Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

The pairing of Intel’s Core i5-10400F with NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 5060 produces extreme frame rates in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, a title from 2012 that remains highly sensitive to both CPU and GPU throughput. The measured data shows this combo ranks 798th out of 1605 tested combinations, placing it in the upper-middle tier of the database. Across all tested resolutions and settings, the average frame rates never dip below 173.3 FPS, indicating a system that is overwhelmingly capable of driving high-refresh-rate displays in this esports title. The data suggests that while the GPU is a modern Blackwell architecture part with substantial memory bandwidth, the older Comet Lake CPU’s single-thread performance becomes a notable factor in frame pacing at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic shift in system bottleneck. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 682.9 FPS, which drops to 471 FPS at 2560x1440, and further to 280.3 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 59% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K at Low settings. The pattern is consistent across other presets: High settings produce 505 FPS at 1080p, 349.7 FPS at 1440p, and 207 FPS at 4K, a 59% drop as well. Medium settings yield 584.5 FPS at 1080p, 401.3 FPS at 1440p, and 235.5 FPS at 4K, a 60% reduction. Ultra settings show 432 FPS at 1080p, 293.3 FPS at 1440p, and 173.3 FPS at 4K, a 60% decrease.

These scaling figures indicate that the GPU becomes increasingly dominant as resolution rises. The RTX 5060, with its 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 8 GB of GDDR7 memory, handles the pixel throughput demands of 4K relatively gracefully, still delivering over 280 FPS on Low. However, the fact that the drop from 1440p to 4K is proportionally larger than the drop from 1080p to 1440p suggests that the GPU’s shading resources—3840 shading units and 120 TMUs—are being taxed more heavily at 4K. At 1080p, the frame rates exceed 680 FPS on Low, which likely outstrips the CPU’s ability to feed draw calls, given the i5-10400F’s 2.90 GHz base clock and 4.30 GHz boost clock. The data indicates that at 1080p, the CPU is the limiting component, while at 4K, the GPU takes over as the primary constraint.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor built on the 14 nm Comet Lake architecture, with a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. Its single-thread benchmark scores are modest by modern standards: a 3dmark single-thread score of 688, a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1453, and a Geekbench single-core score of 1454. These numbers place it in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs, but its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 7552 and Intel Core i5-8500, with deltaPct values of 0.4% and -1.1%, respectively. This indicates that the i5-10400F’s per-core performance is competitive with older server and desktop parts, but it does not match newer architectures.

In CS:GO, which is notoriously dependent on single-thread performance for game logic and draw calls, the CPU’s 12 MB of shared L3 cache and 64 KB of L1 cache per core help maintain frame pacing. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo hits 682.9 FPS, a figure that is likely CPU-bound given the GPU’s headroom. The CPU’s 3dmark 16-thread score of 4748 and max-thread score of 4735 are nearly identical, suggesting that scaling beyond 8 threads provides minimal benefit—a finding consistent with CS:GO’s engine, which rarely utilizes more than a few cores effectively. The PassMark multithread score of 12115 and single-thread score of 2541 further illustrate that the CPU’s aggregate throughput is decent, but its single-core prowess is the limiting factor for pushing beyond 700 FPS. The benchmark results imply that for players targeting 360 Hz or 500 Hz displays, the i5-10400F may struggle to maintain maximum frame rates at 1080p, as the 682.9 FPS Low result is already near the CPU’s ceiling.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 is a Blackwell 2.0 architecture GPU on a 5 nm process, featuring 3840 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. Its boost clock of 2497 MHz and base clock of 2280 MHz drive a FP32 throughput of 19.18 TFLOPS. The GPU’s 8 GB of GDDR7 memory operates across a 128-bit bus, yielding 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. These specs place it in the 73rd percentile of all GPUs, with nearest rivals including the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT (deltaPct 0%) and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile (deltaPct 0.6%). The PassMark G3D score of 20891 and Geekbench OpenCL score of 120785 confirm its position as a mid-to-high-range part.

In CS:GO, the GPU’s role becomes more pronounced as resolution increases. At 4K Ultra, the combo produces 173.3 FPS, which is 60% lower than the 432 FPS at 1080p Ultra. This scaling aligns with the GPU’s pixel rate of 119.9 GPixel/s and texture rate of 299.6 GTexel/s. The RTX 5060’s 30 RT cores and 120 tensor cores are largely irrelevant for CS:GO, as the game does not utilize ray tracing or DLSS in the measured data. Instead, the GPU’s raw rasterization performance, driven by its 48 ROPs, determines the 4K results. The memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s appears sufficient for the game’s texture streaming, as the 8 GB VRAM capacity is not stressed by a 2012 title’s asset sizes. The data shows that at 4K Low, the GPU still delivers 280.3 FPS, indicating that even at high resolutions, the RTX 5060 has headroom, and the CPU is not entirely irrelevant. The gap between 4K Low (280.3 FPS) and 4K Ultra (173.3 FPS) of 107 FPS demonstrates that the GPU’s shading units and TMUs are the primary drivers of the settings-based performance deltas.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance on preset selection based on resolution. At 1920x1080, all presets deliver frame rates above 432 FPS, which exceeds the refresh rate of most monitors. The Low preset yields 682.9 FPS, while Medium produces 584.5 FPS and High reaches 505 FPS. Since the CPU is likely the bottleneck at 1080p, players should select High or Ultra if they want better visual fidelity without sacrificing competitive frame rates—the difference between Low and Ultra is only 250 FPS, which is imperceptible on a 240 Hz display. At 2560x1440, the Medium preset (401.3 FPS) offers a balanced compromise, as the High preset (349.7 FPS) is still well above 300 FPS, but Ultra (293.3 FPS) begins to approach the 300 FPS threshold. For 1440p, High is the recommended preset, as it provides a 56 FPS advantage over Ultra while maintaining similar visual quality in a fast-paced game.

At 3840x2160, the choice becomes more critical. The Low preset (280.3 FPS) is the only option above 280 FPS, while Medium (235.5 FPS) and High (207 FPS) remain playable but leave less headroom for frame dips. Ultra (173.3 FPS) is still above 144 FPS, making it viable for 144 Hz displays, but the 107 FPS drop from Low to Ultra suggests that the GPU is heavily taxed at 4K. For 4K gaming, the Low preset provides the best experience for competitive play, as it maximizes frame rate and reduces input latency. The data indicates that the High preset at 4K (207 FPS) is the minimum recommendation for a smooth experience, while Ultra should be reserved for players with 144 Hz monitors who prioritize visuals over raw performance. Across all resolutions, the Medium preset offers a consistent 60-70% of the Low preset’s performance, making it a safe default for users unsure of their display’s refresh rate.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate this combo achieves in CS:GO?

A: The highest measured average frame rate is 682.9 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is followed by 584.5 FPS at Medium and 505 FPS at High at the same resolution.

Q: How does the CPU’s single-thread performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The i5-10400F’s average benchmark score is 14168, which is 0.4% higher than the AMD EPYC 7552 (14115) and 1.1% higher than the Intel Core i5-8500 (14332). Its Cinebench R23 single-core score is 1453, while its 3dmark single-thread score is 688.

Q: At what resolution does the GPU become the primary bottleneck?

A: The data shows that at 1920x1080, frame rates reach 682.9 FPS on Low, which is likely CPU-limited. At 3840x2160, the frame rates drop to 280.3 FPS on Low, indicating that the GPU’s shading and memory bandwidth are the limiting factors, as the 448.0 GB/s bandwidth and 19.18 TFLOPS FP32 are taxed by the higher pixel count.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset produces 471 FPS, while the Ultra preset produces 293.3 FPS. This is a difference of 177.7 FPS, or a 38% reduction in performance when moving from Low to Ultra.

Q: How does the RTX 5060’s benchmark score compare to the RX 7700 XT?

A: The RTX 5060 has an average benchmark score of 30109, which is exactly 0% different from the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT (30097). The RTX 5060 is also 0.5% higher than the NVIDIA Tesla M60 (29969) and 0.6% higher than the RTX 5070 Mobile (29928).

Q: Is the combo capable of maintaining 200 FPS at 4K?

A: Yes, on the High preset at 3840x2160, the combo achieves 207 FPS. The Medium preset reaches 235.5 FPS, and the Low preset reaches 280.3 FPS. Only the Ultra preset falls below 200 FPS, at 173.3 FPS.