Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

The Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 combination ranks at 2010 out of 3719 tested combos in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database’s tested configurations. This ranking is notable because the hardware is far from obsolete, yet the game’s extreme age and the sheer number of high-end combos tested push this pairing into a crowded middle ground. The data shows that this combo is not a top-tier performer for competitive play at the highest refresh rates, but it remains exceptionally capable for the vast majority of players.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 2010 out of 3719 represents the 54th percentile of all tested pairings in this specific game. This indicates that slightly more than half of the tested configurations outperform this i5-11400F + RTX 4060 setup in CS:GO’s measured frame rates. The rank is heavily influenced by the CPU’s position in the broader benchmark landscape, as the i5-11400F holds a 71st percentile rank against all CPUs in the database. The GPU also sits at a 61st percentile against all GPUs. The pairing of two mid-pack components yields a result that is solidly average in the context of all recorded combos, though the absolute frame rates are high enough to satisfy most users.

The data reveals that the bottleneck in this pairing is not the GPU, but the CPU’s single-thread performance, which is critical for CS:GO’s engine. The CPU’s 3DMark single-thread score of 868 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2024 are respectable but not class-leading. When compared to its nearest rivals in the CPU benchmark database, the i5-11400F’s average score of 17177 places it within 0.6% of the AMD EPYC 7H12 and the Intel Core Ultra 7 164U, and just 0.4% behind the Intel Core i5-12450H. These deltas are negligible, meaning the CPU is performing exactly as expected for its class. This explains why the combo’s rank is determined more by the GPU’s raw output and the game’s engine limitations than by any CPU deficiency.

GPU Role

The RTX 4060’s role in this pairing is to provide enough raw throughput to push frame rates far beyond what any competitive player needs, even at 4K resolution. The GPU features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is more than sufficient for CS:GO, which is not a memory-bandwidth-intensive title. The GPU’s boost clock of 2460 MHz and base clock of 1830 MHz are high, but the game’s engine does not scale linearly with clock speed; instead, the GPU’s 3072 shading units are more than ample for the game’s modest geometry and shader demands.

The GPU’s benchmark scores confirm that it is a mid-range performer. Its Passmark G3D score of 19545 places it in the 61st percentile of all GPUs, with its nearest rival being the AMD Radeon HD 7790, which is only 0.2% slower. The RTX 4060 also edges out the AMD Radeon 780M by 0.3% in average benchmark score. In CS:GO, the GPU is rarely the limiting factor, as evidenced by the fact that even at 4K Ultra settings, the combo maintains an average of 165 FPS. The GPU’s 15.11 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is overkill for a game that originally launched in 2012, meaning the RTX 4060 is effectively underutilized in most scenarios, particularly at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear scaling pattern as resolution increases, but the drops are less severe than in most modern titles due to the game’s lightweight engine. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 646 FPS average. Moving to 1440p Low, the average drops to 445 FPS, a reduction of 201 FPS or 31%. At 4K Low, the average is 263 FPS, another 41% drop from 1440p. This scaling pattern indicates that the CPU is still the primary limiter at lower resolutions; the GPU has enough headroom to render the simpler scenes without breaking a sweat.

The story changes slightly at higher settings. From 1080p Ultra (407 FPS) to 1440p Ultra (280 FPS), the drop is 127 FPS or 31%. From 1440p Ultra to 4K Ultra (165 FPS), the drop is 115 FPS or 41%. These proportional drops are consistent across settings, suggesting that the GPU begins to take a more significant role at 4K, but even then, the frame rates remain far above playable thresholds. The data strongly suggests that this combo is never GPU-bound in CS:GO until reaching 4K with Ultra settings, and even then, the 165 FPS average is well above the 144 Hz refresh rate that most competitive monitors offer.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1080p, the combo delivers outstanding performance across all settings. Low settings yield an average of 646 FPS, while Medium settings produce 550 FPS with a minimum of 468 FPS and a maximum of 633 FPS. High settings average 476 FPS, and Ultra settings average 407 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 239 FPS, a 37% reduction in performance for maximum visual quality. This suggests that even at Ultra, the CPU is still the limiting factor, as the GPU has more than enough power to handle the increased graphical load without significant frame rate penalties.

Moving to 1440p, the frame rates remain exceptionally high. Low settings average 445 FPS, Medium settings average 379 FPS with a minimum of 322 FPS and a maximum of 436 FPS, High settings average 328 FPS, and Ultra settings average 280 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 165 FPS, a 37% reduction, which mirrors the 1080p scaling. At 4K, the combo still delivers playable frame rates. Low settings average 263 FPS, Medium settings average 224 FPS with a minimum of 190 FPS and a maximum of 257 FPS, High settings average 194 FPS, and Ultra settings average 165 FPS. The minimum FPS recorded at 4K Medium is 190 FPS, which is still far above the 60 FPS threshold, indicating no stutter or lag issues in the measured data.

Settings Recommendations

For competitive play, the data suggests that Low settings at 1080p provide the absolute highest frame rates, with 646 FPS average, ensuring maximum responsiveness on high refresh rate monitors. However, the difference between Low and High settings at 1080p is only 170 FPS, which means that players with 240 Hz monitors will see no practical benefit from dropping to Low. The High preset at 1080p, with its 476 FPS average, offers a better balance between visual quality and performance, as the game’s engine does not gain a significant advantage from the reduced graphical load.

For players using 1440p monitors, the Medium preset is the sweet spot. It delivers 379 FPS average with a minimum of 322 FPS, which is still well above the 240 Hz threshold for most competitive displays. The Ultra preset at 1440p, with its 280 FPS average, is also viable for those who prioritize visual fidelity, as the frame rate remains high enough for smooth gameplay. At 4K, the Low preset is recommended, as it yields 263 FPS average, while the High and Ultra presets drop below 200 FPS, which may introduce noticeable input lag on high refresh rate displays. The data indicates that players should prioritize resolution over settings, as the frame rate drops are more pronounced when increasing resolution than when increasing graphical quality.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F plays a critical role in this combo’s CS:GO performance, as the game is heavily dependent on single-thread performance. The CPU features 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its Rocket Lake architecture is based on a 14 nm process, and it has 12 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU’s 3DMark single-thread score of 868 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2024 are the key metrics for CS:GO, as the game engine cannot effectively utilize more than a few threads.

The CPU’s multi-thread performance is less relevant, but its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 14340 and Geekbench multicore score of 7737 indicate that it is a capable mid-range processor. The CPU’s average benchmark score of 17177 places it in the 71st percentile of all CPUs, with its nearest rival being the AMD EPYC 7H12, which is only 0.3% faster. This suggests that the i5-11400F is delivering exactly the performance expected for its position in the market.

In CS:GO, the CPU’s boost clock of 4.40 GHz is the primary driver of frame rates at lower resolutions. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 646 FPS, which is likely limited by the CPU’s single-thread speed rather than the GPU. As resolution increases, the GPU becomes more involved, but the CPU still maintains high frame rates. The CPU’s lack of a newer architecture means it cannot match the single-thread performance of newer processors, but its 12 threads ensure that background tasks and game logic do not cause frame drops. The measured FPS data confirms that this CPU is more than sufficient for CS:GO, providing frame rates that exceed the refresh rates of all but the most extreme gaming monitors.