If you’re a beginner and you’re not too sure about what to use, these will work just fine.
Start CS and open up your console with the § button on your keyboard, just below ESC.

Then copy and paste these one by one:

rate 100000
fps_max 100
cl_cmdrate 105
cl_updaterate 100
ex_interp 0.01

Additionally, if you’re certain that your monitor can output a refresh rate of 100hz, you can right click Counter-Strike > Properties and enter -freq 100 in Launch options.

If you’re interested in customizing your settings – tailored to a particular screen or setup – we’d be happy to help. Join our Discord, and we’ll make sure your game runs smoothly.

Setting hl.exe to High Priority in Task Manager every time you launch CS can be frustrating.
This .reg file will set hl.exe to High Priority – and it will stay that way.

Download 1.6-highprio.reg

Disabling Windows Update can be a good idea in terms of gaming performance. Any background telemetry – looking for updates may cause sudden net-related issues in-game. Even though you’ve might set your system not to download any updates automatically – the telemetry to the Windows Update servers will still let you know that there are updates to your system. You can stop this by pressing Windows Key + R and type gpedit.msc.

Navigate to:
Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update

Double click on Configure Automatic Updates and choose Disabled, then OK.

Even though it might sound beneficial to leave such an option on rather than off – it can introduce inconsistencies due to its dynamic nature to improve gaming performance. Counter-Strike 1.6 is an older game and new features to boost game performance can be detrimental rather than beneficial.

To disable Game Mode, press Windows Key + R and type ms-settings:gaming-gamemode

Then simply switch it off.

Overlays run in the background and consume system resources such as CPU, GPU, and memory. Even though these tools are lightweight, they still draw processing power away from your game, potentially reducing frame rates (FPS) and causing stuttering. 

To disable Game Bar, press Windows Key + R and type ms-settings:gaming-gamebar

Then simply switch it off.

Without sounding too much of a foil hat, Microsoft is constantly retrieving diagnostics data from their users – that can result in unwanted in-game stutters. In order to disable this, you need to enter this file with notepad

C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts

It might be a “read-only” file – in that case you can simply right click the file, click on properties and unbox Read-only

Once you’ve opened the file it will look something like this: 

# Copyright (c) 1993-2009 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a ‘#’ symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host
#
# localhost name resolution is handled within DNS itself.
# 127.0.0.1 localhost
# ::1 localhost

At the bottom, copy and paste the following: 

# Start of Microsoft Telemetry blocking
0.0.0.0 choice.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0 choice.microsoft.com.nstac.net
0.0.0.0 df.telemetry.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0 oca.telemetry.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0 oca.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
0.0.0.0 redir.metaservices.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0 reports.wes.df.telemetry.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0 services.wes.df.telemetry.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0 settings-sandbox.data.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0 settings-win.data.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0 sqm.df.telemetry.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0 sqm.telemetry.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0 sqm.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
0.0.0.0 telecommand.telemetry.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0 telecommand.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
0.0.0.0 telemetry.appex.bing.net
0.0.0.0 telemetry.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0 telemetry.urs.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0 vortex-sandbox.data.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0 vortex-win.data.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0 vortex.data.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0 watson.telemetry.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0 watson.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
0.0.0.0 watson.ppe.telemetry.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0 wes.df.telemetry.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0 vortex-bn2.metron.live.com.nsatc.net
0.0.0.0 vortex-cy2.metron.live.com.nsatc.net
0.0.0.0 watson.live.com
0.0.0.0 watson.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0 feedback.search.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0 feedback.windows.com
0.0.0.0 corp.sts.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0 diagnostics.support.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0 i1.services.social.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0 i1.services.social.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
0.0.0.0 vortex-bn2.metron.live.com.nsatc.net
0.0.0.0 vortex-cy2.metron.live.com.nsatc.net
0.0.0.0 ca.telemetry.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0 cache.datamart.windows.com
0.0.0.0 diagnostics.support.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0 spynet2.microsoft.com
0.0.0.0 spynetalt.microsoft.com
# End of Microsoft Telemetry blocking

Then simply save the file