{
  "schemaVersion": 1,
  "path": "/benchmarks/cs2-msaa",
  "date": "2026-10-18",
  "title": "CS2: 2× vs 4× vs 8× MSAA",
  "description": "Three measured tests per MSAA setting. Full-benchmark VProf FPS, individual results and downloadable measurements.",
  "verdict": "Lower MSAA recorded higher average FPS",
  "conclusion": "Median VProf average FPS was 325.0 at 2×, 307.3 at 4× and 249.6 at 8×. Relative to 4×, 2× was 5.76% higher and 8× was 18.78% lower. VProf P1 medians were close; image quality and input latency were not evaluated.",
  "sourceSha256": "9a2dff89291624e881f7305af185ed93bc64a40953c6bc1c4400a8f4d0e55f37",
  "sourceArtifact": "CS2 MSAA completed measurement series · 18 October 2026",
  "labels": [
    "2×",
    "4×",
    "8×"
  ],
  "setup": {
    "CPU": "AMD Ryzen 5 7600X3D",
    "GPU": "NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060",
    "Driver": "32.0.16.1742",
    "OS": "Windows 11 Pro 10.0.26300",
    "CS2 build": "25966348",
    "Scene": "FPSHeaven Ancient · workshop 3472126051",
    "Display": "1440 × 1080 · 144 Hz",
    "Display mode": "Borderless fullscreen",
    "FPS cap": "Temporarily uncapped; restored afterward",
    "Capture": "Full VProf benchmark · 88 one-second intervals per test"
  },
  "metrics": [
    {
      "key": "avg_fps",
      "label": "VProf average FPS",
      "unit": "FPS",
      "direction": "Higher is better"
    },
    {
      "key": "vprof_p1",
      "label": "VProf P1",
      "unit": "FPS",
      "direction": "Source-defined VProf metric"
    }
  ],
  "method": [
    "Only MSAA changed. Other video settings were checked; normalization of unused fullscreen refresh fields to 0/0 in this display mode was allowed.",
    "Warmup order: 8× → 4× → 2×. Measured rounds: 8× → 4× → 2×; 4× → 2× → 8×; 4× → 8× → 2×. Fixed seed: 20261018. The game relaunched for every test.",
    "The full fresh VProf summary after each unique benchmark marker supplied average FPS and P1. Each result contains 88 one-second intervals and no excluded frames. Charts use the median of three measured tests per setting.",
    "VProf P1 is preserved under its source name. It is not relabelled as PresentMon 1% low. No raw frame-time percentiles or physical input-latency estimates were produced."
  ],
  "quality": [
    "All 12 raw VProf summaries and unique benchmark markers were checked against the result files and journal. Three warmups were excluded from summaries.",
    "Ten original configuration files were independently checked for matching SHA-256 and file attributes after restoration. The original 4× MSAA and FPS cap were restored.",
    "Steam performance display was off during measurement; the benchmark diagnostic overlay remained on. No automatic screenshots, UI input or OBS recording occurred during measurement.",
    "An earlier session stopped during warmup shutdown validation. It was restored and its samples were not merged into this completed series."
  ],
  "limitations": [
    "One PC, one synthetic workshop scene and only three measurements per setting.",
    "VProf covers the full benchmark; its FPS values cannot be compared directly with fixed 60-second PresentMon windows from other reports.",
    "No image-quality comparison, stutter analysis or input-latency conclusion.",
    "MSAA values were checked through configuration readback; the per-test UI verification field was false. No per-test visual UI validation is claimed."
  ],
  "comparisons": [],
  "runs": [
    {
      "run": 1,
      "label": "8×",
      "round": 1,
      "warmup": true,
      "avg_fps": 253.9,
      "vprof_p1": 62.7,
      "vprof_avg_fps": 253.9,
      "frames": 22536
    },
    {
      "run": 2,
      "label": "4×",
      "round": 1,
      "warmup": true,
      "avg_fps": 305.7,
      "vprof_p1": 63.4,
      "vprof_avg_fps": 305.7,
      "frames": 27130
    },
    {
      "run": 3,
      "label": "2×",
      "round": 1,
      "warmup": true,
      "avg_fps": 328.8,
      "vprof_p1": 64.5,
      "vprof_avg_fps": 328.8,
      "frames": 29181
    },
    {
      "run": 4,
      "label": "8×",
      "round": 1,
      "warmup": false,
      "avg_fps": 247.5,
      "vprof_p1": 65.7,
      "vprof_avg_fps": 247.5,
      "frames": 21963
    },
    {
      "run": 5,
      "label": "4×",
      "round": 1,
      "warmup": false,
      "avg_fps": 307.3,
      "vprof_p1": 64.1,
      "vprof_avg_fps": 307.3,
      "frames": 27274
    },
    {
      "run": 6,
      "label": "2×",
      "round": 1,
      "warmup": false,
      "avg_fps": 325,
      "vprof_p1": 69.5,
      "vprof_avg_fps": 325,
      "frames": 28848
    },
    {
      "run": 7,
      "label": "4×",
      "round": 2,
      "warmup": false,
      "avg_fps": 311.7,
      "vprof_p1": 65.6,
      "vprof_avg_fps": 311.7,
      "frames": 27665
    },
    {
      "run": 8,
      "label": "2×",
      "round": 2,
      "warmup": false,
      "avg_fps": 314.3,
      "vprof_p1": 61.9,
      "vprof_avg_fps": 314.3,
      "frames": 27900
    },
    {
      "run": 9,
      "label": "8×",
      "round": 2,
      "warmup": false,
      "avg_fps": 249.6,
      "vprof_p1": 64.1,
      "vprof_avg_fps": 249.6,
      "frames": 22153
    },
    {
      "run": 10,
      "label": "4×",
      "round": 3,
      "warmup": false,
      "avg_fps": 295.7,
      "vprof_p1": 62.8,
      "vprof_avg_fps": 295.7,
      "frames": 26248
    },
    {
      "run": 11,
      "label": "8×",
      "round": 3,
      "warmup": false,
      "avg_fps": 257,
      "vprof_p1": 62.9,
      "vprof_avg_fps": 257,
      "frames": 22812
    },
    {
      "run": 12,
      "label": "2×",
      "round": 3,
      "warmup": false,
      "avg_fps": 325.2,
      "vprof_p1": 63.7,
      "vprof_avg_fps": 325.2,
      "frames": 28859
    }
  ],
  "summaries": [
    {
      "label": "2×",
      "metrics": [
        {
          "key": "avg_fps",
          "median": 325,
          "min": 314.3,
          "max": 325.2,
          "count": 3
        },
        {
          "key": "vprof_p1",
          "median": 63.7,
          "min": 61.9,
          "max": 69.5,
          "count": 3
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "label": "4×",
      "metrics": [
        {
          "key": "avg_fps",
          "median": 307.3,
          "min": 295.7,
          "max": 311.7,
          "count": 3
        },
        {
          "key": "vprof_p1",
          "median": 64.1,
          "min": 62.8,
          "max": 65.6,
          "count": 3
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "label": "8×",
      "metrics": [
        {
          "key": "avg_fps",
          "median": 249.6,
          "min": 247.5,
          "max": 257,
          "count": 3
        },
        {
          "key": "vprof_p1",
          "median": 64.1,
          "min": 62.9,
          "max": 65.7,
          "count": 3
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}