Recommended Video Settings for Beginners

Counter-Strike 2 prioritizes visibility and performance over graphics quality. Most competitive players reduce graphics settings significantly to maintain high, stable framerates. Start by setting Resolution to your native monitor resolution. If you have a high-refresh monitor (144Hz+), aim for 1440p or lower to maximize FPS. If your monitor is 60Hz, 1080p is sufficient.

Set Motion Blur to OFF—this is crucial for tracking moving targets. Shadows should be LOW or OFF as they can obscure enemy positions. Texture detail and material quality can be set to LOW without significantly impacting visibility. Disable FXAA and use the resolution itself for anti-aliasing, as FXAA adds latency.

Set your Vertical Sync (V-Sync) to OFF. V-Sync can add input lag and limit FPS to your monitor's refresh rate, which is undesirable in competitive play. Target FPS: aim for at least 120+ FPS on your target resolution. A good benchmark is 1.5-2x your monitor's refresh rate for smooth gameplay.

Launch Settings: set your FPS limit appropriately. If your monitor is 240Hz, set the limit to 280-300 FPS. This provides a buffer and ensures consistent frame delivery. In the settings menu, you can also reduce particle effects, which helps with visibility during smokes and nades.