Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

# Counter-Strike: Global Offensive with Intel Core i7-13700K + Intel Arc B370

The Intel Core i7-13700K paired with the Intel Arc B370 delivers a playable but constrained Counter-Strike: Global Offensive experience, with benchmark results showing a combo that ranks 2615th out of 2848 tested combinations. The CPU is a high-end desktop part with 16 cores, 24 threads, and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, while the GPU is a low-power integrated-class solution with a 25 W TDP, 1280 shading units, and system-shared memory. The measured frame rates reveal a system where the GPU is the dominant bottleneck at higher resolutions, yet the CPU's strength keeps 1080p performance competitive.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and consistent pattern of frame rate degradation as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 273 FPS at 1080p to 188 FPS at 1440p, then further to 111 FPS at 4K. This represents a 59% reduction from 1080p to 4K, indicating that the GPU's rendering load scales dramatically with pixel count. The Intel Arc B370, with its 6.144 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 20 ROPs, is simply not designed to sustain high frame rates at 4K resolutions.

At Medium settings, the pattern is similar: 233 FPS at 1080p, 160 FPS at 1440p, and 95 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 31%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 41%. This non-linear scaling suggests that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth (system-shared and system-dependent) become increasingly limiting as pixel count grows. The High preset shows 202 FPS at 1080p, 139 FPS at 1440p, and 82 FPS at 4K, while Ultra drops to 172 FPS, 118 FPS, and 70 FPS respectively.

The resolution scaling behavior reveals that at 1080p, the CPU's strong single-thread performance — evidenced by a 3DMark single-thread score of 1136 and a Geekbench single-core score of 2529 — is sufficient to feed the GPU adequately. However, at 4K, the GPU's limitations become the primary constraint. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 41 FPS (111 vs 70), while at 1080p it is 101 FPS (273 vs 172). This widening gap at lower resolutions indicates that the GPU has headroom at 1080p to respond to settings changes, but at 4K it is already near its ceiling even on Low.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is a 3 nm part from the Xe3-LPG architecture, with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz. Its memory configuration is entirely system-shared, meaning it draws from the same DDR4 or DDR5 pool as the CPU, with bandwidth described as system-dependent. This architecture is typical of an integrated graphics processor (IGP) — the slot width is listed as IGP, and the power connectors are none — which explains its 25 W TDP and its percentile ranking of just 5th among all GPUs.

In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the GPU scores 1184, placing it within 0.2% of the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186) and 0.5% of the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190). These are legacy discrete GPUs from over a decade ago, which underscores the modest graphics capability of the Arc B370. The GPU's pixel rate is 48.00 GPixel/s and texture rate is 96.00 GTexel/s, figures that are adequate for 1080p esports titles but insufficient for high-resolution rendering.

The GPU's role in CS:GO is clearly the limiting factor at higher resolutions. The measured data shows that even at 4K Low, the average FPS is 111, which is below the 144 Hz refresh rate many competitive players target. The 10 ray tracing cores and 1280 shading units are not leveraged heavily by CS:GO, which is a lightweight esports title, but the GPU's overall throughput is still the bottleneck. The system-shared memory bandwidth means that increasing resolution not only increases pixel workload but also potentially contends with CPU memory access, though the measured frame rates suggest this is not catastrophic at 1080p.

FAQ

Q: Why does the frame rate drop so much from 1080p to 4K?

A: The Intel Arc B370 has a 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1184, which places it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs. Its 6.144 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 20 ROPs are insufficient for the 4x pixel count of 3840x2160 compared to 1920x1080. The measured data shows a 59% drop from 273 FPS at 1080p Low to 111 FPS at 4K Low.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this combo?

A: At 1080p, the CPU's strong single-thread performance (3DMark single-thread score of 1136) keeps frame rates high, with 273 FPS on Low settings. At 4K, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck, as even on Low settings the frame rate drops to 111 FPS. The GPU's 5th percentile ranking versus the CPU's 89th percentile ranking confirms this imbalance.

Q: How does the Arc B370 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B370's 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1184 is 0.2% below the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186) and 0.5% below the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190). It is 1.4% ahead of the AMD FirePro M2000 (1168) and 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon HD 7650M (1192).

Q: What settings preset gives the highest frame rate at 1080p?

A: The Low preset at 1920x1080 yields the highest average frame rate at 273 FPS. Medium follows at 233 FPS, High at 202 FPS, and Ultra at 172 FPS. The measured data shows a linear scaling of performance with settings at 1080p.

Q: Can this combo achieve 144 FPS at 1440p?

A: Yes, but only on Low settings. The measured average at 2560x1440 Low is 188 FPS, while Medium drops to 160 FPS, High to 139 FPS, and Ultra to 118 FPS. For consistent 144 FPS gameplay, Low or Medium presets are required at 1440p.

Q: How does the Intel Core i7-13700K rank among CPUs?

A: The CPU is in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 46881. It is 0.2% behind the AMD Ryzen 9 5900 (46971) and 0.3% behind the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375 (47022), while being 0.5% ahead of both the AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX (46654) and Intel Xeon w3-2535 (46653).

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the benchmark results show a wide spread across settings. Low settings deliver an average of 273 FPS, which is the highest measured in this entire dataset. Medium settings produce 233 FPS with a minimum of 198 FPS and a maximum of 268 FPS. High settings yield 202 FPS, while Ultra drops to 172 FPS. The 101 FPS gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p indicates that the GPU has sufficient headroom at this resolution to respond to graphical fidelity changes.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates scale down proportionally. Low settings average 188 FPS, Medium averages 160 FPS with a range of 136 to 184 FPS, High averages 139 FPS, and Ultra averages 118 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 70 FPS, suggesting that the GPU is beginning to feel the pressure of increased pixel count. The 1080p to 1440p drop for each preset is consistent: 85 FPS for Low, 73 FPS for Medium, 63 FPS for High, and 54 FPS for Ultra.

At 3840x2160, the performance is significantly constrained. Low settings average 111 FPS, Medium averages 95 FPS with a minimum of 80 FPS and maximum of 109 FPS, High averages 82 FPS, and Ultra averages 70 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is only 41 FPS, the smallest of any resolution, demonstrating that the GPU is saturating its capabilities. The 1440p to 4K drops are 77 FPS for Low, 65 FPS for Medium, 57 FPS for High, and 48 FPS for Ultra.

The Medium preset is the only one where minimum and maximum FPS values are recorded across all resolutions. At 1080p, the range is 198 to 268 FPS, at 1440p it is 136 to 184 FPS, and at 4K it is 80 to 109 FPS. These ranges indicate frame time consistency that degrades with resolution, with the 4K range being proportionally wider relative to the average.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings preset depends on the target refresh rate and resolution. For 1080p displays with 240 Hz refresh rates, the Low preset at 273 FPS is the only option that consistently exceeds 240 FPS. Medium at 233 FPS falls short of 240 Hz but is well above 144 Hz, making it a reasonable choice for players who want better visual quality without sacrificing competitive frame rates.

For 1440p, the Low preset at 188 FPS is the only setting that comfortably exceeds 144 Hz, while Medium at 160 FPS also clears this threshold. High at 139 FPS and Ultra at 118 FPS are below 144 Hz, which may be acceptable for casual play but not for competitive scenarios where refresh rate matters. The Medium preset at 1440p, with its 136 FPS minimum, is the safest choice for maintaining frame rates above 120 FPS consistently.

At 4K, no preset achieves 144 FPS. Low at 111 FPS, Medium at 95 FPS, High at 82 FPS, and Ultra at 70 FPS all fall below 120 FPS. The Low preset is the best option for 4K, providing the highest average frame rate and the most headroom above the 60 FPS minimum for smooth gameplay. The Ultra preset at 70 FPS is still playable but offers diminishing returns in visual quality relative to the 41 FPS loss compared to Low.

For most players, the Medium preset at 1080p offers the best balance. It delivers 233 FPS average with a 198 FPS minimum, which is sufficient for 144 Hz displays and provides better visual fidelity than Low. The 273 FPS of Low is only beneficial for 240 Hz panels, and the visual trade-off is significant. At 1440p, Low is the recommended preset for competitive play, while Medium serves as a viable alternative for those prioritizing visual quality.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K is a Raptor Lake-S part with 16 cores (8 performance and 8 efficiency cores, though the fact pack does not delineate this), 24 threads, a base clock of 3.40 GHz, and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. Its 30 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB L2 cache per core provide ample bandwidth for game logic and asset streaming. The CPU's benchmark scores are strong: Cinebench R23 multicore reaches 30745, Geekbench multicore hits 19429, and Passmark multithread scores 45887.

In CS:GO, which is known to be CPU-sensitive in high-frame-rate scenarios, the i7-13700K's single-thread performance is critical. The 3DMark single-thread score of 1136 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2116 indicate excellent per-core throughput. The Passmark single-thread score of 4333 reinforces this. These figures explain why the combo achieves 273 FPS at 1080p Low — the CPU is capable of feeding frames faster than the GPU can render them at that resolution.

The CPU's 89th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 46881, places it in elite company. It is nearly identical in performance to the AMD Ryzen 9 5900 (46971, -0.2% delta) and AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375 (47022, -0.3% delta), while slightly ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX (46654, +0.5% delta) and Intel Xeon w3-2535 (46653, +0.5% delta). This CPU is not the limiting factor in this combo.

The CPU's 125 W TDP and support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory (dual-channel) mean it can drive high memory bandwidth, but the GPU's system-shared memory relies on the same controller. This is not a bottleneck at 1080p, as evidenced by the high frame rates, but at 4K the GPU's rendering limitations are the primary constraint. The CPU's role is to maintain consistent frame pacing, and the data shows it does so effectively, with no measured minimum FPS dropping below 80 even at 4K Ultra.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-13700K + Intel Arc B370 combination ranks 2615th out of 2848 tested combos in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, placing it in the bottom 8% of all configurations. This low ranking is entirely attributable to the GPU, which sits in the 5th percentile of all GPUs with a 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1184. The CPU, by contrast, is in the 89th percentile, creating a significant performance imbalance.

This ranking reflects the measured FPS data: the combo is competitive at 1080p, where the CPU's strength shines and the GPU can keep pace, but falls behind at higher resolutions. At 1080p Low, the 273 FPS average would rank competitively against many mid-range discrete GPU combos, but the 4K performance of 70-111 FPS places it well below typical desktop gaming systems. The combo's rank of 2615 out of 2848 suggests that most other tested combinations deliver better overall performance across the resolution spectrum.

The GPU's nearest rivals — all legacy parts from the early 2010s — underscore how far behind modern discrete GPUs this integrated solution is. The 0.2% gap to the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 and 0.5% gap to the ATI Radeon HD 5770 indicate that the Arc B370 is roughly equivalent to graphics hardware from over a decade ago. For CS:GO, which is an older title with modest graphics requirements, this is sufficient for playable frame rates, but the combo's rank reflects its inability to deliver high-refresh-rate gaming at 1440p or 4K.

The combo's ranking is a direct consequence of pairing a top-tier CPU with an entry-level GPU. The data shows that at 1080p, this pairing can deliver 273 FPS on Low settings, which is excellent, but the experience degrades quickly as resolution increases. Players seeking consistent 144+ FPS at 1440p or 4K would need a more capable GPU, as the CPU is not the limiting factor in this configuration. The 2615th rank out of 2848 combos is a clear signal that while the CPU is among the best available, the GPU holds this system back from competitive standing in the broader benchmark database.