CS2 System Requirements: Minimum and Recommended Specs for Counter-Strike 2

Daniel Morris

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In September 2023, Counter-Strike 2 officially replaced CS:GO as the newest title in the long-running series. The game was a significant technical leap forward for the series, meaning the CS2 system requirements were higher than ever before. Considering a big selling point of the Counter-Strike series had always been that it was super easy to run, this marked a change for the series.

So, can you run Counter-Strike 2? We’ve put together all the CS2 system requirements you need to have in order to be able to play the newest Counter-Strike game on PC.

Counter-Strike 2 System Requirements (Minimum and Recommended) on Windows

CS2 Minimum System Requirements CS2 Recommended System Requirements
OS Windows 10 Windows 10
Processor 4 hardware CPU threads – Intel Core i5 750 or higher 4 hardware CPU threads – Intel Core i5 750 or higher
Memory 8 GB RAM 8 GB RAM
Graphics Card Video card must be 1 GB or more and should be a DirectX 11-compatible with support for Shader Model 5.0 Video card must be 1 GB or more and should be a DirectX 11-compatible with support for Shader Model 5.0
Storage 85 GB available space 85 GB available space
Additional Notes Direct X Version 11 Required Direct X Version 11 Required

You may notice that the CS2 minimum and recommended system requirements aren’t the same. That’s not a mistake on our part; Counter-Strike 2’s Steam page only lists minimum requirements, which is rather unique. The requirements are pretty vague, too, so you’ll need some technical know-how to know whether your processor and graphics card fit the bill.

CS2 System Requirements

CS2 System Requirements (Minimum and Recommended) on SteamOS and Linux

Not everyone plays Counter-Strike on Windows. For those on SteamOS and Linux, there is a different set of CS2 system requirements that you need to have. Once again, the minimum and recommended system requirements for Counter-Strike 2 on Steam OS and Linux are exactly the same.

CS2 Minimum System Requirements CS2 Recommended System Requirements
OS Ubuntu 20.04 Ubuntu 20.04
Processor 4 hardware CPU threads – Intel Core i5 750 or higher 4 hardware CPU threads – Intel Core i5 750 or higher
Memory 8 GB RAM 8 GB RAM
Graphics Card AMD GCN+ or NVIDIA Kepler+ with up-to-date Vulkan drivers. Support for VK_EXT_graphics_pipeline_library highly recommended AMD GCN+ or NVIDIA Kepler+ with up-to-date Vulkan drivers. Support for VK_EXT_graphics_pipeline_library highly recommended
Storage 85 GB available space 85 GB available space
Additional Notes Sound card is highly recommended Sound card is highly recommended

That’s all you need to know for the CS2 system requirements. If you’re not sure, you can always download and try Counter-Strike 2 for free without buying Prime status. If you can’t run CS2, you should check out the CS 1.6 and CS: Source system requirements and maybe try out an older game in the series, as they totally hold up.

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Daniel Morris

Daniel Morris

Counter-Strike Content Lead
Daniel is a CS2 esports specialist, and now channels that expertise to discuss the game online. Despite his knowledge of Counter-Strike, he wasn’t quite good enough to go pro himself.
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