confused by fps

mdaw · 1 Jul 2014 at 17:53

I have tried a few games using my MSI afterburner and every game I put on it so far being civ 5, fm 2014, fifa 14 demo and f1 2012 demo all run at 60 fps according to the afterburner all on highest settings. Doesn't seem to matter if it's low or high settings it just comes up with 60 fps with a few little drops for about a second. This doesn't seem right to me.

David Bisset · 1 Jul 2014 at 17:54

Sounds like vsync is on at 60 Hz

William-Mathew · 1 Jul 2014 at 17:57

Could your monitor be stopping it going higher because its a 60Hz one?

Jeps · 1 Jul 2014 at 18:07

William-Mathew said:
Could your monitor be stopping it going higher because its a 60Hz one?

Monitors don't limit the fps your PC can output, 60hz just means that your monitor will only display 60 frames per second no matter what your PC is putting out.

If you are capped at 60fps on a 60hz monitor then you probably have vsync on. Vsync limits your fps to your monitor's refresh rate to prevent tearing but it can cause input lag so most people have it off and suffer the screen tearing.

Martini1991 · 1 Jul 2014 at 18:09

First time I've seen flawless gaming confusing.

Heisenberg · 1 Jul 2014 at 18:10

Jeps said:
Monitors don't limit the fps your PC can output, 60hz just means that your monitor will only display 60 frames per second no matter what your PC is putting out.

If you are capped at 60fps on a 60hz monitor then you probably have vsync on. Vsync limits your fps to your monitor's refresh rate to prevent tearing but it can cause input lag so most people have it off and suffer the screen tearing.

Do they? I though most played with some form of v sync to prevent tearing. I can't stand it and put up with the tiny bit of lag that is hardly even noticeable.

Jeps · 1 Jul 2014 at 18:16

Heisenberg said:
Do they? I though most played with some form of v sync to prevent tearing. I can't stand it and put up with the tiny bit of lag that is hardly even noticeable.

Well I guess my statement was a bit of a sweeping generalization. It really depends on how vsync is implemented and what type of game it is. For online FPS then off is pretty much the standard.

Heisenberg · 1 Jul 2014 at 18:27

I always have it on in some form and seem fairly competitive in BF4 etc. screen tearing without it on is horrific.

mdaw · 1 Jul 2014 at 19:29

Yeah my monitor is nothing special. When I bought it I just wanted it to output 1080p. I believe it is 60Hz. Its an hp 22xi. Also bought it because everything I was reading at the time was suggesting that an ips screen was the way to go.

VSync probably is on.

mdaw · 1 Jul 2014 at 20:07

Ok I turned off vsync on the fifa14 demo and it showed minimum frame rate at 46 and maximum at 350. Lol. Also it was pretty consistent at 340. Surely that can't be correct. Not with my graphics card. Should I try downloading fraps instead. I think it's called fraps.

mdaw · 1 Jul 2014 at 20:38

Just tried the f1 2012 demo and seems much more realistic in terms of numbers than fifa as it seems to be between about 65-75 fps without vsync on and full texture/graphics settings.
So why does vsync make it stay at 60fps for everything. Not complaining as that's a decent figure out of my 7850 just seems strange.

Heisenberg · 1 Jul 2014 at 20:53

V sync locks the framerate to your monitor refresh rate to reduce screen tearing

DannagE · 1 Jul 2014 at 20:54

mdaw said:
So why does vsync make it stay at 60fps for everything. Not complaining as that's a decent figure out of my 7850 just seems strange.

Vsync synchronizes your FPS to the refresh rate of your monitor to try and eliminate screen tearing. eg. A 60hz monitor with vsync on will limit to 60FPS. A 120hz monitor = 120fps.

If you turn vsync off completely then you will just get as many FPS as your card can supply being sent to the screen. But if you're sending 100fps to a 60hz screen then the screen is updating @ 60 times and second and the graphics card is trying to update at 100 times a second. So what it will be trying to do with display the next image before the monitors ready. So it can look like the image is tearing.

Hope this makes sense.

mdaw · 1 Jul 2014 at 21:04

Yeah that does. So really having a graphics card that can produce more than 60 frames per second with my monitor is not really worth it. Might as well stick with what I have until most games I have surpass my cards ability to produce 60 fps unless I get a better monitor. Or would something like a 280x still produce better graphics with these games even though settings are at maximum?

thefogo · 1 Jul 2014 at 21:07

mdaw said:
Yeah that does. So really having a graphics card that can produce more than 60 frames per second with my monitor is not really worth it. Might as well stick with what I have until most games I have surpass my cards ability to produce 60 fps unless I get a better monitor. Or would something like a 280x still produce better graphics with these games even though settings are at maximum?

If Fifa is what you play then yes your card is more than enough. Stick with what you have.

mdaw · 1 Jul 2014 at 21:22

To be honest fifa is something I will look to play on pc rather than ps3 from now on. But I am looking to do most my gaming now on pc as I'm really not excited by the ps4 or Xbox 1. The only thing that bugs me is certain games are not available on pc. Grab turismo, tiger woods no longer on pc, fight night. At least the f1 franchise is still going as far as I'm aware.
I do mainly prefer sport and racing Sims when gaming, but have always enjoyed pc based games like civ, age of empires, football manager. The Mrs like the Sims. Occasionally though I do like to dable in gta or something. Most first person shooters became too difficult for me when analog sticks became the thing to use as I could never get on with them. I know most pc gamers use mouse and keyboard but I'm useless with keyboards as typing was never my thing. Can't touch type.

Five.Stars · 1 Jul 2014 at 21:45

Just be aware that the next Fifa on pc will use the "next gen" Ignite engine - so will be more demanding than Fifa 14 on pc. I would be astonished if your gpu wasn't able to maintain 60fps at max settings or very very close to max settings however.

DannagE · 1 Jul 2014 at 21:55

Five.Stars said:
Just be aware that the next Fifa on pc will use the "next gen" Ignite engine - so will be more demanding than Fifa 14 on pc. I would be astonished if your gpu wasn't able to maintain 60fps at max settings or very very close to max settings however.

Really? Sure they won't do the same as the last versions. More people in the crowd and better looking grass. Then add another year to the title of the game

Martini1991 · 1 Jul 2014 at 21:56

Don't think that engine will make much difference to the performance tbh.

Heisenberg · 1 Jul 2014 at 22:42

DannagE said:
Really? Sure they won't do the same as the last versions. More people in the crowd and better looking grass. Then add another year to the title of the game

It's been confirmed that FIFA 15 will be using the Ignite engine. It will be more demanding to run but how much is anyone's guess at the moment.