Does -high launch option increase FPS in CS2 or Apex?

No. In modern Windows 10 and 11, using -high forces the game process into a priority state that starved background services, Discord, and mouse drivers of CPU cycles, resulting in erratic micro-stutters and input lag spikes.

What does -USEALLAVAILABLECORES do in Unreal Engine 5?

In Unreal Engine 5 games like Black Myth: Wukong and The Finals, -USEALLAVAILABLECORES instructs the engine task graph to schedule physics calculations and shader decompression jobs across all available CPU threads rather than limiting itself to the main primary render thread.

Micro-Tool #33 • Steam & Engine Optimizer

Steam Launch Options & Unreal Engine 5 Command Generator

Create safe, verified Steam launch parameters for CS2, Black Myth: Wukong, Apex Legends, and The Finals. Prevent shader crash loops, uncap framerates, and avoid deprecated flags that cause frame stuttering.

Available Launch Arguments for Counter-Strike 2

Toggle verified commands on or off. Deprecated commands that introduce frame stuttering on modern Windows 11 systems are flagged with warnings.

-novid(Skip Intro Splash)RECOMMENDED

Bypasses the intro video for faster launch.

-nojoy(Disable Joystick Input)RECOMMENDED

Frees up background controller polling threads and saves RAM.

+fps_max 0(Uncap FPS (Render Queue))RECOMMENDED

Uncaps in-game framerate for lowest input latency.

-vulkan(Vulkan API Mode)

Enables Vulkan backend instead of DX11 (recommended on Linux & Intel Arc).

-high(High Priority (DEPRECATED)) DANGEROUS

Forces Windows Realtime/High priority. Causes micro-stuttering on modern multi-core CPUs.

-threads(Hardcoded Threads (DEPRECATED)) DANGEROUS

Prevents Source 2 sub-tick scheduler from managing thread affinity. Causes hitreg desync.

Generated Launch Options String

-novid -nojoy +fps_max 0

How to Apply in Steam (30 Seconds)

Open Steam → Go to your Library.
Right-click on Counter-Strike 2 → Select Properties.
In the General tab, scroll down to Launch Options.
Paste the command line string into the text box and close the window.

Why You Should Never Use -threads or -high in 2026

Old YouTube tutorials recommend -high and -threads 8. In modern games with hybrid architecture (Intel P-cores/E-cores and AMD 3D V-Cache), hardcoding threads bypasses the Windows thread scheduler, pinning game execution to low-power efficiency cores and causing severe 1% low frame time hitching.