Curious if your PC can handle Counter-Strike 2? CS2 has leveled up with stunning visuals, improved physics, and next-gen gameplay, but all that power comes with a price: performance. In this guide, we’ll break down the Counter-Strike system requirements, the storage space you’ll need, and a few tips to ensure your game runs as smoothly as possible. Let’s see if your rig makes the cut!

Contents

• CS2 Minimum Specs
• Recommended CS2 System Requirements
• How Big is CS2? File Size
• How to Check Your Hardware

CS2 Minimum Specs

Here are the minimum requirements for running Counter-Strike on your PC:

• OS: Windows® 10
• Processor: 4 hardware CPU threads, such as Intel® Core™ i5 750 or AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE
• Memory: 8 GB RAM
• Graphics: DirectX 11-compatible video card with support for Shader Model 5.0 and 1 GB VRAM, such as GeForce GT 710 or AMD Radeon R5 240
• DirectX: Version 11
• Storage: 85 GB available space

Don’t expect good performance from this kind of setup, though—you’ll need to significantly bring down the graphics settings to close to smooth gameplay. It may be a good idea to cap your FPS quite low to avoid lag spikes, and use CS2 launch options to start the game with the more advanced visual effects disabled. 

And of course, you’ll also need a decent internet connection! 

Recommended CS2 System Requirements

These specs will let you run the game with higher settings, offering better visuals and a much smoother experience: 

• OS: Windows® 11
• Processor: 6 or more physical cores and 12 or more hardware threads, such as Intel Core i7-9700K, AMD Ryzen 5 3600, or AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
• Memory: 16 GB RAM
• Graphics: DirectX 12-compatible video card with support for Shader Model 6.0 and 4 GB of VRAM, such as GeForce GTX 1660 Ti or AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT
• DirectX: Version 12
• Storage: 85 GB available space

With this hardware, you’d get higher FPS and be able to play with a much higher resolution (if that’s your thing—plenty of CS2 pros play on a fairly low resolution). You should get reliable performance at medium settings, with some of the optional visuals enabled, like advanced texture blending and particle animations. 

How Big is CS2? File Size

You’ll need 85 GB of free space on your hard drive to install and run Counter-Strike 2. However, this doesn’t mean that the file you’ll download is 85 GB. The installation files are compressed, so they’re actually considerably smaller, between 30 and 40 GB. 

The exact size of the download depends on the current game version. Updates can change the size of the files by removing unnecessary files, optimizing existing content, and adding new elements, such as expanding the map pool (maps can weigh around 200 MB each). 

How to Check Your Hardware

The quickest way to check what you’re working with, hardware-wise, is to go to Settings > System > About. You’ll see basic device specifications here, including your processor and RAM details. 

To check your full specs and get a lot more detail, use the DirectX Diagnostic Tool. It’ll give you tons of information about both your System, GPU, and more. 

To open the DirectX Diagnostic Tool, click Start and search for dxdiag, then open the first result. Alternatively, you can open the tool by using the Command Prompt dxdiag.exe or via the Run menu: press the Windows+R, type dxdiag in the dialog that appears, and click OK. 

Switch between the tabs to see more information about each aspect of your system, including details of your GPU. 

So, there you have it—everything you need to know about the Counter-Strike 2 system requirements. Whether you’re running a beast of a gaming rig or squeezing out performance from an older setup, understanding what the game demands is the first step to dominating the server. See you in the game!