CS2 fps loves AMD CPUs with 3D V-Cache, but hates Intel E-Cores

pcgamesn.com:

Much as your CS2 fps is influenced by the settings you apply and the graphics card you use, the processor in your PC has a similar amount of sway. With this in mind, it turns out that AMD CPUs may be the chips of choice for those seeking to secure the highest frame rates (particularly those with 3D V-Cache). Strangely, though, it seems that efficiency cores are holding back out-of-the-box performance on Intel CPUs.

The AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D continues to prove itself as the best gaming CPU on the market right now, with the processor topping the charts of Counter-Strike 2 benchmarks conducted by Gamers Nexus. As the Ryzen 7 5800X3D follows closely behind its successor, it appears that Valve’s FPS happily makes use of the 3D V-Cache tech in these processors.

The Intel Core i9 13900K secures the bronze position, but exhibits troubling behaviors in both 1080p benchmarks, using the game’s ‘Low’ and ‘Medium’ graphics options. Its 0.1% lows fall well behind expectations, despite the impressive heights of its average and 1% low frame rates.

Investigating further, Gamers Nexus discovered that disabling the 13900K’s 16 efficiency cores saw 0.1% lows more than double, jumping from 91.1fps to 199.6fps. This same problem affects other LGA 1700 CPUs to a lesser degree, and we presume that this same solution will similarly alleviate frame rate woes.

It’s important to note that these tests were conducted with the CS2 fps cap of 400 frames per second in place, and Gamers Nexus is planning to release follow-up data with it removed. In the meantime, however, check out these other findings suggesting that Counter-Strike 2 seems to prefer Nvidia GPUs. The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 remains our favorite of the current generation lineup, but