Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

The Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the Intel Arc B390 presents an extreme imbalance in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, where a top-tier 20-core processor is shackled by a 9th-percentile integrated GPU. The benchmark data shows that this combination ranks 2510th out of 2848 tested combos in this game, placing it in the bottom 12% of all systems. While the CPU is a powerhouse—sitting in the 94th percentile of all processors and trading blows with the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (within 0.2%)—the Arc B390's integrated nature (80W TDP, system-shared memory) makes it the definitive bottleneck. The measured frames per second (FPS) reveal a system that can hit playable rates at lower resolutions but struggles to maintain high refresh rate performance at 1440p or 4K, making this a configuration for 1080p esports play rather than high-fidelity competitive gaming.

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core i7-14700K strong enough for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive?

A: Absolutely. The i7-14700K scores 33,440.5 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 2,160 in single-core, placing it in the 94th percentile of all CPUs. It outperforms the AMD EPYC 9115 by 0.1% in average benchmark score, though it trails the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X by 0.2%. The CPU is not the limiting factor in this configuration.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to other GPUs?

A: The Arc B390 is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) with a 3nm Panther Lake chip. It sits in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, scoring 1,482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1.3% faster) and the NVIDIA GeForce 800M (1.5% faster), which are both legacy mobile parts, indicating this GPU is entry-level at best.

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU+GPU combo in CS:GO?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 is the only viable resolution for high-performance play. At 1080p Low settings, the combo averages 303 FPS, which drops to 223 FPS on High settings. At 2560x1440, the best average is 208 FPS on Low, while 4K tops out at 123 FPS on Low settings, which is too low for competitive play.

Q: Which settings preset provides the highest frame rate?

A: The Low preset provides the highest frame rate at every resolution. At 1080p, Low yields 303 FPS, which is 45 FPS higher than Medium (258 FPS) and 113 FPS higher than Ultra (190 FPS). The gap widens at higher resolutions, with Low at 4K (123 FPS) beating Ultra at 4K (77 FPS) by 46 FPS.

Q: Can this combo maintain a stable 144Hz experience?

A: Only at 1080p with Low or Medium settings. At 1080p Low, the combo averages 303 FPS, and at Medium it averages 258 FPS with a minimum of 219 FPS. At 1080p High, the average drops to 223 FPS, but the minimum is unrecorded, making Medium the highest preset with a confirmed minimum above 144 FPS.

Q: How does this combo rank against other tested systems?

A: This combination ranks 2510th out of 2848 tested combos in CS:GO. This places it in the bottom 12% of all configurations, which is consistent with the GPU's 9th-percentile ranking. The CPU's strength does not compensate for the integrated graphics' limitations in this title.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is the sole graphics processor in this configuration, and its specifications reveal why this combo underperforms. It is an integrated part with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz, consuming only 80W. Critically, its memory is "System Shared," meaning it relies on the host system's RAM rather than dedicated VRAM. The GPU has 1,536 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 24 ROPs, along with 12 ray tracing cores. Its pixel rate is 60.00 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 120.0 GTexel/s.

In CS:GO, a game from 2012, the engine is typically CPU-bound, but this GPU's performance profile still limits the overall output. The Arc B390's FP32 throughput is 7.680 TFLOPS, which is modest, but the lack of dedicated video memory is the more significant issue. With "System Shared" memory and "System Dependent" bandwidth, the GPU must compete with the CPU for memory access, which can cause frame pacing issues and lower average FPS in scenarios with many textures or dynamic lighting.

The measured FPS data confirms the GPU is the bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 303 FPS, but this drops to 190 FPS at Ultra. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the FPS would remain relatively flat across settings changes. Instead, the 113 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p indicates the GPU's shading units and memory bandwidth are being saturated. The Arc B390's 9th-percentile ranking, rivaled by the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 (2.7% slower), positions it as a basic display adapter, not a gaming GPU. For CS:GO, this means the GPU will determine the ceiling for frame rates, and that ceiling is low enough to prevent high-refresh-rate play at 1440p or above.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a clear pattern of GPU limitation. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 303 at 1080p to 208 at 1440p, a 31.4% reduction, and then to 123 at 4K, a 59.4% reduction from 1080p. This steep decline is characteristic of a GPU that is heavily stressed by increasing pixel counts. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rate would remain more consistent across resolutions, since rendering resolution does not significantly affect CPU load in this game.

The scaling at High settings tells a similar story: 223 FPS at 1080p, 154 FPS at 1440p, and 91 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K is 59.2%, nearly identical to the Low preset drop. This consistency across presets suggests that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are the limiting factors, not the settings themselves. The Arc B390's 24 ROPs and 60.00 GPixel/s pixel rate can handle 1080p, but at 4K, it must process four times the pixels, overwhelming its capabilities.

The data also shows diminishing returns at lower resolutions. The gap between 1440p and 1080p is 95 FPS at Low settings, while the gap between 4K and 1440p is 85 FPS. This indicates that the GPU has more headroom at 1080p, but it is still not enough to maintain the same FPS as a dedicated GPU would. For CS:GO, the resolution scaling data suggests that 1080p is the sweet spot for this combo, with 1440p being playable but at reduced frame rates, and 4K being borderline unplayable for competitive play.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of this combo's performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best results: 303 FPS on Low, 258 FPS on Medium, 223 FPS on High, and 190 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset has recorded minimum and maximum values of 219 and 296 FPS respectively, indicating a stable frame delivery. The 1080p results show that even the Ultra preset is playable, with 190 FPS being above the 144Hz threshold, though the minimum FPS is not recorded for Ultra.

At 2560x1440, performance drops significantly. Low settings average 208 FPS, Medium averages 177 FPS with a minimum of 151 FPS and maximum of 204 FPS, High averages 154 FPS, and Ultra drops to 131 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 151 FPS is just above the 144Hz mark, making it the only settings preset at 1440p that can sustain a 144Hz refresh rate in most scenarios. The Ultra preset's 131 FPS average is below 144Hz, which would result in screen tearing or require V-Sync, which introduces input lag.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles. Low settings average 123 FPS, Medium averages 105 FPS with a minimum of 89 FPS and maximum of 120 FPS, High averages 91 FPS, and Ultra drops to 77 FPS. None of these averages meet the 144Hz threshold, and even the 60Hz threshold is only comfortably met at Low settings (123 FPS) and marginally at Medium (105 FPS). The 4K results confirm that this combo is not suitable for 4K gaming in CS:GO, as the GPU cannot handle the pixel count required.

The pattern across all resolutions is consistent: Low settings provide the highest FPS, followed by Medium, High, and Ultra. The delta between Low and Ultra is 113 FPS at 1080p, 77 FPS at 1440p, and 46 FPS at 4K. This shrinking delta at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU is becoming the absolute bottleneck, and reducing settings has less impact because the GPU is already saturated with pixel processing.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of the Intel Core i7-14700K and Intel Arc B390 ranks 2510th out of 2848 tested combos in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. This places it in the bottom 12% of all systems tested, which is a surprising result given the CPU's pedigree. The i7-14700K is a 20-core, 28-thread processor with a 5.60 GHz boost clock, and it scores 69,355 in average benchmark, placing it in the 94th percentile of all CPUs. It outperforms the AMD EPYC 9115 by 0.1% in average score, and it is only 0.2% behind the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X.

The GPU, however, drags the entire combo down. The Intel Arc B390 has an average benchmark score of 1,482, placing it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1.3% faster) and the NVIDIA GeForce 800M (1.5% faster), both of which are ancient mobile parts. The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1,482 is a fraction of what a modern dedicated GPU would achieve.

The rank of 2510 out of 2848 indicates that most other tested combos, even those with weaker CPUs, outperform this one because they have dedicated GPUs. The CPU's high percentile (94th) does not translate to high FPS in CS:GO because the game's frame rate is ultimately capped by the GPU's rendering capabilities. This creates a situation where the system is severely underutilized—the CPU is capable of far more, but the GPU cannot feed it enough frames. The combo's rank is consistent with the GPU's 9th-percentile performance, suggesting that for this game, the GPU is the sole determinant of overall ranking.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the user's display refresh rate and resolution preference. For 1080p displays, the Low preset provides the highest frame rate at 303 FPS average, which is ideal for competitive play on 240Hz or 360Hz monitors. The Medium preset at 258 FPS is also excellent, and its recorded minimum of 219 FPS ensures that it will not drop below 144Hz in any scenario, making it the safest choice for high-refresh-rate gaming. The High preset at 223 FPS is still above 144Hz, but the lack of a recorded minimum makes it riskier for maintaining a stable frame rate. Ultra at 190 FPS is playable but offers diminishing returns in visual fidelity for the FPS loss.

For 1440p displays, the Medium preset is the best choice. It averages 177 FPS with a minimum of 151 FPS, ensuring a stable 144Hz experience. The Low preset at 208 FPS is faster but may have visual artifacts, and the High preset at 154 FPS is borderline, with the minimum FPS unrecorded. The Ultra preset at 131 FPS is below 144Hz and should be avoided for competitive play.

For 4K displays, no settings preset provides a 144Hz experience. The Low preset at 123 FPS is the only option that exceeds 60Hz comfortably, making it the recommended choice for casual play. The Medium preset at 105 FPS is playable but may dip to 89 FPS in heavy scenes, which could cause noticeable stutter. High and Ultra presets (91 and 77 FPS) are not recommended, as they fall below the 60Hz threshold in some scenarios.

The overall recommendation is to prioritize frame rate over visual quality with this combo. CS:GO is a competitive esports title where higher FPS translates to lower input latency and smoother aim. The data clearly shows that the Low or Medium presets at 1080p provide the best balance of performance and stability, with the Medium preset offering a confirmed minimum FPS above 144Hz. For players with 1440p monitors, Medium is the only preset that guarantees a 144Hz minimum, while 4K should be reserved for less competitive play.