In October last year, Valve officially announced the official sequel to "CS:GO" "CS2", due to the use of the new Source 2 game engine, "CS2" texture materials, light reflections and game content have improved a lot compared to "CS:GO", of course, the upgrade of the game also means that the player's console configuration requirements have been improved. Today, we're going to talk to you about how to get esports gamers to play CS2.
When playing esports FPS, frame rate and latency are important
Presumably, gamers who like esports games have an indisputable consensus on games - that is, "frame rate is king". Frame rate is the number of frames rendered in real-time in a game, and the higher the frame rate, the more frames are rendered per unit of time. According to the visual persistence effect, as long as 24 frames are refreshed in one second, that is, 24fps, the human eye can see a smooth movie picture. However, because the game is a static frame that is rendered instantly, and the frame generation time is uneven, a higher frame rate is required to ensure a smooth picture.
On the current PC side, 60 fps is the standard smooth frame rate for games, and 60 fps is smooth enough for RPG games or sandbox games, but in esports games that can be won or lost in milliseconds, the frame rate of 60fps can be said to be completely unsatisfactory. Blurry and ghosting at 60fps can make it difficult for players to see the enemy's movements, which can be fatal in intense battles, and even if the target is found, the sluggish operation caused by the low frame rate will seriously affect the player's performance, coupled with the refresh rate delay of the server's own tick judgment, the higher the natural frame rate, the better. CS2 is an esports FPS game, and the frame rate in the game directly determines your fate against the gun.
In addition, latency is also a major concern in esports games, and while increasing the frame rate is the most immediate way to reduce latency, there is a limit to this improvement. In a typical graphics-intensive game, the GPU is always running in the rendering queue, and although it helps to maximize the frame rate, the input instructions for each frame and peripherals such as the keyboard and mouse need to go to the CPU first, then enter the GPU rendering queue, and finally render on the display.
NVIDIA introduced the concept of "frame wins" in the RTX 20 era, which greatly improves the player's battle experience by improving the performance of the graphics card to provide gamers with higher frame rates. In the RTX 40 era, the addition of DLSS 3 has made the frame rate performance of graphics cards take another leap forward, and it also supports NVIDIA REFLEX Low Latency technology.
REFLEX LOW LATENCY TECHNOLOGY KEEPS THE CPU AND GPU IN PERFECT SYNC, DYNAMICALLY REDUCING THE RENDER QUEUE, SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCING THE BURDEN ON THE PROCESSOR, AND IF THE BOOST FUNCTION IS TURNED ON, IT CAN ALSO INCREASE THE GPU FREQUENCY AND SPEED UP RENDERING, FURTHER REDUCING GAME RESPONSE LATENCY. In addition, REFLEX not only reduces the pressure on the processor, but also allows the game to sample the input instructions of the mouse at the last minute, minimizing latency, making the operation of players more handy and smooth in esports games.
RTX 4060 in CS2: "Frame" e-sports, experience silky smooth game battles
Test platform
Graphics: Gigabyte RTX 4060 Magic Eagle OC
Processor: Intel Core i7 14700K
Motherboard: GIGABYTE Z790 Ice Sculpture X
内存:金士顿DDR5 7200 16GB×2
HDD: WD_BLACK SN850X 2TB
Power supply: GIGABYTE Magic Eagle 1300PG5
Operating system: Windows 11 Professional
Considering the habits of CS2 players and the monitors we used for this test, we first tested with 1080p resolution and maximum image quality presets, turning off VSsync and FSR, and testing the game by playing back the game footage and recording the game's average frame rate and 1% low frame rate in a game.
It can be seen that at the highest image quality of 1080p, the average frame rate of the game in CS2 is 237fps, and the 1% low frame rate is 128fps, which is already a relatively smooth level for most esports players. However, the frame rate is still much lower than that of CS:GO, after all, CS2 has a large upgrade in terms of image quality and game content compared to CS:GO, so it has higher requirements for configuration.
1080P highest image quality
Next, we also tested the 4:3 display ratio, which is commonly used by many CS gamers and pros, and at 1440×1080 resolution, CS2 averaged 289fps and 1% Low fps at 145fps, which is quite smooth. If it is a more "e-sports" 1280×960 resolution, the average frame rate can reach more than 320fps, fully realizing the e-sports-level frame rate.
1440×1080 highest quality
The settings are optimized, and the average frame rate is increased by 100fps
As you can see from the above test, even if the new "CS2" puts forward higher requirements for hardware configuration, the RTX 4060 graphics card can still cope well, and can bring good frame rate performance at 1080P maximum image quality, which is enough to meet the needs of the vast majority of gamers for game smoothness. However, the overall improvement of the game's FSR function is not much at low resolution, and CS2 supports FSR 1 technology, which is more recommended for players who use high-score gaming screens but pursue higher frame rates.
For those who are only used to using a 1080p gaming monitor with "gaming" resolution, how to effectively increase the game frame rate? If the player directly applies the game's built-in graphics presets, the gap between the high and low graphics presets will be very large, and even bring competitive disadvantages, so we need to manually set the game to balance the image quality and frame rate.
In the picture settings of "CS2", there are three options that have a greater impact on the frame rate: the first is "Multisample Anti-Aliasing Mode", there is almost no difference between the measured 4X MSAA and 8X MSAA images, it is recommended to use 4X MSAA directly; the second is "Particle Detail", players who pursue the frame rate can turn on the lowest, and if they want to keep some particle effects, they can turn on medium or high; Finally, there is the global shadow effect, if the global shadow effect is on/ Low, you can't see the shadow of the room, you may suffer in actual combat, it is recommended that players open high.
In terms of other settings, the new "Character Contrast Enhancement" feature in CS2 has a stroke effect when the character outline is turned on, and you can turn it on and off according to your own experience. "Model Texture Detail" and "Light and Shadow Detail" don't have much of an impact on the gameplay experience, but if you want to appreciate the more detailed model textures and gun skins in CS2, you can also drive high. It is recommended to select 4X or more in the "Texture Filtering Mode" so that the model in the distance will not be too blurry. "Ambient Occlusion" and "High Dynamic Range" also have little impact on the game experience, but the lighting and shadow effects in "CS2" have been enhanced, and players may feel that the picture is too bright in some scenes, and "Ambient Occlusion" can make the light softer, so I personally recommend turning it on.
After optimizing the settings, the game has achieved a considerable increase in frame rate while maintaining the image quality. At 1080p, the game's average frame rate reached 351 fps, which is nearly 100 fps higher than the highest quality preset. At 1440×1080 resolution, the average frame rate exceeds 400fps, an increase of 144fps, and can be used with a professional gaming monitor to bring an extremely silky gaming experience.
1080P optimized settings
1440×1080 optimized settings
FINALLY, LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT THE GAME'S LATENCY, WITH SUPPORT FOR NVIDIA REFLEX TECHNOLOGY ADDED TO CS2. The ROG Mewtwo 24 MAX PG248QP monitor used in this test platform is equipped with the NVIDIA REFLEX Latency Analyzer, which gives us a chance to see first-hand the low latency benefits of REFLEX. OF COURSE, IF YOU WANT TO EXPERIENCE THE FULL VERSION OF REFLEX, YOU ALSO NEED TO USE PERIPHERALS THAT SUPPORT REFLEX, AND HERE WE USED THE CORSAIR DARK CORE RGB PRO GAMING MOUSE FOR TESTING.
In CS2, we tested the CS2 game with a 60Hz refresh rate with REFLEX off and a 500Hz refresh rate with REFLEX+BOOST turned on. In 10 consecutive firing tests, the average latency was 18.47ms with REFLEX off, and with REFLEX+BOOST on, the average latency was reduced to 9.98ms, which is a significant improvement of about 46%. And as you can see from the line chart, the stability of REFLEX has also been improved, which is more helpful for players.
Luxury dessert Gigabyte RTX 4060 Magic Eagle OC
Higher frame rates and lower latency can help gamers achieve a greater winning advantage, which requires a powerful RTX 40 graphics card, such as the GIGABYTE RTX 4060 OC that participated in the test. It adopts the new family design of the 40 series Magic Eagle, the iconic Wind Power 3 fan cooling system is particularly eye-catching, the three 8cm diversion fans adopt a forward and reverse design to enhance the heat dissipation airflow, and the oil seal bearings equipped with nano graphene lubricating oil have a service life comparable to ball bearings.
In the heatsink part, the graphics card is equipped with a composite heat pipe that touches the GPU directly, and with the extended heat sink fins on the back reserved air intake grille, it provides higher thermal conductivity and builds a more reasonable case heat dissipation duct. A full-size metal backplate is installed on the back of the graphics card, and an L-shaped corner design is adopted on the top of the graphics card, which greatly increases the rigidity of the graphics card and makes it more resistant to deformation after long-term use. In terms of materials, the GIGABYTE RTX 4060 Magic Eagle OC has reached the Ultra Durable Gen 2 standard, featuring low temperature, low power consumption, and long life, making it more stable and reliable to use.
The GIGABYTE RTX 4060 OC also features a dual BIOS design that allows you to switch between overclocking and silent mode with one click, allowing gamers to quickly switch between overclocking and silent mode according to their needs. In terms of personalization, the GIGABYTE RTX 4060 Magic Eagle OC supports RGB Fusion lighting synchronization, which can be freely adjusted in the GIGABYTE Smart Manager software. In terms of specs, the GIGABYTE RTX 4060 Magic Eagle OC also exceeds the public version, with a core boost clock of up to 2550 MHz (2460 MHz for the public version), and the power limit can be manually increased by 13%, so the performance is better and there is more room for overclocking.
Summary: If you want to play online without losing money, the first choice is the RTX 40 graphics card
CS2 has comprehensively upgraded the game's graphical performance, retaining the classic traditional gameplay while enhancing the performance of game details, while the powerful performance of the RTX 40 graphics card and various "black technology" blessings make it an ideal partner for the "universal" e-sports game "CS2". Based on our tests today, the GIGABYTE RTX 4060 Magic Eagle OC was able to achieve an excellent gaming frame rate in CS2, with optimized settings to exceed 400fps. WHEN PAIRED WITH NVIDIA REFLEX LOW-LATENCY TECHNOLOGY, IT CAN BRING GAMERS EXTREMELY SMOOTH, SILKY GRAPHICS AND A PRECISE, LOW-LATENCY CONTROL EXPERIENCE, ALLOWING PLAYERS TO GAIN A GREATER COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN GAME BATTLES AND ACHIEVE MORE EYE-CATCHING KDA. If you want to play CS2, consider pairing it with a Gigabyte RTX 4060 OC with a powerful RTX 40 graphics card.