Configure Your PC for Competitive CSGO

- This guide is for Windows Vista/7/8/10
- There is a lot of material, so I try to make it simple, yet in depth as possible.
- This guide will be frequently updated to the current meta.
- Everything is heavily tested before being put in this guide, I spend many hours running benchmarks with each setting.
- If you have any questions or anything to contribute don't hesitate to add me or leave a comment!

1. Windows

In this section we configure windows for the best performance.

1. Power Options

Open the start menu. Type in "power options" and hit enter. Select the "High Performance" plan.

2. Unpark CPU Cores (Windows 7/Vista Only)

Prevent CPU cores from sleeping by unparking them with this tool: Download[tusfiles.net]

Right click on the downloaded zip file and click "Extract All". Click Extract. Open the "Unpark-CPU-App" Folder then open "Unpark CPU". Click "Check Status". After it loads click "Unpark All"

2. GPU Optimization

1. Update Video Drivers

Updating drivers can result in a large increase in performance!

To find your GPU's model open the start menu, type in "msinfo32" and hit enter. Click on components, then display. Beside "Name" will be your make and model! The download links are given below. If you are not sure what video card you have use the auto-detect feature!

nVidia Drivers: http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us
AMD Drivers: http://support.amd.com/en-us/download
intel Auto-Detect Drivers: http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/detect.html

If you are given an option to do a "Clean Install" upon installation select that option.

2. Monitor Settings

a) Now that the drivers have been installed open up your GPU panel.
For quick access, right click on the desktop and select your nvidia/amd control panel shortcut.
In the example is an nVidia control panel. If you have an AMD product the settings will still be the same for each option! Note that some settings may have a different name.

b) Go to monitor/resolution settings. Make sure your resolution is the native/default resolution of your monitor. Change your refresh rate to the highest your screen supports. Do not go higher than it can support. You can find your monitors specs by googling the model specs. The model should be printed somewhere on the monitor or on a sticker.


c) Digital Vibrance / Saturation
Go to "Desktop Color Settings" and turn up the digital vibrance (it may take getting used to).
This will make colors more colorful/vibrant. Everything will appear sharper and "pop out" better, especially enemies which is important. (You do not have to use 100%!! Use a setting that works for you!!)

d) Stretching vs Black Bars
Go to "Adjust desktop size and position". Select the Full-screen scaling option.
(If you play with black bars keep this on the default setting.)

3. Video Settings

Click on "Manage 3D Settings". Select the "Program Settings" tab. Select csgo.exe as the program to customize.

Below I created a chart with each setting.

Setting:	Max FPS Setting:	Max Competitive Advantage Setting:
Ambient Occlusion	Off	Off
Anistropic Filtering	Off	Off
Antialiasing - FXAA	Off	Off
Antialiasing - Gamma correction	Off	Off
Antialiasing - Mode	Off	Application-controlled
Antialiasing - Setting	Off	Application-controlled
Antialiasing - Transparency	Off	Multisampling
CUDA - GPUS	All	All
Max. pre-rendered frames	Use 3 if experiencing low FPS, otherwise use 1	1
Multi-display/mixed- GPU acceleration	Single display	Single display
Power management mode	maximum performance	maximum performance
Shader Cache	On or Off (Test both)	On or Off (Test both)
Texture Filtering - Anistropic sample optimisation	On	On
Texture filtering - Negative LOD bias	Clamp	Clamp
Texture filtering - Quality	High Performance	High Performance
Texture filtering - Trilinear Optimisation	On	On
Threaded optimisation	On	On
Triple Buffering	Off	Off
Vertical Sync	Off	Off

4. nVidia Inspector

Using nVidia Inspector we can customize the driver settings for CS:GO to make it run smoother, optimize SLI configuration, and possibly increase FPS.

a) Download nVidia inspector: Download[www.guru3d.com] (Scroll down to "Download Locations")
Once it is downloaded right click on it and click extract all.

b) Open the extracted nVidia Inspector application. (1) Press the driver profile button.


c) Next, (2) search for csgo and select it. (3) Press the import button and locate your csgo.exe. (4) Hit apply.

3. Game Settings

1. Launch Options
Right click CSGO in your steam library and click "properties".
Click on "Launch Options". Copy and paste the following into the field:

 -novid -nojoy -noaafonts +exec tweak

"-novid" Skips the annoying Valve animation when launching the game.
"-nojoy" Removes unnecessary joystick support.
"-noaafonts" Prevents aliasing of fonts.
"-threads X" (Optional) Enables use of CPU threads. Try different values of X with this setting to find the sweet spot. Sometimes excluding it is best. Note that threads are not the same thing as cores. Use google to find how many threads your CPU has.
"-tickrate 128" (Optional) Makes offline/local servers as 128 tick instead of 64!
"+exec tweak" Applies the settings from Tweak.cfg used later in the guide.

2. FPS Config
In this section we will download a config that will apply many settings for competitive play and to increase fps. Some settings inside the config will need to be customized using a text editor such as notepad.

a) Download the Tweak.cfg and place it somewhere you can find it: Download[tusfiles.net]

b) Open the file with your text editor. Change any values as described in the config.

c) Next, go to CS:GO in your steam library and right click on it. Click "properties", go to the "Local Files" tab then click "Browse Local Files". Now go to the "csgo" folder, then the "cfg" folder. Drag the tweak.cfg into it and you are finished!

3. Game Settings
Let's launch the game now, and apply our optimal settings.
Go to Options-->Video Settings

Resolution: Using a 16:9 resolution will give you the biggest field of view. Stretching a 4:3 resolution however make player models appear bigger and subjectively can make heads easier to hit. This is personal preference of course, find what works for you.

SHADOWS: "High" has the farthest render distance for shadows, however "Low" shadows will get rid of the scope blur, weather & other distracting effects. "Use Low" rather than "Very Low" because render distance is better. If you have very low FPS however use "Very Low".

ANTI-ALIASING: If you have good FPS try using 8x CSAA if available, otherwise try 2x-8x MSAA. Edges will be smoother and small/fine detail will be easier to see.

Now go from Options-->Audio Settings.
Turn off all distracting music during gameplay so you can hear enemies. Some people may want the 10 second warning on so they know if they have enough time to defuse.
Make sure Speaker Configuration is on "Headphones".

4. Mouse

1. Disable Windows Acceleration

It's hard to notice but believe it or not, Windows does have acceleration (even when acceleration is turned off!) The following settings will eliminate all Windows mouse acceleration.

a) Open the start menu, search "mouse speed" and hit enter. Go to the "Pointer Options" tab and put the pointer speed on the 6th tick. This setting gives the least acceleration.


b) Download and extract MarkC's mousefix: Download[donewmouseaccel.blogspot.ca] (Links are in the first paragraph.)

c) Check your screen scaling. Go to start menu and type in "display" then hit enter. (Win 8/10 Users: You will also have to click "set a custom scaling level").
Remember that scaling for the next step.

d) Open the correct folder for your version of Windows. Open and apply the file for 100% scaling (default). If you use a different scaling for windows use the respective file for it.

2. Mouse Settings

If you have a generic "cheapo" mouse note that you will probably not be able to change your DPI, if this is the case skip this step.

Open your mouse programming software. (If you don't have it, download it!)
Change your mouse Polling rate to the highest it supports.
Change your mouse to your native DPI. High DPI settings cause acceleration due to interpolation. Generally it is 400-800, google your mouse to find out the DPI. If you don't know what it is, setting it somewhere from 400-500 is a safe bet.

3. Sensitivity

Choose a low sensitivity. You want a low sensitivity because you can be more accurate. The more movement area your brain has to map, the more detailed your muscle memory will be. Find a sensitivity that works for you and stick with it to develop a solid muscle memory!

For reference here are some Pro Settings:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12PSHqb8Vwg8rSCOkGjbbsj8iBsm8p52jOLffDc88iy8/pubhtml

4. Mousepad

An ideal mousepad is large so you can use a low sensitivity.
Here is an example of an ideal mousepad.
http://steelseries.com/products/surfaces/steelseries-qck-plus

5. Internet

General Ways to Increase Internet Performance:

Use an internet provider that has a lower ping server, upgrade to a plan with more bandwidth.
Set Windows Update to not automatically download updates. (It could start downloading while you are in game!)
Do not download anything while playing (includes even paused videos!).
Play when there isn't as many people sharing your internet, or disable wireless on your phone.
Try restarting your router.
Use a wired connection versus wireless.
If you are wireless, play in a location closer to your router.
Make sure your wireless and/or Ethernet adapter drivers are up to date.

Point router antennas accordingly for your PC if you are using a wireless connection.
One should be pointed vertically, one horizontally.

Use Low Ping Server(s):

Using an application called MM Server Picker we can block high ping matchmaking servers. Press the refresh arrow to see what ping each server has. Now click on each server that you want to play on (low ping servers), once you hit "Apply" the remaining servers will be blocked!

Download: Download[gamebanana.com] (Scroll down to the "manual download button)

Use KillPing to lower latency:

Using KillPing your connection can be routed through faster/closer servers resulting in low ping/latency! North america and developed europe will not see much improvement. Using KillPing in the rest of europe and asia may benefit significantly however!
Official Website: KillPing[killping.cxcsoftware.com]

Additional Step for Win 10:

Windows 10 by default uses your internet to upload windows updates to strangers on the internet! Let's disable this.

Open the Start Menu, click "Settings". Click "Advanced options" then "Choose how updates are delivered". Toggle the setting off.

6. Additional Tweaks

1. Disable Steam Overlay

If you can live without the handy steam overlay disabling it can increase your FPS (amount varying on different systems).

a)Open steam and go to settings.
b) Go to the "In-Game" tab.
c) Uncheck "Enable the steam overlay while in-game".

2. General Windows Clean Up

a) Check for Viruses
Check for viruses with antivirus software.
Malwarebytes is a great free antivirus: https://www.malwarebytes.org/mwb-download/

b) Disk Management
Remove programs you do not need/use.
Do not keep large files on your desktop, use shortcuts. Empty your recycle bin.
Use disk cleanup and disk defragmenter (Don't defrag if you have an SSD!).
TRIM your SSD if you have one.

c) Others
Reduce Visual Appearance of Windows
Update Drivers, Run Winsat
Clean dust out of your system.

3. Disable Unecessary Startup Programs

Disable startup programs you don't need.

Windows Vista+7 Users:
Open the start menu, type in "msconfig" and hit enter.
Go to the "Startup" tab. Uncheck anything that you don't need on startup.


Windows 8+10 Users:
Open the start menu, type in "task manager" and hit enter.
Go to the startup tab. For each startup item you don't need select it and press "Disable".


Next, open the start menu. Click settings, then "Privacy". Scroll down and click "Background Apps". Disable anything you do not need running in the background.

4. === Experienced Users Only!! ===

a) Disable uneeded services using this great resource: http://www.blackviper.com/service-configurations/
After selecting your OS you'll see a large table with all the services. If you go through them individually a combination of safe/tweaked is great.

b) BIOS
In your BIOS turn off power saving or quiet fan features.
Flash your motherboard with the latest BIOS.

[masterofbonk]

"change this setting to this"... why? Terrible guide. Followed it and now there's a stuttering problem I can't get rid of

[g2]

+rep good guide bro

[mrK]

does anyone know if mousefix is needed for winver 22h2 (or later) on w10 and/or w11?

[7mark0]

nicee

[2 BURROS Y YO]

good

[Silevence]

Does anyone have a copy of the tweak.cfg?

[I C E L E A F]

So usefull

[Oszuu]

the best guide available on steam

[Not Imposter]

+rep nice Guide

[contrazt]

Amazing Guide