FreeSync isn't working properly on my Gigabyte M28U

Talk about AMD's FreeSync and VESA AdaptiveSync, which are variable refresh rate technologies. They also eliminate stutters, and eliminate tearing. List of FreeSync Monitors.
Segundo
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FreeSync isn't working properly on my Gigabyte M28U

Post by Segundo » 17 Jan 2023, 02:50

Build: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/d7Vpv3

Issue: My M28U has FreeSync Premium Pro, but it doesn't seem to be working properly. I'm having microstuttering issues, and I thought FreeSync was supposed to make microstuttering unnoticeable. In games like Valorant, Rainbow Six Siege, DBD, Hades, Arkham Knight, Arkham Origins, and Neon White, my FPS infrequently drops by 1. I can clearly see a microstuttering effect here. Am I just misunderstanding how FreeSync works, or is there a problem with FreeSync here? I made sure to enable it in AMD Adrenalin and in my monitor's OSD. I also enabled my monitor's resolution display. I noticed that the resolution never seems to match up with my FPS. For example, I generally cap my FPS at 140 FPS; however, my monitor claims that it is displaying at 144 Hz. Shouldn't it be 140Hz? Additionally, if my FPS drops to, say, 70 FPS, my resolution generally drops to a completely different value like 90Hz.

Troubleshooting Steps: I tried to use another monitor. Unfortunately, the only other monitor I have is a 1080p 60 Hz TV without FreeSync. I could use my laptop, but that freezes up all the time. Thus, I wouldn't know if any issues are being caused by my PC or my laptop. Arkham Origins ran incredibly smoothly at 60 FPS with max settings other than resolution which was set to 1920x1080. There was no stuttering at all though I only tested it for like 10 minutes. It stayed at a consistent 60FPS and dropped by 1 FPS only one time. I set my other monitor to be 1080p and 60 Hz as well, and changed Arkham Origins' settings accordingly. I wasn't able to change the active signal resolution, but everything else was the same. On my M28U, it stuttered one time, but it was almost perfect. I don't know if this is significant enough to say that there's an issue with my M28U though. For both monitors, my FPS only drops when I open the menu, open graphics settings, during loading screens, and during the intro sequence. It surprisingly has not yet dropped when the game is saving though. I also tried a dual monitor setup. I thought this would make performance worse, but this had no effect. I forgot to change my game's resolution back to 4K, but changed my refresh rate back to 144 Hz. I capped the game at 140 FPS. I noticed that my stuttering issues were just as bad as they were at 4K. My FPS drops were even pretty much the same as they were at 4K. For example, in the open world city, my minimum FPS is 110 FPS at 4K and at 1080p. This seems odd. I also tried to plug an HDMI cable from the mobo to the monitor. As I expected, I just got a black screen.

I tried to use a HDMI 2.1 cable instead of a DP cable to connect my monitor to my PC. I used both of the HDMI ports on my monitor. I expected that this would make my performance worse, but it didn't change at all. I also bought an external sound card (https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-External ... B00IRVQ0F8) which also didn't change anything. I changed my CPU from a 5700X to a 5800X. This didn't change anything.

I changed more BIOS settings such as my RAM and CPU settings. Some of these BIOS changes like my RAM changes made the problem worse. I removed my Wi-FI card entirely and played offline games. This had no effect on my performance, so it's apparently not an issue with my Wi-Fi card. I disabled Windows Defender exploit protection services for just the games I'm playing... I certainly don't want to disable these for everything. I disabled my firewalls and scans as well. I disabled about 50 Windows services as well which I'm sure will cause issues down the road. None of these changes affected my performance at all.

I'm going to be replacing my motherboard soon... that's certainly not ideal since I pretty much have to start my build from scratch, but I'm pretty sure it must be my mobo at this point since I've replaced my CPU, RAM, and SSD so far and removed my Wi-Fi card, internal sound card, and external sound card. I also tried to use my Wi-Fi card without Bluetooth. When I swapped out my SSD, I also tried to use my old SSD just for Windows and nothing else other than drivers, Windows settings, and such. Unfortunately, this did not fix anything. I've also removed all my peripherals except for my mouse and my wired keyboard. My mouse can switch between wireless and wired modes, and I put it in wired mode since I thought that might cause less interference. I think all of my fans are good since my temps max out at 75 degrees Celsius and my idle temps are about 30-40 degrees Celsius. My new SSD has high idle temps since it's typically 50 degrees C, but it maxes out at 65 degrees C. I'm currently using my mobo's heatsink; I'll try using the heatsink I got with my SSD next. At this point, the only things I can change are my PSU, my monitor, and my thermal paste. Some people reported that this issue was resolved after calling an electrician to change their outlets and fix dirty electricity, but that's not really feasible for me. I'll try to move my PC to a friend's house and see if it works better there. I may also try to buy another Wi-Fi card such as this one: https://www.amazon.com/EDUP-Bluetooth-A ... 9ST43?th=1

I will also try to change my RAM and SSD again and get RAM and a SSD that are compatible with both my CPU and my mobo and maybe other things if they're necessary. Unofficial sources claim that all four of my RAM and SSDs are compatible with my CPU and my mobo, but the official sources do not make this claim.

I've done a bunch of other fixes as well... there are too many to list here. I've done pretty much everything from [this link](https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/win ... 5652a5d933). I've done even more than that too. And yet I'm still having issues...

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jorimt
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Re: FreeSync isn't working properly on my Gigabyte M28U

Post by jorimt » 17 Jan 2023, 09:54

Segundo wrote:
17 Jan 2023, 02:50
I'm having microstuttering issues, and I thought FreeSync was supposed to make microstuttering unnoticeable. In games like Valorant, Rainbow Six Siege, DBD, Hades, Arkham Knight, Arkham Origins, and Neon White, my FPS infrequently drops by 1. I can clearly see a microstuttering effect here. Am I just misunderstanding how FreeSync works, or is there a problem with FreeSync here?
VRR does nothing to mitigate or prevent system-side stutter. It only prevents introducing sync stutter of its own.

I.E. VRR should not be thought of as a stutter-fixer, but, when configured properly (a.k.a. VRR + V-SYNC + framerate within the refresh rate) a tearing-fixer that doesn't introduce the sync-related latency or stutter caused by traditional syncing methods.
(jorimt: /jor-uhm-tee/)
Author: Blur Busters "G-SYNC 101" Series

Displays: ASUS PG27AQN, LG 48CX VR: Beyond, Quest 3, Reverb G2, Index OS: Windows 11 Pro Case: Fractal Design Torrent PSU: Seasonic PRIME TX-1000 MB: ASUS Z790 Hero CPU: Intel i9-13900k w/Noctua NH-U12A GPU: GIGABYTE RTX 4090 GAMING OC RAM: 32GB G.SKILL Trident Z5 DDR5 6400MHz CL32 SSDs: 2TB WD_BLACK SN850 (OS), 4TB WD_BLACK SN850X (Games) Keyboards: Wooting 60HE, Logitech G915 TKL Mice: Razer Viper Mini SE, Razer Viper 8kHz Sound: Creative Sound Blaster Katana V2 (speakers/amp/DAC), AFUL Performer 8 (IEMs)

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Re: FreeSync isn't working properly on my Gigabyte M28U

Post by Segundo » 17 Jan 2023, 11:41

Oh okay. That makes sense. So even a FreeSync Premium Pro monitor won’t make stuttering unnoticeable. Could microstuttering and stuttering still be caused by my monitor or a faulty DP or HDMI cable or port or something? Or is this probably a separate issue?

Additionally, does that mean that FreeSync is in fact working properly? It doesn’t seem that the resolution my monitor OSD displays matches up to my FPS. Shouldn’t these match up? Or are they not supposed to match up.

Additionally, here is a frametime graph I got from MSI Afterburner:

Image

I was playing Arkham Origins in open world Gotham City. I seem to have major FPS drops whenever I load in a new area in open world games like this game, Arkham Knight, and Minecraft. The latter two games are poorly optimized, so they probably aren’t the best games to use for tests. Still, I haven’t heard anything about Arkham Origins being poorly optimized, and that game is 10 years old. I would expect a consistent 140 FPS at max settings and at 1440p upscaled to 4K, but is my 6800XT just too weak for that?

In challenge maps and in indoor areas, my FPS is mostly consistently 140 FPS; it does drop to 139 FPS occasionally and whenever I enable and disable Detective Mode. It sometimes drops to the low 130s, but it's typically in the 130-140 range aside from loading screens and moments when the game saves.

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Re: FreeSync isn't working properly on my Gigabyte M28U

Post by Zodasaur » 18 Jan 2023, 13:09

Segundo wrote:
17 Jan 2023, 11:41
Oh okay. That makes sense. So even a FreeSync Premium Pro monitor won’t make stuttering unnoticeable. Could microstuttering and stuttering still be caused by my monitor or a faulty DP or HDMI cable or port or something? Or is this probably a separate issue?

Additionally, does that mean that FreeSync is in fact working properly? It doesn’t seem that the resolution my monitor OSD displays matches up to my FPS. Shouldn’t these match up? Or are they not supposed to match up.

Additionally, here is a frametime graph I got from MSI Afterburner:

Image

I was playing Arkham Origins in open world Gotham City. I seem to have major FPS drops whenever I load in a new area in open world games like this game, Arkham Knight, and Minecraft. The latter two games are poorly optimized, so they probably aren’t the best games to use for tests. Still, I haven’t heard anything about Arkham Origins being poorly optimized, and that game is 10 years old. I would expect a consistent 140 FPS at max settings and at 1440p upscaled to 4K, but is my 6800XT just too weak for that?

In challenge maps and in indoor areas, my FPS is mostly consistently 140 FPS; it does drop to 139 FPS occasionally and whenever I enable and disable Detective Mode. It sometimes drops to the low 130s, but it's typically in the 130-140 range aside from loading screens and moments when the game saves.
You don't set a specific resolution to match your FPS. These are two completely separate attributes independent of one another.

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Re: FreeSync isn't working properly on my Gigabyte M28U

Post by Segundo » 20 Jan 2023, 07:25

Zodasaur wrote:
18 Jan 2023, 13:09
You don't set a specific resolution to match your FPS. These are two completely separate attributes independent of one another.
Sorry, but what do you mean by that? I’m probably just misunderstanding you, but I always set my FPS to be 140 FPS regardless of the resolution (unless it’s a game with a FPS lock like DBD). Should I be doing something differently then?

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jorimt
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Re: FreeSync isn't working properly on my Gigabyte M28U

Post by jorimt » 20 Jan 2023, 14:21

Segundo wrote:
17 Jan 2023, 11:41
So even a FreeSync Premium Pro monitor won’t make stuttering unnoticeable.
Correct; again, VRR won't help system-side stutter.
Segundo wrote:
17 Jan 2023, 11:41
Could microstuttering and stuttering still be caused by my monitor or a faulty DP or HDMI cable or port or something? Or is this probably a separate issue?
Unless your display is actually skipping frames, then it's unlikely:
https://www.testufo.com/frameskipping
Segundo wrote:
17 Jan 2023, 11:41
Additionally, does that mean that FreeSync is in fact working properly?
If you're using FreeSync + in-game V-SYNC (the control panel version only works for OpenGL games, last I checked) + a minimum -3 FPS limit of your max refresh rate, and the monitor OSD meter is fluctuating (if your model has one), then tear-free FreeSync operation is working properly.
Segundo wrote:
17 Jan 2023, 11:41
It doesn’t seem that the resolution my monitor OSD displays matches up to my FPS. Shouldn’t these match up? Or are they not supposed to match up.
Depending on your monitor model, there is either a refresh rate meter that shows the real-time VRR framerate and a separate readout that shows your currently set maximum physical refresh rate (for instance, the physical refresh rate readout will show "144Hz," while the VRR meter will show a fluctuating number when the framerate is within the refresh rate), or they are grouped into one number when FreeSync is enabled. Yours sound like it's the former, unless of course your model doesn't have a real-time VRR readout (some don't).
Segundo wrote:
17 Jan 2023, 11:41
Additionally, here is a frametime graph I got from MSI Afterburner:

Image

I was playing Arkham Origins in open world Gotham City. I seem to have major FPS drops whenever I load in a new area in open world games like this game, Arkham Knight, and Minecraft. The latter two games are poorly optimized, so they probably aren’t the best games to use for tests. Still, I haven’t heard anything about Arkham Origins being poorly optimized, and that game is 10 years old. I would expect a consistent 140 FPS at max settings and at 1440p upscaled to 4K, but is my 6800XT just too weak for that?

In challenge maps and in indoor areas, my FPS is mostly consistently 140 FPS; it does drop to 139 FPS occasionally and whenever I enable and disable Detective Mode. It sometimes drops to the low 130s, but it's typically in the 130-140 range aside from loading screens and moments when the game saves.
First off, system-side readouts like Afterburner can tell you nothing about VRR operation or performance. What you're seeing there is framerate and frametime performance metrics on the system-side.

As for drops to 139, if it's accompanied by momentary stutter, that's signifying a frametime spike, where your framerate actually drops near zero while the previous frame repeats (causing the appearance of stutter) due to things like background asset streaming, shader compilation, etc. Again, VRR can do nothing to improve this, as it only receives already rendered frames and merely aligns them to the display to prevent tearing.
(jorimt: /jor-uhm-tee/)
Author: Blur Busters "G-SYNC 101" Series

Displays: ASUS PG27AQN, LG 48CX VR: Beyond, Quest 3, Reverb G2, Index OS: Windows 11 Pro Case: Fractal Design Torrent PSU: Seasonic PRIME TX-1000 MB: ASUS Z790 Hero CPU: Intel i9-13900k w/Noctua NH-U12A GPU: GIGABYTE RTX 4090 GAMING OC RAM: 32GB G.SKILL Trident Z5 DDR5 6400MHz CL32 SSDs: 2TB WD_BLACK SN850 (OS), 4TB WD_BLACK SN850X (Games) Keyboards: Wooting 60HE, Logitech G915 TKL Mice: Razer Viper Mini SE, Razer Viper 8kHz Sound: Creative Sound Blaster Katana V2 (speakers/amp/DAC), AFUL Performer 8 (IEMs)

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Re: FreeSync isn't working properly on my Gigabyte M28U

Post by Segundo » 21 Jan 2023, 09:42

Unless your display is actually skipping frames, then it's unlikely:
https://www.testufo.com/frameskipping
It does not appear to be skipping frames. It did say "STUTTER WARNING: Browser stutter detected (1+)" as soon as I opened it for some reason, though I'm not sure if that's normal. That message also popped up when I took a screenshot, but that's probably working as intended since the screen freezes up when I try to take a screenshot. I made sure to close out of all of my tabs and other windows before starting the test, and I also made sure that my display was set to 4K 144Hz. Would you recommend taking any other UFO tests? I did try buying a different DP cable since I didn't realize that I had to press down on the DP cable thing to take it out... thus, I was accidentally just ripping it out of my monitor's DP port and my GPU's DP port. That's why I thought I might've broken my DP ports or cable, but it doesn't seem to be the case. I also tried all of the GPU's DP ports and even tried the latest HDMI version, so that's likely not the issue.
If you're using FreeSync + in-game V-SYNC (the control panel version only works for OpenGL games, last I checked) + a minimum -3 FPS limit of your max refresh rate, and the monitor OSD meter is fluctuating (if your model has one), then tear-free FreeSync operation is working properly.
Yes, I set FreeSync to On instead of AMD-optimized for all my games. I also turned on ingame VSync and turned AMD Enhanced Sync off. I used RTSS to cap my framerate at 140FPS. I'll try 141FPS then to see if that fixes anything. The monitor OSD meter is indeed fluctuating, so it's good to hear that tear-free FreeSync operation is working properly. I just thought it was weird that the monitor OSD meter fluctuated when I was looking at a black screen (to check for dead pixels). It stays at a constant 144 Hz when I'm browsing for the most part, but there are times when it drops to 126Hz randomly.
Depending on your monitor model, there is either a refresh rate meter that shows the real-time VRR framerate and a separate readout that shows your currently set maximum physical refresh rate (for instance, the physical refresh rate readout will show "144Hz," while the VRR meter will show a fluctuating number when the framerate is within the refresh rate), or they are grouped into one number when FreeSync is enabled. Yours sound like it's the former, unless of course your model doesn't have a real-time VRR readout (some don't).
My monitor model does have a real-time VRR framerate since it changes constantly. What do you mean by them being grouped into one number though?

Image
First off, system-side readouts like Afterburner can tell you nothing about VRR operation or performance. What you're seeing there is framerate and frametime performance metrics on the system-side.

As for drops to 139, if it's accompanied by momentary stutter, that's signifying a frametime spike, where your framerate actually drops near zero while the previous frame repeats (causing the appearance of stutter) due to things like background asset streaming, shader compilation, etc. Again, VRR can do nothing to improve this, as it only receives already rendered frames and merely aligns them to the display to prevent tearing.
That makes sense. So, system-side readouts cannot tell me anything about if FreeSync is working properly. Is the UFO test the only way to check that my monitor is working? If so, it seems to indicate that my monitor is generally working properly. As for the frametime spike, that makes sense. Is there a way to mitigate the effects of background asset streaming, shader compilation, and the like? I suppose that's kind of game-dependent, but is there a way to fix that? I thought upgrading from a PCIe 3.0 SSD to a PCIe 4.0 SSD with almost double the read and write speeds would help, but it made no difference in my game performance. I also thought upgrading my RAM from 3200MHz to 3600MHz would help, but I realized that they're essentially the same since the CAS timing of the first was 16 and that of the latter was 18; thus, they both ended up being 200. I suppose the one with the higher data rate is slightly better though.
Correct; again, VRR won't help system-side stutter.
That makes sense. I'll try to look into the root causes of that system-side stutter then... I've tried so many different software changes like using Process Lasso, installing Ubuntu, and disabling various services, and I've tried so many hardware changes too like getting better memory, a better SSD, getting an internal sound card and then an external sound card, removing my Wi-Fi card, removing all of my peripherals except for my keyboard and mouse, buying a surge protector, and getting a better motherboard; this is still persisting. I have no idea what could be causing issues at this point, but I'll keep at it.

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jorimt
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Re: FreeSync isn't working properly on my Gigabyte M28U

Post by jorimt » 21 Jan 2023, 11:43

Segundo wrote:
21 Jan 2023, 09:42
It does not appear to be skipping frames. It did say "STUTTER WARNING: Browser stutter detected (1+)" as soon as I opened it for some reason, though I'm not sure if that's normal.
The stutter warning is not related to your display; TestUFO is sensitive to background process activity, so you effectively need everything closed other than the browser tab for the site. Chrome is recommended for the frame skipping test

Also, to test for frame skipping, you have to take an actual image of your display with the pattern running using a camera and check for missing squares. Read the instructions on that page.

Regardless, you're display probably isn't skipping. It's a rare issue (not related to FreeSync either).
Segundo wrote:
21 Jan 2023, 09:42
I just thought it was weird that the monitor OSD meter fluctuated when I was looking at a black screen (to check for dead pixels). It stays at a constant 144 Hz when I'm browsing for the most part, but there are times when it drops to 126Hz randomly.
If it's happening on the desktop, it must mean you have FreeSync enabled for windowed mode, which can incorrectly engage for some unsupported desktop apps, causing behavior like that. I don't know available settings or their location off-hand for FreeSync (since I use G-SYNC), but there should be an option to enable FreeSync for fullscreen only.
Segundo wrote:
21 Jan 2023, 09:42
My monitor model does have a real-time VRR framerate since it changes constantly. What do you mean by them being grouped into one number though?
Does your monitor show a refresh rate meter separate of the fluctuating meter somewhere in your OSD? If so, the fluctuating one shows your variable refresh rate, and the static one shows your physical refresh rate.

I.E. if your monitor is set to a physical refresh rate of 144Hz, but you have FreeSync enabled and your framerate is currently at, say, 75 FPS, the the fluctuating meter should show ~75, and the static meter should show 144.

Again, some FreeSync monitors have both, some don't.
Segundo wrote:
21 Jan 2023, 09:42
Is the UFO test the only way to check that my monitor is working? If so, it seems to indicate that my monitor is generally working properly.
If your monitor isn't blacking out and/or disconnecting on a regular basis, it's working. We don't use analog signals anymore, so either you have a picture or you don't, basically. There's virtually no "in-between" state for DisplayPort and HDMI.
Segundo wrote:
21 Jan 2023, 09:42
As for the frametime spike, that makes sense. Is there a way to mitigate the effects of background asset streaming, shader compilation, and the like? I suppose that's kind of game-dependent, but is there a way to fix that?
Unless you're experiencing frequent, recurring frametime spikes of 1 second or more per instance in all your games, then, no, not really. Any games that have virtually zero noticeable stutter are due to very good development work based on efficient game engines.

You'll find that not to be the case 99% of the time, regardless of your specs or the capability of your particular system, though frametime performance will obviously vary from game to game.
Segundo wrote:
21 Jan 2023, 09:42
I thought upgrading from a PCIe 3.0 SSD to a PCIe 4.0 SSD with almost double the read and write speeds would help, but it made no difference in my game performance.
Faster SSD performance will only affect load times currently, not stutter.
(jorimt: /jor-uhm-tee/)
Author: Blur Busters "G-SYNC 101" Series

Displays: ASUS PG27AQN, LG 48CX VR: Beyond, Quest 3, Reverb G2, Index OS: Windows 11 Pro Case: Fractal Design Torrent PSU: Seasonic PRIME TX-1000 MB: ASUS Z790 Hero CPU: Intel i9-13900k w/Noctua NH-U12A GPU: GIGABYTE RTX 4090 GAMING OC RAM: 32GB G.SKILL Trident Z5 DDR5 6400MHz CL32 SSDs: 2TB WD_BLACK SN850 (OS), 4TB WD_BLACK SN850X (Games) Keyboards: Wooting 60HE, Logitech G915 TKL Mice: Razer Viper Mini SE, Razer Viper 8kHz Sound: Creative Sound Blaster Katana V2 (speakers/amp/DAC), AFUL Performer 8 (IEMs)

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Re: FreeSync isn't working properly on my Gigabyte M28U

Post by Segundo » 21 Jan 2023, 17:27


The stutter warning is not related to your display; TestUFO is sensitive to background process activity, so you effectively need everything closed other than the browser tab for the site. Chrome is recommended for the frame skipping test

Also, to test for frame skipping, you have to take an actual image of your display with the pattern running using a camera and check for missing squares. Read the instructions on that page.

Regardless, you're display probably isn't skipping. It's a rare issue (not related to FreeSync either).
That makes sense. I did close everything except the browser tab, but I'll make sure I close everything in Task Manager this time. Also, I'm using Edge which is Chromium-based, but I'll download Chrome and try that. I'll also do that frame skipping test too.
If it's happening on the desktop, it must mean you have FreeSync enabled for windowed mode, which can incorrectly engage for some unsupported desktop apps, causing behavior like that. I don't know available settings or their location off-hand for FreeSync (since I use G-SYNC), but there should be an option to enable FreeSync for fullscreen only.
That definitely makes sense. I'll look into how to enable FreeSync for fullscreen only. I haven't seen that setting in AMD Adrenalin or anywhere else. I think only Adrenalin can control FreeSync anyway though I may be wrong. However, I wasn't looking for it before, and I'll look for it now. Actually, I recall seeing a setting like that somewhere, but I don't remember where and I can't find it now. I'll keep looking though.
If your monitor isn't blacking out and/or disconnecting on a regular basis, it's working. We don't use analog signals anymore, so either you have a picture or you don't, basically. There's virtually no "in-between" state for DisplayPort and HDMI.
Oh, I did not know that. That definitely makes sense though if it's a digital signal or whatever it's called. What other potential issues lack in-between states? I was worried that I static shocked my parts even though I didn't feel anything. I do work on a carpeted floor which may cause issues. I put a cardboard box beneath my feet and I bought a very cheap, $10 antistatic mat yesterday... that's designed for your case, but I still use that in addition to a cardboard box as a carpet replacement. I doubt a $10 mat works very well, but at least it gives me some peace of mind. At any rate, from my research, it seems you either completely destroy parts with static electricity or you don't. I clearly didn't completely destroy anything, so it seems I'm good. Is the same true for damaging parts in general? The mobo seems to be the easiest part to damage, but can I damage other parts without destroying them like CPU pins, a GPU, a CPU cooler and fans, case fans, and a SSD? You can obviously damage a case without destroying it. I did chip the paint a little bit where I attached my antistatic wristband and probably damaged my front and back panel a bit by taking them out ~50 times in a month, but that's pretty much it.
Unless you're experiencing frequent, recurring frametime spikes of 1 second or more per instance in all your games, then, no, not really. Any games that have virtually zero noticeable stutter are due to very good development work based on efficient game engines.

You'll find that not to be the case 99% of the time, regardless of your specs or the capability of your particular system, though frametime performance will obviously vary from game to game.
That makes sense. Are there any games out there that actually do virtually zero noticeable stutter? I can try them out to see if I still get stutter; I won't be able to fix stuttering for other games with stuttering, but at least I can localize the issue to just particular games and not my entire PC. I'll look up very well optimized games such as Doom Eternal and stuff like that... I suppose most PC-exclusive games are generally well-optimized too since that's the only system available, but I'm sure that's not always the case.
Faster SSD performance will only affect load times currently, not stutter.
That makes sense too. My SSD performance barely improved my load times since they were so fast with the PCIE 3.0 SSD anyway. Does SSD performance improve save times as well? I suppose I only really need a PCIE 4.0 SSD if I'm transferring files locally on my PC, rendering, or editing videos. My WiFI speed is supposed to be 300/300, but I only get up to 110/110 on my PC and on other systems even with Wi-Fi 6 on my PC. So, anything involving downloads, uploads, or the like is probably limited more by my Wi-Fi than my SSD. I used to edit videos frequently before a year ago, and I may still dabble in it from time to time along with streaming and recording gameplay. I may also make a game in the future. I suppose SSDs may be important for that, but it's not important enough to spend a lot more money on a PCIE 4.0 SSD.
Does your monitor show a refresh rate meter separate of the fluctuating meter somewhere in your OSD? If so, the fluctuating one shows your variable refresh rate, and the static one shows your physical refresh rate.

I.E. if your monitor is set to a physical refresh rate of 144Hz, but you have FreeSync enabled and your framerate is currently at, say, 75 FPS, the the fluctuating meter should show ~75, and the static meter should show 144.

Again, some FreeSync monitors have both, some don't.
Oh okay. I looked into that, and it seems to be the fluctuating one. I do not see a refresh rate meter separate of my fluctuating meter anywhere in my OSD settings though. The fluctuating meter does get set to a static 144Hz when I disable FreeSync though, so I suppose it's a combination of both as you said. I can try to download Gigabyte's OSD Sidekick to see if there are any additional settings there, though I don't believe there was when I checked.

About OSD Sidekick, a lot of people said not to download OSD Sidekick. Indeed, it did download a bunch of bloatware onto my system without even asking me like a USB port protection thing. That's why I decided against downloading OSD Sidekick again for my fourth Windows installation so far as well as other bloatware apps like ASUS Armoury Crate. I do have Corsair iCue since someone said decreasing the polling rate of their mouse helped but installing that didn't make a difference in performance; I'll still try to uninstall it though since the polling rate change didn't change anything. Do I need to download my monitor's firmware update every time I do a clean install of Windows or change my mobo, or is it still updated even without that? During my second installation, I saw that the monitor was updated to the latest version in OSD Sidekick even though I had only updated it during my first installation, but is there anything that can automatically downgrade the monitor to a previous version?

At this point, I'm beginning to think it's electromagnetic interference or dirty electricity. I know that's unlikely, but I've ruled out almost every possibility at this point since the only parts I haven't replaced now are my CPU cooler, case fans (in addition to adding 4 more to go from 3 to 7), my case, my PSU, my monitor, and my GPU. I can only return my PSU and GPU for replacement through Newegg, so I'm reluctant to do so; at least I'll get brand-new ones according to Newegg, but that'll still be my last resort in case they reject my RMA. Definitely not buying from Newegg again, but I did save like $200-400 on my 6800XT since I got it for $550; can't complain too much about that. I did not save or spend enough on the PSU to justify no returns though, so I messed up there by not reading the fine print. I doubt it's my CPU cooler, fans, or my case since my temps never exceed 75 degrees Celsius, even under load, and my idle temps consistently remain in the 30s to 40 range. I just bought a new CPU cooler and supposedly the best thermal paste that's not liquid metal (Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut) though, so I'll see if that helps as well as the thermal paste spreader that's included with the Kryonaut. I did replace my thermal paste like 4 times at this point, so it's definitely possible that I messed up at least one of those times although I did use ArtiClean to remove my thermal paste all of those times.

I do have a spare PSU that I was gonna return since it's a scam, but I'll try it out for less than a hour to make sure it doesn't destroy my system. I'll see if it's better than my current PSU, my current PSU being one that should be better than the scam PSU. The only other "monitor" I can use to test my PC is a 1080p 60Hz monitor which only has an HDMI cable I tried it anyway and set my monitor to 1080p 60Hz with FreeSync disabled. They performed pretty much the same, so I guess it's not my monitor. My performance was obviously better at 60 FPS. In Arkham Origins, it barely stuttered even in the open world. Perhaps 144 FPS just isn't for me if some frametime spikes are inevitable. I'll just keep decreasing my FPS on a game-by-game basis until I reach a number that rarely stutters. It's not like I can tell the difference between 130 and 140 FPS... maybe some people can, but I definitely can't (yet, at least). I've also tinkered with a bunch of Windows and software settings over the past month since I got it. Setting the priority and disabling SMT in Process Lasso virtually eliminated stuttering in most of my games, but it still consistently stutters in the open world, when loading in general, and when I'm saving. The latter two don't matter as long as it's just loading screens and not loading while I'm playing, and I'm pretty sure they're expected anyway. Stuttering in the open world is also expected, though I am unclear as to how bad the stuttering has to be before it's considered a PC problem and not a game optimization problem.

I bought 2 surge protectors, but I'll try a high-end power strip with a built-in battery, a high-end power conditioner, and different outlets in my room and around the house. The first two will be expensive and the last option will be annoying, but I'll do what I must. I have no idea how to fix the EMI thing though. I guess I can get an EMI shield, but I'd imagine that'd be bad for airflow, so I dunno.

Almost all of my benchmarks and stress tests worked without issue. My GPU benchmarks like 3DMark Time Spy were generally above average or insignificantly lower than the average. About half of my CPU benchmarks such as Cinebench R23 were worse than average although I was comparing to a 5800X instead of a 5700X in many cases since there often weren't results for the 5700X. It makes sense then that the 5700X results would be a bit worse. Who knows if they overclocked their CPUs too. Since I still have a 5800X, maybe I'll try with that. My SSD benchmarks like CrystalDiskMark, Samsung Magician (for my Evo), Crucial Scanner, and Crucial Storage Executive (for my Crucial) were all good for my Crucial P5 Plus and the read/write speeds were as expected. Not sure what the other stuff in CrystalDiskMark are though, so I should look into that. My Samsung 970 Evo Pro's results were about 1000 MB/s lower than expected for both read and write speeds, but apparently that's normal. That's why I got a different one anyway though. My P5 Plus does run hot, and many reviews say it does. I'm using my mobo's included SSD heatsink, but I got a heatsink with my P5 Plus and I'll give them a go too. I'm not sure if memory benchmarks exist, but my memory stress tests like Windows Memory Diagnostic, Memtest86, and HCI MemTest seemed to all work without any errors after I left the latter two running for about 8-10 hours. I don't think there are any benchmarks for cases, case fans, and a CPU cooler, though the stress test is just doing something intensive and seeing how hot the PC gets. I tested my Wi-Fi with Ookla. Do PSU benchmarks and stress tests exist? Again, I suppose the stress test is just doing something intensive and seeing if my PC shuts down or anything which it has not yet. Are there benchmarks though? The only thing I've seen that's close to that is AiDA64's PSU stress test. Are there any other benchmarks I should be running? I pretty much ran all the ones I think were relevant that I was able to find. I'll try to install Ubuntu (again after I messed up) and run every single benchmark on OpenBenchmarking though since a lot of benchmarks on that site are exclusive to Linux.

Do stuttering issues and such happen with consoles as well? They happen in some games if they're poorly optimized, but does it happen in every game? At this point, if I have to limit myself to 4K 60 FPS anyway, I might as well buy a PS5 and get that without any setup required. A PC is obviously more versatile since I can do more things with it than play games, I can download mods without homebrewing my console (which I'm not even sure is possible on the new Xbox and the PS5 although it is on the Switch), I can fiddle with the settings, but it seems a lot of setup is required for every game to make sure it runs smoothly. I'll definitely keep my PC in any case to use it for other stuff like streaming, recording and editing videos, and making a game. I know it's definitely a lot easier to optimize for consoles since they're all pretty much the same apart from minor differences in different models, so that's not really a fault of PCs since there are so many of them... though it may be the fault of not enough development time or a lack of care for the PC version. It's also probably because I'm pushing the game much harder than consoles would.

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jorimt
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Re: FreeSync isn't working properly on my Gigabyte M28U

Post by jorimt » 21 Jan 2023, 19:37

Segundo wrote:
21 Jan 2023, 17:27
but I'll make sure I close everything in Task Manager this time.
To be clear, you don't need to manually end all processes in the Task Manager, you just need to ensure you don't have other generally heavy windows/programs and/or background processes (in the taskbar) running, and only IF you're experiencing sync error messages in TestUFO. If not, you can leave whatever you have open, open.
Segundo wrote:
21 Jan 2023, 17:27
At any rate, from my research, it seems you either completely destroy parts with static electricity or you don't. I clearly didn't completely destroy anything, so it seems I'm good. Is the same true for damaging parts in general?
If your system "posts" (aka starts up) and you can use it for hours on end without it BSODing, then it's probably fine. Severe enough static damage would likely prevent the system from starting.
Segundo wrote:
21 Jan 2023, 17:27
Are there any games out there that actually do virtually zero noticeable stutter?
I don't know of any modern games with zero stutter on PC. Games with minimal stutter usually pre-compile shaders though, like Horizon Zero Dawn, for instance.
Segundo wrote:
21 Jan 2023, 17:27
Does SSD performance improve save times as well?
Just load times.
Segundo wrote:
21 Jan 2023, 17:27
I do not see a refresh rate meter separate of my fluctuating meter anywhere in my OSD settings though.
I found this capture of what is supposedly your monitor model's OSD menu. Is what is highlighted in green below the same as the fluctuating readout on your display, or is it separate?

Image
Segundo wrote:
21 Jan 2023, 17:27
Do I need to download my monitor's firmware update every time I do a clean install of Windows or change my mobo, or is it still updated even without that? During my second installation, I saw that the monitor was updated to the latest version in OSD Sidekick even though I had only updated it during my first installation, but is there anything that can automatically downgrade the monitor to a previous version?
Monitor firmware versions aren't reverted when you do a clean install of windows or swap out PC hardware components since it's done directly on the monitor itself.

As for downgrading to the previous version, that's model-dependent, but 99% of the time the answer is no.
Segundo wrote:
21 Jan 2023, 17:27
At this point, I'm beginning to think it's electromagnetic interference or dirty electricity.
If you go that route, post here:
viewforum.php?f=24

Fair warning, I have 0 interest in exploring that subject.
Segundo wrote:
21 Jan 2023, 17:27
Do PSU benchmarks and stress tests exist?
Don't know; I've never looked.
Segundo wrote:
21 Jan 2023, 17:27
Do stuttering issues and such happen with consoles as well?
Yes, but there's typically (though not always) less because 1) consoles don't have shader-compilation stutter since they are able to automatically have all shaders pre-compiled as console are a fixed platform, whereas shader-compilation on PC is entirely dependent on what combination of hardware you have, so they have to be loaded on demand unless the devs implement pre-compilation (either on the title menu when you first launch the game, or asynchronously as you are playing) and 2), on PS5 specifically, unlike PC currently, it utilizes the full capability of higher SSD speeds to reduce asset streaming-related stutter.

PC is still stuck utilizing legacy IO HDD speeds, even on SSDs. This will hopefully be remedied soon by DirectStorage, but it remains to be seen how effective it will be.
(jorimt: /jor-uhm-tee/)
Author: Blur Busters "G-SYNC 101" Series

Displays: ASUS PG27AQN, LG 48CX VR: Beyond, Quest 3, Reverb G2, Index OS: Windows 11 Pro Case: Fractal Design Torrent PSU: Seasonic PRIME TX-1000 MB: ASUS Z790 Hero CPU: Intel i9-13900k w/Noctua NH-U12A GPU: GIGABYTE RTX 4090 GAMING OC RAM: 32GB G.SKILL Trident Z5 DDR5 6400MHz CL32 SSDs: 2TB WD_BLACK SN850 (OS), 4TB WD_BLACK SN850X (Games) Keyboards: Wooting 60HE, Logitech G915 TKL Mice: Razer Viper Mini SE, Razer Viper 8kHz Sound: Creative Sound Blaster Katana V2 (speakers/amp/DAC), AFUL Performer 8 (IEMs)

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