Team Fortress 2
A Valve classic that depends heavily on single-thread clock speed. It runs well on older hardware but benefits from a fast CPU.
Actual FPS may vary based on RAM speed, background processes, and other system factors
Performance Report
At 1080p, all quality settings exceed 140 FPS. At 1440p, all settings exceed 140 FPS. At 4K, all settings exceed 140 FPS.
The GeForce RTX 5090 is 13634% above the recommended GPU (GeForce 8600 GT) for Team Fortress 2. The Core i5-6500 is 156% above the recommended CPU (Core 2 Duo).
The Core i5-6500 sets the FPS ceiling at all 1080p settings, all 1440p settings, all 4k settings, while the GeForce RTX 5090 still has headroom.
Approximated average price on current market:
Combo price: $2823. At 1080p Ultra, this combo delivers 140 FPS, equivalent to 0.05 FPS per dollar.
| Resolution | Low | Medium | High | Ultra |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1080p | 0.050 fps/$ | 0.050 fps/$ | 0.050 fps/$ | 0.050 fps/$ |
| 1440p | 0.050 fps/$ | 0.050 fps/$ | 0.050 fps/$ | 0.050 fps/$ |
| 4k | 0.050 fps/$ | 0.050 fps/$ | 0.050 fps/$ | 0.050 fps/$ |
* Table values represent FPS per Dollar (higher is better)
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This chart answers a simple question: which upgrade is more likely to increase FPS first? In this case, the answer is clearly the CPU.
The largest gap appears at 1080p Low, where the Core i5-6500 reaches about 140 FPS, while the GeForce RTX 5090 still has headroom up to roughly 483 FPS.
That means the Core i5-6500 is hitting its performance ceiling first, leaving a 71% gap versus the GeForce RTX 5090's available headroom in the most unbalanced scenario. Across all tested settings, this pairing is CPU-limited in 12 out of 12 cases, with 0 GPU-limited and 0 balanced results.
Overall, this is a clearly CPU-bound combination in this game.
The Core i5-6500 is consistently the limiting part in this game, so upgrading the CPU is more likely to deliver a larger FPS gain than upgrading the GPU.
This chart shows which upgrade is more likely to unlock more FPS in each tested setting. The lower line represents the part that reaches its limit first. When the CPU and GPU lines stay close together, the system is more balanced. When the gap widens, one component is more clearly holding the other back. Hover any setting to inspect it.
The lower line is the current limiter. The closer the two lines are, the more balanced the CPU and GPU are for this game.
Each line represents an estimated FPS ceiling for one component, rather than live usage alone.
To estimate the CPU ceiling, we pair the Core i5-6500 with GeForce RTX 5090, our current GPU anchor. To estimate the GPU ceiling, we pair the GeForce RTX 5090 with Ryzen 9 9950X3D, our current CPU anchor.
The lower line indicates the current limiter, since that component reaches its FPS ceiling first. In most scenarios, that is also the part most likely to deliver the bigger performance uplift if upgraded first.
The percentage shown represents the gap between the two ceilings. In practical terms, it shows how much of the stronger component's potential is left unused because the weaker one becomes the bottleneck first.
See how your processor and graphics card compare against the game official minimum and recommended system specs. The placement of your hardware is calculated using relative synthetic performance scores to help you gauge overall playability.
Your CPU is 156% above and your GPU is 13634% above the recommended specs. Ultra settings at 1080p, or High at 1440p/4K.
+156%vsrecommended
+13634%vsrecommended
+87%vsminimum
+2472%vsminimum
Yes, the Core i5-6500 paired with the GeForce RTX 5090 can run Team Fortress 2 smoothly up to 4k achieving around 140 FPS at Ultra quality. Your GPU is 13634% above the recommended specs, and your CPU is 156% above the recommended requirements.
This CPU + GPU combo costs approximately $2,823 ($123 CPU + $2,700 GPU). Since the CPU is the main limiting factor, investing in a stronger processor will improve your framerates and overall value. For example, the Ryzen 9 9950X is a great upgrade option for around $649 (Rank #4 for value).
For Team Fortress 2, upgrading the CPU would usually improve performance first. In the Performance Limiter Analysis, the Core i5-6500 is the side that most often caps the frame rate, while the GeForce RTX 5090 still has additional headroom in the tested presets. The main bottleneck appears on the CPU side. The largest gap shows up at 1080p Low, where the CPU reaches about 140 FPS while the GPU still has headroom up to roughly 483 FPS. Across all tested settings, the distribution is 0/12 GPU-limited, 12/12 CPU-limited, and 0/12 balanced.
Team Fortress 2 does not currently support Frame Generation technologies like DLSS 3 or FSR 3. Your performance is based entirely on native rendering. If the game adds support in a future update, newer GPUs will benefit the most.
Team Fortress 2 requires at minimum a Pentium 4 (3.0 GHz) (CPU) and GeForce 6 series (GPU) with 1 GB RAM and 15 GB storage. For the recommended experience, you need a Core 2 Duo and GeForce 8600 GT with 2 GB RAM. Your Core i5-6500 and GeForce RTX 5090 both exceed the recommended specs, so you're well-positioned for a great experience.
These Team Fortress 2 FPS results are not arbitrary numbers. They come from calculations informed by thousands of real gaming benchmarks, and the typical accuracy range is around 10% to 15%. That makes them far more useful than generic FPS calculators that simply invent values without a benchmark foundation. Actual in-game performance can still vary with drivers, updates, RAM configuration, cooling, and the exact scene being rendered.
Performance estimates are based on synthetic benchmarks and hardware capabilities.
Results may vary based on drivers, OS, and background processes.
