Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is a competitive FPS where frame rate consistency and high refresh rates often matter more than absolute visual fidelity. The benchmark data for this system pairing places the Intel Core i7-13700K with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070, a combination that yields exceptionally high average frame rates across all tested resolutions and settings. The data shows that this configuration is positioned in the upper tier of tested hardware combinations, with a combo rank of 408 out of 1605. This analysis breaks down the specific roles of the CPU and GPU in achieving these results, examines how the system scales across resolutions, and interprets the measured performance data.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i7-13700K is a 16-core, 24-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, built on a 10 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, which are critical for handling the per-frame physics and game logic calculations in a fast-paced shooter like CS:GO. The processor's substantial L3 cache of 30 MB (shared) helps maintain low latency for frequently accessed game data. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU demonstrates strong multi-threaded performance with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 39000, while its single-core capability is represented by a score of 5505 in the same test. This balance is relevant because CS:GO, despite being an older title, still relies heavily on a few primary threads for its simulation, making the high boost clock and strong single-thread performance particularly impactful.

The benchmark results across all settings and resolutions suggest the CPU is well-suited to feed the GPU with enough data to maintain very high frame rates. For instance, at 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves 892.6 FPS. This extreme frame rate is a direct result of the CPU's ability to process the game's logic quickly, removing a potential bottleneck. The processor also shows a strong PassMark multithread score of 45887 and a single-thread score of 4333, further indicating its robust processing power. The data shows that the i7-13700K is not a limiting factor in this configuration for CS:GO, as the frame rates scale almost linearly with resolution, which is a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario at higher graphical presets.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This specific processor and graphics card pairing holds a combo rank of 408 out of 1605 tested combinations in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. This places the system in the top quartile of all tested hardware configurations, indicating that it is a high-performance setup for this title. The rank reflects the measured average FPS across all settings and resolutions, where the system consistently produces frame rates well above what is required for smooth competitive play.

The CPU itself has a high percentile ranking at 93 compared to all other CPUs, and its average benchmark score of 47282 places it in close competition with its nearest rivals. The data shows a negligible performance difference between the i7-13700K and its direct counterpart, the Intel Core i7-13700KF, which has an average score of 47334, representing a delta of -0.1%. This indicates that the integrated graphics on the K-series variant do not hinder its processing performance. The CPU is also a slight 0.3% ahead of the AMD EPYC 4364P and 0.4% ahead of the Intel Core i9-12900F in average benchmark scores, though it trails the AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 5945 by 0.5%. These narrow margins suggest that in CPU-bound scenarios, the 13700K is at the top of its immediate performance class, solidifying its contribution to the high combo rank.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data reveals a clear and predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases. At 1080p, the system is heavily CPU-bound, delivering an average of 892.6 FPS on Low settings. This number drops to 656.8 FPS at High settings, showing that even at 1080p, the GPU begins to take on more work as the graphical load increases. Moving to 1440p, the frame rates decrease, with the Low preset dropping from 892.6 to 614.1 FPS and the High preset dropping from 656.8 to 451.2 FPS. This reduction is expected, as the GPU has to render more pixels.

The most significant scaling occurs at 4K (3840x2160), where the system's performance becomes predominantly GPU-limited. At this resolution, the High preset yields 265.3 FPS, and the Low preset yields 360.6 FPS. Comparing the 1080p Low to 4K Low, the frame rate drops by 59.6%, demonstrating the massive increase in pixel workload. This pattern is typical for a balanced system where neither component is drastically underpowered. The data indicates that the CPU's headroom at lower resolutions is substantial, but as resolution increases, the RTX 4070 becomes the constraining factor, though it still maintains a very high level of performance.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average frame rate achievable with this combo at 1080p?

A: The highest measured average frame rate is 892.6 FPS, which is achieved at 1080p with the Low settings preset.

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

A: At 1080p Low, the system hits 892.6 FPS, which is significantly faster than the 230.7 FPS recorded at 4K Ultra. This represents a 3.9x increase in frame rate.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1440p High settings?

A: The data shows 451.2 FPS at 1440p High. Given the system reaches 614.1 FPS at 1440p Low, the GPU is becoming the primary limiter, as changing the settings (which affects GPU load) has a larger impact than the resolution change from 1080p.

Q: How does the performance at 4K High compare to the performance at 4K Medium?

A: The system achieves 265.3 FPS at 4K High and 308.8 FPS at 4K Medium. This shows a 43.5 FPS difference, indicating that the Medium preset offers a noticeable performance increase while likely still providing a good visual experience.

Q: What is the rank of this specific CPU+GPU combination among all tested systems?

A: This combo is ranked 408 out of 1605 total tested combinations, placing it in the top 25% of all systems for this game.

Q: Does the i7-13700K perform significantly better than the i7-13700KF?

A: No. The average benchmark score for the 13700K is 47282, while the 13700KF scores 47334. The delta of -0.1% is within the margin of error, indicating they perform nearly identically.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture and features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. The GPU has a base clock of 1920 MHz and a boost clock of 2475 MHz, with its memory running at an effective speed of 21 Gbps. For CS:GO, which is not a graphically demanding title by modern standards, the RTX 4070's 12 GB VRAM is more than sufficient, even at 4K resolution. The GPU's processing power, measured at 29.15 TFLOPS for FP32 operations, is more than adequate to handle the game's rendering at high frame rates.

The benchmark results show that the RTX 4070's performance is the primary factor in the FPS deltas between settings at a given resolution. For example, at 1440p, the difference between Low (614.1 FPS) and Ultra (387.6 FPS) settings is 226.5 FPS, which demonstrates how the GPU's shading units and texture units are taxed by higher graphical fidelity. The GPU's percentile ranking of 81 versus all other GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37283, places it in a solid position. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, has a score of 37507, showing a 0.6% difference. This data confirms that the RTX 4070 is a high-end component that pairs well with the i7-13700K to avoid bottlenecking in this specific game.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings balance depends on the user's display refresh rate and resolution. For 1080p users, even the Ultra preset provides an average of 558.3 FPS, which is far beyond the refresh rate of virtually any monitor. In this scenario, the High preset is recommended, as it delivers 656.8 FPS and offers a better visual experience than Low (892.6 FPS) without any perceivable difference in smoothness for most displays.

At 1440p, the data shows that the Medium preset (523.8 FPS) provides a substantial frame rate advantage over High (451.2 FPS) and Ultra (387.6 FPS), while still offering a significant visual upgrade over Low (614.1 FPS). For 4K, the performance drops are more pronounced. The High preset yields 265.3 FPS, which is still exceptionally high for 4K. However, the Medium preset at 308.8 FPS offers a better balance, giving a 16.4% performance increase over High. The Ultra preset at 4K (230.7 FPS) is the only setting that dips below 240 FPS, which may be a consideration for users with the highest refresh rate displays. For most players, the Medium preset at 4K appears to be the sweet spot, delivering high frame rates while maintaining a solid level of visual quality.