Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

The Intel Core i5-9400 and Intel Arc B570 combination delivers a high-refresh-rate experience in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, with performance scaling that clearly identifies the CPU as the primary constraint at lower resolutions while the GPU takes over at 4K. This pairing ranks in the 20th percentile of tested configurations, yet it produces frame rates that far exceed the requirements of most competitive displays.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates show a predictable decline as resolution increases, but the rate of that decline reveals important information about system bottlenecks. At 1080p with High settings, the combo produces 343 FPS on average. Moving to 1440p reduces that figure to 236 FPS, a drop of approximately 31%. The jump to 4K further reduces average FPS to 139, which represents a 41% decrease from the 1440p result and a 59% decrease from the 1080p baseline.

The scaling pattern under Low settings is even more telling. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 465 FPS. At 1440p Low, it still manages 320 FPS. However, at 4K Low, the average falls to 189 FPS. The gap between 1440p and 4K at Low settings (131 FPS difference) is larger than the gap between 1080p and 1440p (145 FPS difference), suggesting that the GPU begins to hit its limits as pixel count rises dramatically.

Medium settings tell a similar story with more granular data. The 1080p Medium average is 396 FPS, with a minimum of 337 FPS and maximum of 456 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 273 FPS, with minimum and maximum values of 232 and 314 FPS respectively. The 4K Medium result is 161 FPS average, with a 137 FPS minimum and 185 FPS maximum. The minimum frame rates at each resolution step down consistently, indicating that even the worst-case performance remains playable on high-refresh displays up to 1440p.

Ultra settings produce the lowest frame rates across all resolutions. The 1080p Ultra average is 293 FPS, 1440p Ultra is 201 FPS, and 4K Ultra is 119 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the only measured configuration that drops below the 120 FPS threshold, which is significant for players using high-refresh 4K monitors.

The data indicates that at 1080p and 1440p, the frame rates are high enough that the CPU likely becomes the limiting factor, especially at Low settings where the GPU workload is minimal. At 4K, the GPU workload increases substantially, and the Arc B570's 10 GB of VRAM and 380.0 GB/s bandwidth become more relevant. The fact that 4K Low (189 FPS) is substantially lower than 1440p Low (320 FPS) suggests that the GPU's rendering throughput, rather than memory capacity, is the constraint at that resolution.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture, built on Intel's 14 nm process. It operates at a base clock of 2.90 GHz and can boost up to 4.10 GHz. The lack of Hyper-Threading means the processor handles six threads simultaneously, which is adequate for a game like CS:GO that historically favors single-core performance over multi-threaded scaling.

The CPU's benchmark scores place it in the 47th percentile of all tested processors. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 6629, while the single-core score is 935. The Geekbench results show a multi-core score of 5141 and a single-core score of 1389. These figures indicate a processor that is competent for gaming but not exceptional by modern standards.

In the context of CS:GO, the single-core performance is often more critical than multi-core throughput. The boost clock of 4.10 GHz is reasonably high, which helps maintain high frame rates in scenarios where the game's engine is bound to a single thread. The 9 MB of shared L3 cache provides adequate data locality for the game's working set.

The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (0.2% slower), the Intel Core i7-10710U (0.3% faster), the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 (0.4% faster), and the Intel Core i3-10305 (0.4% slower). These delta percentages are minimal, indicating that the i5-9400's overall compute performance is comparable to a range of mobile and desktop parts from different generations.

The 1080p Low result of 465 FPS suggests that the CPU can feed the GPU with frames at a very high rate when the graphics workload is light. However, the fact that 1080p Low is only about 21% faster than 1080p High (465 vs 343 FPS) indicates that the CPU may be nearing its ceiling. If the CPU were the only constraint, the gap between Low and High at the same resolution would typically be larger, as the GPU workload changes minimally at 1080p.

The measured FPS at 1440p Low (320 FPS) is substantially lower than 1080p Low (465 FPS), which implies that the GPU is starting to become a co-limiting factor even at lower settings. This dual-bottleneck behavior is common in esports titles where frame rates are very high.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 is built on TSMC's 5 nm process using the Xe2-HPG architecture, also known as Battlemage. It features 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output units. The GPU operates at a consistent 2500 MHz clock for both base and boost, which simplifies performance prediction.

The memory subsystem consists of 10 GB of GDDR6 on a 160-bit bus, providing 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This is a significant amount of VRAM for a GPU in this class, and it is unlikely to be a limiting factor in CS:GO, which is not a VRAM-intensive title. The GPU's compute capabilities include 11.52 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 360.0 GTexel/s of texture fill rate.

The GPU's benchmark results place it in the 65th percentile of all tested GPUs. Its PassMark G3D score is 14195, and its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 2649. The Geekbench OpenCL score is 83514, while the Vulkan score is 96844. These figures indicate a GPU that performs well in synthetic tests, though real-world gaming performance can vary.

The Arc B570's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (0.1% faster), the Intel Arc A750 (0.1% slower), the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (0.4% faster), and the AMD Radeon R9 M390X (0.5% slower). The close delta percentages suggest that the B570 is positioned competitively against a wide range of GPUs from different tiers and generations.

In CS:GO specifically, the GPU's role becomes more pronounced at higher resolutions and settings. The 4K Ultra result of 119 FPS is the only measured configuration that falls below 120 FPS, which suggests that the GPU is the primary constraint at that extreme. The 4K Medium result of 161 FPS and 4K Low result of 189 FPS show that reducing settings can recover significant performance, but the GPU still limits the system at 4K.

The GPU's power draw is rated at 150 W, which is modest for a discrete graphics card. The memory clock of 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective) is standard for GDDR6. The PCIe 4.0 x8 interface provides sufficient bandwidth for this GPU class, and it is unlikely to be a bottleneck in CS:GO.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested CPU-GPU combinations, this pairing ranks 2271 out of 2848 total combos. This places it in the bottom 20% of all tested configurations. The rank reflects the overall capability of the system across all games and benchmarks, not just CS:GO.

For a game like CS:GO, the rank may be misleading because the title is not particularly demanding on modern hardware. The measured frame rates are exceptionally high, with even the worst-case 4K Ultra result of 119 FPS being playable. The rank is likely dragged down by the CPU's modest performance in multi-threaded workloads and the GPU's mid-range positioning.

The combination of a 6-core/6-thread CPU with a mid-range GPU is balanced in the sense that neither component is drastically overpowered relative to the other. The CPU's 47th percentile ranking and the GPU's 65th percentile ranking suggest that the GPU is slightly more capable than the CPU in their respective pools.

When compared to other combos in the database, this pairing is best suited for high-refresh 1080p and 1440p gaming. The 1080p High result of 343 FPS exceeds the refresh rate of most gaming monitors, and the 1440p High result of 236 FPS is sufficient for 240 Hz displays. The 4K performance is adequate for 120 Hz displays at Medium settings or lower.

The rank of 2271 out of 2848 indicates that there are many faster combinations, but the measured FPS in CS:GO shows that this system is more than capable for competitive play. The gap between this combo's rank and its actual gaming performance highlights the importance of considering game-specific results rather than relying solely on aggregate rankings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and refresh rate. For 1080p displays, even Ultra settings produce 293 FPS average, which is sufficient for the highest refresh rate monitors available. The High preset at 343 FPS provides a comfortable margin, while the Low preset at 465 FPS offers the absolute maximum frame rate for competitive play.

For 1440p displays, Ultra settings yield 201 FPS average, which is suitable for 200 Hz monitors. The High preset at 236 FPS is the recommended choice for players with 240 Hz displays, as it provides a meaningful FPS boost over Ultra with minimal visual quality loss. The Medium preset at 273 FPS is the best option for those who prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity, while the Low preset at 320 FPS is ideal for maximum competitiveness.

For 4K displays, the situation is more nuanced. Ultra settings produce 119 FPS average, which is marginally below the 120 FPS threshold. Players with 120 Hz 4K monitors may notice occasional drops below the refresh rate. The High preset at 139 FPS provides a comfortable margin above 120 FPS and is the recommended choice for 4K gaming. The Medium preset at 161 FPS is suitable for 144 Hz 4K displays, while the Low preset at 189 FPS offers the highest frame rates but sacrifices visual quality significantly.

The data shows that the Medium preset consistently offers a good balance between performance and quality across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the system produces 396 FPS average with a 337 FPS minimum. At 1440p Medium, the average is 273 FPS with a 232 FPS minimum. At 4K Medium, the average is 161 FPS with a 137 FPS minimum. The minimum frame rates at Medium settings are always above 120 FPS, which ensures a smooth experience even during intense gameplay moments.

For players who prioritize competitive performance over visual quality, the Low preset is the clear choice. The 1080p Low result of 465 FPS and 1440p Low result of 320 FPS provide the highest frame rates and lowest input latency. The 4K Low result of 189 FPS is still very playable and exceeds the refresh rate of most 4K monitors.

FAQ

Q: Is this combination capable of running CS:GO at 240 FPS on a 1080p monitor?

A: Yes. At 1080p with High settings, the average FPS is 343, which exceeds 240 FPS. Even at Ultra settings, the average is 293 FPS, providing a comfortable margin above the 240 FPS threshold.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 1440p 144 Hz monitor?

A: The High preset produces 236 FPS average at 1440p, which is well above 144 Hz. For an even larger margin, the Medium preset yields 273 FPS average with a minimum of 232 FPS.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in CS:GO?

A: Yes, but with limitations. At 4K High settings, the average FPS is 139, which is suitable for 120 Hz 4K displays. At 4K Ultra, the average drops to 119 FPS, which is marginally below the 120 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the CPU's single-core performance compare to its multi-core performance?

A: The Cinebench R23 single-core score is 935, while the multi-core score is 6629. The Geekbench single-core score is 1389, and the multi-core score is 5141. The single-core performance is sufficient for CS:GO's engine, which relies heavily on single-threaded performance.

Q: What is the GPU's VRAM capacity and does it matter for CS:GO?

A: The GPU has 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus. CS:GO is not a VRAM-intensive title, so the memory capacity is unlikely to be a limiting factor at any of the tested settings.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested configurations?

A: This combo ranks 2271 out of 2848 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 20% of all configurations. Despite this low rank, the measured FPS in CS:GO is very high, demonstrating that the game is not demanding on modern hardware.