Is 4:3 better than 16:9 in CS2? (Set 4:3 correctly)

16:9 is the standard aspect ratio nowadays. Both monitors and game settings are set to 16:9 by default. In CS2, an aspect ratio of 16:9 provides a good overview, while 4:3 makes aiming easier due to the wider player models.

4:3 vs. 16:9 - Who has the greater advantage?

In CS:GO, it was de facto standard for professional players to play in 4:3. In CS2, things look a little different: "Only" about 70% of the professional scene play with an aspect ratio of 4:3the other 30% prefer a ratio of 16:9 or 16:10.

The Advantages of 4:3 are known to most Counter-Strike players, as they have been preached by all the pros for years:

In 4:3 Stretched, the field of view is reduced compared to 16:9, making the player models appear wider. This makes aiming and hitting headshots in particular much easier. As the resolution in the 4:3 aspect ratio is also smaller, the computer has to calculate fewer pixels, which results in better FPS values. Ultimately, this also improves latency, as the computer has more free processing power available.

But also 16:9 has advantages:

Largely due to the improved overview, many professionals are switching from 4:3 to 16:9. The advantage of having a large field of view and thus being able to see opponents quickly at different corners is more important for some players than the simplified aiming in 4:3. Many players also report that playing with a 16:9 aspect ratio feels more natural and sprays are easier as a result. 

The big bonus of 16:9 is that the game looks better graphically. CS2 has beautiful new textures and these can only really be enjoyed in 16:9.

Which is better?

There is no clear winner between 4:3 and 16:9. As already shown, both aspect ratios bring different advantages, which each player must evaluate for himself.

You can see from the professional scene that in CS2 there is no longer any "compulsion" to play 4:3 and that you can also keep up with 16:9 at the top level.

Especially in team play, it is important to have a large overview in order to be able to communicate important information about the position of opponents to your teammates. For a "fragger", it may be more important to see a broader player model in order to be able to hit opponents more easily.

16:10 in CS2 is the 4:3 of CS:GO?

In addition to 16:9 and 4:3, there is also the 16:10 aspect ratio, which differs only minimally from 16:9, but you can see that some professionals prefer to play in 16:10 instead of 16:9 in order to have a better overview of the map.

Set 4:3 Streched in CS2 (step by step)

The following steps are necessary to set the aspect ratio to 4:3 in CS2:

1. Open settings in CS2
2. Navigate to the "Graphics" tab
3. Set the picture format to "Normal 4:3"
4. Set the resolution to the desired value
5. Finished

The best resolution for 4:3 in CS2

The most popular 4:3 resolution is 1280×960, as it is a compromise between better performance and good graphics as in 16:9. In second place is the resolution of 1024×768, which offers even better performance as the computer has to calculate even fewer pixels. However, this also results in poorer graphics.

Watch out: In some cases, players report that CS2 does not feel smooth at a resolution of 1440×1080. If this is the case for you, try lowering the resolution one level and see if this solves the problem.

Black bars at 4:3 (black bars on the left and right)

If you decide to play CS2 with an aspect ratio of 4:3, it is important that you do not have black bars on the side of the screen, but that the image is stretched.

If you have black bars, it is probably due to the graphics card settings. The scaling mode of your graphics card must then be set correctly. In the following, we will show you how this works with an Nvidia and an AMD graphics card.

Nvidia 4:3 stretched without black bars (stretched and no black bars)

If you set CS2 to 4:3 and have black bars with an NVIDIA graphics card, you must follow these steps:

1. Right-click anywhere on your desktop
2. Click on NVIDIA Control Panel
3. Navigate to Adjust desktop size and position under Display on the left in the navigation bar
4. Set a check mark at Override scaling mode set by games and programs
5. Choose from Select scaling mode the option Vollbild from
6. Click at the bottom right on Take over
7. Close the NVIDIA Control Panel and start CS2

AMD 4:3 Streched without Black Bars (stretched and no black bars)

If you set CS2 to 4:3 and have black bars with an AMD graphics card, you must follow these steps:

1. Right-click anywhere on your desktop
2. Click on AMD Radeon Software
3. Change to rider Gaming and Display
4. Set GPU scaling on Enabled
5. Set the Scaling mode on Full Panel
6. Save the settings
7. Close the AMD Radeon software and start CS2