Every Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player tries to perfect the game’s performance. And that includes not only the main menu settings but also console commands. And one of the most popular tools here is the net_graph 1 command, which displays three lines of information on your screen. Today, CS.MONEY Blog answers what is var in CS:GO, why var is shown in the net_graph 1 table, and how to lower var in CS:GO.
What VAR means in CS:GO? Basically, two things.
VAR can be found in the net_graph table; it’s one of the indicators. But, well, actually, you can see two vars in the lines. VAR in the first line and the so-called Server VAR in the third line. Both are measured in milliseconds.
- Your own, personla VAR
- Server VAR
First, let’s talk about the Server VAR. Roughly speaking, it shows the server’s compliance with the set tick rate. The lower VAR, the better your game is. Usually, Server VAR and Personal VAR are calculated in unit milliseconds. You cannot lower server var unless you are the admin. Therefore, as a player, you should know one thing: if CS doesn’t work fast enough or simply lags and you have high VAR in the third line, it’s purely the server’s fault, not your PC’s or the Internet’s.
Personal VAR (first row) is related to the game’s performance on the client side, that is, you. It is also measured in milliseconds and shows the standard deviation of the client FPS (frame rate) measured in milliseconds over the last 1000 frame history on the client side.
It sounds complicated, but let us explain VAR. Simply, it’s like this: if you lower VAR, the difference or the gap in the frame rate will become less, and the game will be running smoother. A simple rule works for both vars on net_graph: the lower, the better. By the way, you can read a separate guide to net_graph and how to use it and what it means by the link below.
How To Lower VAR in CS:GO? VAR Problems.
First, let’s underline this: VAR indicates a problem; it’s the source. So, reducing VAR and ignoring everything else won’t make sense. There are three ways to lower var with a positive effect.
Option #1: Lower your graphics settings. The most demanding and resource-requiring settings which eat your PC’s power are screen resolution, shaders, and shadows. Luckily, CS.MONEY Blog has a separate guide to increasing FPS in CS:GO.
Option #2: close unnecessary applications that are working in the background. Running other apps besides CS:GO may consume system resources. This affects FPS, that is, the number of frames per second, which, in turn, causes a VAR problem as it increases. Close all unnecessary programs to free up resources for the game.
Option #3, the most radical one: upgrade your hardware. If your PC can’t handle CS:GO, maybe, it’s time to consider upgrading your hardware? A new CPU, GPU, or an additional RAM module can improve performance and reduce var.
Console commands to reduce var in CS:GO
CS:GO has several console commands that can help lower VAR.
fps_max 60
- This CS:GO console command will set the FPS limit, making the game smoother because your PC will allocate more power to processing VAR than to producing frames per second. It might be confusing if you’re playing with a 144Hz monitor.
Snd_rebuildaudiocahe
- This command will rearrange CS:GO’s audio files to put them in order. This may take some time, so don’t worry if CS:GO starts up longer than usual.
-novid -console -nojoy -high -freq 60 -tickrate 128 -dxlevel 81 -noaafonts -heapsize 1572864
- This will be just a nice set of commands to launch the game, which you just need to copy into the CS:GO Launch Options column.
You can read more about launch options and console commands for improving CS:GO performance in our separate guide.
Summary
Let’s sum everything up. First, the net_graph console command displays data about CS:GO and the network connection. You can see two values of VAR in the lines of net_graph: your Personal VAR and Server VAR. Both are measured in milliseconds and are related to the player’s and server’s PC performances. Read: the lower VAR values are, the better and smoother your game will be.
Ordinary players cannot lower Server VAR, only Personal VAR. It’s not that hard to do, just follow what we told in the above-listed three options that can help to reduce var in net_graph. If you can manage to set your VAR low, you will have the smoothest gaming experience.
But hey, there are other ways to smooth your CS:GO and make it feel better. For example, you can get a 144Hz refresh-rate monitor. We mythbusted the theory about 144Hz monitors in a separate article: just read it here!
