CS:Source Optimization For A Decent Machine

[Chrysalid]

As the title reveals, i would like to hear tips and tricks of how i could seriously improve CSS performance. I am aware that my current CPU (Pentium III, 650 Mhz) doesent meet the minimum but at least i can play the game.

I am not sure if there has been a thread like this before, but i hope you can give me some tips. To those who complain of heavy lag: well my CPU causes the FPS to drop onto 16 when in firefights, so don't whine too much on that . And i am aware that i'm a masochist as im running below minimum specs...

 

[Mujuro]

It would really help if you posted the rest of your computer's specifications, IE your graphics card, how much RAM you have, and so on.

 

[Chrysalid]

Oh, what was i thinking... here it is:

CPU: Intel Pentium Coppermine P3-650 Mhz
RAM: 384 MB SDRAM
GFX Card: Geforce 4 MX-440

Thats what i call lame.

 

[Mujuro]

Well, first off, you're going to want to do a complete reformat. I recommend using the program Autoclave. This will completely wipe everything off your hard drive, which in-turn makes the drive act like new. I will advise you, using Autoclave with your computer will indeed take a while, but it really does help. Once you have done this, reinstall Windows, download latest Windows Update, download latest DirectX version, and then update your graphics card drivers. Only after you've done this, in that exact order, should you install any sort of software. As for software, I would recommend installing these things, in this order; download Ad-Aware and install, download Spybot - Search and Destroy and install, download RegCleaner and install, download CCleaner and install, and thus run all of these, in the order you had installed them. When you are done, then you will want to download Steam and download the specified updates. After all of this, install any additional software you may want, and once your done, download Diskeeper as it's the best deframenting program out there. That is for basic Windows installation.


As for Counter-Strike: Source, I recommend typing the following commands in your console, as it will improve the performance of the game and act more like regular 1.6 Counter-Strike.

rate 20000
cl_rate 20000
cl_cmdrate 101
cl_updaterate 40 (Change '40' to your stress-test framerate, round to nearest whole-number)
cl_smooth 0
cl_interp 0.05
fps_max 101

I would strongly recommend doing all of these steps, as it was how I got the best performance from my computer, and my computer has aged as well. Hope I helped, somewhat.

 

[Chrysalid]

Thanks. Im sure this will prove useful.

 

[KuroiOni]

Any comments or suggestions??

Hello all. First post here. If any one can comment or help it would be appreciated. I have a P4 1.6, 9600 Pro, 640 MB ram. I get an average 45 fps on the stress test at high settings, and an average 70 fps with everything at medium. When I create a server, I get anywhere from 100 fps to mid forties. When I play online, my frames sometimes dip into the low 20's. Does anyone have a similar system to mine and/or experience the same problems? It seems wierd that independently I can run the game at such high fps, and then during online play it would go down so drastically. I understand the load on the cpu changes from one scenario to the other, but it still seems a bit extreme. It doesn't seem to add up. I have played games on the net for years, and have dabbled in building maps for Half Life, Quake 3, and Unreal. I have never run across a situation where a map behaved so much differently between these two kinds of situations. Comments and suggestions welcomed.

Oni

 

[HolySdrJR]

I have a P4 1.6, 9600 Pro, 640 MB ram. I get an average 45 fps on the stress test at high settings,

I have a P4 1.8, 9600xt, 768MB RAM. I get an average of 45fps in the stress test and no matter where I play, I get 30-50 average fps...

rate 20000
cl_rate 20000
cl_cmdrate 101
cl_updaterate 40 (Change '40' to your stress-test framerate, round to nearest whole-number)
cl_smooth 0
cl_interp 0.05
fps_max 101

I'm putting this in my cfg though... See if it helps any...

 

[HolySdrJR]

I can't edit my post?

Ok, since I can't edit my post...


this is my "userconfig.cfg" file

rate "20000"
cl_rate "20000"
cl_cmdrate "101"
cl_updaterate "50"
cl_smooth "0"
cl_interp "0.05"
fps_max "101"
r_3dsky "0" 
r_renderoverlayfragment "0" 
r_shadows "0" 
budget_show_history "0" 
cl_ejectbrass "0" 
fog_enable "0" 
mat_bumpmap "0"  
mat_picmip "-1" 
mat_specular "0" 
mp_decals "1" 
r_decals "20" 
muzzleflash_light "0"
r_dispfullradius "2" 
r_dynamic "0" 
r_lightaverage "0" 
r_lightinterp "0" 
r_modellodscale "0.3" 
r_rootlod "2" 
r_shadowmaxrendered "-1" 
r_shadowrendertotexture "0" 
r_worldlightmin "1" 
r_worldlights "1" 
r_mmx "1"
r_sse "1"
r_3dnow "1"

And my fps in the stress test is now 50 fps... We'll see if it really improved anything in game...

 

[KuroiOni]

I have a P4 1.8, 9600xt, 768MB RAM. I get an average of 45fps in the stress test and no matter where I play, I get 30-50 average fps...



I'm putting this in my cfg though... See if it helps any...

I tried those setting in my config last night as well. I ended up with jerky movements when walking or running. It did seem to smooth out a lot of the gunfights and such, but I couldn't really deal with the loss of control when moving. To note: when using the settings from your post I had a look at the net_graph which showed 0 loss 0 choke so I'm not sure what the problem was. I ended up deleting my old cfg so everything could rebuild at default and the problem disappeared. If anyone could elaborate on what the network settings are at default and what they correspondingly affect, I would really appreciate it and I think others might also be helped by this.

Cheers for the reply.

Oni

 

[HolySdrJR]

I dunno man, I made a "userconfig.cfg" file, and then loaded CS:S and typed "exec userconfig" in the console... This way I didn't edit my config file at all...

About what each of them do...
rate "20000"
cl_rate "20000"
cl_cmdrate "101"
cl_updaterate "50"
cl_smooth "0"
cl_interp "0.05"
fps_max "101"
All of those are hold overs from CS1.6, someone should know what they do, I just use them.

BTW - My problem is that I only have an AGP 4x... LOL I thought it was my software... ::sigh:: I need a new mobo!

 

[Warbie]

BTW - My problem is that I only have an AGP 4x... LOL I thought it was my software... ::sigh:: I need a new mobo!

The difference between 4x and 8x agp is usally 1 frame per second (at most)

 

[HolySdrJR]

The difference between 4x and 8x agp is usally 1 frame per second (at most)

I thought so too, but perhaps this is true for most other games (that are older...) because I get well over 150 fps in CS1.6 (lowest is 80). Some guys in my clan have the same card as me, same specs, and same setup (config files). They get 100+ fps in CS:S, I get 50+. The only difference is my processor is .2Ghz slower and my AGP slot is only 4x.


Can anyone let me know what those commands do? the update rate ones? I think it has somethign to do with making sure you see what the server sees, and it's in sync with when the server updates... Any conformation?

 

[wzc89]

I don't think computer with a 2ghz and a 9600xt could get 100fps +.. unless eveyting is on total low such as

640x480 NO AA NO AF
everything on low

and even then...