Do external FPS limiters add delay even when you're running below the cap?

[clembo2021]

The reason I ask is I'm thinking about adding a global -3 FPS limit in RTSS. However, I'm wondering if this would be counterproductive in high-end games like Cyberpunk that never come close to hitting 144FPS. So is the 1 frame of delay that is added always there, or does it only happen when you're actually running up against the limit?

[Chief Blur Buster]

The reason I ask is I'm thinking about adding a global -3 FPS limit in RTSS. However, I'm wondering if this would be counterproductive in high-end games like Cyberpunk that never come close to hitting 144FPS. So is the 1 frame of delay that is added always there, or does it only happen when you're actually running up against the limit?

Capping doesn't add lag when the cap is never hit. Capping is done to prevent a worse lag (VSYNC ON lag which can be multiple frames), since VRR displays have a tendancy to inherit VSYNC ON latency if you have framerates=Hz.

When the cap is never hit (or if there is no cap) there is only a max of 1 refresh cycle of delay, NOT 1 frame of delay.

That's why 100fps at 240Hz has much lower lag than 100fps at 144Hz.

I tend to use global RTSS limits in all solo gaming apps and perhaps a few esports apps. The RTSS limit is typically harmless to most apps when the limit is never hit.

That said, if you're going to use VRR in esports (where esports athletes warn about VRR lag without understanding how to fix VRR lag) -- I always recommend such users do as highest Hz as possible to reduce lag. i.e. 100fps at 360Hz. VRR ranges larger than framerate ranges often nullifies VRR disadvantages in esports.

[readtext]

when i used RTSS to limit the fps in csgo i had a strange behavior. I capped the fps to 144 and i had 144 fps but my cpu was still running like it would be 300 fps (cpu usage was high) after i changed fps_max to lets say 160 than my cpu usage also dropped but the fps ingame was still 144

[jorimt]

The reason I ask is I'm thinking about adding a global -3 FPS limit in RTSS. However, I'm wondering if this would be counterproductive in high-end games like Cyberpunk that never come close to hitting 144FPS. So is the 1 frame of delay that is added always there, or does it only happen when you're actually running up against the limit?

The Chief is correct, but I also answered your comment here:
https://blurbusters.com/gsync/gsync101- ... ment-11576

when i used RTSS to limit the fps in csgo i had a strange behavior. I capped the fps to 144 and i had 144 fps but my cpu was still running like it would be 300 fps (cpu usage was high) after i changed fps_max to lets say 160 than my cpu usage also dropped but the fps ingame was still 144

RTSS uses up CPU cycles to limit the FPS, which makes the CPU usage look higher than it actually is. Effectively harmless from a performance perspective.