Counter-Strike 2 is finally out. Here is a comprehensive guide on how you can optimize your PC and settings so that you can enjoy the game with the maximum FPS possible.
The new era of CS has begun. Counter-Strike 2, the most anticipated update to the franchise, is here. The game is available as a free update to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and with this, the legacy of CS:GO has also ended.
Counter-Strike 2 borrows the fundamentals of CS:GO and takes it to the next level. Utilizing the power of the Source 2 engine is marked as the most significant technical leap forward in Counter-Strike’s history. The new game features better lighting and environment rendering, new responsive smokes, sub-tick servers, and an overall better visual and sound experience.
As CS2 is updated with modern features, it requires a better system to run the game smoothly compared to CS:GO. So many gamers who enjoyed CS:GO with high FPS might not experience the same with CS2.
But you can obviously make the experience better. So, in this guide, we will help you optimize your settings so that you can boost your FPS in CS2 and have better, smoother gameplay.
Read More: Best Counter-Strike 2 Maps for Premier Matchmaking
Best Video Settings to Increase FPS
Having high FPS in competitive shooter games always gives you an edge over your competitors. CS2 is no exception. Although it is heavier on system resources as compared to CS:GO, proper tweaks in settings can increase your FPS.
The first step to increasing fps is to tweak in-game video settings. Here, we will list the best video settings for maximum fps in CS2.
Video Settings
| Category | Optimal Settings | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Main Menu Background Scenary | Any | The background scene is only applicable to the main menu |
| Color Mode | Computer Monitor | Applicable for color accuracy |
| Brightness | 110%* | Increases visibility |
| Aspect Ratio | 4:3* | Stretched mode increases FPS |
| Resolution | 1280×960* | Lower resolution increases FPS |
| Display Mode | Fullscreen | Fullscreen decreases input-latency |
| Refresh Rate | Maximum | Set it to your monitor’s native refresh rate (Hz) |
| Laptop Power Savings | Disabled |
Advanced Video Settings
| Category | Optimal Settings | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Boost player contrast | Disable | Increases FPS slightly |
| Wait for vertical sync | Disabled | Enabling will lock FPS and increase input lag |
| Current video values preset | Custom | |
| Multisampling Anti-Aliasing Mode | None* | None will provide better FPS |
| Global Shadow Quality | Low* | Low will provide better FPS |
| Model / Texture Detail | Low | Low will provide better FPS |
| Texture Filtering Mode | Bilinear | Bilinear will provide better FPS |
| Shader Detail | Low | Low will provide better FPS |
| Particle Detail | Low | Low will provide better FPS |
| Ambient Occlusion | Disabled | Low will provide better FPS |
| High Dynamic Range | Performance | Performance will provide better FPS |
| FidelityFX Super Resolution | Performance* | Improves FPS slightly but makes the visual blurry and edgy. |
| NVIDIA Reflex Low Latency | Disabled | For weaker CPU increases FPS |
Note: These settings will provide more FPS. However, some of the settings can also degrade visual clarity. So, we recommend you change the (*) settings according to your personal preference. For better guidance, we suggest you go through this link.
Best Windows Settings to Increase FPS
Some Windows settings tweaks can improve performance and increase fps in CS2.
Windows Power Plan
- Go to Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Power Options .
- Choose High Performance under Preferred Plans
Disable Visual Effects
- Go to the Windows search bar and type Advanced System Settings. Select View Advanced System settings.
2. Select Advanced tab. Go to Settings under Performance.
3. Select Visual Effects tab. Choose Adjust for best performance options and press Ok.
Disable Unnecessary Startup Applications
Some applications start up automatically when you boot your Windows. These applications use resources that you can free up to make game performance better.
To disable Startup Applications, follow these steps :
- Go to Windows Task Manager.
- Select Startup tab. Here, you will see the applications that are enabled to start up automatically with Windows. Search for the applications that are not necessary and set the status to Disable for those.
Windows Game Mode Settings
Windows 10 has a built-in Game Mode setting. Enabling this mode allows Windows to allocate your computer’s resources efficiently. This will help to run CS2 with fewer lags and stutters.
To turn Game Mode on, follow these steps :
- Go to Windows Search Bar and type Game Mode settings.
- From the Settings, toggle the Game Mode option to On.
Delete Windows Temp Files
Windows saves temporary files on memory while running applications. These files are unnecessary after some period and are just junk files. You can delete these temporary files to clean up some memory and boost your PC performance.
To remove Temp files, follow these steps:
- Go to Windows Search Bar and type Run.
2. A dialogue box will pop up. Type %temp% in the dialogue box and press enter. This will redirect you to your Windows Temp folder.
3. Delete everything inside the Temp Folder. You may need to authorize administrator permission to do that.
Steam Launch Options
You can use these commands in the Steam launch options of CS2. These commands will help to optimize your game settings and, therefore, increase FPS.
- -novid: Skips the game’s intro video, reducing the time it takes to launch.
- -tickrate 128: Set the game’s tick rate to 128.
- -high: Sets the game’s priority to high CPU usage, which can improve performance on some systems.
- +fps_max 0: Removes the default FPS cap, allowing the game to run at the highest possible FPS.
- -nojoy: Disables joystick support, which can free up system resources and improve performance.
- +violence_hblood 0: Disables blood effects, which can improve performance on some systems.
- -softparticlesdefaultoff: Disables soft particles, which can improve performance on some systems.
Nvidia Control Panel/ AMD Radeon Settings
You can optimize your GPU settings to make the best output from CS2. These settings will make the game more responsive, smoother and boost your fps.
Nvidia Control Panel Settings
Open the Nvidia Control Panel and go to Manage 3D settings.
Set the settings like below :
- Image Scaling – Off
- Ambient Occlusion – Off
- Anisotropic filtering – Off
- Antialiasing – FXAA – Off
- Antialiasing – Gamma correction – Off
- Antialiasing – Mode – Off
- Background application Max Frame Rate – Off
- CUDA – GPUs – All
- DSR – Factors – Off
- Power management mode – Prefer maximum performance
- Preferred refresh rate – Application-controlled
- Shader Cache Size – Driver Default
- Texture Filtering – Anisotropic sample option – OFF
- Texture Filtering – Negative COD bias – Allow
- Texture Filtering – Quality – High performance
- Texture Filtering – Trilinear optimization – On
- Threaded optimization – Auto
- Triple buffering – Off
- Vertical sync – Off
- Virtual Reality pre-rendered frames – 1
- Virtual Reality – Variable Rate Super Sample – Off
- Vulkan/OpenGL present method – Auto
AMD Radeon Settings
Open AMD Radeon Software. Go to Gaming tab and choose Graphics. Set Global Graphics Profile to Custom.
Set the Graphics Option settings like below :
- Radeon Super Resolution – Off
- Radeon Anti-Lag – Off
- Radeon Chill – Off
- Radeon Boost – Off
- Radeon Image Sharpening – Off
- Radeon Enhanced Sync – Off
- Wait for Vertical Refresh – Off
- Frame rate target control – Off
- Anti-Aliasing – Use application settings
- Anti-Aliasing method – Multisampling
- Morphological Anti-Aliasing – Off
- Anisotropic Filtering – Off
- Texture Filtering Quality – Standard
- Surface Format Optimization – On
- Tesselation Mode – AMD optimized
- OpenGL Triple Buffering – Off
- 10-Bit Pixel Format – Off
That’s it! Following all these steps will allow you to have an optimized in-game performance in CS2.
Note that this setting is provided to maximize the overall FPS in CS2. It may not result in the best visuals. If you want to optimize the settings more for a better visual experience, check out this guide.
Read More: How Does the Weekly Care Package System Work in Counter-Strike 2?
