Counter-Strike Source is one of the most played games ever made by the valve. Now even though the majority of players have shifted to Counter-Strike Global Offensive many players still play Counter-Strike Source. So to help those gamers find the right steam launch options for Counter-Strike Source here is a dedicated guide by noobs2pro for steam launch options in Counterstrike Source.

Counter-Strike Source Steam Launch Options

How to set steam launch options for CS: Source

• Open Steam APP
• Go to the Steam Library tab

• Right-click on Counter-Strike Source
• Select Properties and then in the General tab Click on the  “Set Launch Options”

 

-tickrate 128 -novid -nojoy -high -USEALLAVAILABLECORES -noforcemaccel -noforcemparms

What these Steam Launch settings do in CS: Source

-tickrate 128

As the name suggests it sets the tick rate of the servers you host when playing “Bots or on LAN” games or any self-hosted servers that you host via your client to 128 (as opposed to the default 64). It simply means when you are playing with your friends you will have faster gaming experience with lower pings. This is really useful for those LAN Games. just make sure that the server system which is hosting the game is good.

-novid 

It will remove the short starting video of Valve in Counter-Strike Source. This is really helpful when reconnecting after accidentally losing your connection in competitive matches.It really helps with a faster startup and thus can help gamers who are short on time.

-nojoy

This steam launch option will remove the joystick support from the game and thus may help free up RAM. This option will only give you a minor FPS Boost in Counter-Strike Source but every FPS boost counts.

-high

It is one of the common steam launch options that work for a number of games especially those made by valve. As the name suggests It will make set the counter strike source process on high priority in windows. Your computer will give now allocate more resources (RAM, CPU, etc) to CS instead of any other processes. This can really help low-end systems run the game better and much faster as well as boost FPS and fix the lag.

-USEALLAVAILABLECORES

As the name suggests it forces the game to use all the cores for gaming. Newer games are used to handling multiple cores but older games are not. You can use this option to force the game to use the multiple cores your newer GPU has. Definitely useful for Ryzen processors.

-noforcemaccel 

This steam launch option disables mouse acceleration in Counter-Strike Source. This option can help improve your aim and make it more accurate. If you plan on becoming a bro then you need to use this option.

-noforcemparms

This steam launch option prevents windows from interfering with Counter-Strike and using desktop mouse acceleration settings. It will help make your aim more accurate overall.

 

These are some extra steam launch options that are experimental. You can use this steam launch option for Counter-Strike Source to get more FPS in the game.

-refresh 60 -dxlevel 95 -heapsize 4194304 -noipx

I will explain each and every steam launch option below. You can use the settings as per your need.

-dxlevel 95

This steam launch option sets the rendering level according to your specifications. If you have a new graphics card then do not use this option. For older graphics cards you can test different options and see which work the best for you. For most systems,  Officially supported values are: 60, 70, 80, 81, 90, 91, 95 (recommended), 98 (Xbox 360 only), and 100

-refresh 60

This option sets the refresh rate of the game. If you have a 144 Hz system then the command will be -refresh 144 and so on. I used a 60hz display so I use -refresh 60. Set this setting according to your refresh rate.

-Heapsize 4194304

This option pre-allocates memory to Counter-Strike Source so that it functions properly and does not face FPS issues. This setting is optional but if you have a lot of RAM then it can help get you some extra FPS in-game. 

Heapsize should ideally be Half of your RAM. So set this setting accordingly.

If you have following Ram set the heap size accordingly…

2GB System Memory:
Your -heapsize should be: “1048576”

4GB System Memory:
Your -heapsize should be: “2097152”

8GB System Memory:
Your -heapsize should be: “4194304”

-noipx 

This option Disables local network settings and helps lower ping in some cases. This option disables the use of the IPX / SPX protocol 

-gl

This option needs testing and should be used only after testing. It sets the counter strike source game to be rendered in OpenGL. OpenGL works well on some systems while not so much on others. That is why you need to test and see which works best for you. DirectX or OpenGL

 

I hope this guide has been informative for you and I thank you for reading. If you know any more steam launch options for Counter-Strike Source then let me know in the comment section below. I hope this guide helped you boost your in-game FPS. You can also optimize your system for gaming and use the counter strike source graphics settings guide to boost FPS even further. Happy gaming

See you in-game