Question CS2 Freezes & System Lag – Only Fixed by Resetting BIOS Settings

[Dojson]

Hello, I have an issue with my PC that I hope someone can help me with. If not, at least I’d appreciate some guidance on what to focus on or whether a technician might be needed.

PC Specs:​

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
• Motherboard: MSI B650 Gaming Plus WIFI
• RAM: Lexar Ares DDR5 6000MHz RGB (2x16GB)
• Storage: WD BLACK SN850X 1TB
• Case: Cougar Duoface PRO RGB
• Cooling: Arctic Liquid Freezer III ARGB 240mm
• GPU: Inno3D RTX 4070 Super Twin X2 12GB
• PSU: Thermaltake Smart BM3 750W

The PC runs perfectly fine in most scenarios. I use a dual-monitor setup, with my main monitor running at 240Hz, and I don’t experience issues outside of gaming.


However, when playing CS2 (especially on Faceit), I start experiencing freezes after a few matches (2-3 games). The issue usually occurs when I open and then close the buy menu – the screen freezes, but the cursor remains responsive. Occasionally, these freezes happen randomly. After exiting the game, my entire system becomes sluggish—opening a browser takes a few seconds, and everything feels slow and laggy.


Even restarting the PC doesn’t fix the issue. The only reliable solution I’ve found is to enter the BIOS and load the optimized defaults (F6). After that, everything returns to normal.


I have tested with and without the EXPO profile, but the issue persists. I also updated my BIOS to the latest non-beta version, but that didn’t help either.


Given that this only happens in CS2, but it affects the whole system, I’d appreciate any advice:

• Could this be hardware-related (RAM, PSU, motherboard)?
• Is it a software issue (drivers, Windows settings, CS2 itself)?
• Would taking the PC to a technician help?
• What should I focus on troubleshooting next?

I can provide additional information if needed. My temperatures seem normal: 40°C idle, 65-70°C under load. The CPU is not overclocked since I keep resetting to optimized defaults just to make my PC usable again.


Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Colif]

The issue usually occurs when I open and then close the buy menu

Might mean its the Ethernet/wifi drivers ... just going from what causes it.
do you use ethernet or wifi? have you tried the other connection type if you have it?

have you got the latest drivers for lan?

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/B650-GAMING-PLUS-WIFI/support#driver

How To Fix Lags In CS2: Comprehensive Guide for Newbies [2025]

Suffering from lag in CS2? Get back in the game with our comprehensive guide to fixing lags. Smooth out your gameplay with expert tips and solutions.

skin.club

Otherwise, it sure is strange. Needing to reset BIOS makes it sound like something stops responding but in my experience, a restart is normally good enough to get things to either start or not... and it is odd its just one game. Rest of the time its okay...

Would taking the PC to a technician help?

depends how good they are. If it only causes the problem in one program, they might not find anything.

Could this be hardware-related (RAM, PSU, motherboard)?

Sounds like a network problem perhaps?

IS this windows 10 or 11?
Look in reliability history - search for it with search - and see if any errors show at the same time you were playing game and had the slow down. It might offer some clues. take some screenshots if you want and post here:

How to post images using Imgur

go here - https://imgur.com/ you might need to set up a user. click on New Post which will display next screen where you can select image(s) - hold Ctrl while selecting images in explorer to get multiple Once uploaded, images will show on the next page right clicking an image (once its shown...

forums.pcgamer.com

 

[Dojson]

Might mean its the Ethernet/wifi drivers ... just going from what causes it.
do you use ethernet or wifi? have you tried the other connection type if you have it?

So i really dont think it will be the internet problem. I use 1gb ethernet cable, speedtests around 900mbps download 60 upload. Never worried about the net cuz i have low ping in competetive games and never occured problem with internet.

have you got the latest drivers for lan?

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/B650-GAMING-PLUS-WIFI/support#driver

But for sure will check this one.

How To Fix Lags In CS2: Comprehensive Guide for Newbies [2025]

Suffering from lag in CS2? Get back in the game with our comprehensive guide to fixing lags. Smooth out your gameplay with expert tips and solutions.

skin.club

Otherwise, it sure is strange. Needing to reset BIOS makes it sound like something stops responding but in my experience, a restart is normally good enough to get things to either start or not... and it is odd its just one game. Rest of the time its okay...


depends how good they are. If it only causes the problem in one program, they might not find anything.


Sounds like a network problem perhaps?

IS this windows 10 or 11?
Look in reliability history - search for it with search - and see if any errors show at the same time you were playing game and had the slow down. It might offer some clues. take some screenshots if you want and post here:

I checked this and i started the game like 18.30 u can see when anticheat was running and i ended the match 19.44 probably - faceit says so. And i took the screenshot of reliability history.

https://imgur.com/a/CuDK9yh

View: https://imgur.com/a/CuDK9yh
. As i can see from previous days the critical errors are Faceit Anti-Cheat service Stopped Working and that the Windows was not properly Shut Down.

How to post images using Imgur

go here - https://imgur.com/ you might need to set up a user. click on New Post which will display next screen where you can select image(s) - hold Ctrl while selecting images in explorer to get multiple Once uploaded, images will show on the next page right clicking an image (once its shown...

forums.pcgamer.com

I use windows 11 Pro. But yesterday the same problem occured. I played cs like 18.30-19.00 and the game last 1 hour so hard match D, but everything was smooth around 500fps on mirage 0 problems. Then i took some rest and came back to using computer around 21.30 and then my whole system was lagging. Opening browser, using it was a tragedy. I also shut down computer to go to bios and it took around 20sec to respond to Shut down the computer. Then i went to bios clicked f6 and now everything is smooth again. Maybe it can be caused by monitors? Sometimes it goes black for like 2 sec like the source was changing and then the screen arrives. I use Display Port for the main one 240hz and hdmi for the second.

 

[Colif]

Another thing to check is the nvme only as it can make everything slow

Western Digital Support | Western Digital

Find detailed answers to your support questions for your Western Digital products.

support-en.wd.com

monitors can't make windows slow. They just outputs.

when I said network, i meant the lan drivers.

 

[Colif]

shame the description doesn't show the miscellaneous failure - event viewer might but as we don't know when it happened it would be difficult to identify.
wonder why faceit is crashing? is that around time game freezes?
is windows crashing at that time it reports it or is that just when PC turned off?

 

[Dojson]

So i really dont think it will be the internet problem. I use 1gb ethernet cable, speedtests around 900mbps download 60 upload. Never worried about the net cuz i have low ping in competetive games and never occured problem with internet.

But for sure will check this one.

I use windows 11 Pro and i will check this one later. But yesterday the same problem occured. I played cs like 18.30-19.00 and the game last 1 hour so hard match D, but everything was smooth around 500fps on mirage 0 problems. Then i took some rest and came back to using computer around 21.30 and then my whole system was lagging. Opening browser, using it was a tragedy. I also shut down computer to go to bios and it took around 20sec to respond to Shut down the computer. Then i went to bios clicked f6 and now everything is smooth again. Maybe it can be caused by monitors? Sometimes it goes black for like 2 sec like the source was changing and then the screen arrives. I use Display Port for the main one 240hz and hdmi for the second.

shame the description doesn't show the miscellaneous failure - event viewer might but as we don't know when it happened it would be difficult to identify.
wonder why faceit is crashing? is that around time game freezes?
is windows crashing at that time it reports it or is that just when PC turned off?

So i think i opened faceit around 6.30pm and the match lasted for around 50-60 minutes faceit says i ended match 19.44 so it would suit. And when i open faceit i always get alert Warning: Secure Boot is not working properly. I click yes and it opens. I was playing this match without any lags/freezes everything was fine i played 1hour straight without any problems. I took rest and was using pc around 21.30 and then it was lagging hard when i was writing this post it was already lagging = i was describing it in 1 of the replys to you. Only then i restarted my pc to get into bios clicked f6 and to now everything is working.

 

[Dojson]

shame the description doesn't show the miscellaneous failure - event viewer might but as we don't know when it happened it would be difficult to identify.
wonder why faceit is crashing? is that around time game freezes?
is windows crashing at that time it reports it or is that just when PC turned off?

https://imgur.com/a/S8P9YMC

View: https://imgur.com/a/S8P9YMC
Now i opened this anticheat and this alert about secure boot arrived and i exit this and checked reliability history and it seems like everytime i open faceit it will be critical alert. I will uninstall whole faceit and cs2 maybe this will work or i can search for faceit forums how to fix this secure boot while opening, you think that might be good? Or also maybe formatic disk and installing windows through beggining or buying second M2 disk and try to play CS2 on it with faceit?

 

[Colif]

https://support.faceit.com/hc/en-us/articles/17258827497116-Secure-Boot-is-not-working-properly

Seems it is common on MSI motherboards, as it says in 1st paragraph of link above.
Perhaps that will help

Do you have secure boot enabled now? I know win 11 only requires PC to have it, it doesn't care if its enabled.
Curious if you know if your drives are set up as GPT? Turning secure boot on when the drives are formatted as MBR can leave you unable to boot.

 

[Colif]

read my last paragraph... i added some

 

[Dojson]

https://support.faceit.com/hc/en-us/articles/17258827497116-Secure-Boot-is-not-working-properly

Seems it is common on MSI motherboards, as it says in 1st paragraph of link above.
Perhaps that will help

Do you have secure boot enabled now? I know win 11 only requires PC to have it, it doesn't care if its enabled.
Curious if you know if your drives are set up as GPT? Turning secure boot on when the drives are formatted as MBR can leave you unable to boot.

I dunno, how can i check this

 

[Colif]

Method 1: Using Disk Management
How to check if a drive is MBR or GPT using Disk Management:

1. Right-click the Start button and select “Disk Management” (or press Windows + X and select “Disk Management”).
2. Once Disk Management opens, right-click on the disk you want to check (on the left side where it says “Disk 0” or similar).
3. Select “Properties.”
4. Click on the “Volumes” tab.
5. Look for “Partition style” – it will clearly show either “Master Boot Record (MBR)” or “GUID Partition Table (GPT).”

How to Check If a Disk Is MBR or GPT in Windows | NinjaOne

Learn multiple ways to check if a disk is MBR or GPT in Windows, including using Disk Management, Command Prompt, and PowerShell.

www.ninjaone.com

 

[Colif]

if you or whoever installed windows just let it do its thing, you probably on GPT now... it just pays to ask.

 

[Dojson]

if you or whoever installed windows just let it do its thing, you probably on GPT now... it just pays to ask.

Yep it says i am on GPT right now. So what now?

 

[Colif]

You should be right to go.

Good luck

if you have any more problems, let me know... i mean with errors.

 

[Dojson]

You should be right to go.

Good luck

So i will try reinstalling CS2 and faceit + Repair this Secure boot alert. And we will see if it helps or nah? These are the steps i can do right?

 

[Colif]

its possible faceit wasn't working right the entire time and was cause of the slow down. Fixing secure boot so you don't get the error could be all you need to do. Especially since rest of time PC is fine unless you play CS2 before hand

 

[Dojson]

its possible faceit wasn't working right the entire time and was cause of the slow down. Fixing secure boot so you don't get the error could be all you need to do. Especially since rest of time PC is fine unless you play CS2 before hand

Thank you mate so much for help. If in the most negative scenario it wont help i will text you back xd All good for you bro.

 

[Master_Shifu]

Have you gone through this? https://support.faceit.com/hc/en-us/articles/360014237399-Troubleshooting-game-crashes.

I found similar discussions on Reddit:

• View: https://www.reddit.com/r/FACEITcom/comments/1avfe95/cs2_crash_when_faceit_anticheat_is_running_help/
  
• View: https://www.reddit.com/r/FACEITcom/comments/1fx4290/cs2_crashes_only_while_playing_faceit/
  

 

[Dojson]

Have you gone through this? https://support.faceit.com/hc/en-us/articles/360014237399-Troubleshooting-game-crashes.

I found similar discussions on Reddit:

• View: https://www.reddit.com/r/FACEITcom/comments/1avfe95/cs2_crash_when_faceit_anticheat_is_running_help/
• View: https://www.reddit.com/r/FACEITcom/comments/1fx4290/cs2_crashes_only_while_playing_faceit/

i will take a look for that. Thank you for support

 

[Dojson]

its possible faceit wasn't working right the entire time and was cause of the slow down. Fixing secure boot so you don't get the error could be all you need to do. Especially since rest of time PC is fine unless you play CS2 before hand

So unfortunately im getting back. Played 3 games today and in the 3rd one the problem came back. I did some videos how it looks.

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/yK2OixEfXpg

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/1f9Bbbzeicc

View: https://youtu.be/6lQ2pVqapLc


I set the bios and now the AntiCheat is running without any errors. From the reliability history i got only Windows Update - unsuccessful Microsoft Defender Antivirus. I dunno what to do. I will try to play tomorrow some premiere games without Faceit. When the problem will occur i will know that there is problem with something else. But to now i am only thinking about formatting whole computer.

Have you gone through this? https://support.faceit.com/hc/en-us/articles/360014237399-Troubleshooting-game-crashes.

I found similar discussions on Reddit:

• View: https://www.reddit.com/r/FACEITcom/comments/1avfe95/cs2_crash_when_faceit_anticheat_is_running_help/
• View: https://www.reddit.com/r/FACEITcom/comments/1fx4290/cs2_crashes_only_while_playing_faceit/

From this posts i did system file checker it repaired some files. But checking every process that works in the background, which is doing this problem will take ages.

 

[Colif]

Your videos are marked as private, need to fix that before I could watch them.

clean installing windows to fix a problem that only happens on one game, is a little far.

it can help to restart PC after running SFC


try this:

right click start button

choose Terminal (Admin)

If it opens as Command Prompt, click the down arrow in the header row and pick Powershell from list

copy/paste this command into window:

Repair-WindowsImage -Online -RestoreHealth

and press enter

Then type SFC /scannow

and press enter

Restart PC if SFC fixes any files as some fixes require a restart to be implemented

First command repairs the files SFC uses to clean files, and SFC fixes system files

SFC = System File Checker. First command runs DISM - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/what-is-dism?view=windows-11

thats a more complete fix of windows.


Don't do this until I look at videos.

Do you happen to know if you on latest BIOS?

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/B650-GAMING-PLUS-WIFI/support

I wouldn't grab the Beta but the next newest might help

One way to tell which one you are on is look in System Information app, it shows bios version under the CPU description line.

but MSI bios descriptions may not match, what it shows on website migth not show in that line. So use the dates. As they will give you an idea which you have.

Don't update BIOS during storms or when you might lose power.

having latest chipset drivers help if you update BIOS:

https://www.amd.com/en/support/downloads/drivers.html/chipsets/am5/b650.html

 

[Dojson]

Your videos are marked as private, need to fix that before I could watch them.

clean installing windows to fix a problem that only happens on one game, is a little far.

it can help to restart PC after running SFC


try this:

right click start button

choose Terminal (Admin)

If it opens as Command Prompt, click the down arrow in the header row and pick Powershell from list

copy/paste this command into window:

Repair-WindowsImage -Online -RestoreHealth

and press enter

Then type SFC /scannow

and press enter

Restart PC if SFC fixes any files as some fixes require a restart to be implemented

First command repairs the files SFC uses to clean files, and SFC fixes system files

SFC = System File Checker. First command runs DISM - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/what-is-dism?view=windows-11

thats a more complete fix of windows.


Don't do this until I look at videos.

Do you happen to know if you on latest BIOS?

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/B650-GAMING-PLUS-WIFI/support

I wouldn't grab the Beta but the next newest might help

One way to tell which one you are on is look in System Information app, it shows bios version under the CPU description line.

but MSI bios descriptions may not match, what it shows on website migth not show in that line. So use the dates. As they will give you an idea which you have.

Don't update BIOS during storms or when you might lose power.

having latest chipset drivers help if you update BIOS:

https://www.amd.com/en/support/downloads/drivers.html/chipsets/am5/b650.html

I've just updated the bios to the newest (non beta) version. And i changed privacy of these videos, so you could be able to watch how it looks like.

 

[Colif]

so 1st video looks like you losing frames or is that normal when you switch between items?
second one too short to really tell anything

what am I looking for?

 

[Colif]

• Do a system scan with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware to find any malware that might have modified critical windows files
• Install the latest version of your graphic drivers. Re-install if the latest version is already installed. Modded drivers are not supported and may prevent the game from starting.
• Check for corrupted Windows files with the System File Checker
• If you installed Smart Game Booster, please try to uninstall it, as this application modifies DirectX system files.
• Make sure that the game executable is not set to run as Administrator. Go to the game directory, right click on the executable (e.g. cs2.exe), click Properties, Compatibility, and untick "Run this program as an administrator".
• If you are using a HP computer, we have had reports that a service called Sound Research SECOMN Service is causing game crashes. If it is present on your system, setting the Startup Type to Disabled should fix the issue.

https://support.faceit.com/hc/en-us/articles/360014237399-Troubleshooting-game-crashes

try running ddu in safe mode, uninstall the GPU drivers, boot into normal and install latest drivers

How to clean install new GPU Drivers

Updated 9-19-19 How to do a CLEAN install of your graphics card drivers using the Wagnard tools Display Driver Uninstaller A major issue on many systems is the presence of multiple graphics card drivers or drivers that have been incompletely uninstalled followed by the installation of...

forums.pcgamer.com

one person found the game file was set to read only, turning that off fixed it

 

[Dojson]

so 1st video looks like you losing frames or is that normal when you switch between items?
second one too short to really tell anything

what am I looking for?

So these freezes starts suddenly when i open buy menu 1st video, as u can see eveyrtime i open it its lag i need to wait 1-2 sec before buying anything and also when i exit i need to wait some time to move ( u see that the cursor appears on the screen and when it disappears i can move. When these lags starts its not only the buy menu. 2nd video u can see that the screen freezed with the weapon in hand and then screen came back with knife in hand. That is the problem these screen hanging moments. Its not even when im playing but even when i observe other players. 3rd video u can u see that the guy picked up Molotov wanna throw it but i got freeze. Its unplayable when suddenly i gets freezes Like this. Finishing 3rd video i can u also after defusing guy stopped and then he disappeard from my screen. Its not from the video quality that is exactly how i see this game when this problem sudennly occurs.