Is My alienware aw2518hf frameskipping? [EDIT: Nope]

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kirivae
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Is My alienware aw2518hf frameskipping? [EDIT: Nope]

Post by kirivae » 19 Jan 2018, 07:30

A couple of weeks ago i bought the alienware aw2518hf 240z monitor, i opted for the non g-sync one as i only want to use this for competitive gaming and it was a surprising 200 squid cheaper than the g sync model, but after a post about the monitor frameskipping when using a nvidia gpu caught my attention i tested it and found it was indeed frame skipping, even when i change the refresh rate to a lower one using nvidias control panel. im really worried as to whats going on here with the monitor and if i should/can return it.
Any advice or information would be really apreciated, thanks.
Last edited by kirivae on 22 Jan 2018, 12:58, edited 1 time in total.

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Is My alienware aw2518hf frameskipping? [EDIT: Nope]

Post by Chief Blur Buster » 19 Jan 2018, 11:37

Hello,

(1) Can you post a photograph of your frameskipping?
Note: You will need to use a fairly long exposure (e.g. 1/4sec) since it is often a 1-in-40 frameskip (6 refresh cycles per second skipped per second). To do that on a smartphone, use a camera app with manual exposure. Alternatively, adjust brightness of your screen to near-minimum and use a totally dark room, to force your smartphone to photograph on its longest exposure.
We have to be absolutely sure that the frameskipping is the monitor, and not the browser. Use Performance Mode (100% CPU) and photograph only when seeing green "READY."

(2) A lot of the non-GSYNC 240Hz monitors apparently has had frameskipping reports (in non-FreeSync mode)
Can you install ToastyX CRU and screenshot your timings screen so I know what EDID 240Hz settings that your AW2518HF uses?

(3) Try out either the XG2530 or AF251FZ fixes pictured below:

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NOTE: All ViewSonic XG2530 monitors now purchased today on Amazon all now have the frameskipping fix in the firmware. They were the first vendor to quickly and successfully fix 240Hz frameskipping (thanks to the help of BlurBusters frameskipping tests). This is now only necessary for very few of the very first XG2530's on the market, as the old inventory has now been cleared out.
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Notty_PT
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Re: My alienware aw2518hf is frameskipping please help.

Post by Notty_PT » 22 Jan 2018, 10:43

kirivae wrote:A couple of weeks ago i bought the alienware aw2518hf 240z monitor, i opted for the non g-sync one as i only want to use this for competitive gaming and it was a surprising 200 squid cheaper than the g sync model, but after a post about the monitor frameskipping when using a nvidia gpu caught my attention i tested it and found it was indeed frame skipping, even when i change the refresh rate to a lower one using nvidias control panel. im really worried as to whats going on here with the monitor and if i should/can return it.
Any advice or information would be really apreciated, thanks.
Hi! How do you know it is skipping? I have the same monitor, and also a PG258Q, and I didn´t notice any skipping, and doing the ufo test and taking photos, nothing skips too. Can you elaborate a bit more please? Thanks. I also have nvidia GPU.~

These are my pics, can you confirm this is not frame skipping @Chief Blur

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kirivae
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Re: My alienware aw2518hf is frameskipping please help.

Post by kirivae » 22 Jan 2018, 12:02

ok, thank you guys so much for the replies, im going to do what you said and post the results as soon as i can.

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Re: My alienware aw2518hf is frameskipping please help.

Post by Chief Blur Buster » 22 Jan 2018, 12:38

Hello, that's great photography, Notty_PT!
That's proper technique in general. No frameskips captured in those so far.

Photograph exposure length ideally needs to be longer for 240Hz frameskipping tests
Ideally you want a longer exposure (more than 40 squares) since the 240Hz frameskipping I've found is only 1-in-40 squares. However, you did the right thing to photograph multiple times -- which is another workaround if you cannot photograph 40 squares for a 240Hz monitor. If you can only capture about 20 squares, then take several photographs (about 4 to 6) to increase the odds of catching the 1-in-40 frameskip.

Turn off VRR mode when testing 240Hz frameskipping
One thing I noticed that on the frameskipping FreeSync monitors (That I helped ViewSonic fix -- they fixed it so eagerly quickly!) is that frameskipping only occured in non-FreeSync mode. So to test frameskipping on 240Hz G-SYNC monitors, turn off G-SYNC mode and test in Normal mode (make sure OSD says "Normal").

Ideally, don't forget to temporarily set CPU to Performance Mode (100% CPU) since web browsers prioritize on power-saving mode, so browsers are extremely finicky about working reliably at 240Hz+. (You want to be sure that frameskipping is the monitor, not the browser. That said, TestUFO in Chrome successfully self-detects dropped frames in TestUFO. So simply photograph upon the green "READY").
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kirivae
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Re: My alienware aw2518hf is frameskipping please help.

Post by kirivae » 22 Jan 2018, 12:55

i feel like a collossal fooking idiot but its not frameskipping now either to my camera or my eye, maybe the performance mode helped or maybe there was a bug the last day with my browser, i dont know, im 99pc sure it was skipping 1 to 2 frames out of around every 100 frames or so the last time i tested it, and it was worse in 144hz, but that was only to my eye while staring at the center of the screen as i hadnt my phone at the time so yeh, my mistake guys sorry for wasting time. il keep monitoring it and post straight back if i capture a pic of it doing it. thanks again.

as a side note i do recall the frame test having way more trouble giving a consistent 'ready' the first time i had a look.

Notty_PT
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Re: My alienware aw2518hf is (maybe not) frameskipping, help

Post by Notty_PT » 22 Jan 2018, 13:02

Fair enough! Enjoy your monitor! I have Asus PG258Q and AlienWare model, the Alienware model is the fastest monitor input lag wise, from all the 240hz monitors I tested. THe Asus one has the best pixel response time and overshoot/overdrive settings. For competitive play I think the AlienWare model is the must have :)

kirivae
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Re: My alienware aw2518hf is (maybe not) frameskipping, help

Post by kirivae » 22 Jan 2018, 14:30

yeh that encouraging to know. thanks again for the help

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Re: My alienware aw2518hf is (maybe not) frameskipping, help

Post by kirivae » 29 Jan 2018, 12:17

just thought it might be interesting to note that when my pc has started up, if i have my browser open with a bagillion tabs, it runs the 144hz test with no skipping, in 240hz mode it does the same but takes longer to syn, and says potential browser stuttering a lot more, after using my pc for a few hours it struggles to give a green ready sign and stutters/ skips frames a lot more, is this due to many tabs/ processes running or would this kind of thing carry over to games also?

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Re: My alienware aw2518hf is (maybe not) frameskipping, help

Post by Chief Blur Buster » 29 Jan 2018, 18:47

kirivae wrote:just thought it might be interesting to note that when my pc has started up, if i have my browser open with a bagillion tabs, it runs the 144hz test with no skipping, in 240hz mode it does the same but takes longer to syn, and says potential browser stuttering a lot more, after using my pc for a few hours it struggles to give a green ready sign and stutters/ skips frames a lot more, is this due to many tabs/ processes running or would this kind of thing carry over to games also?
Web browsers are much more power-management oriented, and of an interpreted language (JavaScript). Trying to save battery power on laptops and mobiles, and as a result, browser motion are more stutter-prone than compiled video games.

Yes, more processes will cause more problems. Close all windows and tabs, make TestUFO your only window open, if you want reliable 240 Hz testing.

That said, your web browser is a canary (pun intended) of system slowdowns, it will happen to the browser before the game, so if your browser is starting to complain, you can do something about early (e.g. reboot) before things get worse and begins to carry over to your game.

With a G-SYNC monitor, slowdowns will be much harder to notice, since G-SYNC will help de-stutter (to an extent).
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