Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is a fast, CPU-bound esports title, and this pairing of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and Intel Arc B570 delivers a wide spread of frame rates depending on how you balance resolution and visual quality. The measured data shows a system that is overwhelmingly capable at 1080p and 1440p, but which begins to show its GPU limits at 4K. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS rows to explain where the bottleneck sits and how to get the most out of this hardware combination.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep, which is typical for a game that leans heavily on the processor at lower resolutions. At 1080p High settings, the combo produces 343 FPS. Moving to 1440p High drops that to 236 FPS, a reduction of roughly 31%. At 4K High, the average falls to 139 FPS, which is a 59% decrease from the 1080p figure. This pattern clearly indicates that the GPU becomes the limiting factor as pixel count rises, while the CPU has plenty of headroom to spare.

The scaling is even more pronounced on the Low preset. The 1080p Low result is 465 FPS, which drops to 320 FPS at 1440p and then to 189 FPS at 4K. That is a 59% reduction from 1080p to 4K, nearly identical to the High preset scaling. The fact that the relative drop is consistent across presets suggests that the Arc B570 is being saturated at 4K regardless of the workload, and the CPU is no longer the primary constraint.

Looking at the Medium settings, which include min and max frame data, the trend is clear. At 1080p Medium, the average is 396 FPS with a minimum of 337 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 273 FPS with a minimum of 232 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average falls further to 161 FPS with a minimum of 137 FPS. The minimum frame rates scale down proportionally, indicating that there are no sudden stutters introduced by the resolution change; the system simply runs out of GPU throughput.

The Ultra preset shows the same trajectory but at lower absolute numbers. The 1080p Ultra average is 293 FPS, 1440p Ultra is 201 FPS, and 4K Ultra is 119 FPS. The gap between Ultra and High is roughly 15-17% at each resolution, which is a consistent penalty for the extra visual effects. The data suggests that the sweet spot for this combo is 1440p, where the frame rates remain well above the refresh rate of most high-end monitors, while 4K is only viable if you are willing to accept frame rates that dip below 120 FPS on the highest presets.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the Low preset is the clear winner for competitive play, but the differences between Medium and High are worth examining. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers 465 FPS, which is 69 FPS higher than Medium and 122 FPS higher than High. For a game like CS:GO, where every frame counts, that extra headroom can be the difference between a smooth experience and a marginal one, especially on a 360Hz or 540Hz display.

However, the jump from Low to Medium is not as punishing as one might expect. At 1080p, Medium delivers 396 FPS, which is still far above any practical refresh rate and only 51 FPS lower than Low. The Medium preset likely adds some visual fidelity without crippling the GPU, making it a reasonable choice for players who want a balance between clarity and performance. High at 1080p drops to 343 FPS, which is still exceptional, but you are giving up over 100 FPS compared to Low for marginal visual gains.

At 1440p, the situation changes. Low produces 320 FPS, Medium 273 FPS, and High 236 FPS. All three are playable on high-refresh monitors, but the gap between Low and High is 84 FPS. For players using a 240Hz monitor, the Low preset provides enough headroom to keep the frame rate pinned to the refresh limit, while High might occasionally dip below it. Ultra at 1440p is 201 FPS, which is still good but shows that the GPU is starting to work harder.

At 4K, the recommendations tighten. Low is the only preset that stays above 180 FPS, at 189 FPS. Medium drops to 161 FPS, High to 139 FPS, and Ultra to 119 FPS. If you are targeting a 144Hz 4K display, you will need to stick with Low to maintain a stable frame rate. Medium is borderline, and High or Ultra will cause noticeable dips below the refresh threshold. The data suggests that this combo is not ideal for 4K gaming at high settings, but it is perfectly capable at 1080p and 1440p with almost any preset.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, codenamed Granite Ridge, built on a 4 nm process. It has a base clock of 4.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, with a massive 128 MB of L3 cache. The benchmark results show a strong single-core performance, with a 3dmark single-thread score of 1269 and a Geekbench single-core score of 3041. In Cinebench R23, it scores 6739 points single-core and 47737 points multi-core.

For CS:GO, which is notoriously sensitive to single-thread performance and cache size, this CPU is nearly ideal. The high boost clock and large L3 cache help maintain high frame rates even when the GPU is not the limiting factor. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (465 FPS) reflects how much headroom the CPU provides. The nearest rival comparisons show the 9900X3D is 0.6% behind the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF in average benchmark score, but 1.3% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K and 2% ahead of the Intel Xeon 6505P. These are small margins, indicating that the CPU is not the bottleneck in this system.

The multi-core performance is also relevant, even though CS:GO does not heavily utilize all 24 threads. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 47737 places it in the top percentile of CPUs, with a percentileVsAllCpus of 91. This means that while the game only uses a few cores, the CPU has plenty of headroom for background tasks, streaming, or recording without impacting frame rates. The data shows that the CPU is never the limiting factor in this setup, as evidenced by the consistent FPS scaling patterns that track closely with GPU load rather than CPU load.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this pairing of the Ryzen 9 9900X3D and Intel Arc B570 ranks 2271 out of 2848 combos for CS:GO. That places it in the bottom 20% of all tested systems, which might seem surprising given the high frame rates measured. However, this rank is likely a reflection of the GPU choice rather than the CPU. The Arc B570 is a mid-range card, and many other combos in the database will feature higher-end GPUs that push frame rates even higher.

The percentileVsAllGpus for the Arc B570 is 65, meaning it performs better than 65% of all GPUs in the database. The GPU's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile, which is 0.1% faster, and the Intel Arc A750, which is 0.1% slower. This puts the B570 in a tight performance band, but the CPU is far ahead of its own rivals. The Ryzen 9 9900X3D has a percentileVsAllCpus of 91, which is exceptionally high.

The rank of 2271 out of 2848 combos indicates that while this setup is strong for esports, it is not a top-tier combination for pushing absolute maximum frame rates. The bottleneck is clearly the GPU, as the CPU is capable of much higher output. For a player who prioritizes frame rate above all else, pairing this CPU with a faster GPU would yield a higher rank. However, for the price, this combo delivers solid performance at 1080p and 1440p, which is where most CS:GO players will be.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 is a mid-range graphics card based on the Xe2-HPG architecture, codenamed Battlemage, built on a 5 nm process. It has 2304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 80 ROPs, with a base and boost clock of 2500 MHz. The GPU is equipped with 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 380.0 GB/s. The FP32 performance is 11.52 TFLOPS, and the card has a TDP of 150 W.

In CS:GO, the GPU role becomes apparent at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the GPU is not the limiting factor, as the CPU can push frame rates well above 300 FPS. The measured 1080p Low FPS of 465 suggests the GPU is handling the low-resolution workload with ease. However, as resolution increases to 1440p and 4K, the GPU's pixel throughput and memory bandwidth become more critical. The 4K High FPS of 139 and 4K Ultra FPS of 119 indicate that the card is struggling to maintain high frame rates at 4K, which is expected for a GPU in this performance class.

The GPU's benchmark scores show it is competitive with its immediate rivals. The Passmark G3D score is 14195, and the Geekbench Vulkan score is 96844. The 3dmark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 2649. These scores place it in the 65th percentile of all GPUs, which is respectable but not top-tier. The VRAM capacity of 10 GB is sufficient for CS:GO at any resolution, as the game is not memory-hungry, but the bandwidth of 380 GB/s might be a limiting factor at 4K with high texture settings.

The data shows that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at 4K, as evidenced by the significant FPS drops from 1080p to 4K. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 70 FPS, which is a large penalty for visual quality. At 1080p, the gap is 172 FPS, indicating that the CPU is able to compensate for the GPU's limitations at lower resolutions. For players who want to play at 4K, the Low preset is the only viable option, while 1440p High offers a good balance of visual quality and performance.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play CS:GO with this combo?

A: The data shows that 1440p High provides 236 FPS, which is well above the refresh rate of most high-end monitors. At 1080p, the frame rates exceed 340 FPS on High, but 1440p offers a better balance of visual clarity and performance. 4K is playable only on Low or Medium settings.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this system?

A: At 1080p and 1440p, the CPU has significant headroom, and the GPU is not fully utilized. At 4K, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck, as evidenced by the frame rate drops that scale with resolution increases. The CPU's percentileVsAllCpus of 91 is much higher than the GPU's percentileVsAllGpus of 65.

Q: How does the Arc B570 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B570 is 0.1% slower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile and 0.1% faster than the Intel Arc A750. It is 0.4% faster than the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M and 0.5% slower than the AMD Radeon R9 M390X. These are all within a narrow performance band.

Q: What is the highest FPS I can achieve with this combo?

A: The highest measured FPS is 465 at 1080p Low settings. At 1440p Low, it drops to 320 FPS, and at 4K Low, it is 189 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1080p still delivers 293 FPS, which is high enough for competitive play.

Q: Should I use the Low preset for competitive play?

A: Yes, the data shows that Low provides the highest frame rates at all resolutions. At 1080p, Low is 69 FPS faster than Medium and 122 FPS faster than High. For a game where frame rate is critical, Low is the recommended preset.

Q: Is this combo suitable for 4K gaming?

A: It is only suitable at Low or Medium settings. The 4K Low FPS of 189 is acceptable, but 4K High drops to 139 FPS, and 4K Ultra drops to 119 FPS. For a stable 144Hz experience at 4K, you would need to stick with Low settings.