There are far more important things to focus on if you want to get better at CSGO, but
changing the graphics settings can give you a slight edge.
In this video I'll be covering the pros and cons of various settings, though to cut a
long story short, the optimal settings depend on which map you're playing.
There isn't a magic formula to get the best results every time, it requires tweaking.
Onto the graphical settings.
I'll be starting out with everything on full.
I'm going to assume that you can run this game decently on highest everything, you should
be getting at least 60 fps at all times or your aim WILL suffer.
Type net_graph 1 into the console to see what sort of framerate you're getting.
It's better to test this online against real people than against bots as bots will only
sap your framerate in singleplayer mode.
If you can't get 60 fps, buy a better PC as this alone will improve your performance more
than any of the tweaks mentioned in this video.
Remove motion blur.
It only gets in the way of seeing things when the action gets going.
Now, disable vertical sync.
This renders frames in advance, which pretty much means it keeps the action hostage for
a split second before showing you it.
We don't want that.
Disable it completely.
Next, remove FXAA.
This is a post-processing effect which pretty much means it gets what's there and BLURS
it.
That's not a good thing, though if you really can't stand the sight of aliasing it's a cheap
way to remove it without losing too many frames per second.
The next thing to go is the shading.
This is a real shame since it's what gives CSGO its graphical sheen compared with CSS,
but it adds distracting water reflections and a horrible smeary mess over the screen,
all of which is disgusting.
I believe it also disables colour correction, adding more contrast to the textures.
You'll also notice that it gets rid of the distracting rain.
On de_lake having shading set to the lowest 2 settings makes a HUGE difference.
In some cases it's beneficial, others it actually reduces contrast between the background and
the characters.
Anisotropic filtering is something I love.
People insist on the highest texture detail possible and this setting ensures that the
textures are all clear- without it, if viewed from an angle like this, the textures lose
their quality even if the texture quality is set to highest.
However, this high detail adds clutter to the screen and more harsh edges to the details
so setting this to bilinear will give distant scenery a flatter, muddier appearance that
will make objects standing on it stand out even more.
I guess that you might as well reduce the texture detail so that even things up close
have this muddy appearance.
Okay, poor example.
Let's try de_overpass, which will likely use newer textures.
Uh, maybe another location will show it.
You know what?
Screw it.
The texture detail makes such a small difference that even in this, the most nit-picking video
around, I'm going to say leave it on high.
It just makes the game look a little bit nicer.
Spread the word to everybody!
Pros, up your texture detail!
It's not worth the sacrifice!
I mean, it would be if it made a difference like THIS, but it doesn't.
Out of curiosity I loaded up Counter Strike Source and YES it does make a big difference
on there.
But not on CSGO.
If anybody can find any meaningful examples where lower texture detail could possibly
give anybody an advantage, do let me know with screenshot proof and I'll eat my proverbial
hat.
I don't have any real ones... and I don't play Team Fortress 2.
Don't get me wrong, increased contrast is GOOD, but only when it's between players and
the backdrops.
More contrast and definition on the backdrop textures themselves serve to camouflage other
players.
As for character models, their shape and outline remains the same regardless of model detail.
In the levels themselves, plants and other sticky-out things tend to be kept at a minimum
on CSGO to improve visibility but there are SMALL differences between settings.
On high texture detail you get more detail in the leafs- at some points there are holes
where there aren't on low and vice versa.
I'm going to remain neutral regarding which setting allows for players to be most easily
seen.
If I had to state my opinion I'd say that low would be better far off, and high would
make it easier to see through up close.
Once again we're really splitting straws here.
Next, say good bye to the shadows by setting it to very low.
Now most of the shadows will be a pre-baked, low quality blur which reduces the complexity
of the screen even more and makes various parts of the maps brighter.
You'll still have real-time ones up close so you'll still spot characters by their shadows.
Very low and low have the same distance on the real-time shadows, but low adds shadows
to more models and ups the quality a bit.
Medium increases the distance that shadows are visible from and high does it even more
so.
At lower settings it makes the transition between near and distant shadows more obvious
which can distract you in-game as it did for me here.
However, practicing the maps with low settings will help you to overcome these problems.
You'll retain the benefits of increased contrast between models and the backgrounds.
Antialiasing is a difficult one for me.
It enables a more accurate representation of a single pixel, which is almost like playing
the game at a higher resolution than it actually is.
I'm going to remain neutral with this setting, as enabling it is almost like having a 'more
equal' mode.
Sometimes it's better, other times it might be worse...
so effectively it cancels it out.
Enabling it also reduces the distracting shimmer that high contrast models can have which may
prove to be less distracting.
I play with it enabled, and would go as far as to recommend SSAA if your PC can run it,
as this smooths fences and other sprite-based items as well as the edges of models.
I don't know if this setting is available in-game, I enable it through my Nvidia control
panel, but find that AA also has to be enabled in CSGO for it to take effect.
AMD users may have to do the same.
Intel GPU users should buy a dedicated graphics card.
Don't confuse AA with FXAA, which is only a post-processing effect.
Effect detail was a bit of a revelation for me.
I figured that it would alter the distance and detail of particles, gun shots, blood,
smoke and explosions, but I could find literally NO difference between the detail settings.
In Nvidia's Geforce Experience it shows the effect detail as determining the amount of
dust.
I'd wager that at some point it did make a difference but was altered in a bid to make
this game more fair for everybody.
The game seems geared up towards making the graphics matter as little as possible.
I'd say to either leave the effects on high as a psychological feel-good, or to set it
to low and to feel like a real hardcore pro.
Something that can make a tangible difference is to increase the contrast and/or brightness
using your graphics card's options menu.
The optimal settings depend on your monitor, type of GPU you have and your game settings.
Upping the contrast really brings out detail in previously murky areas, as you'll see in
this comparison shot here.
Upping the vibrancy of the colours makes everything stand out a lot better as well, which is essential
for picking out enemies when they're standing in front of a similarly coloured wall.
These windows on lake may ultimately go the same way as the ones on nuke, where a patch
literally rendered them more transparent, but until then, the settings don't make much
of a difference.
Upping the contrast enough may help but will hinder the rest of the level for you.
I wouldn't bother.
Or alternatively, don't do that, keep the settings on highest and enjoy the game in
all its graphical glory.
Ultimately it's up to you as to what you want from this game.
I can spot the differences and compile it into an educational video like this one for
you to enjoy, and I've enjoyed doing so, but at some point you have to draw the line and
question what will give you the most pleasure from this game.
Just shoot them out or EMBRACE their cloudiness.
WINDOWS?!
Best settings for seeing through?