Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-14400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 45th out of 1605 tested combos in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. This places the combination in the top 2.8% of all systems tested, a position that reflects the unusual pairing of a mid-range CPU with a top-tier GPU. The data shows a system that is not necessarily the absolute fastest in this specific title, but one that delivers exceptional performance headroom, especially at lower resolutions where the CPU becomes the primary bottleneck.

Benchmark results indicate that this combo achieves an average frame rate of 930.6 FPS at 1080p High settings. This score is not just about raw speed; it places the system far beyond the requirements for competitive play. The 45th rank out of 1605 is a strong showing, but it is not the top score. This suggests that while the RTX 4090 is a dominant GPU, the Core i5-14400F's position as the 88th percentile CPU means that other, more powerful processors can extract even higher frame rates in this CPU-bound title. The delta between this combo and the very top is not visible in the provided data, but the rank itself is the key indicator of its standing.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the most important component in this system for overall graphical fidelity, featuring 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus. This configuration provides a memory bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s and a massive 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power. The GPU's base clock is 2235 MHz with a boost clock of 2520 MHz, and it is built on a 5 nm process at TSMC. These specifications make it an absolute monster for any game, and its 91st percentile ranking among all GPUs confirms its elite status.

In the context of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, the RTX 4090's role is somewhat paradoxical. At 1080p and 1440p, the game's engine is heavily CPU-dependent. The data shows that the GPU has enough headroom to render frames at an extremely high rate, but it is often waiting for the CPU to provide the draw calls. For example, at 1080p Low, the combo produces 1263.8 FPS, but this number is more proof of the CPU's ability to feed the GPU quickly than the GPU's raw power. The GPU's true strength is revealed at 4K, where the rendering load increases. Here, the RTX 4090's power is more fully utilized, as the frame rate drops but remains exceptionally high, indicating that the GPU is finally becoming a more significant limiting factor. The 24 GB of VRAM is far more than this game requires, but it future-proofs the system against more demanding titles.

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-14400F a bottleneck for the RTX 4090 in this game?

A: The data strongly suggests yes, particularly at lower resolutions. The combo ranks 45th out of 1605, and the CPU is in the 88th percentile, while the GPU is in the 91st percentile. The frame rate differences between 1080p and 1440p are relatively small compared to the jump to 4K, indicating the CPU limits performance in the former cases.

Q: How does the i5-14400F's performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The i5-14400F has an average benchmark score of 32508. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-12800H, scores 32513, a 0% delta. The AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 scores 32446, which is 0.2% slower, and the AMD Ryzen 7 250 scores 32584, which is 0.2% faster. This shows the i5-14400F is competitively positioned in its performance class.

Q: What is the best settings preset for the highest frame rate?

A: The Low preset provides the highest average frame rate at every resolution. At 1080p, it achieves 1263.8 FPS, which is the maximum measured in the data. This is the best choice for players who prioritize raw frame rate above all else.

Q: What is the launch MSRP for the RTX 4090?

A: The launch MSRP for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is 1,599 USD. This is a high-end component, and its benchmark results confirm its position as a top-tier GPU, with an average benchmark score of 66473.

Q: How much faster is the combo at 1080p Low compared to 4K Ultra?

A: At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 1263.8 FPS. At 4K Ultra, it achieves 325.2 FPS. This represents a 74% reduction in frame rate when moving from the lowest load to the highest load scenario.

Q: Does the combo deliver over 500 FPS at 4K?

A: Yes, at 4K Low, the combo delivers an average of 514.2 FPS. This shows that even at a high resolution, the system is capable of delivering frame rates well beyond the refresh rate of most monitors.

Settings Recommendations

For competitive play, the Low preset is the clear recommendation. The measured data shows it provides the highest frame rates at all resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 1263.8 FPS, which is a 333.2 FPS advantage over the High preset at the same resolution. This extra headroom can be critical for reducing input lag and ensuring the smoothest possible experience on high-refresh-rate monitors.

For players who want a balance between visual quality and performance, the Medium preset is a strong option. At 1440p, it delivers 738.7 FPS, which is still an enormous frame rate. The High preset at 1080p delivers 930.6 FPS, which is also excellent. However, the data suggests that for this game, the visual jump from Low to High is not worth the performance cost, especially when the frame rate is already so high. The Ultra preset, while playable, provides the lowest frame rates and is not recommended for a game like CS:GO where high refresh rates are paramount. The best experience is found by targeting the Low or Medium preset to maximize frame rate.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data paints a clear picture of performance scaling. At 1080p, the combo achieves 1263.8 FPS on Low, 1077.9 FPS on Medium, 930.6 FPS on High, and 795.5 FPS on Ultra. Moving to 1440p, the results are 871.9 FPS on Low, 738.7 FPS on Medium, 642.7 FPS on High, and 546 FPS on Ultra. At 4K, the figures drop further: 514.2 FPS on Low, 437.3 FPS on Medium, 376.7 FPS on High, and 325.2 FPS on Ultra.

These numbers show a consistent trend. The delta between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 468.3 FPS, while at 4K, the delta is 189 FPS. This indicates that the performance penalty for using higher settings is more pronounced at lower resolutions, where the CPU is the limiting factor. At 4K, the GPU becomes more involved, and the relative cost of higher settings is smaller, though still significant. Every preset at every resolution delivers over 300 FPS, which is an extraordinary result for any system. The data confirms that this combo is capable of running the game at maximum frame rates regardless of the settings chosen.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, with a 20 MB shared L3 cache. Its multi-core performance is strong, as evidenced by a Cinebench R23 score of 21914, and its single-core score of 3093 is also robust. The CPU's 88th percentile ranking among all CPUs places it in the upper echelon of processors.

In Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, the CPU's single-core performance is critical, as the game engine is not designed to scale perfectly across many cores. The i5-14400F's high boost clock and solid single-core score of 3093 in Cinebench R23 are the primary drivers of the high frame rates seen at 1080p and 1440p. The data suggests that while the CPU is powerful, it is still the limiting factor in this combo. The frame rate jump from 1080p to 1440p is relatively small (e.g., from 930.6 to 642.7 FPS on High), but the jump to 4K is larger (376.7 FPS on High). This pattern is characteristic of a CPU bottleneck at lower resolutions, where the GPU is waiting for the CPU to submit work. The CPU's 10 cores and 16 threads provide ample processing power for the game's logic and physics, but its performance ceiling is what prevents this combo from ranking even higher.

Resolution Scaling

The scaling of frame rates from 1080p to 4K reveals the dynamic between the CPU and GPU. At 1080p High, the combo achieves 930.6 FPS. At 1440p High, it drops to 642.7 FPS, a 31% decrease. At 4K High, it falls to 376.7 FPS, a 41% decrease from the 1440p number. This pattern shows that the performance drop is not linear. The smaller drop from 1080p to 1440p (31%) compared to the drop from 1440p to 4K (41%) indicates that the system is becoming more GPU-limited as resolution increases.

At Low settings, the trend is similar. From 1080p Low (1263.8 FPS) to 1440p Low (871.9 FPS), there is a 31% drop. From 1440p Low to 4K Low (514.2 FPS), there is a 41% drop. This consistent pattern across settings suggests that the CPU can maintain a high level of performance up to 1440p, but the GPU's rendering load at 4K starts to become the primary constraint. The fact that the system still delivers over 500 FPS at 4K Low reflects the RTX 4090's immense power. The data indicates that the limiting component shifts from the CPU at 1080p/1440p to a more balanced or GPU-heavy load at 4K, but even at 4K, the CPU is not completely idle. The overall picture is one of exceptional performance, where the system is never truly struggling to run the game, but the bottleneck shifts depending on the resolution.