CS2 Monitor Setup: Refresh Rate, Sync and fps_max
Refresh rate, sync mode and the fps cap are three settings that only behave when they are set together. Left on their defaults they fight each other — the cap sits above refresh, the driver falls back to a full V-Sync queue, and a frame that was ready on time waits for the next scan anyway.
Get them right once and the display stops adding latency and tearing you never chose.
Set the real refresh rate first
First, confirm Windows is actually driving the panel at its rated refresh. A 240 Hz monitor left at 60 Hz in Display Settings is the most common and most invisible mistake — the game feels sluggish and nobody checks. Set it in Windows Display, Advanced display, and confirm in the game.
Then be honest about what the panel sustains. Some monitors advertise a rate they only hold with overdrive artefacts; the panel's own EDID lists what it runs cleanly. Drive it at what it holds, not at the number on the box.
Sync: on, off, or variable
- V-Sync off
- The default competitive choice. You get tearing, but no added latency. Most CS2 players run this.
- Variable refresh
- G-Sync or FreeSync matches the panel's refresh to your frame rate, so no tearing and near-zero added latency — if you cap frames just under refresh so you never leave the VRR window.
- V-Sync on (plain)
- Avoid for CS2. It removes tearing by making finished frames wait, which is up to a full frame of latency — the opposite of what you want.
The modern sweet spot is variable refresh + a sub-refresh cap + NVIDIA Reflex (or Anti-Lag). You get no tearing and low latency at the same time, which used to be a trade-off.
Where the fps cap goes
On a variable-refresh panel, place fps_max a few frames under the refresh rate — 237 on a 240 Hz panel, not 240 and not uncapped. Above the VRR ceiling the display falls back to V-Sync behaviour and its latency; hitting the ceiling exactly is close enough to trip it. A few frames of headroom keeps you inside the window.
With V-Sync fully off, the cap is instead about pacing: pick a number your machine holds through a smoke so frametimes stay even, as covered in the stutter guide. Either way, uncapped-and-hoping is the wrong answer.
The three work as one
Refresh, sync and cap are a single decision. The failure everyone hits is setting them in isolation: a correct refresh with an uncapped frame rate on a VRR panel throws away the VRR benefit, and a perfect cap at 60 Hz is still 60 Hz. Set the refresh to what the panel holds, choose the sync model, and place the cap to match — in that order.
Fumetsu's Display Sync module reads the panel's EDID, sets the refresh to what it actually sustains, pairs the sync mode with the right cap, and puts the driver in its low-latency queue — then reverts it all in one step, HDR left exactly as you had it. It is on Discord.