The Cities Skylines 2 Hardware Benchmarking, Performance, and Settings Guide

In this video, we'll go over the process that I used to benchmark a variety of hardware to gauge the performance of Cities Skylines 2 on systems of various power levels.
The accompanying spreadsheet with all of the run data can be found here: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
Please note that all runs in YELLOW were run on Friday October 20 on tthe 1.0.9 version of the game that includes the 1-5% performance uplift. The previous runs were on version 1.0.6, the version from the Stream and many creator videos.
If you're curious about my benchmark, you can see that here - • CS2 Benchmark Run Example . FYI - this is not a test run, I reloaded in each time around to ensure that the light rain rain was present for each run.
Other notes, if you're interested in the software I used, you can pick it up here and it works for anyone, regardless of if you have MSI hardware or not and it's free - www.msi.com/Landing/afterburn... . The visual settings were a copy pasta job from @TechDweeb , who put together this awesome guide for tuning the on-screen settings - • How to set up MSI Afte... .
I also used Driver Display Utility in between cards to remove drivers (www.guru3d.com/download/displ....
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HASHTAGS
#CitiesSkylines2 #cityplannerplays

[@CityPlannerPlays]

A few quick things ... 1) The benchmarks can be found here: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JIUokAXWOvHYsVZzJv7Skju5oKgm0-r4/edit?pli=1#gid=1737240722 2) The benchmark example can be found here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gqHcXqalnb6mqqc 3) At least in the US, you can get a Game Pass 14 day trial for $1 again. If you want to test CS2 without a big commitment, that's a valid way to do it - www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-game-pass . Not sponsored in any way. 4) A HUGE thank you to all channel members and patrons! This video is here because of you!

[@KinglandoPlays]

hi, love your videos

[@lostmymag]

Any info on upscaling? Noticed the upscaling on your stream said AMD FSR 1.0 with a drop down menu with constant dynamic resolution on. If this is FSR 1.0, might explain why it looks so bad and DLSS might actually be viable. kzbin.infoA9_5opzu8HU?si=hZ6m17JTD8DM8LpX&t=8083

[@heathhunt1992]

Do you think I will have any issues with the game using the asus-rog-strix-scar-18 240hz gaming laptop qhd intel-13th gen-core-i with 32gb memory nvidia geforce rtx 4090 2tb ssd and a 2460×1600 screen resolution. I'm worried because it is a 4000 laptop I just purchased from Best Buy. I only got it hopes it will run perfect for the game.

[@cptjpk]

Looks like the legend for the 2600x+GPUs is flipped between 1% lows and avg

[@DocNo27]

Nice - looking forward to digging deeper! I'm planning to head to Microcenter Monday to get parts for a build so this is very timely (especially since my closes Microcenter is now 4 hours away).

[@OVERCHARGEDEGG]

Mad respect for putting this together mate, a huge help for the CS community 🙏

[@CityPlannerPlays]

Thanks, bud!

[@cs2forlife]

Cities Skylines PR team working harder than optimisation team

[@oldjoe182]

i dont like this at all! those gfx cards are crazy expensive where i live. this sucks!

[@kr46428]

@@oldjoe182 I think they are crazy expensive no matter where you live, but for some places they are even more crazy expensive.

[@Xiyng]

I'm sure the optimization team is working hard (there wasn't supposed to be an update yesterday!), it just seems like it's harder task than they anticipated, so it's taking time.

[@JustMe-oo1gr]

Now THIS is the Cities Skylines 2 video people have REALLY been waiting for. Thanks so much for all the time and effort you put in on this project!

[@mrbfros454]

The CO dev team should pay you handsomely for this video. Not only have you saved them many difficult phone calls to customer service but you also have done a lot of their work for them by exposing weak points and features that need improvement. The time and effort put into this is just amazing. Your love and dedication to your viewers is truly heartwarming. ❤

[@davidgreen8512]

I think they should hire Phil as their product manager

[@fredpittman1972]

I was stunned to see so many tests done… this guy is amazing.

[@ponli7532]

The population not impacting perfomance past 25k, this could be indicative of "hidden" limit where the number may go up but the city doesn't actually spawn more people/cars as you move up.

[@jrlivingspaces]

You're right on the money here I think you're on to something here

[@arminkaiser8933]

Actually sad. With the hardware of the recomended spec you should be able to run this game at 300 FPS+ without any problem.

[@mogamerclips6133]

​@@arminkaiser8933Thats still 25k or more enteties that need to be rendered, processed and all. Try spawning 25k npcs in gta 5 or any other game and see how it goes

[@furdiburd]

​@@mogamerclips6133Game engine go BRRRR KSDFHHH *BOOOOMMMM*

[@ralalbatross]

@@arminkaiser8933 rofl mate give over

[@twodollarstwenty]

This is huge. Thank you for running all of these tests and providing us with your findings. This is such a big undertaking and it’s going to help people out immensely! Myself included. Thank you!

[@helplmchoking]

Quick tip around Vsync, not just in CS2 but all games, if you find it significantly harms performance or adds a load of input lag then I suggest disabling it - if you then see too much tearing or inconsistent FPS is being distracting, go and enable vsync in *your GPU software* which is often a better implementation than what comes with games. If you have free/Gsync then just leave it off

[@Blue_Monkey]

Always disable V-Sync if you have G-Sync, instead do a global fps limit about 4 fps below your displays refresh rate. Edit: Since some people in the comments below have no idea what they are talking about, here some notes on that: 1. A global fps limit makes always sense for your system, to prevent the GPU to ever run insane FPS, to reduce wear & tear, to reduce heat (all 3 not only for GPU but also CPU and other components) - if necessary, you can still say game x should have a specific separate fps limit (NVidia control panel allows you to do that easily). 2. Vsync introduces significant input lag and it often does lead to significantly reduced performance. In the video, instead of going over 60 fps, it just caps it. Now, given you have Gsync enabled, Vsync is NO LONGER required to prevent tearing, since Gsync does this already for you, while having nearly 0 input lag.

[@helplmchoking]

@@Blue_Monkey Mostly yeah, or at least a factor of your refresh rate that's close to or just below your average. There's no point me setting a limit of 230 on a 32:9 monitor since I never get that high, but I'll limit some games to maybe 80 if I can normally hit just over to keep it really consistent. Another consideration is the variable refresh range. It's better in newer monitors but older ones had quite limited ranges where Gsync would work - my old laptop had a 120Hz display but G-Sync only worked from I think 48Hz and up. You definitely want to be in that range for a good experience

[@achillesa5894]

@@Blue_Monkey You need to do both, with gsync on you disable in game vsync, force enable driver vsync and also cap fps (preferrably with in game limiter or RTSS) to 3-4 below your monitor refresh. Look up "blur busters gsync 101" for more details.

[@MaddJakd]

Enhanced Sync FTW!

[@unvergebeneid]

@@Blue_Monkey Don't forget to enable vertical sync in the Nvidia control panel though, or you'll get tearing.

[@asneakyninja1_]

I'm glad there is someone in this community that is willing to actually go and test various system configs to really see what the performance is, great work!

[@imperfectcookie9911]

THIS SHOULD BE THE STANDARD FOR BENCHMARKING VIDEOS. I can't stress enough that not everyone has the access to top-of-the-line equipment. Videos like this are a godsend. Thank you doesn't come close to how much I appreciate the work you've done, and I'm sure the same goes for a lot of people. Thank you Phil!! Taking one for the good of the community.

[@gregbrent2357]

This is one of the most valuable things a content creator has ever done not only for their community, but for the games they cover. This must have been nightmarishly expensive and incredibly time consuming so I just can't thank you enough. Majestic work as usual.

[@shellywhite2341]

For somebody that is VERY confused about all of the information coming out about the performance, this was so incredibly helpful! Thank you!

[@timestamppatrol]

00:00 The release of "Cities: Skylines 2" saw an increase in minimum and recommended system requirements, with performance issues acknowledged by the developers. 02:05 Disabling V-Sync led to significant performance improvements for many graphics cards, especially for the 40 series cards, significantly enhancing 1% lows and reducing stuttering. 03:15 Benchmarking methodology involved creating a city with around 100,000 population, mainly on a River Delta map to avoid weather effects on performance. 05:38 The game's performance heavily depends on the GPU, with poor 1% lows due to VRAM and system memory limitations, potentially leading to stutter and lag. 13:50 The game struggles to perform at 4K high settings, with up to a 50% reduction in FPS, highlighting the need for further optimization. 16:23 FPS doesn't scale linearly with city growth, with the steepest drop in FPS early on and a more moderate decline as the city expands. 17:06 Recommended settings vary depending on your graphics card, but general guidelines include adjusting graphical settings, depth of field, and volume metrics to optimize performance. 18:33 To enhance performance for "Cities: Skylines 2," it's essential to have a graphics card with at least 10 GB of VRAM, with a 4060 TI (16 GB) as a sweet spot for most users. 19:02 Avoid 8 GB variants of graphics cards to ensure better performance in demanding scenarios. 19:16 Consider upgrading your RAM to at least 16 GB, and aim for 32 GB if possible. 19:30 Invest in an NVMe drive as it will improve overall game performance and reduce reliance on the page file. 19:44 Processor upgrades are less crucial in City Skylines 2 compared to the GPU. Focus on getting a higher-end GPU first. 20:25 Try out the game using Steam's 2-hour refund policy or consider subscribing to Game Pass for a cost-effective trial. 22:10 Experiment with different in-game settings to optimize performance, including disabling features like V-Sync, depth of field, motion blur, and fog. ko-fi.com/timestamppatrol

[@UniversoXbox1]

“Avoid 8GB variants” My 3050 4GB 💀

[@kabloonuk]

It's ridiculous needing a 4060 or more when a 3080 play Phantom Liberty with ray tracing just fine WHILE looking better than CS:2

[@timestamppatrol]

@@kabloonuk this game still in beta what do you expect? players = beta tester now days, im crying on my 1060 3GB.

[@houseofdragons0867]

Oh boi, the 3050 is a bad card...@@UniversoXbox1

[@gorillaglueonmydick]

Yeah I'm using that steam refund policy to test if gameplay is bearable on my 3060ti as I used to play on a 1030 so I can bear shittier settings and fps opting in for my own preferences over word of mouth

[@splintercat]

Thank you so much for this video. Can't even begin to show you the right amount of gratitude for all the work that went into this. 💜

[@CityPlannerPlays]

Thank you so much, Splintercat! Glad to hear that you're enjoying the videos and I really appreciate the support!!

[@JouleThief29]

As someone who did benchmarking several times to find the best settings for the games I play, I really appreciated the huge amount of work, which must have went into this video. I'm glad that I don't need to do this myself and can enjoy CS2 then it releases on Tuesday (or Wednesdays because my Internet is slow as hell, welcome to Germany😅)

[@CityPlannerPlays]

Happy to help! Hopefully this gives you a good starting place for your settings! Thanks so much for the support!

[@c14b4tt4]

You may be able to preload the game over night

[@kaesden]

not even just the work, but the cost as well. Not many streamers have the equipment to do this thorough of a test, or the budget to do so.

[@JouleThief29]

@@kaesden ​I know, therefore the Super Thanks ;)

[@screampillow3360]

Really high effort content! Thanks Phil, this is why you're THE Cities Skylines creator for me.

[@NicoRTM]

I'm amazed of how good your methodology of testing was even though is the first time you do it. It is on par with dedicated hardware youtube channels. Great job!!

[@linmanfu913]

Thank you so much for including budget setups in your testing. So many websites only test the most expensive components. I play C:S1 on an APU so knowing what to expect from different budget cards is really, really helpful.

[@DiamondOrPoor78]

This has got to be one of the best and most high effort Cites: Skylines videos of all time, thanks a ton we all really appreciate it!

[@StoneLegion]

Thank you for making this video. We know you put extra effort into this and had to redo it due to an update. Thank you so much! Looking forward to launch!

[@stephanie756]

This is immensely helpful - so much time and effort went into this. You are the reason that I got into CS1 originally and will be playing CS2 once optimized. Appreciate everything you do for the community!

[@macaidwin]

Thank you so much for taking the time to run tests and make this video. Made everything a lot more clear to me that my mid-range setup possible will work for cs2.

[@WillCSOfficial]

The dedication for this video is absolutely incredible, thank you so much for putting this together!

[@StaK_1980]

I work in testing so seeing you doing these runs with so many systems, so many times... man, I am REALLY impressed by this amount of work! Well done!

[@cherico94]

This was such a good video. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been to make this. Really appreciate your work! This will help me make my decisions for any upgrade plans I have. Thank you again!

[@RobinOttens]

Thanks for all the effort you put into this. This is very useful, especially the tips on settings and demo of how the game looks at different settings.

[@Acid_Burn9]

Dude woke up and decided to be Hardware Unboxed. My man you are just mental. You absolutely did not have to go this hard on this and yet you have went above and beyond. I am just speechless about this level of thoroughness and effort. This the level of content something i would expect from a professional benchmarking channel. WOW.

[@dcpassarell]

I'm suprised he didn't reach out to either Hardware Unboxed or Gamers Nexus to collaborate, but it's great to see people reach out beyond their comfort zone!

[@bitmau5]

Steve would be proud. Nice work. Editor Mouse here, it should be noted that you performing these tests before release really does give the devs a heads up on what to expect from the major tech channels. This video will raise eyebrows within that community. I said it once and I'll say it again. Outstanding job! /FadeToBlack Re-Editor Mouse here: GamersNexus has been @'d. Cross fingers. This is FANTASTIC!

[@PragmaticWisdom]

& I have just @'d the other tech Steve, at Hardware Unboxed.

[@AbsoluteCrisis18]

This is exactly why I come to you for all my CS needs! I appreciate you so much for doing this for us. Thank you a million ❤

[@AShadowinthedark]

You are a madman buying all that hardware. You tested with the hardware I have at home so I appreciate the lengths you have gone to for us.

[@teun9380]

Can't express how useful this is for future C:S2 players. Keep up the good work CPP!

[@TheWootfish]

Phil, you are the absolute best. This looks like it was a ton of work. I've been watching since early bluffside and you still manage to keep finding new ways to impress and set an amazing example - thank you!

[@jadP3]

Thank you for the huge amount of time, testing and re-testing that was put into this video. Hugely insightful for the entire community!

[@itznotmichxel4801]

Thank you for this you’ve done more then anyone needed to do to give us clear answers on the performance issue worries. Lots of respect

[@alecksweee]

Thank you so much for all the time putting this together CPP! The spreadsheet effectively put me at ease that I'll be able to play day 1 and just go into the game with what settings to shoot for and spend the time enjoying the game rather than troubleshooting.

[@Arphaxad17]

Thank you so much for all the hard work. It truly is appreciated!

[@Hossdelux]

Dude. You are amazing. The amount of work [and money, like how honestly] this took and for you to do then because of a massive release update you were not expecting. Just thank you. I am now subbed

[@AlecWiese]

This is so much work (and you near doubled it the day before posting due to a patch!!) thanks for putting this together. It’s a wonderful resource

[@OnTheNerdySide]

Thank you SO MUCH for putting in all this work!! This is the video I'd been waiting for!!

[@CityPlannerPlays]

You’re welcome! Thank you so much for the support!!

[@max.ferrari]

I’m really digging this type of video. You’re clearly very knowledgeable about computers and I’d love to see more of that knowledge make it into your videos through one way or another

[@sedatedape315]

WOW! This is, and will be, so helpful to the entire CS community. Thanks for the time and expense spent putting this together! As one who is completely lost about all the hardware and settings stuff you just made a lot of it very understandable. Many of us thank you this video.

[@thecardczar8764]

This is a wonderful prerelease review, with a ton of time, effort, and money sunk into deep-diving those specs! Thank you for this!

[@xico2646]

This is an amazing video, and a must watch! Thank you SO much for putting in the effort of doing this! I'm actually pleasantly surprised by some results, and I believe things will only get better from now on! ❤

[@jamieknight326]

Thanks for all the effort here Phil. It’s super appreciated. Seeing a 4090 struggle is a bit alarming to say the least! I’m going to try it on game pass and see how it goes on my system. The performance situation has knocked my excitement for the game somewhat.

[@solly2420]

Thank you so much for the time and effort you put in to this! It’s incredibly helpful. As someone that loves CS but really has no idea about specs, this has helped me immensely. I’ll be buying a new rig for this (I was due an update anyway) so now I have a starting point.

[@Krinbo]

This video idea is awesome, so considerate of you to even think of this. Thank you so much!

[@Chri2992]

Thank you so so much for including the Arc card! I know not a lot of people have them but those of us that do really appreciate it!

[@the_tiny_Rambo]

I'm one of the people that will be able to play it about as good as it will run, but I wanted to say I really appreciate your approach. Showing people their real options including how to test it on their system for as little money as possible is awesome.

[@JoeDecker]

Dang, thank you for all the incredible work here. Really appreciated! (And thanks for doing the test on the Mac Studio, I might have tried it on my own Studio with parallels otherwise.)

[@mjaguirrexx]

Thank you for this benchmark Phil! It's super helpful for managing my expectations at day 1!

[@NickCharles]

I appreciate your putting this all together! Also, I must say this is quite a good look into how difficult benchmarking games actually is. There are so many things to keep in mind with the methodology. There's going to be a lot more performance testing once the game releases to the public!

[@CityPlannerPlays]

I have gained a new level of respect for folks like Gamers Nexus, Paul’s Hardware, Jays2cents, LTT, etc. Very time consuming and very difficult to get a meaningful measure that is easy to reproduce.

[@anders95]

I'm amazed by the effort you put into this. Simply incredible. I think I'm gonna wait a while and enjoy your videos for now lol, this is not great. I really hope they'll improve it over time.

[@thadizzie1]

Thanks for taking the time to show us this Phil. It's much appreciated!! Now I know I need to save a little more for a new pc. Which is ok. I can wait for CS2 to be somewhat fined tuned and then go in on it!

[@mannegreen]

so helpful, thank you for all of the effort that went in to making this video! It would be helpful to keep us updated if any performance update significantly changes anything.

[@idrisnobody]

Pretty disappointing that a 1 month old PC will still get pretty meh performance. Guess I can wait a while. Or not. Thank you CPP! 😊

[@unything2696]

If you play on PC, you always tweak the settings. It's like this for 20 years. Your PC. Shadows & water first, then things that hurt a little like more like Level of detail, viewing distance, etc. Works 90% of the time all of the time. CPU bottleneck is a little harder. Don't be that guy that doesn't try and just complains.

[@Antidepressiva1980]

Don't be that guy that flowercoats this shitshow of optimization effort from the devs. This is unacceptable ! Eff the devs for releasing in such a bad state. This should be illegal !@@unything2696

[@The123tactics]

This is how things are now, look at starfield or KSP 2.

[@Ben_Bazooka]

Have you watched the video? This isn't just about complaining. If a game can't properly run on mid range to high end configurations while looking objectively terrible with texture flickering, LoD pop in and scratching at the unplayable performance tier then this isn't a "oh just lower the settings till you're fine" type of case. You don't buy a car when the salesman tells you " oh the brakes ain't working yet but don't worry we will fix it in the future but we're sure you will love the experience". Nobody except video game players pay for broken products at the full price. The game runs at low settings @1080p @30-50fps what do you want to turn down? Just curious. If you are hyped and you're sure you gonna enjoy playing then that's fine but why tell others not to complain when it's obvious that it isn't a finished product. @@unything2696

[@mistersinister2043]

@@unything2696 No you don't tweak the settings for most games. Only a select few need that. People have a right to know whether or not their PC can handle the game before buying, stop being a douche.

[@NoDecaf7]

My good sir, thank you kindly for what you've put together here. Myself and the rest of this community are grateful for the work and money put into making this possible. Back in August, I built a new machine purely to play this game. After your 5 hr livestream, I questioned the quality of my choices. But after comparing my old build to my new and then comparing those to what you've done here, I think I set my expectations low enough that I'll be pleasantly surprised, with a few graphics tweaks, with my gameplay experience. Thank you ❤

[@santaclaus447]

Thank you for taking the time to do all of these tests! I can't wait for the game but iv been worried about the expirence with a 3060ti at 1440p. So much great info👏👏👏

[@Doctrtony]

This is so much effort put into this video I applaud you

[@bradleythatcher2869]

Thank you for this Phil. It was great. I’m pretty disappointed though. I hope updates come fast and furious after launch. CO can say it is a “next-gen” title but if a 4090 can’t push the game with ease then something is really wrong with the game.

[@ahmetkeremdeniz4536]

This work deserves great respect. Thank you so much!!

[@paraflax9198]

I got a 3060 ti and I was happy to hear you do more performance testing after the update with vsync off. Thank you so much!!

[@mpbattista5038]

Thank you for this information and your hard work to bring it to the community!!

[@CityPlannerPlays]

Happy to have the opportunity to do so! Thank you so much for the support!!

[@Disco_Tek]

Unbelievable you attempted this on your own. Well done. I'd suggest contacting GN or HUB and offering them some of your save files to have them run true benchmarks. Honestly though... well done and you've definitely helped a lot of people in the community with this one.

[@phosphorusgold2391]

It seems something trivial to mention, but you noticing how FPS drop is not linear is a big hint at where the issues may lie. It can help the developers to optimize it faster and more efficiently! Thank you for this video!

[@flappu5]

Wow you really went all out. Thanks for the effort you put into this project.

[@niquedegraaff]

The reason for not having linear correlation between FPS and population is the fact that later in game, small buildings get replaced by larger buildings in where a lot more people can live: So more people per vertices / triangles, as those larger buildings are often just boxes (apartments). It would be great if we can see the triangle / vertices count.

[@FedericoG1]

I think that too and at the beginning of the game, you are placing lots of services that have tons of details, so vertex count grow fast. And IMHO the overall low performance is bounded to the assets. They look like are insanely detailed, like too much detailed. And more detail, more vertex, more textures, more vram, and in the end, the bottleneck will be in the bandwidth of the vram, despite how fast is your gpu chip.😢

[@drakechapman7476]

Motion Blur is just bad. Disabling it is only good.

[@TechnicalParadox]

Only good in driving games

[@RryhhbfrHhgdHhgd356]

Honestly agree. Is almost universally nauseating. Depth of Field also makes me queasy sometimes though, so maybe I am not one to talk… 😂

[@Jarethenator]

Motion blur? More like motion sickness. I’ve never had a good experience with it any game, but this one’s is particularly nauseating.

[@raynjpg]

@@TechnicalParadoxI don't even like it in driving games. It's just a bad feature. Motion blur works a lot better in a movie because you're able to make it deliberate and smooth, but when it's dynamic and ever-changing, such as in a videogame, it looks awful and it makes people nauseous.

[@NickBosshard]

​@@raynjpgThe only game I use it in is Forza with it set to short. Adds to the sense of speed compared to off, but otherwise, first thing to tun off.

[@molybdane7240]

This will be a go-to video for the foreseeable future and essential in giving people a soft landing into CS:2. I've been taking notes along the way and feel confident again about my machine being able to handle CS:2.

[@SimplyPedro]

This had to take an insane amount of effort to put all of this together! I'm and We are very thankful to you!

[@S_Karthik]

What a Guide Man, Thanks for the effort. I'm still saving for an overhaul upgrade next year 2024 - 12600KF + 4070 + 16GB is the plan - 9100F Potato + King RX 570 is wht I'm running now

[@tactaillike]

Awesome guide, really respect how far you went to test the game on many different setups. Can't imagine how long that must've taken just to change the test bench LOL Obviously it's disappointing that even an ultra-high end system can struggle in CS2, and that will definitely have me holding off on the game for a while, but I still hope they can get the game running a lot better by the time they have to release the game on consoles...

[@Edwins1984]

Great coverage, this chanel is mentioned in a lot of cities skyline topics and it didn't disappoint. Great job to the whole team 👏

[@FuckVeevo]

Good video bud, very informative and you even put upgrade recommendations in. I respect the graft.

[@xxstarsxx381]

Great video and thanks for the spec sheet, very very helpful. ‘Biffa plays’ also found during a video/ stream that the FPS could be improved by changing the resolution once the game loads, as the game takes the windows resolution rather than whats set in the game as default. So it needs to be re-set on game load.

[@ponli7532]

sounds like an issue with running as a window compared to running fullscreen. I don't stream so i never run games in window mode because it harms performance slightly.

[@tiredgradstudent955]

Never clicked on a video this fast

[@mechwarrior83]

Comprehensive analysis dude, seriously well done! You deserve a medal for running a test 72 times alone!

[@Th3WolfMachine]

You tested basically my hardware, and it came out ok, so I am excited! I hope the optimization patch helps even further!

[@skayt35]

Yay, I might be able to go with Medium settings instead of Low! Thank you so much for your efforts, the configuration tips are gold!

[@paullaure]

Same here! I am in the "Upper-Mid-Range" category with a new PC. ❤ This video is amazing!

[@Antidepressiva1980]

lol@@paullaure

[@benjibatch]

Glad to see my card (the 3060ti) get some big gains, may the gains continue, I'm confident over the next few weeks the performance will continue to get better, massive kudos to CO dev team and how hard they're working to get this game as good as they can for launch day and not pushing the date back!

[@wiezo8176]

The game mostly really on your CPU so if you are going to see a big difference in performance, that would be where to look

[@133TME]

​@@wiezo8176according to the video, it's mostly GPU limited.

[@zzz-pe3mp]

@@wiezo8176 after playing it all day while watching performance stats on my second monitor its absolutely GPU heavy

[@thephantomchannel5368]

Dude is a legend. Thanks for taking the time to put this information out, much appreciated.

[@seanellis3725]

Appreciate all the time and effort on this!

[@VaingloriousGaming]

great work! I do not miss my benchmarking days, I know how much work had to go into this. What an outstanding service to the CS community. Now... what are you gonna do with all of that hardware you picked up?

[@springer1985]

From a technical and financial standpoint, this video is impressive. It must have taken a lot of time to gather this info... especially since you're not a tech KZbinr like LinusTechTips. Mad respect.

[@shilohslim1893]

Many thanks Phil for the time and effort you put into this, it is hugely helpful and has crystallised my decision to wait a while until the game's in better shape - no day one download for me unfortunately 😥

[@nealmetcalfe]

Thanks for making this video. I will be waiting for a while to get CS2 but having watched this I tried adjusting the settings for CS1 which has been just awful since the last update and it is very much improved.

[@SirLamaGott]

You are a legend, you deserve way more subscribers!! I am so worried that my CPU won't be good enough! I just got a Ryzen 5 3060x but a RTX 3060 12GB, I hope it works smooth on Medium. You gave me some hope with your benchmarks.

[@g_webb21]

You're good to go. Me with a 3050 4GB on the other hand...💀

[@trippybruh1592]

Hope it works good. I've been rocking the 2060 12GB vram since last year. It was dirt cheap back then around the $240 range but not so much anymore. Hoping the 4060 equivalent comes down in price eventually.

[@crazydanz]

I'm sorry but having to lower your resolution even on a 4090 to get even somewhat playable FPS is unacceptable.. I'd be even more disappointed if they were asking what seems to be the new triple A price tag of £70/$80 but they aren't so that's somewhat nice. But I think I'll skip launch and wait for any/if any optimization patches. But huge thanks! for the detailed video. Helped massively.

[@N3UM4NN4TOR]

Thanks for doing this CPP! I just bought an MSI laptop and I’m right on the border. I didn’t realize CO was going to make the game this dense, but once they started talking about traffic ai and such it became a bit of a nail biter. I appreciate you taking the time to make this. S/o to the other homies who made this happen.

[@Breakdown0]

It's all been said but can't be stressed enough: awesome video and thanks for your thorough effort! It really helps guide a decision for a potential upgrade rather than taking a shot in the dark based on recommendet hardware. Very clear facts/ recommendations on your part, don't worry about it not being straight forward enough! 😃 Never would have thought that the CPU would be last in priority.

[@AFlyingCapybara]

First, thank you very much for your amazing work man! Very good performance review! And to everybody else, repeat with me: DO NOT PRE-ORDER! DO NOT PRE-ORDER! DO NOT PRE-ORDER! I was thinking about and almost did because I thought "come on, it's colossal order, they're cool". Thank goodness I didn't, game dev are all the same nowadays, delivering half baked products and getting all the sweet pre-order money...

[@voxxel]

Good lord the most important CS2 video this times.

[@sidmcmillan926]

I'm currently researching hardware for a new dedicated gaming build, and this is very helpful info for all process hungry games. much appreciated, cheers.

[@e-bow]

Thanks so much for this CPP. Really important video for those who want to get going on CS2 on budget rigs. Thank you.

[@AdsaAdad]

Y I K E S. Expecting a cyberpunk day 1 situation when it releases on consoles. Great video, lots of work into it

[@NoradNoxtus]

It won't release on console right now thankfully

[@benjaminreynolds3659]

I appreciate all your effort CPP on these benchmarks, you're my fav CS CC! It will definitely help people with a baseline!!! But the overall test methodology good be a lot better. System RAM speeds (DDR4/5), driver versions (AMD, NV, Intel Arc), motherboards used and BIOS versions, PCIe generation selected in the BIOS (it does affect certain cards depending on their gen), what version of Windows and build num, and more.

[@CityPlannerPlays]

I’ll add that to the chart. Generally, windows 11, ddr 4 - 3600 except for the 7950x3D. Asus b450 for test bench, most current bios.

[@AmeliorScout]

Thank you & the community SO MUCH for helping get this testing! Thank you all!

[@wowredaxe]

Thanks for the awesome Breakdown and the Effort you have put into this research! Much appreaciated, see you in CS2

[@dcpassarell]

Just a note about AMD gpu worries: CO is clearly still trying to optimize, and one of the changes likely didnt play nice with AMDs drivers. While AMD may be subpar now or at launch, it should be fixed fairly quickly, either by CO or AMDs driver team. Also, both consoles use an AMD APU, so it should great by the time consoles launch.

[@JosefEngelfrost]

Thanks for this input! I had plans on getting a 7800 XT, but now I’m a little hesitant.

[@OmniUni]

​​@@JosefEngelfrostthe GPUs themselves are excellent. I have a 6800XT and it's been fantastic. Most games run up to 4k, and at worst 1440p, high settings and smooth as butter. When there are glitches, most devs get them fixed pretty quickly, it's just that they're still getting used to actually testing on AMD hardware. AMDs drivers are just good enough that most things work fine anyway. I'm also a Linux user, and AMD does great there as well. Oftentimes specific performance problems with games get fixed by the Proton devs who are absolutely brilliant at figuring out how to work around messy game code and hacks. Because AMDs Linux drivers are Open, sometimes they even fix problems that *can't* be fixed otherwise, like Elden Ring and Starfield, which both got significant performance boosts by some very clever optimization in the translation layer. Overall, unless you need ray tracing, you should feel totally comfortable with a modern AMD GPU in terms of both value AND overall performance.

[@arandomguy7486]

I hope so, but I'm still going to hold of from buying until it's fixed

[@AshtonCoolman]

I have a 4090 but I'm buying a 7800 XT for my 2nd gaming PC. It's silly to not recommend AMD GPUs that are much faster in rasterization than their comparably priced Nvidia competition just because of a bad patch in this broken game. I found that part of this video utterly ridiculous.

[@dcpassarell]

@@JosefEngelfrost no reason to hesitate. 7800 xt is a great card. CS2 just needs to get fixed.

[@sheepcow36]

Amazing information, thank you so much! Super disappointed that my pc, that actually runs most current games in high settings, will barely run this game on the lowest. I'm just not prepared to spend the money to upgrade so much just to run this game when everything else runs absolutely fine! Its madness! Ive been so excited for this game for such a long time - i even scheduled my annual leave to spend the week playing it! Looks like I'll be playing CS:1 for quite some time yet!! 😢

[@baconsogood454]

Wow, this must have taken some serious money and even more time! Thanks for taken the time to do this! Respect!

[@FreakyMonkei]

Respect for pulling this off in such a proffesional way. Did not expect you to invest so much money and work into a video.