CSGO FPS Cap for Consistency?

Everything about latency. Tips, testing methods, mouse lag, display lag, game engine lag, network lag, whole input lag chain, VSYNC OFF vs VSYNC ON, and more! Input Lag Articles on Blur Busters.
stirner
Posts: 74
Joined: 07 Aug 2014, 04:55

Re: CSGO FPS Cap for Consistency?

Post by stirner » 15 Jan 2017, 21:04

External caps add a little input latency.

And I don't know when RealNC has last tested the in-game cap, but last I checked, Valve had severely improved the frametimes on it to now be not too far behind external means.

I'd recommend using the in-game cap, and to cap at the highest rate above 128 that you can stably maintain in a 5V5 scenario.

Or you just do not cap it at all.

You could actually try to "overclock" your monitor to 128Hz and use fps_max 128. That's what I do (although using a CRT) - see if it goes well for you too.

BJORKEN22
Posts: 10
Joined: 13 Jan 2017, 09:57

Re: CSGO FPS Cap for Consistency?

Post by BJORKEN22 » 16 Jan 2017, 12:36

RealNC wrote:
flood wrote:how high of a cap can you set such that the frame rate never drops below the cap?

iirc on my [email protected] + gtx970 computer, ~250 is pushing it.
Sounds about right for your CPU at that speed.

I'm on an i5 2500K at 4.2GHz, and am using a 200FPS cap. On Nuke it can drop to 180, but that's OK with me. 90% of the time it sticks to 200.

(In ages long gone, the game could maintain 300FPS no matter what, and I was getting 500FPS on Dust2 even. But those days are long gone. The game just gets slower and slower with each update.)
so if i've understood this correctly, i am best of using the AMD frame limiter and capping the fps just below my minimum framerate?

BJORKEN22
Posts: 10
Joined: 13 Jan 2017, 09:57

Re: CSGO FPS Cap for Consistency?

Post by BJORKEN22 » 16 Jan 2017, 12:37

stirner wrote:External caps add a little input latency.

And I don't know when RealNC has last tested the in-game cap, but last I checked, Valve had severely improved the frametimes on it to now be not too far behind external means.

I'd recommend using the in-game cap, and to cap at the highest rate above 128 that you can stably maintain in a 5V5 scenario.

Or you just do not cap it at all.

You could actually try to "overclock" your monitor to 128Hz and use fps_max 128. That's what I do (although using a CRT) - see if it goes well for you too.
what would be the benefits of using 128Hz instead of 120 or 144Hz?

stirner
Posts: 74
Joined: 07 Aug 2014, 04:55

Re: CSGO FPS Cap for Consistency?

Post by stirner » 16 Jan 2017, 17:41

BJORKEN22 wrote:what would be the benefits of using 128Hz instead of 120 or 144Hz?
Well, 8Hz more compared to 120Hz, for one thing. :p

I just used to play 1.6 at 100Hz/100fps and wanted to replicate that feeling in GO. 128fps is the absolute minimum competitively viable framerate in GO because that's the maximum amount of packets sent/received per second as per tickrate. Anything below that and you have no chance of displaying all 128 gamestate updates from the server, and are not sending out 128 command packets to the server.

More FPS is always better, especially since GO uses interpolation. More Hz is also always better. But there are realistic thresholds, and 128fps being the minimum required framerate, I just cap there because my (relatively dated) machine can maintain it rock-consistently in any 5V5 scenario - and it's more than sufficiently smooth and the latency is not significant.

It was just a suggestion to see how it feels for you though. I'd definitely recommend checking what your monitor overlocks to; more Hz equals less latency. And then either cap your framerate there, at multiples of it, or just don't cap it at all. I think for most people just not capping it at all is the way to go.

User avatar
RealNC
Site Admin
Posts: 3741
Joined: 24 Dec 2013, 18:32
Contact:

Re: CSGO FPS Cap for Consistency?

Post by RealNC » 16 Jan 2017, 20:25

BJORKEN22 wrote:so if i've understood this correctly, i am best of using the AMD frame limiter and capping the fps just below my minimum framerate?
I'd recommend trying both AMD's limiter as well as the in-game one. The problems of the in-game limiter are more apparent at lower frame rates (like trying 144Hz vsync with 143.95FPS cap.) With vsync off at 250FPS, it should be quite OK. So after maybe a week or so, switch to the in-game limiter and see if anything feels off.

The 128FPS thing is important on 128-tick servers. Valve's servers are 64-tick. But you're going for 200+FPS anyway, so it doesn't matter here.
SteamGitHubStack Overflow
The views and opinions expressed in my posts are my own and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Blur Busters.

User avatar
RealNC
Site Admin
Posts: 3741
Joined: 24 Dec 2013, 18:32
Contact:

Re: CSGO FPS Cap for Consistency?

Post by RealNC » 16 Jan 2017, 20:27

stirner wrote:And I don't know when RealNC has last tested the in-game cap, but last I checked, Valve had severely improved the frametimes on it to now be not too far behind external means.
The in-game limiter is inconsistent. Turn off vsync, and use "fps_max <your monitor's refresh>". Get your monitor's refresh from here:

https://www.vsynctester.com

Use the exact same value the above page detects.

The in-game limiter is incapable of maintaining a stable frame rate. The tear line jumps up and down. It's all over the place. Some frames are delivered too soon, some too late. In other words, it has bad frame pacing.

If you do the same in RTSS (using advanced setting in the profile file to get fractional frame capping), the result will be a tear line that's on the same spot on the screen. Meaning dead-on accurate, very good frame pacing.
SteamGitHubStack Overflow
The views and opinions expressed in my posts are my own and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Blur Busters.

flood
Posts: 929
Joined: 21 Dec 2013, 01:25

Re: CSGO FPS Cap for Consistency?

Post by flood » 16 Jan 2017, 21:03

RealNC wrote: (In ages long gone, the game could maintain 300FPS no matter what, and I was getting 500FPS on Dust2 even. But those days are long gone. The game just gets slower and slower with each update.)
:evil:
they're conspiring with intel to get people to upgrade

User avatar
RealNC
Site Admin
Posts: 3741
Joined: 24 Dec 2013, 18:32
Contact:

Re: CSGO FPS Cap for Consistency?

Post by RealNC » 16 Jan 2017, 22:58

flood wrote:
RealNC wrote: (In ages long gone, the game could maintain 300FPS no matter what, and I was getting 500FPS on Dust2 even. But those days are long gone. The game just gets slower and slower with each update.)
:evil:
they're conspiring with intel to get people to upgrade
There's not even something to upgrade *to*. An OCed i7 2600K is very near the performance of the latest gen CPUs. So even if you get the most expensive CPU in the world, the game still won't run as fast as it did a few years ago. CPUs just haven't been getting any faster for a while now. Only small improvements were made.
SteamGitHubStack Overflow
The views and opinions expressed in my posts are my own and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Blur Busters.

stirner
Posts: 74
Joined: 07 Aug 2014, 04:55

Re: CSGO FPS Cap for Consistency?

Post by stirner » 17 Jan 2017, 03:47

I've always used fraps frametimes and the net graph's framerate variance indicator to check for inconsistencies, and again, it's pretty good now. Also do not get wander-tearing with fps_max 128 @ 128Hz.

With an external limiter, net graph variance is always 0.1 for some reason. And maps take significantly longer to load. They also force localhost servers to run at the limit framerate.

Post Reply