Each day the release date of Counter-Strike 2 is coming closer, one way or another. Still, CS2 currently doesn’t have a full-fledged Steam page and most likely will not have, because it will be just a major update for CS:GO. In this case, a lot of people are wondering what hardware is needed to play CS2? Today, CS.MONEY Blog tries to answer: what are CS2 system requirements, what GPU and CPU you need to launch and play, how much RAM is needed and what system it will work on.
But no matter what, Valve, even with the transition to CS2, will try to make the skins look the best. Therefore, update you inventory before the game comes out! And the best and easiest way to do this is on CS.MONEY Trade!
System Requirements for CS2 and CS:GO
Just look at CS:GO system requirements below. Clearly, such hardware can hardly squeeze out 60 frames per second not only in the new game, but in CS:GO itself! So, what are the system requirements for CS2 in this case? The thing is, the list of hardware for CS:GO has been posted when the game was initially released more than ten years ago. It was relevant then. Similarly, when CS2 comes out, this information will be updated and become relevant.
There are various theories on the Internet about system requirements for Counter-Strike 2. For example, BLAST suggests that the minimum system requirements for CS2 are:
- Operating system: Windows 10 (64 bits)
- Intel or AMD dual-core, quad-core, quad-threaded processor with 2.8 GHz speed.
- 4 GB of RAM.
- GeForce GTX 650 or Radeon HD 7750 graphics card.
- 60 GB of free space on the Hard Disk.
But GeForce GTX 650 was released more than ten years ago! And the first quad-core processors appeared even earlier than that!
So, that’s basically the required hardware to run CS2? Yes, but most likely, it’s the bare minimum. It would be a real struggle for every frame per second and apparently a terrible on-screen image. In addition, over time, CS2 will certainly demand more. Just as CS:GO did. Therefore, below, we will figure out what kind of hardware is needed for a comfortable game in CS2.
What Graphics Card (GPU) Do You Need For CS2?
Let’s start with the GPU. Tests by 3kliksphilip show that the good old GeForce GTX 1060 still handles the game well. Having everything turned to Ultra, this famous CS vlogger averaged over 150 frames per second using GTX 1060. That’s already a good indicator. This way, reducing some settings can help overcoming the limit of 200 FPS! More than enough to comfortably play Counter-Strike 2.
So, probably GeForce GTX 1060 is a good GPU for CS2 and can be used as a starting point. This is basically a must-have grahpics card for CS2 to run well.
What CPU Is Needed For CS2?
Here, we need to look a little beyond the horizon. To understand what CPU is needed for CS2, we turned to the system requirements Valve’s another game. Half-Life Alyx also runs on Source 2 and was released not too long ago. Its minimum requirements are Core i5-7500 and Ryzen 5 1600 as CPUs. CS2 needs more frames per second than 60. Therefore, it is better to have a newer CPU! For example, Ryzen 5 3600 is a minimum, or its Intel counterpart, Core i5 9400.
How much RAM do you need for CS2?
Recalling BLAST and their advice, CS2 Minimal RAM system requirements was suggested to be at least four gigabytes, and eight gigabytes as Recommended. At the same time, Half-Life Alyx requires at least 12 gigabytes. Most likely, CS2 will be just as demanding. Therefore, to play CS2, you need to have at least 8 gigabytes of RAM, or better, all 16 gigabytes.
How Much Space Does CS2 Take?
The exact size of CS2 is not yet known, but some assumptions can already be made. Now, CS:GO needs 31 gigabytes of free disk space. Most likely, Counter-Strike 2 will be bigger. We advise allocating at least 50 gigabytes of hard disk space to ensure you definitely have enough space for the game. By the way, it is better to avoid old HDDs, that’s literally past-gen. For fast downloads, you should install CS2 on an SSD.
Bottom Line: Possible CS2 System Requirements
Let’s sum it all up. CS.MONEY Blog gathered all the possible info, and came to a conclusion that CS2 System Requirements could be:
- GPU: GeForce GTX 1060 or better
- CPU: Ryzen 5 3600 / Intel Core i5 9400 or better
- At least 8 GB RAM
- 50 GB Free Disk Space
Most likely, Counter-Strike 2 will run even on MacOS! By the way, we already discussed that in a separate article. Anyways, don’t forget that skins are best bought on CS.MONEY Trade!
