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How these settings are the lowest input latency for CS2?

Posted: 22 Jan 2025, 21:10
by phaze
So, I've been seeing that people and even CS2 publishing an article recommending to enable: G-Sync + V-Sync + Reflex.

However I tried it, and the game feels smooth and all but the mouse feels a little heavy or slow, with a bit of motion blur introduction.

So which settings are really the best for the lowest latency achievable? I need answers based on facts and testings please, because this is so headaching.


G Sync ON + V Sync OFF + REFLEX ON?

OR

G Sync ON + V Sync ON + REFLEX ON?

OR

G Sync OFF + V Sync OFF + REFLEX ON?


PC Specs: i9 14900K (Disabled HT for minimzing the latency jitter) + Enabled Low latency option for RAM (32GB 7200Mhz CL34)
GPU: 4070 Super
Monitor: XL2546K
Mouse: Razer Viper V3 Pro 4000HZ
Keyboard: Wooting 60HE

Re: How these settings are the lowest input latency for CS2?

Posted: 22 Jan 2025, 21:49
by joseph_from_pilsen
Reflex in cs2 is considered in last months by many players and testers as broken and causing lag, Current meta is -noreflex and Ultra low latency mode on. I switched to this, aim is a bit more responsive, but the difference is not that crucial. At computers with limited performance and fps its usually a double edged sword, at laptop the reflex is not feeling worse. At my main rig with 3d ryzen is LLU with noreflex the better choice for me aim wise. In cs2 the reflex at most setups doesnt do the main thing - to prevent gpu render queue from overloading as the game is Cpu cache bottlenecked and not gpu bottlenecked.

The same with gsync + vsync, the best you can do is to try all alternatives on your own and pick what fits you the most, cs2 is so broken rabbit hole that i would not dare to do any absolute recommendations.
Vsync + gsync combo is generally a bandaid fix for bad frame pacing in cs2 which causes the game to run with 60hz feeling at any framerate when no sync is active.
What you can also try is vsync fast, this generates all the frames and picks the most actual ones to display. I tested it, sadly it works only in mirage map where the framerate is highest above 500fps, in most other maps it suffers (for me) from lower frequency feeling like no sync.

Re: How these settings are the lowest input latency for CS2?

Posted: 22 Jan 2025, 22:00
by phaze
joseph_from_pilsen wrote: ↑
22 Jan 2025, 21:49
Reflex in cs2 is considered in last months by many players and testers as broken and causing lag, Current meta is -noreflex and Ultra low latency mode on. I switched to this, aim is a bit more responsive, but the difference is not that crucial. At computers with limited performance and fps its usually a double edged sword, at laptop the reflex is not feeling worse. At my main rig with 3d ryzen is LLU with noreflex the better choice for me aim wise. In cs2 the reflex at most setups doesnt do the main thing - to prevent gpu render queue from overloading as the game is Cpu cache bottlenecked and not gpu bottlenecked.

The same with gsync + vsync, the best you can do is to try all alternatives on your own and pick what fits you the most, cs2 is so broken rabbit hole that i would not dare to do any absolute recommendations.
Vsync + gsync combo is generally a bandaid fix for bad frame pacing in cs2 which causes the game to run with 60hz feeling at any framerate when no sync is active.
What you can also try is vsync fast, this generates all the frames and picks the most actual ones to display. I tested it, sadly it works only in mirage map where the framerate is highest above 500fps, in most other maps it suffers (for me) from lower frequency feeling like no sync.
Okay so now, I did the testing, but I actually tried using VSYNC from the NVCP not the ingame one, and it actually feels really good and doesnt have the muddy/slow mouse movement. its actually responsive and very smooth.

But thinking just for peace of mind to go G Sync ON + REFLEX ON and VSYNC completely OFF

Re: How these settings are the lowest input latency for CS2?

Posted: 22 Jan 2025, 23:46
by Slender
gsync + vsync + reflex off / 1 prerender frame / disable nvidia p-state (lock on p0)

Re: How these settings are the lowest input latency for CS2?

Posted: 22 Jan 2025, 23:49
by Slender
reflex gonna lower my frames from 360 to 310-320, better disable that and use fps_max 333/0

Re: How these settings are the lowest input latency for CS2?

Posted: 23 Jan 2025, 04:03
by joseph_from_pilsen
ingame limiter is a big no no, the fps_max will always never work accurately Rtss is a is usable way or nvcp panel limit l.

And yes, i didnt even think someone would be using the ingame vsync. Ingame in a broken game = broken, giving broken results, what a surprise...

Re: How these settings are the lowest input latency for CS2?

Posted: 23 Jan 2025, 10:28
by Misha1337
joseph_from_pilsen wrote: ↑
23 Jan 2025, 04:03
ingame limiter is a big no no, the fps_max will always never work accurately Rtss is a is usable way or nvcp panel limit l.

And yes, i didnt even think someone would be using the ingame vsync. Ingame in a broken game = broken, giving broken results, what a surprise...
So you using on Ryzen fps cap on nvcp + ULL on and -noreflex with gsync and vsync disabled?

Re: How these settings are the lowest input latency for CS2?

Posted: 23 Jan 2025, 11:11
by joseph_from_pilsen
One of possible ways.

But also using it with ULL, and +vsync +gsync both ENABLED and fps limit 4fps below refresh rate. If you want sacrifice the 1-2ms latency in aim for way better visibility, persistence and smoothness. For me both giving very similar results which are not so different (at 7800X3D desktop and 280hz). At laptop i feel good with both too but decided to go unlimited and off sync simply because im lazy to switch the display port from desktop to laptop... And HDMI at my monitor/laptop combo doesnt support sync (laptop sits at hdmi, desktop at DP). So little weight for me has the aim feeling difference of both settings... That i have chosen the one which doesnt force me to switch cables. Its really almost fungible.

All the things work best with higher framerates and Hz. 240hz is critical minimum, 280-300Hz better, 360-390Hz maximum achieavable with current hardware. 480-540Hz is sadly not possible, no CPU can keep fps so high, even 9800X3D 1 percent lows are around 360.

Just try every possible combination and stay with the one which feels the best for you, also the game changes every month so thing which did or did not work well few months ago shouldnt be always the best even today.

Re: How these settings are the lowest input latency for CS2?

Posted: 23 Jan 2025, 11:23
by Misha1337
joseph_from_pilsen wrote: ↑
23 Jan 2025, 11:11
One of possible ways.

But also using it with ULL, and +vsync +gsync both ENABLED and fps limit 4fps below refresh rate. If you want sacrifice the 1-2ms latency in aim for way better visibility, persistence and smoothness. For me both giving very similar results which are not so different (at 7800X3D desktop and 280hz). At laptop i feel good with both too but decided to go unlimited and off sync simply because im lazy to switch the display port from desktop to laptop... And HDMI at my monitor/laptop combo doesnt support sync (laptop sits at hdmi, desktop at DP). So little weight for me has the aim feeling difference of both settings... That i have chosen the one which doesnt force me to switch cables. Its really almost fungible.

All the things work best with higher framerates and Hz. 240hz is critical minimum, 280-300Hz better, 360-390Hz maximum achieavable with current hardware. 480-540Hz is sadly not possible, no CPU can keep fps so high, even 9800X3D 1 percent lows are around 360.

Just try every possible combination and stay with the one which feels the best for you, also the game changes every month so thing which did or did not work well few months ago shouldnt be always the best even today.

I have no gsync option in my zowie monitor that's why am asking

Re: How these settings are the lowest input latency for CS2?

Posted: 23 Jan 2025, 13:22
by joseph_from_pilsen
Then you have the dyac only version, just use only the settings you can enable. Dont enable vsync then, without freesync/gsync it wont bring any positives, you can try to turn on vsync fast which can work standalone.