FPS stands for Frames per Second, and roughly speaking, it’s a metric that measures how many frames of graphics your PC can render and display per second. And if you want to learn how to show FPS in CS:GO to diagnose problems such as lag spikes, this guide will help you.
Once you finish reading our guide, you’ll be able to check your FPS easily and know which FPS range is the best for playing CS, amongst other important details to supercharge your gaming experience.
Without anything more to add, let’s start!
How to Show FPS in CS:GO Step by Step
Our favorite way of checking FPS in CS:GO is by using the developer console, and the following tutorial will teach you how to accomplish it in only 5 steps.
1. Enable the Developer Console
Since we are going to use commands to reveal your FPS in CS:GO, you need to enable the developer console, and here’s how you can do it:
- Open CS:GO
- Go to “Settings”
- Click on “Game”
- Navigate to the option to activate the developer console
- Set it to “Yes”
Now it’s time to use the right command to check the FPS instantly.
2. Input the CS:GO FPS Command
We are going to use the “cl_showfps” command to see our real FPS in the game, and here’s how you can do it:
- Press “~” to open console
- Input cl_showfps 1
- Press “Enter”
- Now you will be able to see the FPS
Instantly, now a FPS tracker will appear on the screen, so you can discover what your real FPS is.
3. Check the FPS Tracker on the Screen
As we previously mentioned, now a FPS tracker will appear on your screen, and it will stay there until you decide to turn it off via console (again). We recommend you to stick it for a few rounds, so you can see how much your FPS varies, or if it remains in the same range for an extended period of time.
4. Interpret Your FPS in CS:GO
After you have observed your FPS tracker, you need to interpret this data. If it’s pretty low, such as below 60 FPS, you’ve found the reason why you gameplay experience is suffering – because you’re way below what’s the minimum for playing comfortably.
If you want to learn how to interpret this data like a pro, we recommend you to check the next section after this tutorial, titled “The Different CS:GO FPS Ranges – Explained”. You’ll get all the insights you need.
5. Turn Off the FPS Tracker If Necessary
If you have already obtained all the information you needed about your FPS in CS:GO, and you feel like the tracker is obstructing your view and affecting your performance negatively, you should turn it off, and here’s how you can do it:
- Press “~” to open console
- Input cl_showfps 0
- Press “Enter”
- You won’t be able to see the FPS any longer
Instantly, it will disappear from your screen. However, if you want to turn the FPS tracker on and off at will, so you can stop yourself from having to launch the developer console many times (unnecessarily), you can create a toggle. This will save you a lot of time and energy.
Bonus: Alternative for Seeing Your FPS in CS:GO
If you don’t feel like using the developer console, you can also check your FPS via the Steam client, and here’s how you can do it:
- Launch the Steam client
- Go to “Steam”
- Go to “Settings”
- Navigate to the “In-Game” tab
- Find the “In-game FPS counter Steam” option
- Set the location of the FPS tracker
- Click “OK”
- Now you will have the FPS tracker available on the screen
This method accomplishes the same outcome as the FPS command. However, the advantage here is you can set its position on the screen easily, so you can customize your gameplay experience.
The Different CS:GO FPS Ranges – Explained
To be able to diagnose if your FPS is good, or if you need to dive deeper to find the issues affecting your gameplay experience, you need to know more about the FPS ranges. Find all the details below.
- 100-300 FPS: This range is the sweet spot. At these levels, the graphics are excellent, and the synchronization with the server is flawless. The game feels extremely smooth, and players can react quickly to in-game actions without delay at all
- 60-100 FPS: This range is good enough for you to play CS:GO. The game will look much smoother and more fluid compared to lower FPS ranges, so you will be able to play comfortably
- Less than 60 FPS: This range is very low and almost unplayable, in simple words, you won’t be able to play CS:GO comfortably (you’re going to get vote kicked real quick)
Now, take into account that we are only talking about FPS, but if you’d like to get more information to diagnose the problems affecting your gameplay experience, you should also check the ping.
If you’d like to access even more data, you should use the following command:
- Press “~” to open console
- Input net_graph 1
- Press “Enter”
- Now you will be able to see the ping, client information and more advanced data
If you’d like to learn more about the net_graph command and how you can use it, we have a dedicated guide about it on CSDB.gg. We recommend you to check it out so you can dive deeper into the possible issues reducing the quality of your CS:GO experience.
Conclusion
Now you know exactly how to show FPS in CS:GO, be it via the developer console or using the Steam client. And you also know what the ideal FPS range is, and how to access even more data in case you need to diagnose other issues.
If you have more questions, leave them in the comments and we will reply to you as soon as possible.