Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

# Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive with the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and Intel Arc B370 combination reveals distinct performance tiers across the four available quality presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 273 FPS, while Medium achieves 233 FPS, High reaches 202 FPS, and Ultra drops to 172 FPS. The performance gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution is substantial, with Ultra representing a 37% reduction in average frame rate compared to Low.

For competitive play, the Low preset at 1920x1080 offers the highest headroom, with frame rates exceeding 270 FPS on average. This provides the greatest margin above typical high-refresh-rate display capabilities. The Medium preset at 233 FPS still offers excellent smoothness while providing additional visual fidelity. At 2560x1440, Medium produces 160 FPS average with minimums of 136 FPS, which remains playable for most competitive scenarios. The High preset at 139 FPS and Ultra at 118 FPS are progressively more demanding but remain above the 100 FPS threshold.

At 3840x2160, all presets remain playable, with Low averaging 111 FPS, Medium at 95 FPS, High at 82 FPS, and Ultra at 70 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K provides the best balance between visual quality and frame rate stability, with recorded minimums of 80 FPS and maximums of 109 FPS. Given the data, the Medium preset appears to be the optimal choice across all resolutions, as it consistently delivers frame rates that are approximately 15-20% higher than High while maintaining a measurable minimum FPS that is only recorded for this preset tier.

# GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated graphics solution based on the Panther Lake chip with Xe3-LPG architecture, manufactured on Intel's 3 nm process. Its base clock runs at 300 MHz with a boost clock of 2400 MHz, and it features 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 raster output units. The GPU also includes 10 ray tracing cores, though these are unlikely to be heavily utilized in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive given the game's age and competitive focus.

Memory configuration for this GPU is entirely system-shared, with no dedicated VRAM. Memory bandwidth is listed as system-dependent, meaning performance will vary based on the host system's memory configuration. The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X supports DDR5 memory with dual-channel configuration and 89.6 GB/s of memory bandwidth, which directly impacts the Arc B370's ability to access texture data and frame buffers.

The GPU's performance profile in benchmark results places it at the 5th percentile among all GPUs, with a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184. Its nearest rivals in synthetic testing include the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 at 1186 (0.2% ahead), the ATI Radeon HD 5770 at 1190 (0.5% ahead), and the AMD Radeon HD 7650M at 1192 (0.7% ahead). This positioning indicates that the Arc B370 is a modest performer in absolute terms, yet the measured FPS in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive demonstrates that this game is sufficiently well-optimized to run at playable rates even with this level of GPU capability.

The GPU's 6.144 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 48.00 GPixel/s pixel rate provide adequate raw throughput for a game like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, which is known for its relatively simple visual scenes. The 96.00 GTexel/s texture rate also helps maintain consistent performance when moving through environments with varied surface detail. The 25 W TDP and IGP slot width classify this as an integrated solution, and the system-dependent memory bandwidth means that the Ryzen 9 9900X's dual-channel DDR5 configuration is likely a contributing factor to the observed frame rates.

# FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to use with this combination for competitive play?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 with Low settings produces an average of 273 FPS, which is the highest measured frame rate across all tested configurations. At 2560x1440 Low, the average drops to 188 FPS, while 3840x2160 Low averages 111 FPS.

Q: Does the Ultra preset provide playable frame rates at 4K?

A: Yes, the Ultra preset at 3840x2160 averages 70 FPS, which is playable, though the Low preset at the same resolution delivers 111 FPS, a 58% improvement over Ultra.

Q: How does the GPU's synthetic benchmark score relate to its in-game performance?

A: The Intel Arc B370 scores 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 and ranks at the 5th percentile among all GPUs, yet it still achieves over 100 FPS at 1080p across all presets, indicating that Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is not heavily GPU-bound.

Q: What frame rates can be expected with Medium settings at 1440p?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 produces an average of 160 FPS with minimums of 136 FPS and maximums of 184 FPS, making it a solid choice for high-refresh-rate monitors.

Q: Is there a significant performance difference between Low and Medium presets?

A: At 1080p, the difference between Low (273 FPS) and Medium (233 FPS) is 40 FPS, or approximately 17%. The gap narrows at higher resolutions: at 1440p it is 28 FPS (188 vs 160), and at 4K it is 16 FPS (111 vs 95).

Q: Why does the Medium preset have recorded minimum and maximum FPS values while other presets do not?

A: The data includes min and max FPS measurements only for the Medium preset across all three resolutions, providing additional variance information: 198-268 FPS at 1080p, 136-184 FPS at 1440p, and 80-109 FPS at 4K.

# How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and Intel Arc B370 ranks 2615 out of 2848 tested combinations in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, placing it in the bottom 8% of all configurations. This low ranking is primarily attributable to the GPU's position at the 5th percentile among all graphics cards, despite the CPU's strong performance at the 92nd percentile among all processors.

The ranking disparity between the CPU and GPU components creates an interesting dynamic. The Ryzen 9 9900X is a high-end desktop processor with 12 cores and 24 threads based on Zen 5 architecture, while the Arc B370 is an integrated graphics solution with performance comparable to GPUs from the early 2010s. In a game like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, which is traditionally CPU-sensitive, this combination still manages to produce playable frame rates, but the overall ranking reflects the GPU's limitations relative to other tested configurations.

The measured FPS data suggests that the combo's ranking could be substantially improved with a more capable discrete GPU, as the CPU's headroom appears significant. The Ryzen 9 9900X's benchmark scores, including a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 32172 and a Geekbench multicore score of 22174, indicate substantial processing capability that is not fully utilized given the GPU's constraints. However, within the context of this specific pairing, the 2615th rank among 2848 combinations places it in the lower quartile, meaning approximately 233 other tested combinations perform worse in this particular game.

# CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X is a 12-core, 24-thread processor from the 9000 series, built on Zen 5 architecture with a 4 nm process node. Its base clock is 4.40 GHz with a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, and it features 64 MB of L3 cache alongside 1 MB of L2 cache per core. The CPU operates on the AMD Socket AM5 platform with a 120 W TDP and supports DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration.

In synthetic benchmarks, the Ryzen 9 9900X demonstrates strong single-threaded performance with a 3DMark single-thread score of 1286 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2253. Its multithreaded capabilities are equally impressive, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 32172 and a Geekbench multicore score of 22174. The CPU ranks at the 92nd percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 57498.

The nearest CPU rivals in benchmark performance include the AMD EPYC 9015 with an average score of 57555 (0.1% behind the 9900X), the AMD EPYC 7313 at 57399 (0.2% ahead), the Intel Core i9-14900 at 58115 (1.1% behind), and the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M at 58323 (1.4% behind). These narrow deltas indicate that the Ryzen 9 9900X sits in a competitive performance bracket among top-tier processors.

In the context of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, the CPU's role is significant given the game's engine and the fact that the Arc B370's integrated GPU relies on system resources. The Ryzen 9 9900X's high single-threaded performance is particularly relevant, as the game's core simulation and input processing typically rely on single-threaded efficiency. The CPU's boost clock of 5.60 GHz provides substantial processing headroom for maintaining high frame rates, especially at lower resolutions where the GPU is less of a bottleneck.

The processor's 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth is shared with the GPU, meaning that the dual-channel DDR5 configuration must serve both CPU computation and GPU frame buffer needs. This shared resource allocation likely contributes to the performance characteristics observed in the measured FPS data.

# Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average frame rates span from 273 FPS at Low settings down to 172 FPS at Ultra. The Medium preset provides 233 FPS with a recorded range of 198 to 268 FPS. High settings deliver 202 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a consistent decrease of approximately 30-40 FPS per preset tier, with the largest single drop occurring between Medium and High at 31 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales downward from the 1080p results. Low settings average 188 FPS, Medium averages 160 FPS with a range of 136 to 184 FPS, High averages 139 FPS, and Ultra averages 118 FPS. The deltas between presets at this resolution are smaller than at 1080p, ranging from 21 to 28 FPS per step.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates compress further into a narrower band. Low settings produce 111 FPS average, Medium produces 95 FPS with a range of 80 to 109 FPS, High produces 82 FPS, and Ultra produces 70 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 41 FPS, which is proportionally similar to the 101 FPS gap at 1080p but represents a smaller absolute difference.

The Medium preset is the only settings tier where both minimum and maximum FPS values were recorded across all three resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the variance between minimum and maximum is 70 FPS; at 1440p Medium, it is 48 FPS; and at 4K Medium, it is 29 FPS. This narrowing variance at higher resolutions suggests that frame time consistency improves as the GPU becomes more constrained.

Comparing the same preset across resolutions reveals the impact of pixel count. At Low settings, moving from 1080p to 1440p reduces average FPS by 85 FPS (273 to 188), and moving from 1440p to 4K reduces it by another 77 FPS (188 to 111). For Ultra settings, the corresponding drops are 54 FPS (172 to 118) and 48 FPS (118 to 70).

# Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling behavior of this CPU-GPU combination reveals important insights about the system's bottleneck characteristics. When moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 273 to 188 FPS, representing a 31% reduction. Continuing to 3840x2160, the frame rate drops further to 111 FPS, a further 41% reduction from the 1440p figure. The cumulative drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is 59%.

For Medium settings, the scaling follows a similar pattern: 233 FPS at 1080p drops to 160 FPS at 1440p (31% reduction), then to 95 FPS at 4K (41% reduction from 1440p). The cumulative drop from 1080p to 4K at Medium is 59%. High settings show 202 FPS at 1080p, 139 FPS at 1440p (31% reduction), and 82 FPS at 4K (41% reduction from 1440p), with a cumulative drop of 59%. Ultra settings produce 172 FPS at 1080p, 118 FPS at 1440p (31% reduction), and 70 FPS at 4K (41% reduction from 1440p), also a 59% cumulative drop.

The consistency of these percentage reductions across all four settings presets is notable. The identical scaling behavior—31% from 1080p to 1440p and 41% from 1440p to 4K regardless of quality preset—indicates that the system is GPU-bound at all tested configurations. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the percentage drops would be less uniform across settings, as higher settings would shift more of the load onto the GPU.

The 4K resolution contains 4.5 times the pixels of 1080p, yet the frame rates at 4K are only approximately 41% of those at 1080p (using the Low preset as an example: 111/273 = 0.41). This less-than-proportional scaling suggests that while the GPU is the primary constraint, the system's shared memory architecture and the CPU's contribution to frame generation provide some mitigation of the pixel-count increase. The Arc B370's System Shared memory configuration means that memory bandwidth is shared between CPU and GPU tasks, and at higher resolutions, the increased memory traffic for frame buffers competes with CPU operations.

The data indicates that this combination performs best at 1080p, where the integrated GPU can maintain frame rates above 170 FPS even at Ultra settings. At 1440p, performance remains competitive for high-refresh-rate gaming at Low and Medium settings. At 4K, all presets remain above 60 FPS, but the margin above display refresh rates narrows considerably, with Ultra averaging just 70 FPS.