Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

The Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 delivers a high-refresh-rate experience in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, with the data indicating that the Ultra preset is the optimal choice for most users. While the Low preset yields the highest frame rates, the performance headroom at every resolution is so substantial that it allows players to prioritize visual fidelity without sacrificing competitive responsiveness. The measured results show that the Ultra preset maintains frame rates well above the standard 144 Hz threshold at all tested resolutions, making it the definitive recommendation for this combination.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data provides a clear hierarchy of performance across the four available presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset produces an average of 574 FPS, which is the maximum recorded for this configuration. However, the Ultra preset still generates an average of 361 FPS, representing a 37% reduction in performance but providing the highest level of graphical detail. The High preset at this resolution achieves 423 FPS, while the Medium preset sits between the two at 489 FPS.

For players using 1440p displays, the Ultra preset still delivers an average of 249 FPS, which comfortably exceeds the refresh rate capabilities of most high-end monitors. The Low preset at this resolution reaches 395 FPS, but the difference between Low and Ultra is less critical here because both provide a playable experience far beyond typical display refresh limits. The Medium preset at 2560x1440 yields 336 FPS, and the High preset produces 291 FPS.

The most demanding scenario tested, 4K resolution with the Ultra preset, still produces an average of 147 FPS. This is the only combination that dips below the 144 FPS threshold, making it a borderline case for competitive play. The High preset at 4K improves this to 172 FPS, while the Medium preset achieves 199 FPS with a minimum frame rate of 169 FPS. The Low preset at 4K reaches 233 FPS.

Given the data, the Ultra preset is the recommended setting for this combination. The performance penalty from Low to Ultra is approximately 37% at 1080p, 37% at 1440p, and 37% at 4K, but the absolute frame rates remain so high that the visual upgrade is essentially free. Even in the worst case, 4K Ultra, the average of 147 FPS is still suitable for most gaming scenarios. Players who insist on absolute maximum performance or use 240 Hz or higher refresh rate monitors may prefer the High preset, which offers a significant frame rate boost while maintaining acceptable visual quality.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 holds a rank of 1732 out of 2848 tested combos for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. This places the configuration in the top 39% of all tested combinations, indicating that it is a solid performer but not at the very top of the performance hierarchy. The percentile data for the individual components provides context for this ranking: the CPU sits at the 47th percentile among all CPUs, while the GPU ranks at the 66th percentile among all GPUs.

The disparity between the CPU and GPU percentiles suggests that the processor is the more limiting factor in this pairing. The GPU's higher percentile ranking indicates that it has more relative headroom, while the CPU's lower ranking means it may struggle to keep pace in CPU-bound scenarios. However, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is a game that typically relies heavily on single-threaded performance, and the i5-9400's boost clock of 4.10 GHz appears sufficient to drive the RTX 5050 to high frame rates.

The combo rank of 1732 out of 2848 means that a significant number of tested combinations outperform this setup, but it also means that this configuration outperforms a majority of the tested combinations. The data suggests that this pairing is well-balanced for the game, with neither component being drastically over- or under-powered relative to the other. The measured frame rates support this assessment, as the system consistently delivers high performance across all tested settings and resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture using a 5 nm process from TSMC. The GPU features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 320.0 GB/s. The memory operates at 2500 MHz with 20 Gbps effective speed. The GPU has a base clock of 2317 MHz and a boost clock of 2572 MHz, which are the key clock speeds that determine its computational throughput.

The RTX 5050 contains 2560 shading units, 80 texture mapping units, and 32 raster operation units. It also includes 20 ray tracing cores and 80 tensor cores, although these are unlikely to be heavily utilized in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, which is primarily a rasterization-based title. The GPU's raw compute capability is rated at 13.17 TFLOPS for both FP32 and FP16 operations, with a texture rate of 205.8 GTexel/s and a pixel rate of 82.30 GPixel/s.

In the context of this game, the GPU's role is less about raw compute and more about maintaining high frame rates at high resolutions. The measured data shows that the GPU is capable of handling the game's demands at all tested settings, with even the most demanding scenario (4K Ultra) producing an average of 147 FPS. The GPU's 8 GB of VRAM is not a limiting factor in this title, as the game's system requirements are modest by modern standards.

The GPU's benchmark scores provide additional context. It achieves a Passmark G3D score of 17326 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 90334. These scores place the GPU at the 66th percentile among all GPUs, with its nearest rival being the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL, which has an average score of 21153 and a delta of -0.6%. The RTX 5050's performance is within a narrow band of its rivals, with deltas ranging from -1.6% to 1.6% compared to the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT, which scores 20713.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates reveal a consistent pattern across all resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 574 FPS, which is the highest recorded value for this configuration. The Medium preset at this resolution produces 489 FPS with a minimum of 416 FPS and a maximum of 562 FPS. The High preset achieves 423 FPS, while the Ultra preset produces 361 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves 395 FPS, the Medium preset produces 336 FPS with a minimum of 286 FPS and a maximum of 387 FPS, the High preset achieves 291 FPS, and the Ultra preset produces 249 FPS. The performance scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows a reduction of approximately 31% for the Low preset, 31% for the Medium preset, 31% for the High preset, and 31% for the Ultra preset.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset achieves 233 FPS, the Medium preset produces 199 FPS with a minimum of 169 FPS and a maximum of 229 FPS, the High preset achieves 172 FPS, and the Ultra preset produces 147 FPS. The performance scaling from 1440p to 4K shows a reduction of approximately 41% for the Low preset, 41% for the Medium preset, 41% for the High preset, and 41% for the Ultra preset.

The Medium preset is the only settings level that includes minimum and maximum frame rate data, providing insight into frame time consistency. At 1080p, the Medium preset shows a minimum of 416 FPS and a maximum of 562 FPS, indicating a range of 146 FPS between the lows and highs. At 1440p, the range is 101 FPS (286 to 387). At 4K, the range narrows to 60 FPS (169 to 229). This narrowing range at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU becomes more consistently loaded as resolution increases.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling across resolutions provides insight into which component is limiting performance. From 1080p to 1440p, the average frame rate drops by approximately 31% across all settings. From 1440p to 4K, the average frame rate drops by approximately 41% across all settings. The total drop from 1080p to 4K is approximately 59% for each preset.

The fact that the percentage drop is nearly identical across all four presets indicates that the scaling is resolution-driven rather than settings-driven. This suggests that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions, as the frame rate decreases proportionally with the increase in pixel count. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect the frame rate to remain relatively flat at lower resolutions and then drop sharply at higher resolutions.

However, the absolute frame rates at 1080p are extremely high, with the lowest preset producing 574 FPS. This suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough data to maintain very high frame rates. The GPU then becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases, which is the expected behavior for a well-balanced system in a game like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

The data indicates that the RTX 5050 is the primary constraint on performance at 4K resolution, where even the Low preset cannot reach the frame rates achieved at 1080p with the Ultra preset. The 4K Low preset produces 233 FPS, which is 36% lower than the 1080p Ultra preset's 361 FPS. This demonstrates that the GPU's workload increases significantly with resolution, while the CPU's workload remains relatively constant.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. It is built on the Coffee Lake architecture using a 14 nm process from Intel. The processor has 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 256 KB of L2 cache per core, and 9 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports DDR4 memory in a dual-channel configuration with a memory bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s.

The CPU's benchmark scores provide context for its performance. It achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 6629 and a single-core score of 935. The Geekbench multi-core score is 5141, with a single-core score of 1389. These scores place the CPU at the 47th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 2254. Its nearest rival is the Intel Core i7-1068NG7, which has an average score of 2259 and a delta of -0.2%.

In Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, the CPU's single-threaded performance is critical, as the game's engine relies heavily on a single main thread. The i5-9400's boost clock of 4.10 GHz is the key specification for this workload. The measured frame rates at 1080p, where the CPU is more likely to be the bottleneck, show that the processor is capable of driving frame rates above 500 FPS on the Low preset.

The CPU's 6 cores and 6 threads are sufficient for this game, which does not scale well beyond a few cores. The lack of hyper-threading is not a significant disadvantage in this title, as the game's threading model does not benefit substantially from additional logical processors. The CPU's 65 W TDP and end-of-life production status indicate that it is an older design, but its performance in this game remains adequate.

The data suggests that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck in most scenarios, as the frame rates scale consistently with resolution changes. However, at 1080p with the Low preset, the 574 FPS average suggests that the CPU is approaching its limit, as this is the highest frame rate recorded. The CPU's performance is sufficient to keep the GPU well-fed at all settings and resolutions tested.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU and GPU combination in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive?

A: The data shows that all tested resolutions produce playable frame rates. The 1920x1080 resolution with the Ultra preset achieves 361 FPS, while the 2560x1440 resolution with the Ultra preset achieves 249 FPS. The 3840x2160 resolution with the Ultra preset achieves 147 FPS, which is the only configuration that falls below 150 FPS.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to the Low preset in terms of performance?

A: At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset produces 361 FPS compared to the Low preset's 574 FPS, representing a 37% reduction in performance. The same 37% reduction is observed at 2560x1440 (249 FPS vs 395 FPS) and at 3840x2160 (147 FPS vs 233 FPS).

Q: Is the RTX 5050 or the i5-9400 the limiting factor in this game?

A: The frame rate scaling indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. The consistent percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p (31%) and from 1440p to 4K (41%) across all settings suggests that the GPU's workload increases proportionally with resolution, while the CPU's workload remains relatively constant.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 1440p with the Medium preset?

A: The measured data shows that the Medium preset at 2560x1440 achieves an average of 336 FPS, with a minimum of 286 FPS and a maximum of 387 FPS. This provides a consistent high-refresh-rate experience with a frame time range of 101 FPS.

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

A: The combination ranks 1732 out of 2848 tested combos for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, placing it in the top 39% of all tested configurations. The CPU is at the 47th percentile among all CPUs, while the GPU is at the 66th percentile among all GPUs.

Q: Does the 4K Ultra preset provide a playable experience?

A: The 4K Ultra preset achieves an average of 147 FPS, which is just below the 144 FPS threshold commonly associated with high-refresh-rate monitors. While this is playable, the 4K High preset at 172 FPS or the 4K Medium preset at 199 FPS provide more headroom for maintaining consistent frame rates.