If you want every competitive advantage in Counter-Strike 2, your settings matter more than your aim. The difference between default settings and optimized settings can be 50-100 FPS and noticeably less input lag. These settings are used by pro players and tested on hardware ranging from GTX 1060 to RTX 4090 as of February 2026.
Best CS2 Settings at a Glance
Copy these into your game right now for the biggest immediate improvement:
Resolution: 1280×960 (stretched) or 1920×1080 (native)
Display Mode: Fullscreen
Global Shadow Quality: Medium
Model/Texture Detail: Medium
Shader Detail: Low
Particle Detail: Low
Ambient Occlusion: Disabled
Multisampling Anti-Aliasing: 4x MSAA
Texture Filtering Mode: Bilinear
FidelityFX Super Resolution: Disabled
V-Sync: Disabled
Multicore Rendering: Enabled
NVIDIA Reflex Low Latency: Enabled (if NVIDIA GPU)
Display Settings
Resolution is the most debated CS2 setting. Two camps dominate the competitive scene:
1920×1080 (Native 16:9): Maximum clarity, widest field of view, no distortion. Best for holding angles and spotting enemies at distance. Used by roughly 40% of pro players.
1280×960 (Stretched 4:3): Player models appear wider, making them easier to hit at close range. Slightly higher FPS. Used by roughly 50% of pro players including s1mple and ZywOo.
To use stretched 4:3, set your resolution to 1280×960 in CS2, then in your GPU control panel, set display scaling to Full-screen (not Aspect Ratio). On NVIDIA: Control Panel then Display then Adjust desktop size and position then Full-screen.
Display Mode: Always use Exclusive Fullscreen. Windowed and borderless add 5-15ms of input lag.
V-Sync: Always Disabled. V-Sync adds up to 50ms of input lag, which is unacceptable for competitive play.
Graphics Settings Breakdown
The goal is maximum FPS with minimum visual clutter. Enemies need to be visible, but fancy effects just distract you.
Global Shadow Quality: Medium. Shadows on Medium still show player shadows, which give away positions. Setting to Low removes player shadows entirely, which is a competitive disadvantage.
Model/Texture Detail: Medium. Medium provides clear player models without using excessive VRAM. High and Very High offer no competitive advantage.
Shader Detail: Low. Reduces visual noise from lighting effects. Low makes the game look flatter but enemies stand out more against surfaces.
Particle Detail: Low. Reduces smoke, fire, and explosion particle density. This can slightly improve visibility through molotov fire.
Ambient Occlusion: Disabled. AO adds realistic shadows to corners and edges. It looks nice but tanks FPS by 10-15% and has zero competitive benefit.
Anti-Aliasing: 4x MSAA. Smooths jagged edges on player models, making them easier to spot at distance. Anything above 4x is diminishing returns for the FPS cost.
Texture Filtering: Bilinear. The lowest setting. Textures at distance look slightly blurrier, but the FPS savings are worth it and it has no impact on player visibility.
FidelityFX Super Resolution: Disabled. FSR upscales a lower resolution image, which adds a slight blur. At competitive CS2 distances, this blur can make enemy heads harder to spot.
NVIDIA Reflex Low Latency
If you have an NVIDIA GPU, enable NVIDIA Reflex Low Latency in CS2 settings. This reduces render latency by 10-30ms depending on your system.
Set it to Enabled (not Enabled + Boost). The Boost option forces your GPU to maintain high clock speeds, which increases power consumption and heat without significant latency improvement in CS2.
Per-GPU-Tier Recommendations
Budget (GTX 1060, RX 580, equivalent):
Resolution: 1280×960 stretched, all settings Low except Shadows Medium. Target: 150+ FPS.
Mid-range (RTX 3060, RX 6700 XT):
Resolution: 1920×1080 or 1280×960, settings as recommended above. Target: 250+ FPS.
High-end (RTX 4070+, RX 7800 XT+):
Resolution: 1920×1080, can raise Textures and Shadows to High. Target: 400+ FPS.
CS2 benefits from high frame rates even on 144Hz monitors because of how the Source 2 engine handles input sampling. Higher FPS equals lower input lag regardless of your refresh rate.
Launch Options
Open Steam, right-click CS2, Properties, and add these launch options:
-novid -tickrate 128 -high
-novid skips the intro video. -tickrate 128 sets the local server tick rate for practice. -high sets process priority to high for more consistent frame times.
Do NOT add -threads, -nojoy, or other outdated launch options from CS:GO. Most of these are either ignored or harmful in CS2.
Windows Optimization
Game Mode: Enable Windows Game Mode (Settings then Gaming then Game Mode). Despite outdated advice to disable it, Game Mode in Windows 11 correctly prioritizes game processes.
Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling: Enable in Settings then Display then Graphics then Change default graphics settings. This reduces render latency by 1-3ms.
Power Plan: Set to High Performance in Control Panel then Power Options. The Balanced plan throttles CPU clock speeds during gameplay.
Mouse Settings
In-game sensitivity: Personal preference, but most pros use 400-800 DPI with 0.5-2.0 in-game sensitivity. The eDPI (DPI multiplied by sensitivity) sweet spot is 600-1000 for most competitive players.
Raw Input: Enabled. This bypasses Windows mouse acceleration.
Windows Pointer Speed: Set to 6/11 (the default middle notch). Any other value applies acceleration.
Enhance Pointer Precision: Disabled. This is Windows mouse acceleration and it must be off for consistent aim.
FAQ
Is 4:3 stretched actually better than 16:9?
It depends on your playstyle. 4:3 stretched makes models wider and slightly easier to hit at close range, but reduces your peripheral vision. If you hold angles and play passive, 16:9 is better. If you entry frag and take close fights, 4:3 is better.
Should I cap my FPS in CS2?
Only if your frame times are inconsistent. If you get 400+ FPS but with frequent drops to 200, capping at 300 can make the game feel smoother. Use fps_max 300 in console.
Do CS2 settings affect competitive matchmaking rank?
Not directly, but better settings mean higher FPS and lower input lag, which means your aim translates to the game more accurately. Many players report immediate rank improvement after optimizing settings.
What about NVIDIA DLSS in CS2?
CS2 does not currently support DLSS natively. Do not enable FSR as a substitute for competitive play, as it adds blur that hurts target acquisition.
Why do pros play on low settings with expensive hardware?
Two reasons: maximum FPS for minimum input lag, and reduced visual clutter so enemies are easier to spot. A player on low settings at 400 FPS has a measurable advantage over someone on high settings at 200 FPS.
