Download -> NEW FPS Limiter for Vulkan, OpenGL, DirectX 9-12

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niftucal
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Download -> NEW FPS Limiter for Vulkan, OpenGL, DirectX 9-12

Post by niftucal » 12 Dec 2018, 12:14

Hi everyone.

I'm including some information about a new framerate control tool since some fellow enthusiasts recommended I posted it here too. Features:
  • Supports Vulkan, OpenGL, DirectX 9, DirectX 10, DirectX 11 and DirectX 12.
  • High-precision timing (usually more accurate than the game's built-in limiter).
  • In-game adjustments via keyboard shortcuts.
  • Very lightweight and efficient.
  • No installation / drivers / administrative privileges required. Just extract the files and run.
  • Wide compatibility with overclocking tools and overlays.
Additional details and download: https://niftucal.blogspot.com (operated by Google, no ads)

Hope you'll find it useful. I visited blurbusters when buying monitors but never got to register before. Productive discussions about research and new ideas are always welcome.

Cheers.

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Download -> NEW FPS Limiter for Vulkan, OpenGL, DirectX 9+12

Post by Chief Blur Buster » 12 Dec 2018, 15:27

Fantastic, I'm looking forward to testing this tool.

(Renamed topic to let users know that it is a brand new frame rate capping tool)

We need more adaptive framerate limiters that can do features similiar to GeDoSaTo and RTSS scanline sync, for additional methods of ultra-smooth frame rates.

GeForce forums -- https://forums.geforce.com/default/topi ... directx/8/

I'll inform a few tweakers to give this a try and post experiences here.
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pox02
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Re: Download -> NEW FPS Limiter for Vulkan, OpenGL, DirectX

Post by pox02 » 13 Dec 2018, 11:59

general error 0xE0010160 on overwatch seems this fps limiter doing some hooking that overwatch dont like ?
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Re: Download -> NEW FPS Limiter for Vulkan, OpenGL, DirectX

Post by RealNC » 13 Dec 2018, 12:10

pox02 wrote:general error 0xE0010160 on overwatch seems this fps limiter doing some hooking that overwatch dont like ?
Overwatch has its own low latency FPS limiter. In general, it's not recommended to use third party hooks in online games. They could trigger a ban.
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niftucal
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Re: Download -> NEW FPS Limiter for Vulkan, OpenGL, DirectX

Post by niftucal » 13 Dec 2018, 14:39

pox02 wrote:general error 0xE0010160 on overwatch seems this fps limiter doing some hooking that overwatch dont like ?
RealNC is right. I can enable an alternative approach to make less changes to the game and possibly improve that, but ultimately some modifications are always necessary and it will depend on how aggressive the anti-cheat system is. Once the developer knows about a tool and confirms it can't be used for cheating they'll usually add exceptions to allow it. Generally I think that's a good thing since cheating in online games is rampant. In any case information about game compatibility is always helpful.

There's also a pending optimization to improve latency with v-sync disabled but I didn't consider it important since it's minor (a few ms at most). Options specific to latency are planned but will require more knowledge from users to apply properly and are meant for specific use cases.

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Re: Download -> NEW FPS Limiter for Vulkan, OpenGL, DirectX

Post by Chief Blur Buster » 13 Dec 2018, 22:57

niftucal wrote:RealNC is right. I can enable an alternative approach to make less changes to the game and possibly improve that, but ultimately some modifications are always necessary and it will depend on how aggressive the anti-cheat system is. Once the developer knows about a tool and confirms it can't be used for cheating they'll usually add exceptions to allow it. Generally I think that's a good thing since cheating in online games is rampant. In any case information about game compatibility is always helpful.
Interesting! So they've whitelisted RTSS because it's well known, but your utility is too new/unknown at this time.
niftucal wrote:There's also a pending optimization to improve latency with v-sync disabled but I didn't consider it important since it's minor (a few ms at most). Options specific to latency are planned but will require more knowledge from users to apply properly and are meant for specific use cases.
Oh yeah!
You'd be surprised how important it is to respect the unexpected millisecond.
Not important to everyone, but it's something meritworthy of open mind.

I've even commissioned an article by a peer reviewed researcher on eSports-league reaction times (Input Lag and the Limits of Human Reflex). The millisecond is often easy to dismiss, but there's a few effects behind the millisecond too, that are often easier to understand for laypeople.

To me, a millisecond usually doesn't matter in my fun casual competitive play. But I've learned to keep an open mind about the importance of the millisecond here at Blur Busters.

The Cross-The-Finish-Line Effect. You don't need to feel the millisecond to benefit from the millisecond. Basically the Olympics 100 meter sprint finishers can be just milliseconds apart. Likewise, this situation happens often in a "both see, react, frag" simultaneous situations, like seeing each other at the same time and shooting at the same time -- that's what I call the "cross-the-finish-line" effect. With pro players, playing off each other, their reaction times are so tightly coupled that the lag difference between two can determine the frag. When Person X and Person Y both average the same reaction time, even a 5ms difference actually statistically matters to that particular professional player pairing. Reaction times often have really tight spreads. This can still persist with millisecond differences smaller than the tick interval. Because it is more likely to roundoff to the previous tick, especially in LAN or low-lag play where network lag becomes less dominant (Oh, and Blur Busters also has a network lag article here submitted by Battle(non)sense).

The Lag-Training Effect. You're often pretrained for a specific lag. Basically aiming at a moving target. Say, archery shoot at a 1000 pixels/second moving target. Or FPS turning 1000 pixels/second shooting without stopping turn. Expert players who has the uncanny capability of shooting without pausing your turn (ala shooting while continuously turning). A 5ms lag increase/decrease means an overshoot/undershoot of your aim by 5 pixels. Now if target was moving 5000 pixels/second, you now have an average 25 pixel overshoot/undershoot of your aim. This persists until you retrain towards the new lag. You don't have to feel the millisecond to notice your aiming feels wrong or statistically off from the sudden change in lag.

The Eye-Hand Coordination Effect. This mainly affects touchscreens, but can also affect virtual reality (e.g. Rift, Vive) and other situations where sync between motion and reaction is much more tightly coupled. See Microsoft Research 1000Hz touchscreen video where the milliseconds actually improves the sync. Imagine your finger sliding 1000 millimeters per second along a touchscreen, a 16ms lag means your screen cursor will follow 16 millimeters behind your finger. Certain kinds of Windows 10 touchscreen game could benefit from lag reductions.

There are other reasons why shaving milliseconds off is quite useful and important for various other roundabout reasons. And in non-lag contexts too we play with milliseconds that ends up unexpectedly generating human-visible effects (e.g. strobe backlights flash length, MPRTs, our 480Hz monitor test, mouse pointer phantom array effects, etc). The bottom line, is we've learned to "respect thy millisecond" and keep an open mind.

It's amazing how many surprises lurk beneath the humble millisecond!
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open
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Re: Download -> NEW FPS Limiter for Vulkan, OpenGL, DirectX

Post by open » 15 Dec 2018, 13:40

Im in firm agreement with chief here. Logic dictates that even a couple ms will have significant impact to the user over time whether percieved or not. Also I bet that there are many people who can notice in subtle ways the difference between only a few ms of input lag; Pro gamers and even serious non pros who have been blessed with good hardware and software.

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Re: Download -> NEW FPS Limiter for Vulkan, OpenGL, DirectX

Post by Notty_PT » 17 Dec 2018, 15:35

So basically there isn´t a single frame rate limter that doesn´t add input lag? That´s a shame.. I would like to cap fps but I always feel the delay. Even on internal limiters, wich aren´t that accurate in some engines. In Black Ops 4 if I cap framerate to 144 it will go from 120 to 160 for no reason, and if I cap to 240 It caps 260 instead. Same on Quake Champions.

This is something that should be worked on! Playing with a constant framerate is vital on a competitive environment because frame times affect your mouse behaviour/aim. What I usually do is limit the graphic settings in a way that I get certain amount of FPS.

For example with a GTX 1070 using HIgh/Ultra until your framerate is around 200 most of the times. But is hard to do this.

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Re: Download -> NEW FPS Limiter for Vulkan, OpenGL, DirectX

Post by RealNC » 17 Dec 2018, 16:18

Notty_PT wrote:So basically there isn´t a single frame rate limter that doesn´t add input lag? That´s a shame..
None of the frame limiters add any input lag. In fact, they reduce input lag. The only exception is the NVidia limiter, which doesn't have a latency benefit.

You seem to be confusing the fact that the external frame limiters do not lower input lag as much as the in-game limiters. But they still do lower input lag somewhat, or at worst, they do neither reduce nor increase input lag.
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Re: Download -> NEW FPS Limiter for Vulkan, OpenGL, DirectX

Post by Chief Blur Buster » 17 Dec 2018, 22:56

RealNC wrote:
Notty_PT wrote:So basically there isn´t a single frame rate limter that doesn´t add input lag? That´s a shame..
None of the frame limiters add any input lag. In fact, they reduce input lag. The only exception is the NVidia limiter, which doesn't have a latency benefit.

You seem to be confusing the fact that the external frame limiters do not lower input lag as much as the in-game limiters. But they still do lower input lag somewhat, or at worst, they do neither reduce nor increase input lag.
There are two counterbalances that occur.
1. You're forcing a delay to a frame to a more prescribed frame presentation time.... that can add lag
2. But that means the game's next input read can be rendered into a frame displayed closer a refresh cycle presentation time.... that can reduce lag.

You want (2) to outweigh (1). That's why frame-capping GSYNC is very beneficial. And also other low-lag-VSYNC ON tricks (e.g. scanline-based capping in conjunction with ULMB).
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