Aiming for the highest CS2 fps you can is almost as important as your own ability to aim with a mouse, providing potentially lower input lag and more up-to-date frame information. Now, it appears that Nvidia graphics cards generally outperform their AMD competitors by a surprising margin.
After years of development, Counter-Strike 2 is finally with us. This sequel to one of the best FPS games in history arrives amid a frenzy of anticipation from fans. And like most shooters, getting the right hardware is a must if you’re looking to give yourself a competitive advantage.
Much as your gaming CPU is an important determinant of your frame rate, the biggest difference-maker in your rig will likely be your GPU. With this in mind, benchmarks conducted by TechPowerUp reveal some unexpected insights into how many pixel pushers perform in CS2.
Surprising no one, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 maintains its position as the most performant graphics card of the bunch. However, behind that, where we would expect to see the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, we find the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 instead. This is an unexpected result given that the former tends to outperform the latter outside of ray tracing scenarios.
Worse still, the RX 7900 XTX doesn’t even secure the bronze when it comes to max settings at 1080p, coming fourth in the fps charts behind the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Ti. The widely-lauded AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT, meanwhile, languishes below the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070. It’s the same story when you look at lower tier cards and higher resolutions.
It’s important to note that while Nvidia GPUs are generally more performant in CS2, both AMD and Intel cards still offer a more than playable experience. TechPowerUp‘s W1zzard notes that “[a]lmost every computer in the world is able to run CS… I’ve tested 40 graphics cards and almost all of them are able to reach [60fps] at 1080p Full HD using maximum settings.”
And any card equal to or better than an Nvidia GeForce RTX 1060 should hit 90fps at 1080p, using maximum settings. Even so, upgrading your graphics card might still be a sensible move. Check out our best graphics card guide to help you make the right decision when purchasing your next pixel pusher.