Problems with FPS, Vsync etc..

[Riiya]

Hey.

I have annoying problems with my FPS. Basically, if I cannot get 60 fps a game will play horribly. Ill try explain:

Vsync On + Triple Buffering On: A game will cap ar 60, which is butter smooth and perfect, but if there is ever an area of the game where the fps can only get to, say, 49, then even though this is a respectable frame rate -- I know this frame rate would still feel smooth -- the game is really Sluggish. It feel more like 20fps, not 49.

Now I thought this might just be because of Vsync or triple buffering, so:

Vsync OFF + Triple Buffering OFF: Games will obviosly go higher than 60 fps -- usually around 80's 90's -- and feels smooth. The tearing is incredibly bad on a Dell 2407 WFP 24" LCD, so tbh Vsync OFF is not really an option. Not only that, but even though the indicator SAYS, say, 65FPS, and STAYS 65FPS, the game chops like a slidershow. Not HD/LOAD stutter, just periodic chop, chop, chop if you move the scene -- say the camera view or move around.

Vsync ON + Triple Buffering OFF: Caps at 60, sluggish below 60, and ALSO chops. So no good.

I really dunno what the problem is lol. Every game I ever play I always have problems with performance.

I run:

• Q6600 2.4Ghz
• 8800 GTS 512mb
• 2Gb pc6400 ram 800mhz
• 450Watt PSU Antec True

Any ideas?

 

[Devil_Spawn]

what exactly are you using to force triple buffering? the nvidia control panel only works for OpenGL, so you wont actually see any difference

 

[Riiya]

I didnt realise that, but EQ2 accepts triple buffering in their options menu. I have problems with that game too.

some other games I have problems with when FPS is less than Vsync, or vsync off:

TF2 --- infact all source games
WoW -- Yup. **** really have had smoooooth fps all the time, but nope. Sluggish when below vsync, or vsync off. (also allows triple buffering)
Call of Duty 4.

 

[Riiya]

One thing I don't understand is if I run WITH vsync, but no trip buffering, and the fps drops BELOW the refresh rate of 60, why does the the fps not cap at 60?

I can have Vsync on and triple buffering off and have an fps of anywhere between 1-60.

I thought it capped at half the refresh rate, or a third.

 

[Meronem]

have you got a higher wattage PSU you can try ?

 

[Riiya]

have you got a higher wattage PSU you can try ?

Nope You think it could be that?

 

[Devil_Spawn]

One thing I don't understand is if I run WITH vsync, but no trip buffering, and the fps drops BELOW the refresh rate of 60, why does the the fps not cap at 60?

because your graphics card doesnt render faster when its using vsync, if it can only manage 30 fps without vsync its not gonna do 60 with it ^^


think of it like this:
vsync forces the card to wait for the monitors verticle sync timing (or something like that but more technical)

this means that there are 60 opportunities to a frame to be sent to the monitor.
and fps loss can be caused by vsync due to it having to wait for one of the 60 opportunities.
triple buffering negates this by allowing a frame to be stored in a third buffer whilst it processes the next frame as normal.
the stuttering you notice when it drops below 60 fps is that waiting time.

are you positive you arent forcing vsync off or something?

 

[Riiya]

One thing I don't understand is if I run WITH vsync, but no trip buffering, and the fps drops BELOW the refresh rate of 60, why does the the fps not cap at 30?

I can have Vsync on and triple buffering off and have an fps of anywhere between 1-60.

I thought it capped at half the refresh rate, or a third.

Argh sorry. I meant why does it not cap at 30.

 

[HangTime]

It probably does, but possibly your framerate counter isn't updating every frame and is taking an average. So for example, lets say you have framerates of:

60
60
30
60
30
30
60
60

Now you are getting those discrete framrates (frametimes of 16.6r / 33.3r ms), but the average over the 8 frames will be (60*5+30*3)/8 = 49ms to 0dp
The game will feel sluggish because it is not running at 49fps, it is fluctuating between 60fps and 30fps during that 0.39s period.

Obviously with triple buffering, you will get framerates of 60/40 (maybe even 20), but the same principle applies.
In fast paced FPS games I view vsync as inherently bad (not just because of these issues, but also due to mouse lag), it's worth disabling and then tweaking framerate limiters to try and eliminate tearing that way.

 

[Ch3m1c4L]

It probably does, but possibly your framerate counter isn't updating every frame and is taking an average. So for example, lets say you have framerates of:

60
60
30
60
30
30
60
60

Now you are getting those discrete framrates (frametimes of 16.6r / 33.3r ms), but the average over the 8 frames will be (60*5+30*3)/8 = 49ms to 0dp
The game will feel sluggish because it is not running at 49fps, it is fluctuating between 60fps and 30fps during that 0.39s period.

Obviously with triple buffering, you will get framerates of 60/40 (maybe even 20), but the same principle applies.
In fast paced FPS games I view vsync as inherently bad (not just because of these issues, but also due to mouse lag), it's worth disabling and then tweaking framerate limiters to try and eliminate tearing that way.

This. Vsync is bad, just edit the ini or w/e to limit the games fps instead.

 

[C64]

It's simple the resolution and details selected your card cannot maintain minimum framerates of 60.