How to use AMD Anti-Lag 2 in CS2? Does it decrease input lag, FPS, and framerates?
The latest CS2 update from Valve added support for AMD's Anti Lag 2 technology. This technology decreases latency in video games, enhancing your experience. However, it comes with a slight hit to your FPS and frame times. Here's how to use it and what the benefits and downsides of AMD Anti Lag 2 are.
Should I use Anti Lag in CS2?
Anti Lag works similarly to NVIDIA Reflex. If everything works properly, it decreases your rendering latency, which affects input speed and might even lessen the effect of such things as peeker's advantage, because you will receive visual information faster. Reports say you can get as much as a 50% reduction. Note that the results may vary depending on your setup.
Can I use Anti Lag 2? Which video cards support it?
The technology is available for Radeon RX 5000 or newer or an APU based on RDNA. You can check if it's available in the CS2 graphics menu. Make sure you install the latest AMD driver first. If you still cannot access the feature, try a manual download from the official website.
Does Anti Lag 2 lowers FPS and frametimes in CS2?
YouTuber 3kliksphilip tested the feature on a suitable graphics card. According to him, on high FPS, the decrease is insignificant. As for low-end PCs, the numbers may look lower but the result is better: The game is more responsive and feels as if you had higher FPS.
When I increased the resolution and settings, the computer began to struggle a lot more, like in this example, where it dropped below 60 FPS. Enabling Anti-Lag 2 almost halved the latency, from 64 ms down to just 35. It's a weird phenomenon: Shaking the mouse, the framerate isn't any higher, but because the latency is so much lower, what I'm seeing on screen is far more connected with my mouse movements, and thus the game feels much better to play. So yes, this is a fantastic feature.