Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

# Counter-Strike: Global Offensive with Intel Core i5-11400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 — Benchmark Analysis

FAQ

Q: What average frame rate does this combo achieve at 1080p with Low settings?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo produces an average of 1073 FPS, which is the highest recorded across all tested settings and resolutions in this dataset.

Q: How much does the frame rate drop when moving from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings?

A: At 1920x1080 Ultra, the average is 744 FPS. Moving to 3840x2160 Ultra, the average falls to 302 FPS, a reduction of approximately 59% from the 1080p result.

Q: Is the RTX 5080 or the i5-11400F the primary bottleneck at 4K High settings?

A: The data shows a 354 FPS average at 4K High. Since the GPU is heavily loaded at 3840x2160, and the CPU's performance headroom is less relevant at such high pixel counts, the RTX 5080 is likely the limiting factor at this resolution, though the CPU still needs to keep up with the high frame rates.

Q: What is the best preset to use at 1440p for a balance of quality and speed?

A: At 2560x1440, the Medium preset delivers 693 FPS average with a minimum of 589 FPS, while High settings yield 600 FPS. Medium offers a noticeable FPS advantage over High while still providing better visual quality than Low, making it a strong choice for competitive play at this resolution.

Q: How does the i5-11400F compare to its nearest rival, the AMD EPYC 7H12, in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i5-11400F has an average benchmark score of 17177, which is 0.3% higher than the AMD EPYC 7H12's average score of 17120. This puts the two processors essentially at parity in general-purpose benchmarks.

Q: Does the RTX 5080's 16 GB of GDDR7 memory influence results in CS:GO?

A: CS:GO is not a VRAM-intensive title, and the measured frame rates suggest that memory capacity is not a limiting factor. The GPU's 960.0 GB/s bandwidth and 10752 shading units are far more relevant to the high FPS numbers seen across all settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications help explain the extreme frame rates observed. The GPU features 10752 shading units, 336 texture mapping units, and 112 render output units, which provide the raw compute throughput needed for high-refresh-rate gaming. Its boost clock of 2617 MHz, paired with 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivers a memory bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s. This bandwidth is critical for feeding the GPU's 336 TMUs at high resolutions, ensuring that texture fetches do not become a bottleneck.

In the context of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, a game known for being CPU-sensitive at lower resolutions, the RTX 5080 still manages to push frame rates well beyond what most displays can show. At 4K High settings, the average is 354 FPS, while at 4K Low, it jumps to 481 FPS. The GPU's FP32 throughput of 56.28 TFLOPS is more than sufficient for the DirectX 12 and Vulkan rendering paths used by modern Source engine builds. The data suggests that the RTX 5080 is never the limiting factor at 1080p, where the CPU takes over as the primary constraint.

The GPU's 84 RT cores and 336 tensor cores are largely irrelevant for CS:GO, as the game does not utilize ray tracing or DLSS in the measured dataset. Instead, the pixel rate of 293.1 GPixel/s and texture rate of 879.3 GTexel/s are the metrics that matter most for rasterization performance. These figures translate directly into the high fill rates required for the game's simple but fast-paced scenes. The RTX 5080's percentile rank of 87 among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 56083, places it well above the median, and its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon 8060S, trails by only 0.6% in average score.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals how the bottleneck shifts as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 Low, the combo achieves 1073 FPS, which is a clear sign that the CPU is the limiting factor at this resolution. As settings and resolution scale up, the GPU load increases, and the frame rate drops accordingly. Moving from 1080p Low to 1440p Low, the average falls from 1073 to 814 FPS, a 24% reduction. This is a substantial drop, but it still leaves the system well above the refresh rate of any mainstream monitor.

At 4K Low, the average is 481 FPS, which is 55% lower than the 1080p Low result. This indicates that the RTX 5080 is now the primary bottleneck, as the GPU is being tasked with rendering four times as many pixels as 1080p. The scaling from 1440p Low to 4K Low shows a 41% reduction, which is consistent with the pixel count increase of 2.25 times. The fact that the FPS does not drop by the full pixel count ratio suggests that the CPU is still contributing to the frame rate at 4K Low.

The Ultra settings show a different scaling pattern. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 744 FPS, while at 1440p Ultra, it drops to 512 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 302 FPS. The 59% drop from 1080p to 4K Ultra is more pronounced than the 55% drop at Low settings, indicating that the GPU is more stressed by the combination of high resolution and high graphical fidelity. The data implies that for competitive play, where frame rates above 400 FPS are desirable, 1080p or 1440p with lower settings is the optimal choice, while 4K is better suited for casual play or visually oriented sessions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the lowest resolution tested, the combo delivers extraordinary performance. Low settings produce an average of 1073 FPS, Medium settings yield 1007 FPS with a minimum of 856 and a maximum of 1158, High settings average 871 FPS, and Ultra settings average 744 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 329 FPS, which is a 31% reduction. This suggests that even at Ultra, the CPU is still managing to feed the GPU adequately, as the frame rates are far above what any current display can show.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 814 FPS for Low, 693 FPS for Medium (with a minimum of 589 and a maximum of 797), 600 FPS for High, and 512 FPS for Ultra. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across settings, with an average reduction of around 25-30%. The minimum FPS of 589 at Medium settings is still well above the 360 Hz refresh rate of the fastest gaming monitors, indicating that this resolution is viable for high-refresh-rate competitive play.

At 3840x2160, the averages drop to 481 FPS for Low, 409 FPS for Medium (with a minimum of 348 and a maximum of 470), 354 FPS for High, and 302 FPS for Ultra. The minimum FPS of 348 at 4K Medium is noteworthy, as it shows that even in the most demanding moments, the system stays above the 300 FPS mark at this resolution. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is steeper, with reductions ranging from 41% at Low to 41% at Ultra, which reflects the GPU being pushed harder at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor with a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. It belongs to the Rocket Lake architecture, built on a 14 nm process, and features 12 MB of shared L3 cache. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 14340 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 2024 in single-core, with a Passmark multithread score of 16908 and a single-thread score of 2981. These numbers place the CPU at the 71st percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17177.

In CS:GO, the CPU's role is critical at lower resolutions. The 1080p Low result of 1073 FPS is a direct testament to the i5-11400F's single-thread performance, as the game relies heavily on a few cores for game logic and draw call submission. The boost clock of 4.40 GHz, combined with the Rocket Lake architecture's improved IPC over previous generations, allows the CPU to keep up with the GPU's frame generation at 1080p. The 12 threads are more than sufficient for CS:GO, which typically uses fewer than 8 threads effectively.

The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks show how close the i5-11400F is to other processors. The AMD EPYC 7H12 scores 17120, which is 0.3% lower, while the Intel Core i5-12450H scores 17239, which is 0.4% higher. The AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G scores 17278, 0.6% higher, and the Intel Core Ultra 7 164U scores 17074, 0.6% lower. These deltas are all within 1%, indicating that the i5-11400F is well positioned in its performance tier, though it is not a standout in any direction.

At 4K, the CPU's influence diminishes, but it still needs to maintain high frame rates to avoid bottlenecking the GPU. The 481 FPS at 4K Low shows that the i5-11400F can still deliver over 480 frames per second even when the GPU is heavily loaded. This confirms the CPU's solid single-thread performance and its ability to handle the game's threading model without becoming a significant constraint at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

For players seeking the highest possible frame rates, the Low preset at 1080p is the clear choice, delivering 1073 FPS. This is ideal for competitive play where every frame counts, and the visual trade-offs are minimal in a fast-paced game like CS:GO. At 1440p, Low settings provide 814 FPS, which is still exceptionally high and suitable for most high-refresh-rate monitors. The Medium preset at 1440p offers 693 FPS with a minimum of 589 FPS, which is a strong recommendation for players who want a balance between visual quality and speed.

At 4K, the Medium preset is the best option, delivering 409 FPS with a minimum of 348 FPS. This ensures that the frame rate never drops below the 300 FPS threshold, which is important for maintaining smooth gameplay on high-refresh-rate 4K displays. High settings at 4K yield 354 FPS, which is also playable, but the 55 FPS advantage of Medium over High makes it the preferred choice for maximizing performance without sacrificing too much visual fidelity.

The Ultra preset is not recommended for competitive play at any resolution, as it reduces frame rates by 31% at 1080p, 37% at 1440p, and 41% at 4K compared to Low settings. The visual improvements from Ultra are marginal in CS:GO, which has relatively simple graphics, and the FPS cost is substantial. For players with 360 Hz monitors, the Low preset at 1080p or 1440p is the only way to fully utilize the display's refresh rate, as the Medium settings at 1440p produce a minimum of 589 FPS, which is below the 360 Hz mark.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-11400F and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 ranks 232nd out of 3719 tested combos in CS:GO, placing it in the top 6.2% of all configurations. This is a strong result, though not the absolute top tier, as the CPU is a mid-range processor from 2021 that is now end-of-life. The RTX 5080 is a high-end GPU from 2025, and its performance is reflected in the high frame rates across all resolutions, but the CPU's age prevents this combo from reaching the very top of the rankings.

The rank of 232 out of 3719 indicates that there are 231 combos that outperform this setup in CS:GO, likely featuring newer, higher-end CPUs such as the Core i9-14900K or Ryzen 7 7800X3D, which have better single-thread performance. The i5-11400F's 71st percentile ranking among all CPUs is a limiting factor, as CS:GO is heavily CPU-bound at lower resolutions. However, the combo's overall rank is still impressive, thanks to the RTX 5080's 87th percentile GPU ranking.

In practical terms, this combo delivers playable frame rates at 4K and exceptional performance at 1080p and 1440p. The rank suggests that while there is headroom for improvement with a better CPU, the current setup is more than capable of handling CS:GO at any resolution and settings combination. For players who already own an i5-11400F and are considering a GPU upgrade, the RTX 5080 is a viable choice, as the data shows that the CPU can still support high frame rates even with this powerful GPU. The combo's rank of 232 out of 3719 reflects the i5-11400F's enduring relevance in CPU-bound games, despite its age and lower synthetic benchmark scores compared to newer processors.