How to Improve FPS in CS2?

When you play shooters, your main goal should be maximizing your hardware’s FPS (frames per second), not pretty graphics tuning.

Professional gamers play shooters on low settings, except for Global Shadow Quality, Texture Filtering Mode, and Boost Player Contrast, which are set higher.

All gamers have at least once asked how to maximize FPS, and we are here to answer it. We know what we are talking about; you can see by reading How to Fix Low FPS in Valorant (Actual Guide) or The Best Graphics Settings To Improve Your FPS In Dota 2.

CS2 again recently released an update.

Highlights

• A guide to setting up your computer and game to maximize FPS in CS2

Common Low FPS Issues

To understand how to increase FPS, you must first understand why your game runs slower than Internet Explorer.

Is it an update? Is it just a settings issue? Or is there more to this issue? This is the first step to understanding the CS2 low FPS problem.

The following are the most common problems:

• PC hardware does not meet the minimum system requirements for the game
• Background applications or processes consuming resources
• The graphic card and processor bottlenecks or faulty hardware in general
• Virus or malware infection
• Outdated graphics drivers

If your computer meets the game’s minimum requirements, we can help you increase your FPS.

Ways to Increase FPS

Close Background Applications

Disabling background applications

If you haven’t already, we’ll start with the easiest one. If you’ve already done it, skip to the next step.

Background applications can steal valuable resources stealthily, so it’s better to close them:

• Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc at the same time to open Task Manager
• The Processes tab displays applications and their resource usage (CPU, memory). Look for programs you don’t need while playing but still take up space.
• Once found – right-click on the programs you want to close and select “End Task”.

Update the Graphics Processor Drivers

Outdated drivers can reduce performance. Follow the steps below to improve game performance:

1. Right-click on your desktop and select “Display Settings“. Go to “Advanced Display,” and under “Adapter Properties,” you will find information about your graphics card.
2. Now, go to the website of your video card manufacturer (NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel). Find the driver for your model that is compatible with your version of Windows.
3. Download and run the installer. It would help if you chose the clean install option to remove any remaining files from previous drivers.

Game Mode in Windows

Game Mode

To still squeeze out some FPS, activate Windows Game Mode.

Search for “Game Mode” in the Windows search bar. Flip the switch to the “On” position to allocate more system resources for gaming while running.

In addition, there is another hidden feature:

• Right-click “This Computer” and select “Properties.”
• Go to Advanced System Preferences > Advanced tab > Performance section.
• Click “Settings,” and under “Visual Effects,” select “Customize for better performance“.

While it may seem counterintuitive after our advice, sometimes, with other settings, you may want to try disabling game mode. Some players say that this results in better performance.

Launch Options For FPS

Launch options are the commands that CS2 executes once opened, bypassing any other settings in the game.

1. Right-click Counter-Strike 2 in the game library in the main Steam window.

2. Select “Properties” from the menu

3. A new window will open. Click on the “INSTALL START OPERATIONS” button.

4. another new window will open. In it, you can prescribe various startup parameters. Each new startup parameter starts with a dash or plus. DO NOT separate the startup parameters with a comma or semicolon; there must be a space between the different startup parameters.

5. Click OK and Close, and you are done!

Useful commands:

• +fps_max – Removes the frames per second limit.
• -nojoy – Removes joystick support from the game, freeing up resources.
• -high – Runs CS2 with high priority.
• -fullscreen – Forces CS2 to run in fullscreen mode.
• +r_dynamic 0 – Removes dynamic lighting from the game, thus increasing FPS.
• -vulkan – Switches the rendering mode from DX11 to Vulkan. This may improve FPS for some PCs and not for others. Test this on yourself to see if it helps.
• -threads # – Sets the number of threads used by CS2 (replace # with the number of CPU cores + 1).
• -mat_queue_mode 2 – Can improve CPU performance.

FidelityFX Super Resolution от AMD

If your processor is AMD, you have another advantage. This system renders lower resolutions so that the difference is almost invisible.

• Launch CS2 and go to the Settings menu.
• Go to the “Video” tab and find the “Advanced Video” section.
• You should see the “FidelityFX Super Resolution” option and turn it on.

Commands in File cs2_video.txt

In the CS2 configuration folder, find the file cs2_video.txt, where you configure the commands “CPU level”, “GPU level,” and “gpu_mem level”. Change these values to “1”. Players say it works.

Disable Full Screen Optimization

Disable Full Screen Optimization

• Open this folder, C:Program Files (x86)SteamsteamappscommonCounter-Strike Global Offensivegamebinwin64
• Right-click on cs2.exe and select Properties
• Go to the Compatibility Tab and check the Disable FullScreen Optimisation box.

Video Settings

16:9 1920×1080

4:3 1024×768

The video settings are individual. The settings we present below differ only in the screen resolution you select.

• Brightness: 100% – 130%
• Aspect Ratio: 16:9
• Scaling Mode: Native
• Resolution: 1920×1080/ 1024×768/ 1280×960
• Display Mode: Fullscreen
• Refresh Rate: Maximum (60hz – 144hz or 240hz)
• Laptop Power Savings: Disabled

The field of view will be larger at a resolution of 1920×1080. The models will be thicker at a resolution 1280×960, and the field of view will be smaller.

As many players rightly note, one universal setting to eliminate low FPS does not exist. We will leave you a link to Reddit, where you can also find helpful comments.

Advanced Video Settings

• Boost Player Contrast: Enabled
• Wait For Vertical Sync: Disabled
• Current Video Values Preset: Custom
• Multisampling Anti-Aliasing Mode: None – Increase it if you see shimmering on objects. Depending on your PC’s capabilities, you can choose between 4X MSAA and 8X MSAA.
• Global Shadow Quality: Very High – You can set the value to High, it won’t be scary. You get an advantage if you can see the enemy’s shadows, so don’t neglect it.
• Model / Texture Quality: Low
• Texture Filtering Mode: Bilinear
• Shader Detail: Low
• Particle Detail: Low
• Ambient Occlusion: Disabled
• High Dynamic Range: Quality

It depends on the player’s computer, as this setting is quite resource-intensive. The goal is to minimize input lag during gameplay.

• Fidelity FX Super Resolution: Depends on your system specs. If you have a low-end system, go for performance.
• NVIDIA Reflex Low Latency: Enabled + Boost

To further enhance your gaming experience, customize the crosshair, radar, and audio. The corresponding settings are in the article Best CS 2 Settings: In-game, Graphics, and System.

To customize the crosshairs, use this article: Best CS2 Pro Crosshairs (Codes) 2024.

Nvidia and AMD Video Card Settings

NVIDIA Control Panel

We’ll delve into key Nvidia settings to help you get the most out of CS2.

• Image Sharpening: 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: Highest Available
• Shader Cache Size: Driver Default
• Texture Filtering: Anisotropic sample option: On
• Texture Filtering: Negative COD bias: Allow
• Texture Filtering: Quality: High performance
• Texture Filtering: Trilinear optimization: On
• Threaded optimization: On
• Triple buffering: Off
• Vertical sync: Off
• Low Latency Mode: On
• Multi-Frame Sampled AA(MFAA): Off
• Open GL Rendering GPU: On

For maximum FPS, dig into AMD: Adrenalin Edition software settings. Go to the Gaming section and select cs2.exe. Set the following settings:

• Radeon Super Resolution: Disabled
• AMD Fluid Motion Frames – Manual: Disabled
• Radeon Anti-Lag: Enabled
• Radeon Chill: Disabled
• Radeon Boost: Disabled
• Radeon Image Sharpening: Disabled
• Radeon Enhanced Sync: Disabled
• Wait for Vertical Refresh: Always Off

Change Your PC Power Plan

1. Press the Windows + R keyboard shortcut.

2. Type the command powercfg.cpl and click Run.

3. Click the drop-down list icon next to “Show advanced options“.

4. Select the “High performance” mode.

5. Reboot a computer.

High-performance

Upgrade Your Equipment

This is the most extreme and drastic step if everything else works. Consider upgrading your hardware:

1. Keep an eye on your CPU; if it’s constantly running at maximum while playing CS2, upgrading to a processor with more cores and a higher clock speed can significantly improve performance.
2. If your graphics card is explicitly trying to maintain the desired frame rate and visual settings but is performing poorly, upgrading your graphics processor will probably be the most effective solution.
3. Make sure you have enough RAM to keep CS2 running smoothly. 4GB or more is recommended for the most stable gameplay.

How to Enable FPS in CS2

The easiest and most convenient way to start displaying FPS is to begin the frame counter in Steam. To enable FPS, you need to:

• Launch the Steam app.
• Press the “Settings” button in the upper right corner.
• Select the item “In Game“.
• Look for a checkmark in the item “Display frame rate“.
• Check the box if it is not there.
• In the end, it will remain to determine where the counter will be for the FPS demonstration. Usually, users place it in the upper left corner of the screen.

Enable the display of FPS in Counter-Strike 2 can be enabled on the console:

• Launch CS2.
• Open the game panel.
• Enter the command in the opened window: cl_showfps 1.
• Start the counter by pressing the “Enter” key.

Summary

We suggest you take a look at the article Who is Donk? Player Career and His Settings in CS2. You will be able to see the settings of a professional player and understand what he was focused on.