The CS2 Rush Hour update has lowered VRAM usage by more than 30% in a new benchmark test, according to data shared by content creator ThourCS2. The test compared the old Counter-Strike 2 build with the new Rush Hour version on the same hardware and settings.
Average FPS stayed nearly the same between both builds. System RAM usage, however, went up by close to 17% after the update.
The benchmark was run on the Dust2 FPS Benchmark map. ThourCS2 used identical hardware and game settings for both versions to keep the comparison fair.
CS2 Rush Hour Update: VRAM Usage Drops by Nearly One Third
The biggest change in the test came from GPU memory usage.
Average VRAM consumption dropped from 4.07 GB on the old CS2 build to 2.78 GB after the Rush Hour update. That is a reduction of 31.69%.
System RAM usage moved the other way. It rose from 2.97 GB to 3.47 GB, an increase of 16.83%.
Here is a quick look at the full set of numbers from the test:
| Metric | Old Build | Rush Hour | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average FPS | 899.9 | 911.4 | +1.27% |
| 1% Low FPS | 299.5 | 302.7 | +1.06% |
| VRAM Usage | 4.07 GB | 2.78 GB | -31.69% |
| RAM Usage | 2.97 GB | 3.47 GB | +16.83% |
FPS Stays Nearly the Same
Even with the large shift in memory usage, raw frame rates barely changed in this test.
Average FPS went from 899.9 to 911.4. The 1% low FPS moved from 299.5 to 302.7. Both figures changed by just over 1%.
Frame time distribution also looked similar across both builds. This suggests the main technical change from the Rush Hour update, at least in this test, was how CS2 handles memory rather than a jump in frame rate.
The System Used for the Benchmark
ThourCS2 ran three benchmark passes on each build and combined the results for accuracy.
The test system included:
- AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070
- 32 GB DDR5 RAM
- Windows 11 Pro
- 1280×960 resolution
- NVIDIA Reflex enabled
- 2x MSAA
- All other settings set to Low
CapFrameX was used to record the results.
ThourCS2 pointed out that these numbers can change depending on the PC setup. The drop in VRAM usage and the rise in RAM usage from the CS2 Rush Hour update should not be treated as fixed results for every system.
