Another thread about Counter Strike: Source BETA and its FPS and Configuration files (.cfg)s
_{by Brenton 'Mz' Smith.}

Where to begin?

• Where are my configuration files?
  
• What are my configuration files?
  
• What does all this stuff mean! (*Confused*)
  
• Everything explained... as much as I can.
  
• Finally some extra things that might help you out!
  

Just before I continue I have posted each of the larger section into SPOILERS to reduce the viewing size of this post!

Where are my configuration files?

All configuration files can be located for example:
C:\programfiles\steam\steamapps\**Username**\Counter Strike Source BETA\cstrike_beta\cfg



What are configuration files?




What does all this stuff mean?

This following spoiler will contain only the commands in which really effect your frame rate the most. A short description of what kind of changes it will make to your game will follow each variable.



All of the above variables are most probably the biggest changes that your game will ever make in terms of performance. As every machine is different and finding that perfect setup is crucial I would recommend playing with each of these tweaking your configurations to suit your PC and/or Laptop.

Extra food for thought.
Everyone that has tried out the new BETA has most probably played with a few other people online. The main two things being said by players are "Why am I losing frames? and Why is it taking so long to load?"

Your computer is NOT setup correctly OR its time for an UPGRADE

"But I can play Counter Strike: Source normally fine!"

There are a few things that you can do to help. As the game is still in BETA and after all it is a new engine that it is running on.

Try using some lunch options. These will help you to force Counter Strike: Source BETA into using some extra resources ect. Have a look at the list below and give some a try. After all its all about learning, why not give each one a go and see what it does for you?

You can add these lines to your Counter Strike: Source BETA launch by right clicking it in your steam game list and selecting "Launch options"



Apologies for the sloppy post. I wish I had more time this week to write one up in more detail and make a bit more sense. Everything in this post will effect your PC's performance in one way or another and there is no real correct combination. Each computer is different and must be setup differently.

As there are not that many different things to try I suggest that giving each of these a look in a create a server and seeing what they do for you might be a good idea.

Thanks for everyone thats had a read and I hope that its helped you a little.
Mz.

Edited once, 26/5/10 - 10:06am.

Ram Help!
-heapsize 131072 // If you have 256Mb RAM
-heapsize 262144 // If you have 512Mb RAM
-heapsize 393216 // If you have 768Mb RAM
-heapsize 524288 // If you have 1Gb RAM

i've got 4gb ram, what would i put?

-high makes the game choppy for me lol, can't imagine what low would do lol..

-32bit - running on 64bit without that perfectly, so don't think this one is needed.

EDIT: off topic, im doing a full system cleanup, gonna format and make Ubuntu my main OS, i managed to pull 90fps on max settings with css last time I installed it, ill be sure to post results on what i get in beta on Linux fps should increase once the steam linux and source engine port are released.

Good Post Brenton

I would imagine that you just multiply by 4.
-heapsize 524288 // If you have 1Gb RAM

Should become:
-heapsize 2097152 // If you have 4Gb RAM

In regards to the -high and -32 bit launch options.
These are only to FORCE those options to be run if needed.

Again I love to see that your investigating yourself which is good. Learning about what to change is better than having to revert back to a guide every time

it be cool to add you on steam dude?