Counter-Strike 2
The transition from Global Offensive to Counter-Strike 2 marked the end of the DX9 era for Valve. The new Source 2 engine introduces physically based rendering and dynamic smoke that interacts with lighting, significantly changing the performance profile. While CS:GO was light on the GPU, CS2 requires a competent card to handle these effects without stuttering. It remains CPU-heavy at competitive settings, where the 'sub-tick' server architecture demands strong single-thread performance. CPUs with large L3 caches, like AMD's X3D line, offer a major advantage. 8GB of RAM is now the absolute minimum, though more is recommended to avoid hitches.
Actual FPS may vary based on RAM speed, background processes, and other system factors
Performance Report
At 1080p, all quality settings exceed 441 FPS, suitable for 144Hz+ monitors. At 1440p, all settings exceed 387 FPS. At 4K, all settings exceed 263 FPS.
The GeForce RTX 4090 is 136% above the recommended GPU (GeForce RTX 2070) for Counter-Strike 2. The Core Ultra 5 245 is 130% above the recommended CPU (Core i7-9700K).
No major FPS-ceiling mismatch detected. The GeForce RTX 4090 and Core Ultra 5 245 stay close in effective frame-generation ceiling across the tested resolutions and quality settings.
Approximated average price on current market:
Combo price: $1869. At 1080p Ultra, this combo delivers 441 FPS, equivalent to 0.24 FPS per dollar.
| Resolution | Low | Medium | High | Ultra |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1080p | 0.367 fps/$ | 0.309 fps/$ | 0.256 fps/$ | 0.236 fps/$ |
| 1440p | 0.324 fps/$ | 0.284 fps/$ | 0.236 fps/$ | 0.207 fps/$ |
| 4k | 0.188 fps/$ | 0.169 fps/$ | 0.159 fps/$ | 0.141 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, there is no clear winner.
The largest gap still appears at 4K Ultra, where the GeForce RTX 4090 reaches about 227 FPS, while the Core Ultra 5 245 still has headroom up to roughly 256 FPS.
That means neither part is consistently hitting its ceiling far ahead of the other. Across all tested settings, this pairing is GPU-limited in 4 out of 12 cases, CPU-limited in 2, and balanced in 6.
Overall, this is a balanced combination in this game.
Neither the Core Ultra 5 245 nor the GeForce RTX 4090 stands out as the consistent limiter in this game, so the better upgrade depends more on your target settings than on one obvious bottleneck.
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 Ultra 5 245 with GeForce RTX 5090, our current GPU anchor. To estimate the GPU ceiling, we pair the GeForce RTX 4090 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 130% above and your GPU is 136% above the recommended specs. Ultra settings at 1080p, or High at 1440p/4K.
+130%vsrecommended
+136%vsrecommended
+1478%vsminimum
+843%vsminimum
Yes, the Core Ultra 5 245 paired with the GeForce RTX 4090 can run Counter-Strike 2 smoothly up to 4k achieving around 263 FPS at Ultra quality. Your GPU is 136% above the recommended specs, and your CPU is 130% above the recommended requirements.
This CPU + GPU combo costs approximately $1,869 ($220 CPU + $1,649 GPU). This is a well-balanced setup, meaning you're getting good value from both components without significant waste.
This setup is already well-balanced for Counter-Strike 2. In the Performance Limiter Analysis, neither side consistently defines the maximum FPS across the tested presets. Across all tested settings, the distribution is 4/12 GPU-limited, 2/12 CPU-limited, and 6/12 balanced. In practice, this pairing behaves as a well-balanced combination in this game. Because of that, upgrading only one component would usually bring smaller gains than improving the overall pairing.
Counter-Strike 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.
Counter-Strike 2 requires at minimum a Core i5 750 (CPU) and GeForce GTX 660 (GPU) with 8 GB RAM and 85 GB storage. For the recommended experience, you need a Core i7-9700K and GeForce RTX 2070 with 16 GB RAM. Your Core Ultra 5 245 and GeForce RTX 4090 both exceed the recommended specs, so you're well-positioned for a great experience.
These Counter-Strike 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.
