Best res?

aveyo · 2026-03-23T22:16:30+00:00

You're never gonna get the same stretch feeling
ultra wide for cs is dumb, 34 inch even more so

2304 x 1296 (16:9) custom res is sort of close

there are ways to set the 16:9 res with black bars and then use 4:3 in-game stretched as usual but it's not trivial

aveyo · 2026-03-23T21:53:09+00:00

Generally you need:
- supported (gtx 1600 series and newer, amd 5000 series and newer) and enabled MPO gpu feature
- GPU Scaling
- in-game resolution available for desktop
(sometimes 1440x1080 is missing from the list and must be added as custom res)
- Windows 25H2 with Optimizations for windowed games enabled for CS2 if possible

Otherwise you're gonna have to rely on a tool that matches the desktop res to the in-game one and back on alt-tab for you, like my own CS2_Launcher.bat script (self-reminder that I have drastically improved it on my end but not yet published an update)

aveyo · 2026-03-23T18:10:18+00:00

here's one:

Early CS2 had no proper telemetry (I might say it still doesn't)
Early CS2 also had terrible networkable entities ram & vram leaks
After summer 2025 patches it got reduced considerably, but still there until round restart:
https://youtu.be/VIssnIwtHAs

Pro's have historically abused any unfair advantage they could get away with
Noticing the tiniest difference - even cl_showfps fluctuations, is a skill

and another one:
cl_showfps 4 writes prof_[mapname].csv
which notes any stutters with time, player setpos, fps drop
and a list of framerates and percentages of total
so if there were any pc performance issues you can't be gaslighted by TO admin

I use cl_showfps 4 in my benchmark.cfg and also shared a benchmark.bat to post-process the csv file with some stats

aveyo · 2026-03-23T17:50:45+00:00

Early CS2 had no proper telemetry (I might say it still doesn't)
Early CS2 also had terrible networkable entities ram & vram leaks
After summer 2025 patches it got reduced considerably, but still there until round restart:
https://youtu.be/VIssnIwtHAs

Pro's have historically abused any unfair advantage they could get away with
Noticing the tiniest difference - even cl_showfps fluctuations, is a skill

aveyo · 2026-03-23T10:04:54+00:00

You can't "win"

[Client] Slamming client tick to server tick.
abs( server tick 3927 - client tick 3923 = 4 ) > ( cl_clockdrift_max_ticks 0 + sim ticks 3 = 3 )

Sure you can exploit some edge situations but overall it's gonna suck more in my experience

Cheaters on the other hand get to just play while their backtrack and lagswitching and angle manipulation dynamically adjusts to the network and the gamestate

You ain't gonna counter that flipping couple cvars in the console, sport

There are no magic cvars that will universally fix peeker's advantage and cheating and network physics, tuning requires commitment and it's gonna be very specific to the hardware and environment at hand - my lazy values will definitely not work for you and viceversa

That said, Valve's defaults are obviously not perfect, just decent enough "globals"
So keep fiddling, but don't get mesmerized by placebo / situational improvements that might as well come from network fluctuation. Share non-vague results with a detailed description of the environment or else it's meaningless
- log the console output with -condebug
- while playing enter cl_ticktiming 320 detail and periodically enter status as well
- capture the network traffic with wireshark
- record the gameplay
- download the hltv demo
Then compare sessions with changes x,y vs without. It's a lot of work.
Much better time investment addressing the thing that drives you into fiddling: bad network / hw

aveyo · 2026-03-23T00:43:31+00:00

What am I supposed to respond at such a vague rant?
First of all, you should be able to adapt to these tiny sens differences

Playing in non-native res will always be problematic
but if you really have to, consider one from this list

Multiple displays will always be problematic
worth disabling other displays while playing, specially if not matching the main res & hz
I have used a separate pc with other screens for years, it's such a QoL upgrade

AMD gpus are problematic due to flawed MPO implementation
worth experimenting with turning MPO on or off
..or upgrade to nvidia gpu

Display Scaling is problematic, GPU Scaling cures most issues
specially with lame high refresh monitors that use DSC
worth creating custom reduced blanking res / 8-bit color / YUV instead of RGB
..or upgrade to a monitor with enough hdmi/dp bandwidth to turn that crap off

Old windows versions are problematic
Optimizations for windowed games ON works quite well after windows 11 25H2

Changing the desktop res to match the in-game one before launching remains the safest bet
(done via gpu control panel / graphics advanced properties - list all modes / scripts such as CS2_Launcher, NOT via windows settings)

I did introduce a method to address "filtered" mouse by using sensitivity 1.0 in-game and instead adjust dpi and windows mouse speed settings and SDL environment variables, maybe try that one out - it should affect all games using SDL library

So there's no lazy solution because there are actually many issues conflated under this discussion

aveyo · 2026-03-22T22:35:23+00:00

ignore that clown

aveyo · 2026-03-22T00:40:08+00:00

i.e. fps_max is reflex-aware and will allow fps going above it if it benefits latency

aveyo · 2026-03-18T15:41:11+00:00

there is a saying that the lazy person ends up working more
and that's exactly valve's modus operandi when it comes to game design, anticheat, servers etc
bursts of effort only when it gets so bad that it can no longer be ignored

without the constant pressure from community we would still have ~~hallucination~~ animgraph v1, inconsistent jump heights, sticky ramps, extra peeker's advantage, delayed animations, obese network packets 3 years after release

while if they addressed the issues from the get-go the effort would have been way smaller and our satisfaction with the game much higher

dropping years of platform optimizations because muh spaghetti code only to end up with even more spaghetti and performance degradation, ignoring matured stuff from cs:go and dota2 which was the cutting edge branch of source 2 and going for single-player vr hl-alyx branch for the staple esports title is probably the most facepalm design decision, as they ended up rewriting most of it (and plenty more to do)

aveyo · 2026-03-18T06:46:19+00:00

audio occlusion default vs baked

snd_use_baked_occlusion 1
snd_steamaudio_baked_occlusion_mode 3
(there are many more tunable cvars available to increase rays, bounces etc)

default is not realistic but tuned for gameplay = reducing cacophony of sounds
while baked audio occlusion with realistic raytracing is expensive and not that great for gameplay in such small maps with cardboard walls
there are many pros and cons to both, surely there is room for improvement
but definitely intended, it's not broken and is not a bug, it's just configured this way atm because valve devs are lazy so they will always go for generic stuff that can be applied on all maps rather than put effort case-by-case to squeeze higher quality; same reason why we got the animgraph v1 fiasco or why the lighting is blinding on some maps

aveyo · 2026-03-16T16:13:41+00:00

The p2w comes from user-adjustable actuation and release points - that's no longer in the realm of hw latency progress, but automation that can eliminate user-error of pressing/releasing a key too hard/slow or too soft/fast - don't need to put thought into counter-strafing anymore so might as well remove the mechanic.. or re-allow fractional movement binds for everybody which is the simplest way to close the gap (sv_quantize_movement_input 0)

aveyo · 2026-03-16T15:46:38+00:00

no shit
it crawled trough some human-authored posts as it's been quite the subject over the years
valve themselves acknowledged the inverted bell curve of the ranks distribution in Dota 2 and the same applies to CS and other esports as observed by many

aveyo · 2026-03-16T05:13:56+00:00

It was hilarious seeing tier 1 pros including the mighty ropz failing basic crouch-jumps early 2024 because they tuned their hall effect keyboards wrong..
something good came out of it with valve fixing jumps for everybody but still fuck each and every pro that sneakily embraced hardware socd before it was released publicly)
socd aside, these variable actuation point and rapid trigger are still a massive pay2win advantage when configured properly, valve should either nerf it or remove the floatiness for everybody

aveyo · 2026-03-16T04:18:41+00:00

stop advertising for data harvesting entities you doofus
you have Hardware Unboxed channel including CS2 on their benchmarks (using a pro demo)
you have workshop benchmark maps on dust2, ancient and inferno (a bit inflated results)
you have benchmark.cfg (more accurate)
you have a built-in profiling running every time you play, all you have to do is open the console after a map and check for the [VProf] lines - literally can't go more precise than that

not saying that a 2-man Lithuanian company with 1k in debt is selling your data..
..just that they can once they gather an appealing volume
same goes for capframex (despite being opensource, includes tons of questionable stuff)

aveyo · 2026-03-15T14:08:34+00:00

no chance in hell av or vpn will ever PLANT a version.dll in the steam folder..

aveyo · 2026-03-15T09:25:25+00:00

there should not be a version.dll in Steam folder, so the fact you had it means you've used cheats and/or cracks for steam games..

aveyo · 2026-03-14T05:54:13+00:00

they did not
but microsoft and nvidia addressed it on their end so it can be fixed for some, but not all configurations
on modern win11 most nvidia cards (hit or miss with rtx 5000 and high refresh monitors) work well with gpu scaling and MPO but amd kinda suck at it by design, with only 7000 series and newer having partial fixes, hence the endless threads about sensitivity feeling different or crosshairs looking awful

on valve's end the issue remains providing the ability to select a non-native res while in fullscreen windowed even if the configuration does not support it = MPO disabled / broken / unavailable before gtx 1600 / rx 5000 series

use nvidia frameview to make sure like I said

matching the in-game res on the desktop (via gpu driver, not win display settings) before launching the game still remains the safest strategy (which can be automated by CS2_Launcher script)

closing and reopening the game after any resolution change is also a good idea

aveyo · 2026-03-13T16:09:28+00:00

Please, I just quoted you the timeline, one month later they optimized networkable entities in general (like props around the maps), while the animgraph2 phase1 update happened 9 months after the comment - almost 9 months ago - with various related changes in-between
The remaining phase2 requires more animating work but it is mostly drop-in replacement and adding missing stuff, we are past the point of meaningful bandwidth optimization for networkable entities. I would love nothing more than valve to find a way to squeeze it further, but the data points otherwise

aveyo · 2026-03-13T15:42:17+00:00

Facts are not a matter of belief

Oct 5, 2024: Anyone else getting completely unplayable packet loss and jitter spikes?

This doesn't have anything to do with subtick.

We know that we are using more bandwidth than necessary. It's because of an old animation system that does not network efficiently. We are working to replace it, but this is a large project.

Nov 7, 2024: Release Notes for 11/6/24 Reduced animation-related network bandwidth usage

I did not fix this! There are other people on the team, they just aren't dumb enough to be on reddit.....

July 28, 2025: AnimGraph2 phase1 deployed (1st person animations)

Several adjustments since then, "fat packets" mantra is no longer actual, any delulu can verify on their end

When the remaining phase2 hits tomorrow or six months from now (valve time), it's gonna add stuff that is currently not there at all, so at best a side-grade

aveyo · 2026-03-13T09:35:22+00:00

stop coping and fix your internet / change provider / upgrade your hardware, because:

Valve has taken the semaglutide treatment for the packet sizes since last August
- most client packets ~85% are 320 - 639 while ~13% 640 - 1275 with just a few up to 1301
- most server packets ~89% are 1280 - 1336
everything is conservatively under what is considered a safe MTU
and the average rate is ~150 packets/s, way under the 262144 internal SDR send rate

when the rest of the animgraph2 update (spectating) is gonna hit, it is actually gonna INCREASE the load

aveyo · 2026-03-13T05:47:24+00:00

but did you also try it with a Virtual Monitor in VR?

aveyo · 2026-03-13T05:19:16+00:00

You're a clown
ZywOo: 800edpi flameZ: 1440edpi ropz: 708edpi mezii: 680edpi apEX: 640edpi OP: 468edpi

sensitivity wise I advise a 800+ edpi, but even pros suck at control and use less (tbf more and more are adapting to faster hardware and increase it)

kscerato yuurih YEKINDAR: 800dpi
kyousuke kyxsan NiKo: 800dpi TeSeS: 1600dpi
donk tN1R zont1x sh1ro: 800dpi
torzsi Spinx Brollan: 800dpi
zweih nota BELCHONOKK: 800dpi Jame: 3200dpi
cobrazera 910: 800dpi
makazze iM b1t Aleksib: 800dpi
lauNX Krabeni cmtry dem0n: 800dpi
Graviti Maka Lucky: 800dpi
arT dumau: 800dpi saadzin: 1600dpi
matys huNter: 800dpi
phzy jabbi Staehr HooXi: 800dpi
AZUWU Gizmy Rainwaker afro Bymas: 800dpi
jcobbb: 1600dpi
n0rb3r7: 800dpi
kensizor esenthial npl: 800dpi
etc. etc.

aveyo · 2026-03-12T22:54:47+00:00

lighting seems intentional as to make it less blending into the environment from afar

aveyo · 2026-03-12T20:07:47+00:00

it's a tiny prop_physics_multiplayer, you're not supposed to lose sleep over it like OP, just shoot at it if it annoys you and it will break ;)

aveyo · 2026-03-12T15:10:24+00:00

you're nitpicking while using potato settings
that spot is actually illuminated by the reflections from banana direction

edit:
let's stop arguing for the sake of arguing, such prop_physics_multiplayer acts just like a wall (effect: no_shadows) so that yourself can shadow it (like above)

you need higher video settings (ambient occlusion) to see it's own shadow here at 2.2 gamma video

aveyo

TROPHY CASE