Skip to main content

Counter-Strike 2 is getting Nvidia’s latency-reducing Reflex tech

Counter-Strike 2 is getting Nvidia’s latency-reducing Reflex tech

/

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive never had Nvidia Reflex, but its replacement will get the important latency upgrade.

Share this story

Illustration of Counter-Strike 2 players
Image: Valve

Nvidia’s latency-reducing Reflex technology is coming to Counter-Strike 2. Reflex is designed to make games feel more responsive by reducing the amount of time between when you click your mouse and when you see the action on-screen. It’s all-important in competitive shooters, and up until now, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive was the most played game on Steam without it.

Valve and Nvidia have worked together to add Reflex to Counter-Strike 2, the upcoming replacement for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. GeForce GTX 900 series and above will be able to enable Reflex in Counter-Strike 2, and it will have the biggest impact on older GPUs, according to Nvidia. Reflex can reduce system latency by up to 35 percent in Counter-Strike 2, which could mean the difference between hitting a shot before an opponent.

Counter-Strike 2 latency across different GPUs.
Counter-Strike 2 latency across different GPUs.
Image: Nvidia

Nvidia provided the above slide to highlight the latency improvements. It also includes Nvidia’s unannounced RTX 4070, which has leaked heavily recently. On a GTX 1060, latency should lower to 17ms, down from 26ms on a machine equipped with Intel’s Core i9-12900K and running at 1440p. On the same machine with an RTX 3060, the latency will drop from 16ms to 11ms, and on Nvidia’s unannounced RTX 4070, the latency drops down to 8ms from 10ms.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive fans have been waiting for Nvidia Reflex support for years, relying on driver-level features to improve input latency instead. The addition to Counter-Strike 2 means 9 out of the top 10 competitive shooters now have Nvidia Reflex support, with PUBG lacking support. Apex Legends, Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0, Destiny 2, Escape from Tarkov, Fortnite, Overwatch 2, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, Valorant, and now, Counter-Strike 2 all support Nvidia Reflex.