Guide
CS:GO Resolution Guide
Unlike almost every other game, the choice of resolution is really relevant in CS:GO. While most other games are played in native resolution, there are many options in CS:GO to choose from. This guide will help you find your perfect resolution.
Resolution
Guide
Why are different resolutions even a thing in CS:GO?
In a highly competitive environment like CS:GO every little tweak and setting that could give you an advantage will get looked at. So this min-maxing surely doesn't stop when it comes to the resolution you choose for your game. Different resolutions with different aspect ratios have their pros and cons. This article will inform you about them.
Native vs Stretched vs Black-Bars
First we need to distinguish between the different aspect ratios. Custom resolutions aside, there are 4 different aspect ratios that you can use:
16:9
16:10
4:3
5:4
Since normal screens are always in 16:9 you also need to choose if you want to stretch your game or play with black-bars if you choose a different aspect ratio than 16:9.
The difference between native and stretched can be seen in the following picture:
In this section we will list all the pros and cons of native, stretched and black-bars:
Native | Stretched | Black-Bars | |
|---|---|---|---|
Pros | Game feels slower due to shorter travel distances of models on your screen. You can see more of your environment. | Hitting models is easier because they are wider (as seen in the picture above). | Game feels slower due to shorter travel distances of models on your screen. |
Cons | Models are more narrow and therefore harder to hit. | You can see less of your environment. | Models are more narrow and therefore harder to hit. You can see less of your environment. |
The following image is showing how much FOV (Field of View) is cropped.
Resolutions that Pro's use currently
It's always a great idea to look at the best of the best when it comes to settings to inform yourself about the settings that allow them to perform as greatly as they do. This section will list the current resolutions of several pro players:
Pro | Resolution | Stretched or Black-Bars |
|---|---|---|
s1mple | 1280x960 | Stretched |
ropz | 1920x1080 | Native |
Magisk | 1680x1050 | Black-Bars |
EliGE | 1680x1050 | Stretched |
Brollan | 1280x1024 | Stretched |
k0nfig | 1024x768 | Black-Bars |
apEX | 1024x768 | Stretched |
GuardiaN | 800x600 | Black-Bars |
As you can see there are a lot of viable options that you can choose from and there's not only one 'correct' option that you can choose. Just play around with it and look what feels comfortable for you.
