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Tf2-How to boost your fps and enhance game performance

By x8bosnian8x and 1 collaborators

How to improve your fps in Team Fortress 2 if you're on a low-end pc/laptop, or just looking to gain those extra frames per second. Note this is a short end guide so if you're looking for more advanced options you can look into other guides or follow me, I will be releasing a more in-depth guide soon ^^.

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Created by

Shiyazame Shimazu
Online

x8bosnian8x
Online

Category: Achievements, Characters, Classes, Co-op, Crafting, Game Modes, Gameplay Basics, Loot, Maps or Levels, Modding or Configuration, Multiplayer, Secrets, Story or Lore, Trading, Walkthroughs, Weapons, Workshop

Languages: English

Class: Demoman, Engineer, Heavy, Medic, Pyro, Scout, Sniper, Soldier, Spy

Posted

Updated

16 Apr, 2016 @ 2:34pm

3 Apr, 2021 @ 11:58am

56,831	Unique Visitors
853	Current Favorites

Guide Index

Overview

Quick launch commands that will slightly improve your fps

In game console commands

Graphics Card tweaks

Custom huds and configs for Tf2

Game boosting programs yes/no

Welp it ends here

Comments

Quick launch commands that will slightly improve your fps

So launch options are somewhat important to players that want to increase their fps a bit.

First you have to go to your steam library

After doing so you will have to right-click on the Tf2 icon and from there you're gonna click on properties

From there you need to click on Set launch options and put in the commands which I use

-novid will just remove the intro valve video for tf2 so that is optional to put in, at the end of the day it's all up to you
-noipx option, again it's entirely up to you if you wanna put it in (small fps boost), but basically what -noipx does it disables the use of the IPX / SPX protocol. For those of you who are completely unaware of what this means I'm gonna try to explain. IPX/SPX stands for Internetwork Packet Exchange/Sequenced Packet Exchange. IPX and SPX are networking protocols used primarily on networks using the Novell NetWare operating systems. This won't mess up your game because this was used by old programs and tf2 does not need it so yea I encourage you to use -noipx it gives you a small fps boost
-threads means how many cores in your laptop or pc will be focused on running tf2. Now don't go and put -threads 2 like I did. First, you have to check how much your laptop/pc has cores. To do so just open task manager using ctrl+alt+delete or by right-clicking on your taskbar and then opening it. Once you've done that click on the performance tab and there you will see CPU Usage History. The little "windows" show how many cores you have. I have only 2 so I'm gonna put -threads 2 in my launch options but if you have more than 2 for instance 4 you're gonna want to put in -threads 4 and same goes for 8 cores -threads 8

-nod3d9ex just removes some special particles ingame which increases your fps and let you shift+tab faster. It doesn't make much of a difference
-nojoy just removes joystick support for tf2. Pff like anyone plays this game on a joystick ^^

Also you can put in -dxlevel 80 or 81 (it's the same). This will make your tf2 run in an older version of Direct X and will improve your fps but will remove all skins and sheens from the game. I personally don't use it because I like my sheens but I'm not a big fan of skins.

Still if you do plan on using a dxlevel launch command you should know some things

The highest dxlevel you can put in is dxlevel 95
Then you have the default dxlevel 91/90 --> there is no seen difference between these two because even if you do put in dxlevel 91 it will automatically set it to dxlevel 90.
The lowest you can go is dxlevel 81/80 --> same as I said before, they're the same. (If you did not pay attention to what I mentioned earlier this dxlevel removes all skins and sheens but gains the most amount of fps)

In game console commands

Now as it goes for in game console commands the most releveant one to use is mat_phong 0.

Mat_phong 0 removes special effects on characters such as a sort of shine and makes the game run at a noticeably faster rate. There is a downside. Using mat_phong 0 completely will completely ruin all australium weapons (makes them look like they're completely made out of gold)

This is what is would look like
Left is mat_phong 0 and right is mat_phong 1

Now I'm gonna tell you something important.
If you're really having issues with fps keep net_graph turned of. By using net_graph 1 you're enabling an fps counter, yea but the thing is that fps counter takes some space on your hud and takes up a small ammount of frames. So I suggest you use net_graph 0.

Graphics Card tweaks

Hey there so sometimes your tf2 will just lag and you'll see your screen literally breaking welp this could be because your graphics card is bad which it probably is if you're on this guide.

I'm on Intel HD Graphics (F my life)

What I did was go to my graphics panel and set the performance option to max and 3D options to balanced/performance.

Also don't forget to keep your drivers up to date.

Nvidia[www.geforce.com]
Amd[www.gefhttp]
Intel[www.gefhttp]

Sorry if I can't really explain a lot about Nvidia or AMD so I'm just gonna post these 3 videos.

Nvidia

AMD

Intel HD Graphics

Warning I do not use any modded Driver but if you want to you can do it

Custom huds and configs for Tf2

Disclaimer, don't go using max'sfps boosting config because it is from 2012 and by now it's really outdated and some of the config files will "break" your tf appeareance

Now I just love custom huds and some of them are specifically focused on boosting your fps but most of them are outdated and are just left in the dust, but I'll leave it on you to go find which one suits you.

My favorite hud is RaysHUD. RaysHUD makes the game just look 10x more beautiful (at least in my opinion) and it slightly gives you an fps boost. This has also proven to work with my friends

RaysHud[github.com]

Preview of RaysHud

Configs

You could also try using MrPaladin's ToonHud version which might give you more fps than Rayshud

ToonHud[toonhud.com]

Preview of ToonHud

As far as it goes when speaking about configs there is literally a sea of them and you will never know which one is the best, you can even try creating your own but trust me when I say I've found a config which makes the game run a lot smoother but still manages to keep the sharp looks

THE CONFIG: https://www.dropbox.com/s/t330fojpi39focn/autoexec.cfg?dl=0 (It's a config I've found and just made some tweaks to it)

After downloading you need to locate your tf2 folder. To do this you have to

Open your program files directory
Open the steam folder
Then go to steamapps
From there you're gonna click on to common
Then Team Fortress 2
Then tf
After that press cfg
And just paste it in there

Step by Step:

So this is it. This config is the best one in my opinion because it still keeps the games sharp looks

Game boosting programs yes/no

Now first things first. I do not use any game boosters such as Razor, IObit, WiseGameBooster, etc.
Why you may ask, well I hope I can clear this out for you. When you use an fps boosting program you're basically just closing your background programs, right? Well no. I recommend checking out my previous section about Graphics Card tweaks. Why you may ask? Now Game boosters have their very own power plan for laptops and other devices. You can change your power options on your laptop and your PC to highest performance through your control panel and it's very easy. As far as it goes for game boosters it's a bit weird. I said they have their very own power plan and stuff so I've come to realize/realize(it's the same thing when it comes to spelling) that actually using my highest performance power plan gives me more fps than game boosters such as Razor. My friends have also tried this and they've also seen a change in their fps performance after doing so.

Still if you're that guy/gal who thinks he/she knows everything you can try downloading various Game boosting programs or you could just follow what I did.

Open your power options by right-clicking on your battery icon and then set your power option to high performance

Welp it ends here

Welp I'm really glad you've taken the time to read this little short guide I made with a lot of time and effort put into it, and I will constantly update it with new ideas I find. Even tho I have a lot more stuff to talk about these topics I'm not going to because I've already mentioned the most important stuff I could find.

Btw if this guide helped you out in any way please don't be shy to rate it.

Bye fellow reader and I hope you follow me because I'm planning to release many more guides related to tf2 and other games like csgo

351 Comments

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kubik 28 Mar @ 11:01am

if you do not know use this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InJ7EoGU3Zs

say gex 26 Feb @ 8:47am

are there any more console commands to make it run better?

x8bosnian8x [author] 28 Jan @ 3:48pm

I'd recommend using mastercomfig as of 2024.

city of stars 26 Jan @ 12:34am

the dropbox link for autoexec config expires

x8bosnian8x [author] 26 Nov, 2023 @ 6:07am

Okay, here is what you need to do restore tf2 to it's default settings:

disable tf2 syncing with the steam cloud (Top left, click Steam, Settings, Cloud, uncheck Cloud Sync.)

delete the "cfg" folder in the /tf directory

remove anything in the custom folder

in tf2s launch options, put "-autoconfig" (make sure you take this out when you finish)

start tf2

mk1 25 Nov, 2023 @ 2:12pm

how can i reset this configs later?

Spy Crab 19 Aug, 2023 @ 8:08pm

ong
V

Boykisser|RIPRickMay 13 Aug, 2023 @ 12:43pm

not helpful literally lowered my fps even more

Real (real) 6 Aug, 2023 @ 3:36pm

Did I necro this? Sorry. But anyway the dropbox thing isn't working can I get some help?

m4K0 6 Aug, 2023 @ 11:04am

thanks man this is super helpful

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