Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

# Counter-Strike: Global Offensive with Intel Core i5-12400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 delivers exceptionally high frame rates in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, a game released on 2012-08-20. Across all tested resolutions and settings, this combination never drops below 176 FPS average, which places it in the 1629th position out of 3719 tested combos in the game's benchmark database. The data shows a system that is heavily overqualified for CS:GO's engine, with the RTX 5060's Blackwell 2.0 architecture and the i5-12400F's six Performance cores combining to produce triple-digit frame rates even at 4K Ultra settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of resolution scaling that shifts the bottleneck between CPU and GPU depending on the target resolution. At 1080p Low settings, the combo produces 690 FPS average, which represents the absolute ceiling of what this system can achieve in CS:GO. Moving to 1440p Low drops that figure to 475 FPS, a reduction of 215 FPS or approximately 31% — this substantial decline indicates that the GPU is beginning to take on more work, but the CPU still has headroom to spare.

At 4K Low, the average FPS falls to 280, which is a 59% drop from the 1080p Low result. This scaling pattern — where each successive resolution step produces a smaller absolute FPS loss — points to a system that remains CPU-bound even at 4K. The RTX 5060's 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth is more than sufficient for CS:GO's modest texture requirements, so the GPU never becomes the limiting factor in this title.

Examining the Ultra settings across resolutions tells a similar story. The 1080p Ultra average of 434 FPS falls to 299 FPS at 1440p and then to 176 FPS at 4K. The delta between 1080p and 1440p Ultra is 135 FPS, while the delta between 1440p and 4K Ultra is 123 FPS — nearly identical absolute drops. This linear scaling suggests that the game's rendering pipeline at Ultra settings is consistently GPU-limited at higher resolutions, but the CPU remains the primary constraint at 1080p where the RTX 5060 can push far beyond what the i5-12400F can feed it.

The Medium settings row at each resolution includes min and max FPS values, providing additional insight. At 1080p Medium, the range spans from 499 min to 675 max FPS with a 587 average. The 1440p Medium row shows 343 min and 465 max FPS with a 404 average, while 4K Medium produces 203 min and 274 max FPS with a 239 average. The spread between min and max FPS narrows as resolution increases — from 176 FPS at 1080p to 122 FPS at 1440p to 71 FPS at 4K — which indicates that CPU-side frame time fluctuations become less pronounced when the GPU is doing more work per frame.

FAQ

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

A: The highest measured average FPS is 690, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This represents the peak performance ceiling for this combination in the game.

Q: How does the RTX 5060 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5060's average benchmark score of 26331 places it slightly below the AMD Radeon 860M (26401, -0.3% delta) and NVIDIA GeForce MX550 (26421, -0.3% delta), while it outperforms the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT (26011, 1.2% delta) and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary (26553, -0.8% delta).

Q: Is the Core i5-12400F a bottleneck for the RTX 5060 in this game?

A: At 1080p Low, the 690 FPS average suggests the CPU is the limiting factor, as the RTX 5060 would likely push higher if unconstrained. However, at 4K Ultra, the 176 FPS average indicates the GPU is now the primary constraint. The data shows a balanced pairing that trades the bottleneck depending on resolution.

Q: What are the Core i5-12400F's key specifications?

A: The processor features 6 cores and 12 threads with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and boost clock of 4.40 GHz. It has 18 MB of shared L3 cache, 1.25 MB L2 cache per core, and 80 KB L1 cache per core, based on the Alder Lake architecture on Intel's 10 nm process.

Q: What memory and bandwidth does the RTX 5060 offer?

A: The GPU comes with 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth. It operates at 1750 MHz memory clock (28 Gbps effective) with a base GPU clock of 2280 MHz and boost clock of 2497 MHz.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested systems in CS:GO?

A: This combination ranks 1629th out of 3719 tested combos, placing it in the upper half of all systems benchmarked in the database. The dataIsMeasured flag confirms these are real measured results rather than estimates.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance for optimal settings across different resolutions. At 1080p, even the most demanding Ultra preset delivers 434 FPS average, which far exceeds the refresh rate capabilities of virtually all gaming monitors. Players with 144 Hz or 240 Hz displays can comfortably use Ultra settings at 1080p and still maintain frame rates well above their display's refresh rate. The Medium preset at 1080p offers 587 FPS average with a 499 FPS minimum, which is the recommended choice for competitive play where consistent frame pacing matters more than visual fidelity.

At 1440p, the High preset delivers 350 FPS average, which remains sufficient for high-refresh-rate gaming. The Ultra preset at 1440p drops to 299 FPS average, still highly playable but with less headroom for frame time spikes. The Medium preset at 1440p produces 404 FPS average with a 343 FPS minimum, making it the best balance for players who want both visual quality and competitive performance on 1440p panels. For 4K gaming, the High preset at 207 FPS average is the recommended sweet spot — it provides solid visual quality while maintaining frame rates above 200 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K yields 176 FPS average, which is still smooth but offers diminishing returns given the modest visual differences between High and Ultra in CS:GO's older engine.

The Low preset at each resolution provides the maximum competitive advantage with 690 FPS at 1080p, 475 FPS at 1440p, and 280 FPS at 4K. For esports-focused players, the Low preset at 1080p is the clear choice, offering 690 FPS average and minimizing input latency. However, the data suggests that most players should opt for Medium or High settings, as the frame rate differences between Low and Medium are substantial but the visual upgrade is meaningful, and all presets remain far above playable thresholds.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the Low preset produces the highest average FPS at 690, followed by Medium at 587 (with min 499 and max 675), High at 508, and Ultra at 434. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 256 FPS, indicating that settings choices have a significant impact on performance at this resolution. The Medium preset's min FPS of 499 is notably close to the High preset's average of 508, suggesting that Medium offers better frame time consistency relative to its performance level.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset delivers 475 FPS average, Medium produces 404 (with min 343 and max 465), High reaches 350, and Ultra drops to 299. The Low-to-Ultra spread at 1440p is 176 FPS, which is narrower than at 1080p, reflecting the GPU's increased workload at higher pixel counts. The Medium preset's min FPS of 343 is still well above the 144 Hz refresh rate threshold, making any preset at this resolution viable for high-refresh gaming.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset yields 280 FPS average, Medium produces 239 (with min 203 and max 274), High achieves 207, and Ultra bottoms out at 176. The spread from Low to Ultra at 4K is just 104 FPS, the smallest of any resolution tested. This compression of performance across settings at 4K indicates that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor, as the RTX 5060's rendering throughput at 4K constrains the maximum achievable frame rate regardless of quality preset. Even at 4K Ultra, the 176 FPS average remains highly playable, and the 203 FPS minimum at Medium settings ensures no noticeable stuttering in demanding scenes.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 ranks 1629th out of 3719 tested combos in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, placing it in the 56th percentile of all systems benchmarked. This ranking reflects the game's age and the fact that CS:GO is not particularly demanding by modern standards — many high-end systems achieve comparable or better frame rates. However, the measured results show that this combo outperforms its ranking would suggest in raw FPS terms, as the database includes systems with more powerful processors and graphics cards.

The CPU's percentile vs all CPUs of 73 and the GPU's percentile vs all GPUs of 72 indicate that both components sit in the upper quarter of their respective categories. The i5-12400F's average benchmark score of 19039 places it nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS (19047, 0% delta) and Intel Core 3 201E (19056, -0.1% delta), while slightly ahead of the Intel Core i5-1335U (18982, 0.3% delta) and AMD EPYC 7773X (18979, 0.3% delta). The RTX 5060's average benchmark score of 26331 similarly positions it close to its nearest rivals, with the AMD Radeon 860M and NVIDIA GeForce MX550 essentially tied.

The combo's rank of 1629 out of 3719 means that approximately 56% of tested systems achieve higher frame rates in CS:GO, while 44% perform worse. Given that CS:GO is a highly competitive esports title where frame rate matters significantly, this ranking suggests that the i5-12400F + RTX 5060 pairing is a solid mid-range choice that delivers excellent performance without approaching the top of the leaderboard. The combination's strong synthetic benchmark scores — with the CPU's Cinebench R23 multicore score of 12380 and the GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3628 — indicate that this system would also handle more demanding titles well, even if it doesn't top the charts in CS:GO specifically.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F plays a critical role in determining this combo's CS:GO performance, particularly at lower resolutions where the CPU is the primary bottleneck. With 6 cores and 12 threads on the Alder Lake architecture, the processor operates at a base clock of 2.50 GHz and boosts up to 4.40 GHz. This boost clock is the key specification for CS:GO, as the game's engine relies heavily on single-threaded performance for game logic and physics calculations. The CPU's single-thread benchmark scores — 909 in 3DMark, 244 in Cinebench R15, 985 in Cinebench R20, and 1680 in Cinebench R23 — demonstrate strong single-core capability that translates directly to high frame rates in CPU-bound scenarios.

The 18 MB of shared L3 cache provides ample space for the game's frequently accessed data, while the 1.25 MB L2 cache per core helps reduce memory latency during intense firefights. The CPU's 65 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 compatibility make it a versatile option for various system builds. The dual-channel memory support for both DDR4 and DDR5 gives builders flexibility, though the memory bus width of dual-channel is standard for this class of processor.

At 1080p Low settings, the 690 FPS average represents the practical ceiling of what the i5-12400F can feed to the RTX 5060 in CS:GO. The fact that this figure remains essentially unchanged when compared to what a more powerful GPU might achieve at the same settings indicates that the CPU's six cores are fully utilized at this resolution. The 3DMark multi-thread scores — 5895 for 16 threads, 4779 for 8 threads, and 5912 for max threads — show that the processor scales well with additional threads, though CS:GO rarely utilizes more than a few cores effectively.

The CPU's 73rd percentile ranking among all CPUs and its average benchmark score of 19039, which places it nearly exactly between the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS (19047) and Intel Core i5-1335U (18982), confirm that this is a solid mid-range processor. For CS:GO specifically, the i5-12400F's combination of high boost clock, moderate core count, and generous cache allocation proves sufficient to maintain frame rates well above 400 FPS at 1080p across all settings presets, with only the most demanding 4K Ultra scenarios shifting the bottleneck to the GPU.