CSGO is one of, if not the most, popular FPS games currently played with almost 1 million active players each month. It consists of rookies that are just hopping on the CS:GO hype and pro players alike, but everyone strives for the same goal in the end. To be at the top of the ranks and potentially get drafted into professional CS:GO teams. But, to advance, you need more than pure skill and talent – you need support from the game settings that will assist you with the game. We’re talking about display and aspect ratio to be exact. So, let’s answer the question of what is the best resolution for CS:GO and how exactly that can help you improve your game.
Is There a “Perfect” Resolution?
Truth be told, there is no simple yes or no answer to the question of what is the best resolution for CS:GO. It’s mostly up to the players to decide their resolution when it comes to CS:GO. The resolution setting is not the magical solution to turn a noob into a pro player. But, sad news aside there is a preferred setting that most of the professional esport athletes are using and all that is backed up by some more data, that could put you on the right track.
The Difference Between Aspect Ratios in CS:GO
The basics are simple. CS:GO offers you a variety of options. The game gives you a choice between three options – 4:3, 16:9 and 16:10 and those are the settings you can choose from. But, what are the benefits and differences between each of those ratios?
Visibility
The most basic thing to consider is which one of the resolutions offers the best visibility, which is actually a very difficult question to answer. Every setting has its points when it comes to this. But, we’re here to give you an overview of what might be the best resolution for CS:GO when it comes to improving your visibility.
For example, 16:9 has a massive perk to see more of the size of your screen. This means your Field Of Vision (FOV) is higher and you get to see more on your left-right and you’ll be able to spot people you otherwise wouldn’t with a different setting. There’s been countless examples where this came in clutch for pro players that were able to spot people from the sides and avoid a bad situation during the playoffs
But, that doesn’t mean you should switch to this setting just yet. 4:3 has a significant advantage. It’s a lot more zoomed in, allowing you to focus more in the middle of your screen, making it easier to spot opponents and letting you focus more on the action.
In the end, it’s a personal choice – what your preferences are when it comes to visibility and what ultimately will impact your play more. Some prefer to have a more focused approach while others like to have a broad spectrum of what happens on their screen.
FPS And Performance
Performance is one of the most important elements, yet in this case, we’re talking about your performance, but the performance of the game. FPS makes a difference in your ability to perform, but not only in the way you think it does. A lot of people think that the only thing that matters is that your FPS is above your refresh rate. They don’t consider the difference between 200 and 400 FPS a big factor when in reality it is.
More frames per second means your monitor has more frames to choose from, thus you have a more accurate frame at any point in time. Fewer frames give your game a more laggy performance and essentially makes you impaired during the play. But why are we talking about this?
4:3 has fewer pixels to render than 16:9. Fewer pixels mean less graphical performance needed to render frames. And that means, as you probably guessed it, that 4:3 gives you a higher FPS which will make your game more snappy and is relevant even if you have a low refresh rate. In short, when it comes to the FPS and performance the 4:3 might just be the best option when it comes to resolution in CS:GO.
Pro Settings
Let’s be real. We love copying pros, no matter if it comes to gear, setup or settings. One of the reasons behind it is that they had years of practice and honestly, why wouldn’t yo0u trust someone who has played a game for a long time, and has strong opinions about the display or ratio? One of the most compelling arguments behind 4:3 is that most of the pro players actually use it.
Around 74% of pro players use a 4:3 aspect ratio and out of those, 73% use the stretched 4:3 as opposed to the black bars (continue reading if you want to find out more!)
Only 12% of pros are using 16:9 which isn’t a lot, and it’s hard to say exactly why the popularity of this setting is so low
If you’re curious about the data itself, or you want to put yourself in your favorite esport player shoes, you can check the resolution each of the current pro players are using in CS:GO.
Stretching The CS:GO Resolution
We mentioned the “stretched” setting, which essentially is a custom resolution for your gaming needs in 4:3 aspect ratio. It’s a preference and some players argue that it is in fact the best resolution for CS:GO when it comes to performing well in the game.
First, the 4:3 aspect ratio can be divided into two categories: stretched and black bars. Both configurations have their own advantages. A stretched aspect ratio creates wider gaps and player models, making it easier to see the enemy. For the ‘black bars’ approach, the models are ‘skinnier’ and won’t move as fast across your screen. This enables AWPers to have a more concentrated field of view (FOV).
So, how to enable stretched mode?
For a stretched resolution, you want to select Full-screen in the scaling mode and make sure to choose GPU for it. After that, hit the apply button and make sure you confirm the changes within 20 seconds. The final step is to make sure you have configured your video settings in CS:GO to the 4:3 aspect ratio and choose your preferred resolution. If you have a low-end computer spec, you may want to use a lower resolution, and see if it can improve your FPS.
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