Why does CS2 feel worse after upgrading to an RTX 5070?
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GamingGuru82
I recently upgraded my graphics card from a GTX 1060 6GB to an RTX 5070, expecting a big boost in my performance in CS2. While the FPS numbers did go up, the gameplay feels terrible—way more input lag and everything feels slow and laggy, almost like I've been locked at 60Hz, despite my monitor running at 180Hz. I've double-checked all the settings in the Control Panel and Windows. When I played with the 1060, V-Sync, G-Sync, and Reflex worked great together, capping my FPS around 171 and everything felt smooth. However, now, those settings don't seem to help, and my FPS is through the roof with no smoothness in motion. Other games are performing well, and I'm also noticing that 4:3 stretched looks blurrier now, but I used the same scaling settings as before. I've done a lot of troubleshooting—reinstalled drivers, checked my BIOS, disabled overlays, you name it. I realize Valve is working on optimization, but I've seen benchmarks showing similar systems running the game smoothly. Has anyone else experienced this after a GPU upgrade?
Answers
Are you sure that you're really getting that high refresh rate? Like, not just settings, but double-checking the monitor while you're actually in-game? Also, make sure the cable is plugged into the GPU and not the motherboard by mistake.
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It sounds like something in your setup might not be keeping up with that RTX 5070. What are the rest of your specs?
GamingGuru82: I have an Intel i5-12400F, 16GB DDR5 RAM running at 6000MHz, and a Gigabyte P650G PSU. I've monitored temps and there's no throttling; max CPU is 60°C and GPU sits at 54°C. In CS2, the GPU pulls around 104W and CPU around 56W.
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About V-Sync and G-Sync, you typically use them separately. I thought if you run both, it causes stuttering. Just curious if that's been an issue for you too.
GamingGuru82: I had both on at first, but Reflex is supposed to help with the input lag caused by V-Sync. I’ve read that it can actually lower latency when using a frame cap. But as I said, I’ve tried tweaking the settings, and nothing resolves the problem.
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GamingGuru82: Yeah, I checked the monitor settings while playing, and it shows 180Hz. I also confirmed that the cable is plugged into the GPU.