4:3 Stretched Full Guide CS2

Full guide on what 4:3 stretched is, why you should be using it, and how to make the switch. I will cover the process in detail for Nvidia graphics cards for desktops, as well as laptops as the process is slightly different.

Why You Should Use Stretched

So if you don't actually know what a stretched resolution is, here's a quick rundown. Basically, you get stretched resolution by forcing CS2 into a different aspect ratio (I will be covering 4:3, but it will also work for 16:10). This causes an annoying phenomena called "black bars" which is where the game runs in the 4:3 aspect ratio but gives you annoying black bars down either side of your screen. This is quickly fixed by toggling a few buttons in settings. This gives you a sort of "zoomed in" view of everything that happens in-game. Essentially, all the player models get wider because of this and of course: wider model = easier target.
One drawback to this is that the player models appear to move faster across your screen. So for instance, if you are awping on a tight angle, a player could potentially be harder to hit because they appear to move faster. Of course, with practice you will get used to this and this one small trade off will be dwarfed in comparison to the advantage that stretched resolution will give you.
One other small drawback is that you can sometimes miss seeing someone who is hiding in a corner when you walk past. This can happen because of the "zoomed in" effect which causes some of the screen to be cut off which gives you a slight disadvantage in your peripheral. There is a statistically small chance of this happening (especially if you clear your corners properly) so it's not a huge deal.
Personally, I can honestly say that switching to stretched will make you a better player. I could definitely tell a difference when I made the switch and now I will never go back. Take it from me, you will never regret using stretched.
One quick remark before we dive in, this is specifically for Windows users who have an Nvidia/Intel graphics setup. Unfortunately, I am not familiar with other graphics cards so I will be leaving those out of this guide although I believe the process is similar.

Changing Your Aspect Ratio (all users)

The first step to getting to stretched resolution is to open CS2 and go into the settings. Go into the video settings. You should have a screen that looks like this:


You now need to do two things. First, make sure that "Display Mode" is set to "Fullscreen." Next, change your "Aspect Ratio" to "4:3."



This will make your screen do crazy things for about three seconds as your display adjusts to the new aspect ratio. (I will add a disclaimer here for all the super cautious people who may not be comfortable with changing settings in their computer or don't know a whole lot about computers in general: everything done in this guide won't hurt your computer or have any effects on your computer, it's perfectly safe). After your display adjusts, you should be set.
With the implementation of CS2 things have been made easier to stretch. Now (for most users) the system settings automatically do all the work and stretch. Previously you would end up with "black bars" which would look like this:


You will find that some people (even some professional CS2 players) will play in black bars (I believe Halzerk plays with black bars). I believe this is because it is what they are comfortable with (coming from CS 1.6) although I have also heard that it is less distracting. I don't know about you, but I have large screen for a reason and I am definitely going to use all of my screen: so don't use black bars. I will also note that I do not know how to force black bars in CS2 so if you are looking for a solution to that I cannot help you.
If your display automatically stretched and you don't have the black bars then skip down to where I discuss the different resolutions and then go have fun in CS2! If you did somehow end up with black bars keep reading.

Resolution Settings

After changing your aspect ratio you are going to want to change your resolution. I personally recommend 1280x960 but this will depend largely on personal preference and how good your PC is.


I would absolutely NOT recommend going any lower than 1280x960 because it starts to get super pixelated and all sorts of crazy. I have another discussion on resolution a little later.

Getting it to stretch (desktop users)

Here I am going to break the guide into two different users: desktop users and laptop users. The difference is simply what program has control of your display settings. Most laptops have an integrated graphics card whereas most desktop users simply have their normal graphics card control everything. That's the only difference. Laptop users have a few more steps but it is still a painless process if you know what you are doing.

So for desktop users. Some of you may have skipped the black bars completely and just found yourselves in a 4:3 stretched resolution right out of the gate. If this is you: amazing! You can skip this section and the next because you are already optimized. This can happen if your PC is already set to run everything at fullscreen which forces the 4:3 to stretch instantly without having to mess with the display settings. However, if you are on a desktop and did end up with black bars, keep reading because I have the solution for you.

Go to your home screen and right click on an empty space to bring up a list of settings. (I am running Windows 11 so it will look different if you have Windows 10 but everything else is the same). You are looking for "Nvidia Control Panel." On Windows 10 it should be listed there, but on Windows 11 you probably need to hit the "show more options" button to reveal its hidden location as shown here:



If you don't feel like dealing with this right-click nonsense you can also find it using the search bar:


Once in the control panel you should have a screen that looks like this:


In this window, you want to go into "Display" and then "Adjust desktop size and position." Simply hit the "fullscreen" button as shown and your problems should be solved. The game should now be in 4:3 stretched.

A quick comment before I move on: if you have multiple monitors you should be able to configure everything exactly how you want using this window. This would be useful if you have one monitor for browsing and one monitor for CS2, you would only have to change settings for your CS2 monitor.

Getting it to stretch (laptop users)

So for laptop users like me, you have a few more steps. If you were to open Nvidia Control Panel you would probably see a screen like this with no display options in the left column:


Don't worry. The reason for this is because you have an integrated graphics card (Intel in my case) which controls your display. This is fairly easy to fix.
With CS2 running, alt+tab into your device's settings and find the display settings:


Change your device's display resolution to match the resolution you set in the CS2 settings. Now, just alt+tab into CS2 and you should be rid of the black bars. Now you can alt+tab back to your device settings and switch back to native resolution and you should be set. You should not need to change your device settings after this since after you do this process once the PC figures out what's going on and will automatically adjust after this.
Congratulations. You have just completed a pro-gamer move.

Resolution Expanded

So you are probably wondering if you are stuck playing 1280x960 in CS2. Short answer: no, you can play in any supported resolution you want. There are also guides out there that explain how to add your own custom resolution although I will not be getting into that. Basically, the deal with your resolution is you want to start at a higher resolution and work your way down until you get a consistent frame rate. (to show your frame rate type "cl_showfps 1" into the CS2 console without the quotation marks. To hide the frame rate, type "cl_showfps 0" into the console without the quotation marks).


As you can see, I get a consistent 300 FPS at this resolution. I recommend playing at 1280x960, but if you find something you like better, or something that runs better on your PC, use that. Just make sure you go through the same steps above to get the game to stretch in that resolution.

Final Comments

Welcome to the stretched club! I promise that you will see the difference immediately. While the game will feel weird at first (sort of like everything has been stretched and you're playing at a lower resolution) you will get used to it after a few games, and the weird settings will cease to bother you once you start nailing those crisp one-taps.

I hope you found this guide helpful. If you have problems making the switch feel free to message me through steam and I will try to help you get things figured out so that you too can be a pro-gamer.

Leave your comments down below and don't forget to add a like: I would sincerely appreciate it. Start climbing that skill ladder and I will catch you all later!
~eldawg

Guide updated on 11/01/2023 to apply to CS2 and updated graphics drivers and command promps. Everything should work as planned now.

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[caohm-]

For people wondering why the game turns orange/pink. This is a Nvidia issue they gonna fix it in the next few days. Here the thread [www.nvidia.com] with info.
To temporaly fix it rollback your driver to 572.47

[flennii]

When switching to stretched res, my game also turns orange/pink or just more vibrant in general. Seems to be fine in 16:9. Any fixes?

[eldawg]

I would recommend checking your monitor's color settings to verify it didn't auto adjust your color settings for some reason. There are no game settings that change the color so I can't think of another reason why that would happen.

[Augy]

when I change to stretched my game gets very orange/pinkish. Please help

[eldawg]

Sorry. I am not familiar with AMD so I did not feel qualified to write about it.

[tony]

any amd graphics solutions?

[0scarPist0lius]

When I play in 4:3 mode the max res I can choose is 1600x1200 I dont get why

[eldawg]

No, it should not affect you. You should be able to play 4:3 stretched just fine on 1920x1080p. It is strange that your device does not support 1280x960 because it is a standard resolution. So when you go into the in game settings it does not give the option to change the resolution?
As I said in the guide, changing the resolution is popular because it is what pro players have been used to (coming from CS: Source and 1.6) as well as it might increase your fps. Basically just test each resolution until you find one that gives you a steady framerate (which is really hard to get in CS2 tbh). But it should not affect you playing stretched.

[excelsior力強く]

Hey, I have a laptop too, and the problem is that I don’t have 1280x960 resolution at all. My screen is 1920x1080 60hertz and it’s connected via integrated graphics card, not directly to my main graphics card. Can it somehow affect me not having the specific resolution that I want? My friend has a newer laptop which is FullHD+(1920x1200) and he has 1280x960, can this be an answer? I couldn’t find any info about that anywhere

[eldawg]

Bueno, definitivamente no recomendaría jugar con 800x600. Juego en 1280x960, que es con lo que me siento cómodo. Creo que también aumenta ligeramente mis fps. El estirado cuesta un poco verlo si no estás acostumbrado. Recomendaría buscar una vista de lado a lado de estirado y no estirado. Hace una ligera diferencia, pero para ser honesto, en realidad es solo una preferencia personal. (I used Google Translate so forgive me if it is awkward to read)