Counter Strike 2 is one of those competitive games that doesn’t require an ultra-modern configuration to run. It has to be said that the title’s basic graphics mean that it is not very greedy, so that a majority of machines can run it. However, this is a CPU-dependent game, and what happens if you push a 7.5 GHz i9 14900K coupled with an RTX 4090? If some purists are to be believed, the result is a game barely playable at 1000 FPS.
i9 14900K @7.5 GHz RTX 4090 = a CS2 running at 1000 FPS!
To test all this, Der8auer pushed his processor to a stable frequency of 7.4 GHz. Of course, we’re getting into the extreme overclocking category, so he used liquid nitrogen for cooling. As for the motherboard, we had an ASUS ROG Maximums Z790 Apex Encore, while the graphics card was none other than an RTX 4090. The results came in very quickly: on this first test, the game ran at 959 FPS. With the CPU running at 6.00 GHz, we gain 159 FPS!
Then, with RAM optimization and a small 100 MHz frequency increase, the overclocker managed to exceed the symbolic 1000 FPS mark. However, it seems that the limit has been reached. In fact, even going even higher: 7.8 GHz, there was no improvement in framerate.
However, it should be pointed out that Der8eur used OBS Studio to capture these images. During the operation, the software must have pulled a little on the hardware, losing a few FPS in the process.
Of course, this is just a demonstration of strength: in absolute terms, you don’t need an i9 14900K running at 7.5 GHz. But it also shows the evolution of framerate gains as a function of CPU frequency.