Valve dev gives tip on how to make CSGO run better

Maximizing Counter-Strike: Global Offensive performance directly impacts your competitive gameplay effectiveness. Professional players like Michael “shroud” Grzesiek consistently emphasize that stable frame rates provide crucial advantages in reaction time and aiming precision. The good news is that significant improvements are achievable without expensive hardware investments.

Valve developer John McDonald shared critical optimization advice with Astralis professional Lucas “Bubzkji” Andersen: Terminate every non-essential application running concurrently with your game session.

You definitely will not get VAC banned for those, but there is a great reason to close most other than programs:

Many other apps stealth use the GPU—so they can cause your game to feel wrong by causing inconsistent frame times.

Even though CSGO usually isn’t gpu limited!

— John McDonald (@basisspace) August 21, 2021

Bubzkji initially expressed concerns about closing applications like Google Chrome and Spotify potentially triggering false VAC bans. McDonald clarified that these programs wouldn’t cause VAC violations but confirmed that shutting them down unexpectedly enhanced CSGO’s performance due to reduced system resource contention.

McDonald’s technical analysis revealed that numerous applications silently consume graphics processing unit resources even when seemingly inactive. Even with hardware acceleration disabled in application preferences, many programs continue drawing GPU computational power. This resource competition creates inconsistent frame pacing that makes gameplay feel less responsive and visually jarring.

Internet browsers represent the primary offenders regarding hardware acceleration resource consumption, with Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox being particularly demanding. Audio production software, video editing tools, and streaming applications similarly burden GPU resources. While closing background applications has always been standard gaming practice, the growing prevalence of GPU-accelerated applications makes this optimization more critical than ever for competitive gaming.

How to improve performance in CSGO

While CSGO maintains respectable performance on older hardware configurations, numerous optimization techniques exist to extract additional frames per second from your existing system. Beyond terminating background applications to minimize GPU and CPU load, implement these additional performance enhancements.

Fix the CSGO FPS bug

Many players remain unaware of CSGO’s longstanding frame rate bug that unpredictably reduces performance during matches. Fortunately, a specific console command provides temporary relief, though this represents a workaround rather than permanent solution. The gaming community continues awaiting Valve’s official patch to resolve this underlying issue permanently.

Optimize your GPU settings

Graphics card management software provides far more functionality than simply displaying system information. These control panels contain numerous adjustable parameters that significantly influence both visual quality and gaming performance. Comprehensive optimization guides exist for NVIDIA graphics cards, though the fundamental principles apply universally across AMD and Intel GPU manufacturers.

Change some settings in Windows 10

Windows Vista notoriously degraded gaming performance compared to Windows XP, and while Windows 10 represents substantial improvement over previous versions, it still benefits from specific optimizations. Multiple system configuration adjustments exist that enhance gaming performance, including CSGO specifically. Follow these step-by-step configuration changes to optimize your operating system for competitive gaming.

Beyond basic optimizations, competitive players should implement advanced techniques including specific launch options that disable unnecessary visual effects and optimize network communication. Additionally, custom configuration file adjustments can further enhance performance, particularly when combined with monitor refresh rate optimization and updated graphics drivers. These professional-level tweaks provide the marginal gains that separate average from exceptional performance in high-stakes matches.

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