CS:GO at 144hz in fullscreen or windowed with a borderless design for optimal performance.
CS:GO at 144hz in fullscreen or windowed with a borderless design for optimal performance.
Hey there, I've been digging through Google to figure out if CS:GO affects the actual FPS shown on your screen when you switch to a windowed borderless setup. It's still tough to tell the difference between 144Hz and 60Hz, especially with multiple monitors. Right now I'm playing in fullscreen, but it's frustrating because it takes about 15 seconds to return via alt-tab. I've tried a few things so far: checking the FPS display (it only shows rendered FPS, not what your monitor actually shows), turning on all VSync options (which didn't change the FPS and kept going well above 144Hz). The monitor itself is confirmed at 144Hz, as verified in the Nvidia control panel and testufo.com. Let me know if you need more help!
It seems like you're comparing two visual styles. Fullscreen might feel more polished or refined compared to something else. Let me know if you'd like further clarification!
It seems fullscreen runs at 144Hz while windowed borderless operates at 60Hz.
Turn off Aero for csgo.exe. Navigate to Properties > Compatibility > Ensure "Disable Desktop Composition" is selected. Aero causes triple buffered vsync in WDM with borderless window mode, which can cause issues on multi-monitor setups. You might notice the game stutters at 60fps even when your monitor runs at 144hz and the game claims over 300fps. Fullscreen is usually better for CSGO because it reduces input lag from WDM transitions.
Fullscreen experience will run more smoothly and efficiently. Avoid windowed mode for most games—unless it's a strategy title. Please refrain from playing in windowed mode unless necessary.