One thing first, before the tweaks.

If you're running CS2 on a potato, say an i5-6600 with 8GB of RAM and a GTX 950, no console command, config file, or YouTube "SECRET FPS BOOST" trick will get you a smooth 144fps. CS2 is a much heavier game than CS:GO ever was, and every update adds better textures, fancier lighting, and more detailed maps. The rig that crushed CS:GO might be struggling now, and that's okay to admit.

Hardware is the ceiling. Everything else just helps you get closer to it.

If your hardware is decent and you're still not hitting the frames you should be, though, you're probably leaving performance on the table. Here's how to get it back.

First: know what you're working with

Before you change anything, check your actual FPS. Enable the console in Settings > Game > Enable Developer Console > Yes, open it with the ~ key, and type:

cl_showfps 1

You can also use Steam's built-in counter (Steam > Settings > In Game > Display Frame Rate). Measure first so you can tell whether each change helps.

In-game settings (do this before anything else)

The biggest gains come from here. Go into Settings > Video and set these:

• Global Shadow Quality: Low. Some players use Medium instead, because shadows can show you an enemy peeking a corner before you see their model. You're trading a bit of information for frames here.
• Shader Detail: Low
• Multisampling Anti-Aliasing: None (big FPS gain, and you barely lose anything in gameplay)
• Texture Filtering Mode: Bilinear
• V-Sync: Disabled, since it adds input lag
• Ambient Occlusion: Disabled
• High Dynamic Range: Performance
• Multicore Rendering: Enabled (always; this lets CS2 use all your CPU cores)

If you're really struggling, dropping your resolution to 1280×960 or even 1024×768 is an old CS tradition. It looks worse, but it plays fine.

Console commands that work in CS2

Open your console and run these:

fps_max 0 Removes the FPS cap. If you have a high refresh rate monitor, you want this.

cl_hide_avatar_images 1 Hides player avatars in-game. It's a small change, but it's one less asset loading during a match.

Launch options (mixed results)

A lot of CS:GO-era launch options still work in CS2's Steam Properties menu, in the sense that the game accepts them without an error. Whether they do anything under Source 2 is another matter. Some help, some are now handled by the engine and do little or nothing, and a couple can cause instability on certain setups. Right-click CS2 in Steam, go to Properties > Launch Options, and test these one at a time instead of pasting the whole line in at once:

-high -nojoy -novid +fps_max 0

-high marks CS2 as a high-priority process so Windows gives it resources first. It helps on CPUs with fewer cores or when you have apps running in the background, but on some setups it competes with audio drivers and causes micro-stutters. Remove it if you notice any instability.

-nojoy turns off controller and joystick support. It frees up a little RAM, and community reports say it reduces crashes on some setups.

-novid skips the Valve intro video on launch. It saves a couple of seconds and has no downside.

+fps_max 0 uncaps your framerate from the moment the game starts.

Older flags like -forcenovsync and -fullscreen still show up in a lot of guides out of habit. Source 2 mostly manages V-Sync and display mode on its own now, so they won't do what they did in CS:GO. Use the in-game Video settings for those instead.

Fixes outside the game

Some of the biggest performance problems have nothing to do with CS2's own settings.

Close everything in the background

Discord, Chrome with 20 tabs, Spotify, and your RGB software all compete for resources while you're trying to clutch a 1v3. Open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc) and close anything you don't need.

Update your GPU drivers

NVIDIA and AMD release driver updates specifically for games like CS2, and outdated drivers are an easy cause of FPS drops to miss. If things are really bad, do a clean install. It takes about 10 minutes and can make a noticeable difference.

Disable fullscreen optimizations

Right-click cs2.exe, choose Properties, open the Compatibility tab, and check "Disable fullscreen optimizations." This reduces input lag and gives you steadier frame delivery.

Set the Windows power plan to High Performance

Search for "Power Plan" in Windows settings and switch it to High Performance so your PC doesn't throttle itself mid-match. On a laptop, play plugged in.

On a capable PC, working through everything above should give you a clear jump in frames and a smoother game overall. How far it goes still depends on your hardware.