The mouse polling rate in games

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whitestar
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The mouse polling rate in games

Post by whitestar » 30 Apr 2018, 16:01

Ok, here is an observation I have made, and a somewhat annoying observation as such.

In very few games - only Mirror's Edge 2 and Just Cause 3 so far - the mouse movements exhibits stutters (or rather, frame pacing issues) if I set the refresh rate to anything other than 60.

It's very strange, but I seem to notice it better now that I have a high end CPU and GPU (8700K + 1080 Ti). And I'm still using Benq Blur Reduction. I'm using a wireless Logitech G900 Chaos Spectrum at 1000Hz polling rate. The mouse itself is amazing, the smoothest I have ever had. But still in those two games there is noticeable "micro stutter" when I play at anything other than 60Hz.

Has anyone of you noticed this phenomenon?

Is it something with the game engines themselves? So I have to live with it? Or can something be done about it?

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RealNC
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Re: The mouse polling rate in games

Post by RealNC » 30 Apr 2018, 16:16

I've encountered quite a few games with this issue. Witcher 3 is another one.

In most of them, using RTSS to cap the frame rate fixes the frame pacing issue. It's best to cap slightly below refresh rate. See:

https://www.blurbusters.com/howto-low-lag-vsync-on

and:

https://forums.guru3d.com/threads/the-t ... st-5380262
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whitestar
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Re: The mouse polling rate in games

Post by whitestar » 01 May 2018, 07:03

Thanks for the in-depth explanation. :)
My real refresh rate is 74.998, and I tried the values 74988, 74991, 74985, 74981 and even as low as 74975 in RTSS. None of which had any effect unfortunately. Didn't have any luck with Fast Sync either.

Oh well, the game is very smooth even at 60Hz so I guess I'll just have to settle for that in this game then.

Or do you think I should try other values too? Maybe even lower?

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RealNC
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Re: The mouse polling rate in games

Post by RealNC » 01 May 2018, 14:17

Is that an overclocked 75Hz? Are you sure your monitor isn't frame skipping?
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whitestar
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Re: The mouse polling rate in games

Post by whitestar » 01 May 2018, 15:48

Do you mean if the monitor is overclocked? No, it's a Benq XL2720Z running at 75Hz. I have no idea if it's frame skipping (is that actually a thing?).
My CPU is overclocked (8700K @ 4.7GHz).

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Re: The mouse polling rate in games

Post by RealNC » 01 May 2018, 17:33

Oh, OK. No, I just didn't know what monitor you have. 75Hz is a common overclock for 60Hz monitors, and sometimes this results in frame skipping. This is not the case here.
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Re: The mouse polling rate in games

Post by whitestar » 02 May 2018, 03:34

I use 75Hz because there's no flicker (strobing) at that Hz.
Btw, currently I'm using http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/Vide ... Lock.shtml to lock the refresh rate in games. I only tested it in Arma3 and it works there at least.

Just wondering; is there another and more "native" way of locking the refresh rate, for those games that force their own refresh rate? nVidia drivers only let you choose between the game's refresh rate and the maximum for your monitor, which is a shame.

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Chief Blur Buster
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Re: The mouse polling rate in games

Post by Chief Blur Buster » 02 May 2018, 11:38

whitestar wrote:Just wondering; is there another and more "native" way of locking the refresh rate, for those games that force their own refresh rate? nVidia drivers only let you choose between the game's refresh rate and the maximum for your monitor, which is a shame.
Yes. Basically using ToastyX CRU to delete refresh rates & only leaving one valid refresh rate for a specific resolution.

It's a overkill way of doing things, but it has worked in the past to steer stubborn games to a specific refresh rate. Remember to use "reset-all.exe" (included with ToastyX cru.exe) to restore all refresh rates that you've deleted. (And it also removes all your custom resolution work too, so make sure to save or screenshot any intricately-configured resolutions)
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whitestar
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Re: The mouse polling rate in games

Post by whitestar » 05 Dec 2018, 05:03

Well, Just Cause 4 is out and the exact thing happens there. Also, even 60 Hz isn't even totally smooth in all places on the map. But I suppose that's more down to buggy code than anything else. Still, I think 75 Hz looks slightly better in this game than in JC3. I'll try the RTSS trick here also.

@Chief Blur Buster: Thanks for the tip on ToastyX. Since I'm using both 60 and 75 Hz I'll just stick to the refresh rate overrider tool I found though. Besides, in Just Cause 4 the refresh rate can be set in the json file, thankfully. :)

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