Artifacts, flickering and lines on screen in CS2
Why artifacts, flickering textures, colored lines or squares appear in CS2 and how to fix them: driver, overclocking, temperature and settings.
Artifacts are flickering textures, colored spots, lines, "squares" or disappearing objects. They can be a software bug or a sign of a GPU problem.
🔧 Software causes
Old or damaged driver — do a clean install with DDU.
Damaged game files — verify integrity in Steam.
Shader cache — after a driver update, clear the shader cache (in NVIDIA/AMD settings or via Windows Disk Cleanup).
Temporarily try another API: the
-vulkanlaunch option.
🖥️ Hardware causes
GPU or VRAM overclock — return to stock clocks.
Overheating — check GPU temperature and clean the cooling.
Monitor cable — whole-screen flicker is often a damaged DisplayPort or HDMI cable.
🎯 How to tell where the problem is
Artifacts only in CS2 — most likely the driver or game files.
Artifacts in other games and on the desktop — probably the GPU or cable.
⚠️ Tip
If artifacts appeared after a long time of normal use and remain after reinstalling the driver, take the GPU in for diagnostics.