FPS Limiter - Coming !!!! ( Nvidia )

Neil79 · 10 Sep 2011 at 16:47

http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=201570&st=0

Unpinning this topic as it has been added to a future driver.

Was going to post this in Display Drivers section but this is for games and it's a huge plus, something that's been needed for years!.

-Member View Points below-

the ability to cap the gameplay fps to the value you want, I don't understand why this feature is not included in the driver.
It makes a world of diference, in games that can't be run at framerate equal or above 60. It can turn a stutter fest game in smooth gameplay.
I tested this other temporary utility on some problematic games that have lots of stutter despite the framerate being above 40, like Dragon Age 2 or The Witcher 2 and the gameplay is so much better because there's no fps fluctuation and no stutter.

We now have the option to use vsync to limit the fps to refresh rate, but unless your hardware is able to maintain a constant 60 fps, you will suffer from frame dips.

Another advantage of this function is the ability to save power and produce less heat, because the hardware is not wasting energy.

Triple buffered vSync in Direct3D actually increases latency. The more frames/buffers rendered ahead, the more latency is introduced.

FPS limiter will not eliminate tearing by itself, but it should have other uses, such as minimizing input lag and reducing load temperatures.

this is pretty good, If I know a game is doing say 65-85 fps all the time I cap it at 60 and I will be awarded by smooth play, sounds great to me as Ive allways hated vsync, it almost allways gave me issues with amd, not so much with nvidia.

I have been asking for this feature for years. Simple, if game is too demanding or it is the type of game where 60 fps isnt a big deal and there are lots of variance in the framerate this will help smooth out the overall experience. Long overdue. I have a 580 overclocking to 945 and an i7 at 4.7. Crysis 2 dx11 maxed at 1080p runs from 45-60 vsync on. I dropped to 1600x900 to keep the 60fps since it is hard to tell anyway. This way I will cap at like 48fps and go back to 1080p.

===========

MSI AFTERBURNER 1ST RELEASE OF FRAME RATE LIMITER

1. Added AMD Tahiti graphics processors family support
2. Added core voltage control for reference design AMD RADEON 7970 graphics cards with CHL8228 voltage regulators
3. MSI On-Screen Display server has been upgraded to version 4.3.0. New version gives you the following improvements:
1. Added new profile settings allowing to limit the framerate independently during gaming and during videocapture. Limiting the framerate during gaming can help to reduce the power consumption as well as it can improve gaming experience due to removing unwanted microstutteing effect caused by framerate fluctuations. Limiting the framerate during videocapture can improve resulting video smoothness
2. Added Vector 3D On-Screen Display rendering mode support for OpenGL applications
3. Added Raster 3D On-Screen Display rendering mode support for multithreaded OpenGL applications (e.g. ID Software's Rage)
4. Added workaround for AMD Direct3D driver issues causing OSD to be invisible in Direct3D8 and Direct3D9 applications when using Raster 3D On-Screen Display rendering mode
5.
4. Now unofficial overclocking can be enabled without typing in the EULA into the configuration file. In this case the EULA is displayed and you're forced to accept it during MSI Afterburner startup
5. Added power user oriented command line switches allowing to extend Overdrive clock limits on AMD graphics cards attached to Windows desktop

http://downloads.guru3d.com/MSI-Afterburner-2.2.0-Beta-10-download-2839.html

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18360071

Here is a HOW to as an example for Battlefield 3

Go to Settings in msi afterburner, Monitoring, Pick an option in graph to monitor ( frame rate is a good test ), and show in on screen display. The on screen display icon should load up, click on the on screen display icon and click the PLUS sign. Select the BF3.exe to make a new profile. Then select below..

Select 55FPS for framerate limit..

Copy this file into your battlefield 3 directory, BACK UP YOUR OLD USER.CFG FIRST to another directory!!.
http://www.wupload.com/file/2636932942/user.cfg

Load BF3 turn off VSYNC and enjoy the frame rate limiter with vsync off

RavenXXX2 · 10 Sep 2011 at 17:03

Great idea, 60 limit for me.

buchtis · 10 Sep 2011 at 17:04

Can anyone give me a tl;dr please? From the title, it looks like vsync.

Moothead2 · 10 Sep 2011 at 17:06

I always use vSync anyway, too many games have screan tearing without it.

Neil79 · 10 Sep 2011 at 17:08

buchtis said:
Can anyone give me a tl;dr please? From the title, it looks like vsync.

Question 1 - Why would you want to "limit" your framerate?
Answer - Limiting the framerate for your games is basically to achieve the best "consistent" framerate for your games. This means that things like framerate spikes (large FPS drops or gains during games that can typically annoy the common person) will be either extremely reduced to the point where you wont even notice it, or completely eliminated. Both of these results are based on what kind of machine you are running, and what games you're playing.

Question 2 - What does it mean to "limit" your framerate?
Answer - Game performance has been the PC gamer topic every since games were invented. It is the pinnacle point between quality and performance of what type of balance you will get for your games. Essentially, the human eye is very effecient in spotting the differences between high and low framerates, for example, if your playing a game, and the FPS is in the high 60's (the best consistently smooth framerate for 60hz Monitors) and drops to the low 30's or even 20's, the human eye will immidiately detect that there isnt a smooth picture anymore.

Question 3 - Does lower framerate mean less of a smooth moving picture?
Answer - Yes it does. However, the human eye is very unique in a way where it can adapt to certain rates of images. For example, if there is a consistant 30fps (Frames Per Second) in front of you, your eye is more likely to be comfortable with that then if your framerate is increasing and decreasing every second for random periods of time. Console games today use 2 common framerate caps - 30fps and 60fps. These framerate caps are put in place for this very reason - to have consistent framerates through your gamig experience.

Question 4 - What are the limits of what is considered consistent and what is not?
Answer - The most common FPS locks are basically any number above 30, but with multiples of 5 or 10. So 35, 40, 45, 50 and even 55 are the numbers to hit for best results. Keep in mind, this concept of limiting your FPS is strictly LIMITING your framerate, as you cannot add framerates that you could not get in the first place.

Dave**** · 10 Sep 2011 at 17:13

buchtis said:
Can anyone give me a tl;dr please? From the title, it looks like vsync.

New feature that will allow games that stutter to be run smooth and allow people that don't like V-Sync to have an alternative option to frame limiting.

Neil79 · 10 Sep 2011 at 17:15

Davola said:
New feature that will allow games that stutter to be run smooth and allow people that don't like V-Sync to have an alternative option to frame limiting.

Also stops games from running into the hundreds and over heating your GPU, remember the starcraft 2 menu?

What about DOS games too, games that run to fast just use the nvidia limiter

Dave**** · 10 Sep 2011 at 17:23

Never played SC2

But DXHR was doing the same during some dialogues before it was patched so I know what ye mean.

Neil79 · 10 Sep 2011 at 17:25

FPS limiter Oblivion and Fallout 3/Vegas come to mind!, that game seriously needed it but if you messed with the ini file it would play havoc

. Those that have experienced it would know what i mean

Oblivion/Fallout 3 stutter remover fixed it though but still this would've been a god send

Neil79 · 16 Dec 2011 at 09:56

MSI AFTERBURNER BETA FPS LIMITER
!

beta version of RTSS 4.3.0 featuring integrated framerate limiter is online:
http://nl.guru3d.com/afterburner/RTSS430b2.rar

There is no GUI for it yet, you have to enable the limiter manually via the configuration file. The following section in ProfileTemplates/Global profile controls the limiter:

[Framerate]
Limit = 0
LimitCapture = 0

Limit entry specifies the framerate limit in FPS, e.g. set it to 30 to limit framerate to 30 FPS. Set it to 0 to disable framerate limiter.
LimitCapture entry defines framerate limit during video capture. Unlike Limit entry specifying the limit excplicitly in frames per secong, LimitCapture entry is video framerate multiplier. For example, set it to 3 to limit framerate with 3*video capture framerate (e.g. when you're capturing at 30 FPS framerate will be limited to 3*30 = 90 FPS).

A few examples for settings:

[Framerate]
Limit = 0
LimitCapture = 0

= Framerate is not limited either during gameplay or during video capture.

[Framerate]
Limit = 100
LimitCapture = 0

= Framerate is limited to 100 FPS during gameplay and video capture

[Framerate]
Limit = 0
LimitCapture = 2

= Framerate is not limited during gameplay but limited to double video framerate (e.g. 60 FPS if video is being captured at 30 FPS) during video capture

[Framerate]
Limit = 100
LimitCapture = 2

= Framerate is limited to 100 FPS during gameplay and limited to double video framerate (e.g. 60 FPS if video is being captured at 30 FPS) during video capture

Please keep in mind that this way you're changing framerate limiter globally for applications at once. Adding it to application profile files allows you to configure the limiter independently for each application.

Important note: VSync must be disabled for proper framerate limiting functionality if you're trying to set the limit to a value below monitor refresh rate.

Extract it to the OSD server's directory. Default path for that is: C:\Program Files (x86)\MSI Afterburner\Bundle\OSDServer

Feedback

This works like a beast! Steady 62fps all the time in Battlefield 3 maxed out, a lot smoother than using the in-game fps limiter (which would stutter like crazy) or bandicam (which would freeze my game as soon as I enabled the fps limiter).

Thank you guys! Love it! no more wasting GPU usage, heat, or noise when I don't need it!

If you use vsync, while it does limit it to your monitor's refresh rate (60Hz/60fps for example), it does also add input lag which is very annoying specially on first person shooter multiplayers as it makes the mouse's response time a bit slower and that can be the difference between being alive or being dead. If you just manually limit the fps to 60fps or 62fps without using vsync, you won't introduce input lag.

Plus it reduces heat and power usage by not having your gfx card work at 100% if it doesn't have to.

However, it may not get rid of tearing totally, as the frames being output aren't synced to the refresh of the monitor. Probably the best solution would be the limit FPS just above the refresh rate, and use v-sync also.

FrenchTart · 16 Dec 2011 at 09:57

buchtis said:
Can anyone give me a tl;dr please? From the title, it looks like vsync.

Seriously? You read the title and you can't work it out? :rolleyes:

Neil79 · 16 Dec 2011 at 10:22

Gave it a try in BF3, made a profile for it via the OSD control with stealth option, went into the profile cfg file and set 60 fps as a cap... It's so much nicer than just having vsync OFF!. Tearing is very much reduced and is much smoother, vsync on is always the prefered option but I need triple buffering for that if the frame rates are not at a constant level.

Very Good option, give it a try!

~>Dg<~ · 16 Dec 2011 at 10:45

so basically it is just vsync on :confused:

which in fps = fail

in single player games doesnt really matter as much and if you get tearing you put v sync on

in games online that matter why would you limit your hardware

for eg in cod 4 or like you want high fps and most games that benefit from fps or high fps have the simple commands anyway.

maybe 15 years to late

also if you getting less than 60 fps in the game your playing its cause your hardware is to slow.

also you just said you cap your fps to 60 fps in bf3 so what about when it drops under 60 fps ? youll get lag and get the exact the same thing as vsync on which is why its totally pointless

set your settings so you dont go under 60 fps and solve all problems or just upgrade to better gear so you get the required fps in first place

Neil79 · 16 Dec 2011 at 10:47

~>Dg<~ said:
so basically it is just vsync on which in fps = fail
.

What?

, read into it fella you're struggling

Random Guy · 16 Dec 2011 at 10:48

It is not the same as VSync ffs! Why can people not understand that?

Random Guy · 16 Dec 2011 at 10:49

Neil79 said:
Gave it a try in BF3, made a profile for it via the OSD control with stealth option, went into the profile cfg file and set 60 fps as a cap... It's so much nicer than just having vsync OFF!. Tearing is very much reduced and is much smoother, vsync on is always the prefered option but I need triple buffering for that if the frame rates are not at a constant level.

Very Good option, give it a try!

Did you make a global profile or can you make it application specific? I would like to give this a go.

FrenchTart · 16 Dec 2011 at 10:51

~>Dg<~ said:
so basically it is just vsync on which in fps = fail

in single player games doesnt really matter as much and if you get tearing you put v sync on

in games online that matter why would you limit your hardware

for eg in cod 4 or like you want high fps and most games that benefit from fps or high fps have the simple commands anyway.

maybe 15 years to late

also if you getting less than 60 fps in the game your playing its cause your hardware is to slow.

also you just said you cap your fps to 60 fps in bf3 so what about when it drops under 60 fps ? youll get lag and get the exact the same thing as vsync on which is why its totally pointless

set your settings so you dont go under 60 fps and solve all problems or just upgrade to better gear so you get the required fps in first place

Well done for failing to read and/or understand.

~>Dg<~ · 16 Dec 2011 at 10:56

ive read the article but if neil sets his fps to 60 in bf3 i guarentee it will dip below

this does not stop tearing on its own either.

it is better to just not add fancy things and play normal at the correct settings to get your "highest fps " all the time.

also this isnt going to happen !

Neil79 · 16 Dec 2011 at 11:09

~>Dg<~ said:
ive read the article but if neil sets his fps to 60 in bf3 i guarentee it will dip below

Ofcause it will, so what's your point :confused:

. You're not really getting this are you DG lol. But that's ok we all have our moments

FrenchTart said:
Well done for failing to read and/or understand.

He doesn't, clearly

Neil79 · 16 Dec 2011 at 11:16

Random Guy said:
Did you make a global profile or can you make it application specific? I would like to give this a go.

I wouldn't set it globally....

Install the new OSD software as per instructions with msi afterburner, right click the system icon it's a little cog press SHOW, when the window loads click on the BIG plus sign at the bottom of the profile listing. It will look for a file, direct to an exe you want the profile for, for example BF3 would be BF3.EXE. Set it to Stealth mode, then minimize the window back to the sys bar.

The following section in C:\Program Files (x86)\MSI Afterburner\Bundle\OSDServer\Profiles controls the limiter:

For example BF3.EXE would now have it's own profile as from above, double click the profile and put in below the line CoordinateSpace

[Framerate]
Limit = 60
LimitCapture = 0

Would be 60fps limit, save the file, quit msi afterburner/osd and reload, load the game and make sure vsync is off. That's it, I've only used BF3 as an example it can be used for any game