Best CS2 Settings for Max FPS [Advanced Tweaks Included]
Let's face it - playing any competitive eSports game is not supposed to be a visually stunning experience - but a smooth one. Even if you have a solid PC that can provide a few hundred FPS in Counter-Strike 2, you still want to ensure that there are no hiccups or FPS drops, because this can allow you to have a tactical advantage over other players who are struggling with this issue.
However, by default, the settings of CS2 are completely not optimized for the smooth gameplay experience, which means you'll have to tweak the game settings by a lot, in order to gain the maximum frames per second. This article is your all-in-one solution for increasing FPS in CS2 because we are going to reveal the best settings for max FPS in CS2
In-Game Settings
Below, you will find all the in-game settings that can make your FPS significantly increased in Counter-Strike 2. Keep in mind that if you have a low-end PC, you will simply need to upgrade some components. However, these settings work for most of the players, as they are carefully tried and tested, aiming to have the smoothest and lag-free gaming experience in CS2.
Video Settings
Video settings won't drastically improve your FPS, but it's still an important aspect of FPS tweaks. Here, you should set your display mode to Fullscreen, and set a resolution and refresh rate according to which monitor you have. Usually, if your monitor supports high refresh rates, make sure to set the highest possible option. This will not boost your FPS, but a higher refresh rate is a significant advantage in competitive shooting games like Counter-Strike 2. As for the brightness, feel free to set it according to personal preference. Lastly, make sure to disable the Laptop Power Savings.
Advanced Video Settings
On the other hand, advanced video settings are the most important aspect of CS2 FPS optimization. By default, CS2 will most likely set everything on high settings, based on how good your PC components are. However, this is only a good idea if you have a gaming beast that can run any modern games on ultra settings.
Most likely, that’s not the case, and with that being said, here is how we tweaked advanced video settings on our PC where we tested various settings in CS2, and came up with the best ones.
| Setting | Value | Note |
| Boost Player Contrast | Enabled | Improves player visibility, preventing players from blending in and giving you an advantage |
| Wait for the Vertical Sync | Disabled | Saves GPU resources, increasing your FPS |
| Multisampling Ant-Aliasing Mode | 4X MSAA (Set lower for an increased FPS) | Increases the visual clarity |
| Global Shadow Quality | High (Set to medium for an increased FPS) | Gives you a huge tactical advantage, because shadows have an important aspect in CS2 |
| Model/Texture Detail | Medium | A good balance between the visual appearance and performance |
| Texture Filtering Mode | Bilinear | Improves the texture appearance without an impact on the FPS |
| Shader Detail | Low (Can be set to medium too) | Lowers the details of all the shaders, increasing the FPS |
| Particle Detail | Low | Decreases the details of particles, and increases the FPS |
| Ambien Occlusion | Medium | This value will bring gameplay advantage with minimum FPS impact |
| High Dynamic Range | Performance | Favors performance over quality, which improves FPS |
| FidelityFX Super Resolution | Disabled (Highest Quality) | It’s best to keep it disabled, as enabling will cause a weird visual appearance |
| NVIDIA Reflex Low Latency | Enabled | Improves in-game latency |
Game Settings
From the options menu, go to the Game Settings and make sure to disable the "Install Counter-Strike workshop tools" and enable the developer console. The first option will simply prevent CS2 from downloading workshop tools, which could impact the overall game performance, and enabling the developer console will allow you to utilize various commands.
Steam Settings
Launch Settings
When it comes to launch options, you can simply use the same ones as in the screenshot below. Essentially, the "-high" will prioritize CS2 and allow your CPU to be more oriented toward it. As for threads, make sure to find out how many threads your CPU has and add 1 more to the value. For instance, if your CPU has 4 threads, use 5 in the launch option. It's worth mentioning that it's not guaranteed that using those settings will increase your FPS, but some players claim that it has significantly boosted their FPS, so you may as well give it a try.
Library Settings
Library settings are quite straightforward - simply open the Steam settings and navigate to the Library, where you should switch on “Low Bandwidth Mode” and “Low Performance Mode”. This will decrease the CPU usage of Steam and improve your FPS slightly.
PC Tweaks for Better CS2 FPS and Performance
The first and the most obvious thing to do is close all the apps and programs that you are not currently using. For example, if you have Discord and Chrome open while playing CS2, this will put a significant load on your CPU, thus decreasing the FPS.
What you can also do is turn off all the apps running in the background by holding the Windows button + R, and typing gpedit.msc, then navigate to Computer Configuration/Administrative Templates/Windows Components/App Privacy. There, double click the "Let Windows apps run in the background" option, proceed to "Enabled", and in the Options switch the Default for all apps option to "Force deny", and click "OK".
To make the best out of Windows 11 and CS2, head to Settings/Graphics and click on the CS2 icon listed down below. There, select "Options" and then "High performance", and make sure to save it.
Next, make sure to turn off the Xbox game bar by going to your PC settings/Gaming/Game Bar and switching it off there.Â
For more advanced performance tweaks, check out the GitHub page where you can find various Windows 11 performance tweaks in one place. Finally, head to the CS2 game folder, usually located in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common. Then, right click on cs2.exe, go to Compatibility, and disable fullscreen optimization, then click apply.
FAQ
What are the minimum specs for CS2?
The minimum specs for CS2 are Intel Core i5 2500k or AMD FX-6300, 4 GB of RAM, GTX 1060 or AMD RX 580, as well as at least 60 GB of storage. However, those specs are not a good option for competitive gameplay, since they will deliver low FPS.
What are the additional ways to increase the FPS in CS2?
You can further increase the FPS by tweaking your graphic card settings, where you can optimize your graphic card to boost the CS2 and give you additional FPS. However, this is quite advanced and should only be done with caution.
What is the best resolution for FPS in CS2?
Usually, most of the players go with default resolutions, which can sometimes be too big, and decrease the FPS. For optimum FPS, the best resolution is usually 1920x1080.
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