align with the pixel count increases (2.25x from 1080p to 1440p, 2.25x from 1440p to 4K), confirming that the GPU's work scales linearly with resolution. The Ultra settings row follows the same trend: 172, 118, and 70 FPS, with similar proportional declines.

In summary, the measured data shows a system that is playable at 1080p across all settings, acceptable at 1440p on Low/Medium, and only viable at 4K on Low. The Ryzen 9 7900X provides ample CPU headroom, but the Arc B370's integrated-class performance caps the experience at exactly what the numbers indicate. Players seeking higher frame rates at higher resolutions would need a different GPU, but within the constraints of this combo, the FPS breakdown is clear and consistent.