Vsync Tweak/fix: Gain the benefits without the input lag

[Phixsator]

I would like to share something i found to improve my gaming experience a whole lot. We all love the idea of g-sync but many of us cant afford it or cannot get the type of panel we want with g-sync so we are left with vsync and input lag. Apparently not, according to this thread i found right here, you can have the benefits of vsync without the exsessive input lag that usually follows it by following these very simple steps. Should work for pretty much all games.

1) Get yourself a framelimiter (etc afterburner can do this through RTSS) and set it to 1 less than the refresh rate active by your monitor
2) Enable vsync in your game and your golden. 99% of the additional vsync input lag is now gone.
2x) If the game is somehow limited to 60hz and you are running higher than this, enable fullscreen window mode otherwise know as borderless window mode and it defaults to your refresh rate set for your desktop.

Some of you may already know of this, i personally didnt until i read it so thanks to the OP at overclock.net for sharing it. Im now even more happy gaming on my new AOC 2963 21:9 IPS panel as it no longer tears like crazy and is pretty smooth to. Hope it helps some of you. Cheers

 

[James J]

You still have the drawback of your framerate lowering by the amount of buffers you have available though if you cannot sustain the capped framerate. Stutter is often caused by extremely quick, fluctuating changes to framerate. An explosion goes off in a game that uses GPU phsyics calculations etc will definitely impact the smoothness of the game.

This is why gsync/project freesync exists as its a replacement to vsync as they are better in every single way to it.

 

[Phixsator]

You still have the drawback of your framerate lowering by the amount of buffers you have available though if you cannot sustain the capped framerate. Stutter is often caused by extremely quick, fluctuating changes to framerate. An explosion goes off in a game that uses GPU phsyics calculations etc will definitely impact the smoothness of the game.

This is why gsync/project freesync exists as its a replacement to vsync as they are better in every single way to it.

Im sorry friend your are missing the point here. This was never meant to be a "as good an experience as gsync or freesync" but a solution to those of us who dont have that tech and want tear free and next to no input lag on top of that. I would say the main drawback of vsync is the input lag, as lowered framerate can be offset by feeding a game more raw power(as long as the game is somewhat properly coded) so the ability to remove the input lag or reduce it by 95% is a huge win for many of us.

 

[LambChop]

Wouldnt this be really good for 4k gamers without gsync module ? Of course others too, but just thinking 4k would really benefit ?

 

[Deleted member 66701]

You know AOC can do much higher refresh rates right? Mine does 96hz.

 

[Silent_Scone]

It doesn't work though, not really. G-Sync works by displaying the frame as soon as the GPU is ready. Setting the frame-rate below the refresh rate doesn't really solve input lag either as synchronisation is still occurring

 

[Rroff]

I've never found it reduces input lag enough for me to find it acceptable, sure it can reduce the worst case rubber band feeling a lot but the base delay is still there and just nasty - I still don't understand how people can play at 60hz vsync.

 

[Neil79]

I've found that setting it to 1 less than the refresh rate active by your monitor with Vsync causes a minor stuttering effect in many of my games. So I stopped using it

 

[setter]

I've found that with bf4 limiting fps to 59 results in much smoother gameplay, and lower gpu temps. If I run it unlimited the game stutters a lot and the performance overlay graph is up and down like a yoyo.

 

[Silent_Scone]

I've found that with bf4 limiting fps to 59 results in much smoother gameplay, and lower gpu temps. If I run it unlimited the game stutters a lot and the performance overlay graph is up and down like a yoyo.

That's obviously because with the frame cap off the GPU is rendering as fast as it possibly can so more load = more heat. But guessing you realise that

 

[setter]

Yep, its the stuttering part I cant understand with no fps limit set. Was the same with a single 780 so I don't think its an sli issue. But bf4 being such a badly made game its hard to pin down any cause.

 

[DarkBahamut]

I've found that setting it to 1 less than the refresh rate active by your monitor with Vsync causes a minor stuttering effect in many of my games. So I stopped using it

It always will, because locking to 59FPS on a 60Hz screen with V-Sync requires one frame per second to be displayed twice which will always cause stuttering.

 

[Rroff]

Yep, its the stuttering part I cant understand with no fps limit set. Was the same with a single 780 so I don't think its an sli issue. But bf4 being such a badly made game its hard to pin down any cause.

Thats one of the reasons I cap BF4 at 125fps - not just for the reduced perception of tearing with 120Hz no vsync but also the game tends to feel a bit odd once your framerate is so high the frametime is down to ~2ms or below.

 

[humbug]

The only game that i want as little as possible input lag is BF4, for that you also need high frame rates with as little fluctuation as possible.

What i do is run Vsync off and cap the frame rates to 90 in user.cfg, at that my frame rates stick solid to 90 FPS. with that and running Mantle instead of DX the frame rates don't move, i don't get any screen tearing and its supper smooth. jobs a good'n

 

[Phixsator]

You know AOC can do much higher refresh rates right? Mine does 96hz.

Mine only goes to 72hz any higher and i get frame skipping and the not supported message plasted all over my screen.

It doesn't work though, not really. G-Sync works by displaying the frame as soon as the GPU is ready. Setting the frame-rate below the refresh rate doesn't really solve input lag either as synchronisation is still occurring

Again missing the point. This is not an attempt to get people to ditch gsync but a way to enjoy tear free content when you dont have gsync as an option. I simply cannot understand why some of you keep bringing up gsync. Have you even tried this fix/tweak whatever you want to call it? I have on a few games and every single one of them have seen major benefits from this method. Couple this with some like adaptive sync if your unable to keep a steady fps and you have a pretty decent and good experience, while not perfect its certainly better than all out tearing that happens a lot on 60hz monitors.

You know a simple "thank you for sharing, but not good enough for me" would have been nice.

 

[setter]

On a good server my minimum fps will be 90 Ono, max settings, x4 msas at 1920x1200. However on a server with bad lag it will drop into the 40's. That's without fps limit set, former result on 64 player Shanghai cq large.

 

[Phixsator]

On a good server my minimum fps will be 90 Ono, max settings, x4 msas at 1920x1200. However on a server with bad lag it will drop into the 40's. That's without fps limit set, former result on 64 player Shanghai cq large.

i have no issue maintaining 120+ fps on packed 64 server regardless of ping and server performance. I find it a bit odd actually that your fps is affected by it. Granted im not running maximum settings across the board but thats for a whole different reason(with some settings low or off its easier to see enemies).

 

[humbug]

i have no issue maintaining 120+ fps on packed 64 server regardless of ping and server performance. I find it a bit odd actually that your fps is affected by it. Granted im not running maximum settings across the board but thats for a whole different reason(with some settings low or off its easier to see enemies).

I don't think it is, as far as i can tell, i have never had it dip below 90, ever. no matter what the server. also running 4x MSAA Ultra @ 1080P

 

[shankly1985]

i have no issue maintaining 120+ fps on packed 64 server regardless of ping and server performance. I find it a bit odd actually that your fps is affected by it. Granted im not running maximum settings across the board but thats for a whole different reason(with some settings low or off its easier to see enemies).

Its always been know that the server performance effects your frame rate. I found this out a while back on BF3 when the server had rubber banding everyone had massive frame rate drops.

 

[Phixsator]

Its always been know that the server performance effects your frame rate. I found this out a while back on BF3 when the server had rubber banding everyone had massive frame rate drops.

In bf3 yes i had the same issues having trouble at times keeping a steady 60 fps spite packing 2x7950 in crossfire. Yet i never had these issues in BF4. Im not saying the issue is not there just that i never experienced it myself in the over 200 hours ive put into the game.