[EN] How to enable Vulkan API in Counter-Strike 2

The Vulkan API is a powerful tool for optimizing graphics applications, including games, by giving developers direct access to the graphics resources of a video card. Including Vulkan in a Counter-Strike 2 game can improve performance and graphics quality, making gameplay smoother and more responsive. In this guide, we'll look at how to enable Vulkan in CS2 and optimize it for the best gaming experience. We will also provide the minimum and recommended system requirements to run CS2 using the Vulkan API.

Introduction

What is Vulkan?

Vulkan is an open, multi-platform graphics API (application programming interface) designed specifically for use in 3D applications, mainly video games. Created by the Khronos Group, Vulkan aims to provide more efficient management of graphics resources on Vulkan-enabled devices such as computers, smartphones and tablets.

Why Vulkan in games?

Performance: Vulkan offers a lower level of abstraction than previous APIs, allowing game developers to more efficiently manage graphics processing unit (GPU) resources. This results in improved performance and smoother gaming experience.

Multiple Device Support: Due to its multi-platform nature, Vulkan is supported on a variety of devices and operating systems, allowing developers to create games that can run on a wide range of devices.

Lower overhead: Vulkan provides the ability to maximize performance optimization by reducing the overhead of system calls and data processing.

Support for new technologies: Vulkan supports modern graphics technologies such as ray tracing and virtual reality, which allows you to create more realistic and immersive game worlds.

System requirements for Vulkan API and CS2

Requirements for Counter Strike 2

Minimum

OS: Windows® 10

• Processor: 4-thread processor - Intel® Core™ i5 750 or better
  
• RAM: 8 GB RAM
  
• Video card: 1 GB or more, DirectX 11 compatible and Shader Model 5.0 supported
  
• DirectX: versions 11
  
• Disk space: 85 GB

Recommended

• Processor: Intel® Core™ i5-7500 / AMD Ryzen 5 1600
  
• Video card: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 6 GB / NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1650 4 GB / AMD Radeon RX 580
  
• RAM: 12 GB
  
• Operating system: Windows 10 / 11 64-bit
  
• Disk space: 85 GB
  
• DirectX: DX 11

Information taken from the official CS2 page on the Steam marketplace.

Vulkan API requirements

To run an application or game that uses the Vulkan API, the following minimum requirements must be met:

Operating system (OS):

• To run applications that use Vulkan, you need an operating system that supports this API. Typically this is Windows (starting with Windows 7), Linux or Android. MacOS also has some support for Vulkan through MoltenVK, but this support is limited.
  
• To fully support Vulkan, it is recommended to use the latest versions of operating systems and update drivers to the latest versions.
  

• Video card:

• To run Vulkan, you need a video card that supports this API. Almost all modern video cards released after 2012 support Vulkan.
  
• For optimal performance with Vulkan applications, it is recommended to use graphics cards from NVIDIA, AMD or Intel, which have good Vulkan support and provide high performance.
  

• Drivers:

• You need up-to-date drivers for your video card that support the Vulkan API. They are usually provided by video card manufacturers (NVIDIA, AMD, Intel) on their official websites.
  
• It is important to regularly update your drivers to the latest versions for optimal compatibility and performance.
  
• Additionally, depending on the specific application or game, there may be additional hardware or operating system version requirements. Therefore, it is recommended to always check the system requirements for a particular application or game before launching it.

Vulkan API[www.vulkan.org]
Vulkan API AMD Support[www.amd.com]
Vulkan API Nvidia Support[developer.nvidia.com]
Nvidia Drivers[www.nvidia.com]
AMD Drivers[www.amd.com]

How to use Vulkan in CS2

To replace the graphics API, you must first exit the game.

1. In the Steam library, select Counter-Strike 2, click on the gear and then on “Properties”

2. In the "General" tab, in the line for launch parameters, enter
"-vulkan" (without quotes)

End

I hope you enjoyed this guide and rate it.

This manual is available in other languages:
Russian: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3197737260
Portuguese: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3198761112

Sources

1. DX11 and Vulkan best FPS comparison for CS2 beta. How to switch from DirectX to Vulkan[escorenews.com]
2. Vulkan Documentation[docs.vulkan.org]

FAQ

Some questions will be answered here.
It's strange, but there's nothing here yet...

[ThePolishJoker]

It Worked Once Very Good After CS 2 Release,.. Now, It Doesn't Work AnyMore 🤷‍♂️

The Difference Between Vulkan & DirectX 11 In World War Z (For Example) Is 10-20 FPS More On Vulkan 💁‍♂️

FX-8350
16GB (2400MHz)
RTX 3050 Dual (8GB)

[Tofca]

По русски ёпта

[[ A N 7 H R O ]]

Is there any way to disable vulkan for CS2? I own RTX 4070 TI and try to make maps in Source 2 Hammer editor, but it keeps crashing and the main reason is that my CS2 is running with Vulkan. Can you provide any info?