Getting every last bit of performance out of TF2 on an older rig

Gaming

I can take no credit for this configuration other then finding it and trying it out on my machine. Doubled my frame rates that I had already scaled back to lowest quality across the board and running full-screen at 1440 x 900

I stumbled across it on a post on reddit (by u/ThoughtlessKoopa) which ultimately pointed me to a file on pastebin: http://pastebin.com/v1mwVju0

The trickiest part was trying to determine which directory the end file needed to be in. Which i ultimately on the teamfortress wiki . I’ll save you a stem and quote the relevant paragraph (keep in mind it’s 6/6/2015 and I’m not likely to update this post.)

Editing Scripting Files

If on Windows, scripting files may be found in:
<Steam Folder>/SteamApps/common/team fortress 2/tf/cfg
If on a Mac, scripting files may be found in:
~/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/team fortress 2/tf/cfg
If on Linux, scripting files may be found in:
~/.steam/steam/SteamApps/common/Team Fortress 2/tf/cfg

Since the SteamPipe update, code can also be placed in .../team fortress 2/tf/custom/yourfoldernamehere/cfg

I will also specifically call out the start-up parameters the .cfg mentions in its comments:

// Launch options:
// IMPORTANT: Remove -dxlevel 81 from the launch options after the first launch!
//

// Fullscreen: -dxlevel 81 -full -w WIDTH -h HEIGHT -console -novid -useforcedmparms -noforcemaccel -noforcemspd

// Windowed:   -dxlevel 81 -sw -w WIDTH -h HEIGHT -console -noborder -novid -useforcedmparms -noforcemaccel -noforcemspd

My Machine specs according to Windows:

My old machine specs on Windows 7

Finally, I’ll just say, it’s certainly not the prettiest game of TF2 you’ll ever play, but it will be smooth like butter on an older box.

If you’ve come across some tweaks I’m missing, feel free to let me know 😉

Move up engy, dammit man!