The first glimpse of Counter-Strike 2 was a visual treat, a symphony of colors capturing the picture-perfect scenery of different re-worked maps, giving us a feast for the eyes.
After playing CS:GO for many years, its successor felt like a breath of fresh air with the Source 2 lighting, destructible objects and the water behavior which gave it an extra touch of realism.
As most players were in awe, one of the main community’s concerns was the system requirements it takes to run the game at a playable FPS.
Global Offensive managed to reach a wider audience due to its minimal requirements as most PCs could handle the game with ease. However, is it the same for CS2?
Credit: ValveContents
CS2 system requirements
If you were running CS:GO on the bare minimum, then your machine is most likely to struggle with CS2 considering the shift to a newer engine.
Unlike other games, 60 fps doesn’t feel as smooth or optimal, so you might need to upgrade your PC components after checking the system requirements below.
Minimum requirements for Windows:
OS: Windows 10.
Processor: 4 hardware CPU threads – Intel® Core⢠i5 750 or higher.
Memory: 8 GB RAM.
Graphics: Video card must be 1 GB or more and should be a DirectX 11-compatible with support for Shader Model 5.0.
DirectX: Version 11.
Storage: 85 GB available space.
Minimum requirements for SteamOS + Linux:
OS: Ubuntu 20.04
Processor: 4 hardware CPU threads – Intel® Core⢠i5 750 or higher.
Memory: 8 GB RAM.
Graphics: AMD GCN+ or NVIDIA Kepler+ with up-to-date Vulkan drivers. Support for VK_EXT_graphics_pipeline_library is highly recommended.
Storage: 85 GB available space.
Sound Card: Highly recommended.
System upgrade suggestions:
According to multiple tests from the community, AMD builds seem to be the optimal choice for CS2. The new Ryzen 7800X3D CPU is more efficient than an i7 14700k with double the frame rates.
However, if you’re looking for a budget option, then the Ryzen 5 5600X for about $150 is a great pick.
For graphic cards, the RX 6600 pairs well with the Ryzen 5 5600x. This budget build runs CS2 anywhere from 200-250 fps on 1080p resolution and low settings.
If you have more cash to splash, then the Nvidia RTX 3060 or AMD’s RX 6700XT are good mid-range GPUs for even higher framerates.
Last but not least, you can always ball out for the best components available on the market, for a more future-proof performance. The NVIDIA Geforce RTX 4090 and Radeon RX 7900 XTX are the end-game graphics cards so far, but before you purchase any component, make sure to do your own research and ask around to avoid performance issues and bottlenecks.
Budget PC build for CS2:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor ($156.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black Edition 42 CFM CPU Cooler ($49.99 @ B&H)
Motherboard: MSI B550 GAMING GEN3 ATX AM4 Motherboard ($109.99 @ B&H)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($41.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Kingston NV2 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($53.44 @ Amazon)
Video Card: XFX Speedster SWFT 210 Radeon RX 6600 8 GB Video Card ($219.95 @ Amazon)
Case: Deepcool CC560 ATX Mid Tower Case ($62.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CX650M (2021) 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Best Buy)
Total: $774.33
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available)
High-end PC build for CS2:
Credit: WePCCPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz 8-Core Processor ($348.94 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master MASTERLIQUID ML240L RGB V2 65.59 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($98.49 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B650 AORUS ELITE AX ATX AM5 Motherboard ($219.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-5600 CL36 Memory ($104.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($129.99 @ Adorama)
Video Card: Gigabyte WINDFORCE OC GeForce RTX 4070 12 GB Video Card ($549.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT H7 Flow ATX Mid Tower Case ($129.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair RM850x (2021) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($129.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1712.37
