If you want to achieve the best performance in CS:GO, you need to pay attention to every aspect of the game, including its settings. In competitive play, even the tiniest difference can play its role, determining the result of the match. Consequently, it is important to try out various settings combinations to find out what works for you personally. You can copy the CS:GO pro resolutions settings of prominent esports players and tweak them to test first-hand, how they influence the game.  

What is Resolution and Why is it Important?

Screen resolution is the characteristic of how the images are rendered on your computer monitor. It is measured in pixels, with two numbers for width and height accordingly. For example, an old-timey 640 x 480 means that the image will be displayed at 640 pixels width and 480 pixels height. However, modern computers work with much higher resolutions, such as 1920 x 1080 or more.

Resolution is important both for image quality and framerate. If your resolution in CS2 is high, the picture will be more detailed, with everything around, from surroundings to items and skins looking better. However, high resolution each frame requires more calculations, which creates heavier workload for the GPU, creating the possibility for lags and framerate drops. Consequently, to choose the best resolution for CS:GO you need to find the balance between your computer performance and enjoyable image quality. Look at minimal and optimal system requirements for CS2 and compare them to the characteristics of your computer to get an idea of what settings provide such a balance. 

Aspect ratio is another important characteristic. It describes the proportion between the width and the height of the monitor. For example, many modern widescreen monitors have 16:9 aspect ratio, and older monitors often have 4:3, which is much closer to a square. This, in turn, influences the proportions of everything which is displayed on screen, for example, on wider proportions the game may be stretched horizontally.

Player models with different aspect ratios.

How to find the Best Resolution in CS2

What resolution for CS2 to use is a matter of personal preference. CS:GO is not a new game and does not consume much resources even after the transfer to the new version of the Source engine. Consequently, most owners of the relatively new PCs do not have to worry about video settings and can just choose the maximum available option within the desired ratio. However, if frame rate becomes a problem, you may want to scale down a bit, so the best CS:GO resolution for your PC will be a bit lower. You may also be interested in our article on increasing the framerate in CS2.

Best CS2 Resolutions

Here are several examples of what the best CS:GO resolution may look like in certain cases. Understanding how it works with a particular aspect ratio or monitor type will help you to pick the best option.

Best CS2 Resolution for 27 Inch Monitor

To find the best resolution for a particular monitor type you may need to look into its characteristics. Monitors often have recommended settings, which provide the best visual quality and performance. To determine the best resolution for CS2, you need to look not only at the physical characteristics of your monitor, such as its size and diagonal, but also at its technical capacities, such as maximum available resolution. 27-inch monitors are typically 1920 x 1080 pixels, which makes this resolution an optimal choice. Lower it, if you are experiencing performance issues.

Best CS:GO Resolution for 1440p Monitor

The monitor with the vertical resolution of 1440 pixels is commonly known as Quad HD or Wide Quad HD, depending on the horizontal resolution. Similar to the previous case, the best option will be to use your native resolution if you want optimal performance, which means the resolution with the height characteristic of 1440 pixels. The weight is chosen based on the aspect ratio you want, namely 16 : 9, 4 : 3 or 4 : 3 stretched.

Best 4 : 3 Resolution in CS2

4 : 3 aspect ratio makes an optimal choice if you play competitively. Currently it is used by over 75% of CS:GO players. The most popular option here is 1280 x 960, providing good enough quality without putting too much strain on your GPU. The lowest reasonable option for weaker PCS is 1024 x 768.

Best 16 : 9 Resolution in CS2

16 : 9 aspect ratio in CS2 provides better visuals in comparison with the 4 : 3. If you want to capture footage of yourself rushing into battle with your favorite AK-47 Asiimov or AWP Atheris, 16 : 9 will allow you to showcase your weapons in all their glory. However, it has some downsides in competitive play, namely the fact that other players’ models appear smaller, which makes aiming a bit harder. Full HD Resolution for 16 : 9 is 1920 x 1080. We recommend you choose it unless you have some framerate problems, in which case you may want to downscale to 1366 x 768 or 1280 x 720. Going lower does not make much sense, as the game may look too blurry and pixelated.

Best CS2 Stretched Resolutions

There are several recommendations that will help you to set up the best resolution for CS:GO. First, look at the settings of pro players. Many of them still stick to the 4:3 aspect ratio even though they have widescreen monitors. Actually, if the current CS2 resolution does not match the aspect ratio of the monitor, the player may choose between two options, which is adding black bars on the sides of the images or stretching it to fill the whole screen. While the horizontally stretched images may feel weird initially, you quickly get used to it. Pro players find it helpful because aiming becomes easier.

To set up stretched resolution in CS2, you need to take the following steps:

  • Navigate to the game settings and choose the Normal 4 : 3 aspect ratio along with Fullscreen display mode.

  • If you have a widescreen monitor, the game will now be displayed with black bars. To remove them, navigate to the NVIDIA control panel and set up Full Screen GPU Scaling in the “Adjust desktop size in position” tab.

  • Apply settings.

  • Launch the game again. Now it will be displayed in the stretched view. Here is how it should look like:

Adjust the resolution in the video settings. The best options for stretched CS:GO resolutions, as per the experience of pro players, are 1280 x 960 or 1024 x 768. 

CS2 Pro Players Resolutions – What Resolutions do Pros Play?

Most of the top pro players use 4 : 3 stretched with 1280 x 960 resolutions. Among players preferring this setting there are many famous names, including s1mple, m0NESY, donk, NiKo and many others. According to the open data on pro CS2 resolution settings, over 50% of players prefer exactly this option. The other two resolution settings in the top 3 are 1024 x 768 and 1920 x 1080, but they are used by significantly less players, namely slightly over 10%. If you want to play like a pro, try out this resolution options along with other pro settings in CS2.

Finding the optimal resolution settings for CS2 can resolve performance issues and make the game more comfortable for you. Spend some time setting up your game and experimenting with its parameters to find what works for you, and it will make your life easier even in the harsh environment of competitive matchmaking.  

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