Like everyone else playing Counter-Strike, we here at TLDR are also wondering about how we can improve our PC performance.
So we scoured the Internet for tips, tricks and ultimately reached out to the famous FPS-fixer Beddy to see what could be done about our problems. Beddy has helped people like jkaem and Chet Singh from 100 Thieves, RUSH from Complexity and STYKO from GODSENT to get huge FPS improvements in game.
After much convincing, Beddy agreed to share his standard setup, plus some of his secret tips, that will guarantee you an improvement of 50-100 FPS depending on your system.
In this guide we'll be covering several topics, some simple and some more advanced. None of them will require you to install external programs or put your PC at risk however.
Why do I have low FPS in CS:GO?
There are several reasons to having a low FPS (if you don't know how to check your FPS in CS:GO, check this video), but the most normal are:
- The constant game updates are making the game harder to run for your PC
- Your PC might not be set up correctly, or you have too many processes running
- Your processor, graphics card or game is set up wrongly
How can I fix low FPS in CS:GO?
This is where the magic happens. To start out, we will have to make sure that you have run a FPS test to have benchmark to compare before and after this guide. Usually people will experience boosts of up to 100 FPS by following this guide, but it depends very much on the systems.
Creating a FPS benchmark in CS:GO
1: Download the Steam Workshop map FPS Benchmark and run it without altering anything. Once it is done, write down your FPS benchmark so you have something to compare it to once we're done.
2: Once you have run the test, use the map to change your cvar's to this:
{% c-block language="js" %}
cl_autohelp 0;
cl_disablefreezecam 1;
cl_disablehtmlmotd 1;
cl_showhelp 0;
cl_freezecameffects_showholiday 0;
gameinstructor_enable 0;
mat_queue_mode -1;
r_drawtracers_firstperson 0;
r_dynamic 0;
{% c-block-end %}
3: Test again and write down what your new result is.
Note: Changing r_dynamic to 0 will change the way lighting works in the game, and even though it gives a slight boost you might consider not using it.
Result
We experienced a 14 FPS increase by changing the cvars.
Optimize your CS:GO settings for high FPS
Alright, with the cvars out of the way, we are now going into the things that already should be set up, but just in case we'll go over it anyway.
- Go to settings > Video > Advanced Video
- Essentially you want to put everything to {% c-line %}low{% c-line-end %} or {% c-line %}disabled{% c-line-end %}
- Multicore Rendering should be set to {% c-line %}enabled{% c-line-end %} though
- Texture Filtering Mode needs to be {% c-line %}bilinear{% c-line-end %}
You can see what it looks low on the below screenshot:
Optimize your PC settings for high FPS
Processor settings
How to avoid FPS drops in CS:GO? That's an age-old question, and changing your Processor settings for CS:GO might be one of the actual answers. The theory is that your different cores have different tasks during your gaming session.
Core 1 (by some math logic, called 0) mostly takes care of everything else than CS while you play. So in this guide we're going to teach you how to avoid it being used for CS at all, which will let it focus on its other tasks, consequently eliminating stutters and drops to some extent.
- Open CounterStrike and go to the desktop
- Open your Task Manager by pressing {% c-line %}ctrl + alt + delete{% c-line-end %}
- Click on {% c-line %}more details{% c-line-end %} to expand the list
- Then click on {% c-line %}details{% c-line-end %} in the top menu, and locate "csgo.exe"
- Right click on "csgo.exe" and click {% c-line %}set affinity{% c-line-end %}
- Now uncheck "CPU 0" and make sure everything else is checked, and click "OK"
- You'll need to do this every time you open CS:GO as it resets upon closure. You can automate it using process lasso.
Result
We experienced less FPS drops after completing this step.
Graphics card settings
In order to maximize your FPS in game, you will need to change the way your PC handles the frames the game produces. The setting we're mostly interested in is called "Low Latency Mode", which controls how many frames are prepared by the CPU before it hands the task off to the GPU.
Here's how to change it:
- Right click on your desktop
- Click the NVIDIA Control Panel icon
- Click {% c-line %}manage 3d settings{% c-line-end %}
- Pick "Ultra" in the dropdown for {% c-line %}low latency mode{% c-line-end %}
If you have problems with other programs crashing after doing this, make sure to change it from {% c-line %}ultra{% c-line-end %} to {% c-line %}on{% c-line-end %}
Result
We experienced a 25 FPS increase by changing this from Off to Ultra.
Windows performance settings
Deleting temporary files
One of the easiest ways you can improve your ingame performance is simply to delete your temporary and prefetched files. All the files that are clogging up your memory and processes, might actually minimize the impact of the rest of your changes in here, so always make sense to remove these.
How to do it:
- Press the {% c-line %}windows +r{% c-line-end %} key at the same time. That will open a run-prompt like this:
- Now write "prefetch" and click {% c-line %}ok{% c-line-end %}. This will open a folder with all of your temporary files. Use {% c-line %}ctrl + a{% c-line-end %} to mark them all and {% c-line %}shift + delete{% c-line-end %} to permanently delete them from your system
- Now repeat step 1 + 2 with %temp% and temp.
- If you want to make sure you have removed all temporary files, you can download CCleaner and run it to catch any other processes that clogs up your system.
Result
We experienced a 21 FPS increase by deleting these files.
Power options
Most people have already got their power options sorted, but did you know that most PCs actually has a "Ultimate Performance" power options that's hidden by default?
To change that, first check if it is available.
- Press the {% c-line %}windows key{% c-line-end %} and search for "Choose a power plan". It will probably have two options: Balanced and High Performance.
If that is the case, here is how you get the hidden Power plans to show up:
- Press the {% c-line %}windows key{% c-line-end %}
- Write "cmd" and hit {% c-line %}enter{% c-line-end %}
- Now copy this command {% c-line %}powercfg -duplicatescheme e9a42b02-d5df-448d-aa00-03f14749eb61{% c-line-end %} and right click to paste it into the Command Prompt. Hit {% c-line %}enter{% c-line-end %}.
- Once again search for "Choose a power plan" and change to {% c-line %}ultimate performance{% c-line-end %}
Result
We experienced a slight increase after changing this, but we had tweaked our Power settings before.
Changing Spotify and Discord settings
Not as much of an improvement as a fix. If you use Discord or Spotify while you play CS:GO, you need to make sure that they're not using "Hardware Acceleration" as it taxes your GPU and thus impacts your game.
In Discord, click on "User Settings" in the bottom left (the cogwheel) and locate "Appearance". In there make sure that Hardware Acceleration is not switched on:
In Spotify, click the three dots in the top left corner and navigate to "View" and make sure that there's no check mark next to "Hardware Acceleration":
Final words
Following this guide should give you an improvement of between 50-100 FPS depending on how powerful your PC is. Remember to always have these points in mind before you check your FPS:
- Close programs that you don't use during your gaming sessions (Skype, Discord, Spotify, Antivirus etc)
- Scan and remove threats to your PC with an antivirus program
- Keep your Windows up to date
- Keep your PC clean, you filthy animal. Take it apart once in a while and make sure to clean out dust from your important parts. Yes, those.
If you're still not satisfied, we would recommend you reaching out to Beddy on Twitter for a 1:1 session where he improves your FPS.
He might even have a few secret tricks or two up his sleeve that can turn your potato into a monster.
