Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive with the Intel Core i7-14700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 shows a clear pattern: this combination is heavily CPU-bound at lower resolutions, with the GPU becoming the limiting factor only at 4K. At 1080p Low settings, the combo produces 645.4 FPS, which drops to 473.8 FPS at 1080p High — a 26.6% reduction. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p reveals the CPU’s dominance: at Low settings, the drop from 645.4 to 447.5 FPS (30.7% lower) is substantial, while at High settings the drop from 473.8 to 330.9 FPS (30.1% lower) is nearly identical. This consistency across settings at lower resolutions indicates the processor, not the graphics card, is determining frame rates.

The picture changes dramatically at 4K. At 3840x2160 Low, the combo still produces 265.1 FPS, but the gap between Low and High settings widens significantly: 265.1 FPS at Low versus 196.8 FPS at High (25.8% lower). The Ultra preset at 4K yields 166.5 FPS, which is 37.2% below the Low preset result. This steeper scaling curve at 4K suggests the RTX 4060’s 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 128-bit bus are now the primary constraint. The data shows that from 1080p Low to 4K Low, the frame rate falls by 58.9%, whereas from 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra, the drop is 58.8%. The near-identical percentage drops across all settings when moving from 1080p to 4K indicate the scaling is resolution-driven rather than settings-driven, pointing to a balanced bottleneck shift: CPU-limited at 1080p and 1440p, GPU-limited at 4K Ultra.

How This Combo Ranks

The Core i7-14700F and RTX 4060 combination ranks 916th out of 1605 tested combos in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, placing it in the 57th percentile of all system pairings. This mid-pack ranking is notable because the individual components perform well in isolation — the CPU sits in the 94th percentile among all processors, while the GPU ranks in the 66th percentile among all graphics cards. The discrepancy between component-level and combo-level rankings suggests that CS:GO’s engine, designed for older hardware, does not fully utilize the i7-14700F’s 20 cores and 28 threads.

The CPU’s nearest rivals illustrate its standing: the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X scores 0.6% higher, the Ryzen 9 9900X3D is 1.1% ahead, while the Intel Xeon Phi 7290 trails by 1.2% and the AMD EPYC 7313P by 1.7%. These are all high-end desktop and server parts, confirming the i7-14700F is competitive at the top tier. On the GPU side, the RTX 4060’s nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX 6600M (0.6% ahead), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti (0.7% ahead), and the Intel Arc B580 (0.7% behind). The tight grouping — all within 0.8% — shows the RTX 4060 sits at a crowded performance level where minor architectural differences matter more than raw specifications.

The combo’s rank of 916 out of 1605 means 689 tested combinations performed better in this specific game. This is a verdict-driven observation: the hardware is capable of extreme frame rates (645.4 FPS at 1080p Low), yet the combination does not crack the top half of the database. The data indicates the bottleneck is the game itself, as CS:GO cannot scale with the i7-14700F’s massive multi-threaded capabilities. The CPU’s Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35443 and PassMark multi-thread score of 41765 are elite, but CS:GO’s single-threaded engine benefits more from the 5.40 GHz boost clock than the 28 threads.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average FPS this combo can achieve in CS:GO?

A: The highest measured average is 645.4 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The lowest is 166.5 FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings.

Q: How does the i7-14700F compare to its closest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X?

A: The Ryzen 9 9900X has an average benchmark score 0.6% higher than the i7-14700F. The i7-14700F scores 54097 on average, versus 54450 for the Ryzen 9 9900X.

Q: Does the RTX 4060 outperform the Intel Arc B580?

A: Yes, marginally. The RTX 4060 has an average benchmark score of 23181, which is 0.7% higher than the Arc B580’s 23021.

Q: What is the combo’s rank among all tested CPU-GPU pairings in CS:GO?

A: It ranks 916th out of 1605 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 42.9% of all pairings.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1440p with High settings?

A: The measured average is 330.9 FPS at 2560x1440 with High settings. This is 30.1% lower than the 1080p High result of 473.8 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 4K Ultra?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary limiter at 3840x2160 Ultra, where the combo produces 166.5 FPS. The RTX 4060’s 8 GB memory and 272.0 GB/s bandwidth constrain performance, as evidenced by the 37.2% drop from 4K Low to 4K Ultra.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data covers four resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160) and four settings presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra). At 1080p, the results are: Low 645.4, Medium 551.8, High 473.8, and Ultra 403.9. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a 37.4% reduction, which is the smallest percentage drop across all resolutions — further evidence of CPU limitation. At 1440p, the numbers are: Low 447.5, Medium 382.2, High 330.9, and Ultra 282.6. The drop from Low to Ultra is 36.9%, nearly identical to 1080p.

At 4K, the pattern shifts: Low 265.1, Medium 223.7, High 196.8, and Ultra 166.5. The Low-to-Ultra reduction is 37.2%, consistent with the other resolutions. However, the absolute numbers at 4K are far lower, and the gap between 1080p and 4K at each setting is substantial. For instance, at Low settings, 4K (265.1) is 58.9% below 1080p (645.4). At Ultra settings, 4K (166.5) is 58.8% below 1080p (403.9). The consistent 58-59% drop across settings when moving from 1080p to 4K indicates a resolution-bound performance ceiling.

The Medium preset provides a useful midpoint: 551.8 at 1080p, 382.2 at 1440p, and 223.7 at 4K. These figures are 14.5% lower than Low and 14.2% higher than High at 1080p, showing a predictable linear scaling. The data also reveals that the combo maintains over 60 FPS at every resolution and setting tested, with the most demanding scenario (4K Ultra) still producing 166.5 FPS — well above the refresh rate of most displays.

Settings Recommendations

For competitive play where frame rate is paramount, the Low preset at 1080p delivers the highest measured average of 645.4 FPS. This is 28.4% higher than the Medium preset (551.8) and 37.4% higher than Ultra (403.9). The Low preset’s advantage is most pronounced at 1080p, where the CPU’s 5.40 GHz boost clock can fully stretch. At 1440p, Low still produces 447.5 FPS, which is 36.9% above the Ultra result of 282.6.

For players prioritizing visual fidelity over raw frame rates, the Ultra preset at 1440p yields 282.6 FPS — still highly playable and 69.8% higher than 4K Ultra’s 166.5. The High preset at 1440p (330.9 FPS) offers a balanced compromise, sitting 26.6% above Ultra at the same resolution. At 4K, the recommendation shifts: the Medium preset (223.7 FPS) provides the best balance, as it is 13.6% faster than High (196.8) and 34.3% faster than Ultra (166.5), while only 15.6% slower than Low (265.1).

The data suggests that for a 240 Hz monitor, the Low preset at 1080p or 1440p is necessary, as both exceed 240 FPS (645.4 and 447.5, respectively). For a 144 Hz display, the High preset at 1080p (473.8) or Medium at 1440p (382.2) suffice. For 4K gaming, even the Ultra preset (166.5 FPS) exceeds 144 Hz, though the Medium preset (223.7) provides more headroom. Importantly, the combo never falls below 60 FPS in any tested configuration, so there is no scenario where the hardware struggles to maintain playable frame rates.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel’s 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.10 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB L1 per core, 2 MB L2 per core, and 33 MB shared L3. In CS:GO, the data shows this CPU is the dominant performance driver at 1080p and 1440p. The 645.4 FPS at 1080p Low is a strong indicator that the processor’s single-thread performance — evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5003 and Geekbench single-core score of 2711 — is what matters most.

The i7-14700F’s multi-threaded capabilities are extensive, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35443 and PassMark multi-thread score of 41765. However, CS:GO, released in 2012, does not effectively utilize these resources. The combo’s rank of 916 out of 1605 in this game, despite the CPU’s 94th percentile overall ranking, confirms that the engine is not scaling with the 20 cores. The 28 threads provide no measurable benefit over a 6-core or 8-core processor in this title, as the frame rates are already above 400 FPS at most settings.

The CPU’s memory support for both DDR4 and DDR5, with a dual-channel bus, means system memory bandwidth is not a limiting factor. The ECC memory support and PCIe Gen 5 connectivity (16 lanes) are forward-looking features that do not impact CS:GO performance. The processor’s nearest rival, the Ryzen 9 9900X, scores only 0.6% higher on average, indicating that the i7-14700F is not losing meaningful ground to the competition in this game — the bottleneck is the game itself, not the CPU.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using TSMC’s 5 nm process, with 18,900 million transistors on a 159 mm² die. It has a base clock of 1830 MHz and a boost clock of 2460 MHz, with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU’s 3072 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 48 ROPs deliver a pixel rate of 118.1 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 236.2 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is 15.11 TFLOPS.

In CS:GO, the RTX 4060’s role becomes critical only at 4K resolution. The data shows that at 1080p and 1440p, the GPU has ample headroom, with frame rates limited by the CPU. However, at 3840x2160, the GPU’s 8 GB memory capacity and 128-bit bus become the limiting factors. The drop from 1080p Ultra (403.9 FPS) to 4K Ultra (166.5 FPS) is 58.8%, and the GPU’s 66th percentile ranking among all graphics cards reflects its mid-range positioning.

The RTX 4060’s nearest rivals — the RX 6600M (0.6% ahead), GTX 780 Ti (0.7% ahead), and Arc B580 (0.7% behind) — are all within 1% of its average benchmark score of 23181. This tight clustering indicates the GPU is at a performance plateau where architectural efficiency matters more than raw specs. The 24 RT cores and 96 tensor cores are irrelevant for CS:GO, which does not use ray tracing or DLSS. The GPU’s 115 W TDP and dual-slot design make it a power-efficient choice, but this efficiency does not translate to a high combo rank in CS:GO, where the 4K results are the weakest link in an otherwise high-performing system.