Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Resolution Scaling

The scaling behavior of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive on the Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 reveals a system that transitions from a CPU-bound state at lower resolutions to a more balanced load at 4K. At 1080p, the Low preset achieves 892.3 FPS, which drops to 654.7 FPS at High settings, a 26.6% reduction. Moving to 1440p, the Low preset yields 614 FPS, while High delivers 455 FPS, indicating that the GPU is beginning to exert more influence but the CPU still holds significant headroom. At 4K, the Low preset falls to 365.2 FPS, and High drops to 265.9 FPS, a 27.2% decline from Low to High—nearly identical to the 1080p scaling pattern.

The most telling figure is the 4K Ultra result: 227.5 FPS, which is still exceptionally high for competitive play. The delta between 1080p Low (892.3 FPS) and 4K Low (365.2 FPS) is 59.1%, showing that resolution scaling has a profound impact on frame rates. This suggests that at 1080p, the CPU's 10 cores and 16 threads are the limiting factor, as the RTX 4070's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are not being fully utilized. At 4K, the GPU workload increases substantially, but even then, the frame rates remain far above the refresh rates of typical monitors.

Notably, the scaling from Medium to High at each resolution is consistent: at 1080p, Medium produces 760 FPS while High produces 654.7 FPS, a 13.9% drop. At 4K, Medium produces 308.8 FPS while High produces 265.9 FPS, a 13.9% drop as well. This uniformity indicates that the game's settings scaling is linear across resolutions for this combo, with the GPU becoming the primary bottleneck only at 4K Ultra, where the 227.5 FPS figure still represents a 74.5% reduction from the 1080p Low peak.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process node, plays a critical role in determining the upper bounds of performance at higher resolutions. The GPU's base clock of 1920 MHz and boost clock of 2475 MHz, combined with 5888 shading units and 184 texture mapping units, drive the rendering pipeline. Its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, which becomes increasingly relevant as resolution scales to 4K.

In this game, the GPU's role is most evident when comparing the 4K results across settings. The 4K Low preset achieves 365.2 FPS, while 4K Ultra drops to 227.5 FPS, a 37.7% performance penalty. This indicates that the GPU's 64 ROPs and 46 RT cores are handling the additional pixel fill rate requirements, but the game's optimization means even the Ultra preset does not saturate the card. The RTX 4070's Passmark G3D score of 26927 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3854 place it in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, though its nearest rivals show close competition: the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 trails by only 0.6% in average score, while the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A is 1.9% behind.

The GPU's memory clock of 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective) and pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s contribute to the 4K High result of 265.9 FPS. This is still 2.7 times higher than the 1440p Ultra result of 385.6 FPS, showing that the card has substantial headroom. The data suggests that the RTX 4070 is never the primary limiting factor at 1080p or 1440p, but at 4K Ultra, its texture rate of 455.4 GTexel/s and FP32 performance of 29.15 TFLOPS are being more thoroughly exercised, resulting in the lowest measured frame rate of 227.5 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F, with its 10 cores (comprising Raptor Lake architecture on a 10 nm process) and 16 threads, demonstrates its strength as a gaming processor through the benchmark data. The CPU's base clock of 2.50 GHz and boost clock of 4.70 GHz, paired with 20 MB of shared L3 cache, provide the single-thread performance that Counter-Strike: Global Offensive requires. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3093 and multi-core score of 21914 underscore this capability.

The CPU's role is most pronounced at 1080p, where the Low preset achieves 892.3 FPS. This figure is 46.4% higher than the 4K Low result of 365.2 FPS, suggesting that at 1080p, the CPU's IPC and clock speed are the determining factors. The Passmark single-thread score of 3723 and the Geekbench single-core score of 2333 further validate this. The CPU's 88th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 32508, places it in close competition with the Intel Core i7-12800H (deltaPct 0), AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 (deltaPct 0.2), and AMD Ryzen 7 250 (deltaPct -0.2).

At 1440p, the CPU continues to exert influence, with Low producing 614 FPS and High producing 455 FPS. The gap between 1080p High (654.7 FPS) and 1440p High (455 FPS) is 30.5%, which is less than the resolution scaling would imply if the GPU were fully responsible. This indicates that the CPU's 65 W TDP and dual-channel memory support (DDR4 and DDR5) allow it to keep the RTX 4070 fed even as resolution increases. The CPU's L2 cache of 1.25 MB per core and L1 cache of 80 KB per core contribute to its responsiveness in this fast-paced esports title.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 892.3, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

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

A: At High settings, the 1080p result is 654.7 FPS, while the 4K result is 265.9 FPS, representing a 59.4% reduction in performance.

Q: Is this combo more CPU-bound or GPU-bound in this game?

A: The data shows CPU-bound behavior at 1080p, where the Low preset yields 892.3 FPS, but at 4K Ultra the GPU becomes the limiting factor with 227.5 FPS, indicating a shift in bottleneck.

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

A: At 1440p, Low settings produce 614 FPS, while Ultra settings produce 385.6 FPS, a 37.2% performance difference.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 compare to its nearest rivals in GPU benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4070 has an average benchmark score of 37283, which is 0.6% higher than the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 and 1.9% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A.

Q: What is the lowest measured FPS in this dataset?

A: The lowest measured average FPS is 227.5, recorded at 3840x2160 resolution with Ultra settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination ranks 401st out of 1605 tested combos in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, placing it in the top 25% of all configurations. This ranking is notable given the game's release date of 2012-08-20, as modern hardware far exceeds the requirements of this esports title. The combo's position is driven by the CPU's strong single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3093) and the GPU's high frame rate capabilities.

Within the context of the GPU's nearest rivals, the RTX 4070's average benchmark score of 37283 is nearly identical to the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56's 37507 (deltaPct -0.6), meaning that swapping to that GPU would yield similar performance. However, the CPU's nearest rivals—the Intel Core i7-12800H (deltaPct 0), AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 (deltaPct 0.2), and AMD Ryzen 7 250 (deltaPct -0.2)—are all within 0.2% of the i5-14400F's average score of 32508, indicating that the CPU is not a differentiating factor at this performance tier.

The 401st rank out of 1605 combos means this configuration sits above the median, but it is not in the top tier. This is expected, as the RTX 4070 is rated in the 81st percentile of all GPUs while the CPU is in the 88th percentile. The combo's performance in this game is limited by the fact that Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is highly CPU-intensive, and even the 4K Ultra result of 227.5 FPS is far above competitive thresholds. For players seeking the absolute highest frame rates, higher-end CPUs would push the 1080p Low result beyond 892.3 FPS, but the data shows this combo is already delivering exceptional performance.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target refresh rate and resolution. For 1080p gaming, the Low preset delivers 892.3 FPS, which is ideal for 360 Hz or 500 Hz monitors. The Medium preset at 760 FPS provides a slight visual improvement while still leaving ample headroom. The High preset at 654.7 FPS is the best balance for 240 Hz displays, while Ultra at 561.6 FPS remains viable for 144 Hz monitors.

At 1440p, the Low preset produces 614 FPS, which is sufficient for 360 Hz displays, though the Medium preset at 521.3 FPS is recommended for most competitive players seeking a balance between visual clarity and frame rate. The High preset at 455 FPS is excellent for 240 Hz monitors, while Ultra at 385.6 FPS still exceeds the requirements of 144 Hz displays. For 4K gaming, the Low preset at 365.2 FPS is the only option that supports 360 Hz monitors; Medium at 308.8 FPS and High at 265.9 FPS are suitable for 240 Hz displays. The Ultra preset at 227.5 FPS is best reserved for 144 Hz monitors or players prioritizing visual fidelity over maximum frame rate.

The data shows that the Low preset offers the highest frame rates at every resolution, with the 1080p Low result of 892.3 FPS being the peak performance. However, the Medium preset provides a 14.8% reduction from Low at 1080p (892.3 to 760 FPS) while delivering better visuals. For most players, the High preset at 1080p (654.7 FPS) or 1440p (455 FPS) represents the sweet spot, as it maintains high frame rates while offering improved graphics quality.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data for this combo across all resolutions and settings is as follows:

1920x1080:

• Low: 892.3 FPS
• Medium: 760 FPS
• High: 654.7 FPS
• Ultra: 561.6 FPS

2560x1440:

• Low: 614 FPS
• Medium: 521.3 FPS
• High: 455 FPS
• Ultra: 385.6 FPS

3840x2160:

• Low: 365.2 FPS
• Medium: 308.8 FPS
• High: 265.9 FPS
• Ultra: 227.5 FPS

The largest absolute difference between settings is at 1080p, where Low (892.3 FPS) outperforms Ultra (561.6 FPS) by 330.7 FPS. At 4K, the difference between Low (365.2 FPS) and Ultra (227.5 FPS) is 137.7 FPS. The scaling factor from Low to Ultra is consistent across resolutions: at 1080p it is 37.1% reduction, at 1440p it is 37.2% reduction, and at 4K it is 37.7% reduction. This uniformity suggests the game's settings have a predictable impact on performance, allowing players to dial in their preferred frame rate with confidence.

Across all 12 measured configurations, the average FPS is approximately 502.6, with the median around 473. The data shows no min or max FPS values recorded, meaning the average FPS figures represent the sustained performance. This is particularly important for competitive play, where consistent frame times are crucial. The highest performance tier (1080p Low at 892.3 FPS) and the lowest (4K Ultra at 227.5 FPS) bracket the range, giving players a wide spectrum of options depending on their hardware priorities.