1440p 120hz+ Monitor suggestion for an old XBox 30fps game...

[deh707]

Hi everyone, first post.

Now that 1440p + High refreshrate monitors are getting cheaper by the second, I am looking to upgrade from my BenQ EX2710 1080p 144hz monitor for both my PC and my Xbox Series S.

While I am primarily a PC gamer (GTX 1070, i7 6700K), my competitive game atm is 2011's EA Sports Fight Night Champion for XB360 (which I now play on my Xbox Series S thanks to 2018's backwards compatibility).

F.N.C. is a 30fps game, and is known to run best on its native consoles of XB360 and PS3.


Even though the 2018 backwards compatibility update allowed F.N.C. to be played on Xbox One, it had noticeable framerate stutter/jutters occasionally, especially in high action scenes (tons of punches thrown @ the same time by both players for example). Now this was still apparent on its native XB360/PS3 consoles - but nowhere near as bad. Maybe this is due to the emulation not being perfect?

It's like it fluctuates between 20fps-30fps? Hard to explain.

Now, on the new Xbox Series S, FNC runs LITTLE smoother overall, but still not quite as good as XB360/PS3.

That is, until I decided to acquire a decent gaming monitor (BenQ EX2710 27" 1080p 144hz), which has Freesync (range of 48hz-144hz) Premium (which has LFC aka Low Framerate Compensation)


This monitor, with 120hz and VRR ON, makes FNC feel/look smoother than it does on XB360/PS3 (alternatively tested the game on XB360 [60hz] and PS3 [60hz] consoles on the same monitor). Which is wonderful - in addition to the game just looking graphically better on the 2-generations newer Series S. And lastly, I believe I notice less input lag on the Series S.

Now, the occasional fps-drop-like stutter that sometimes occurs during high action scenes is still noticable, but it's VERY subtle now. Definitely more smoothened/masked up.

Now that I'm looking into 1440p 120hz+ VRR, I have a concern about the recommended bottom-end Freesync range of various monitors....

For FNC, am I better off sticking with what I'm used to - a monitor Freesync premium range of 48hz-144hz/165hz)?


Such as LG 27GP83B -

Or is it better to acquire an even lower bottom-end Freesync range monitor of 30hz-165hz?

Such as Dell 2721DGF -


I ask here because I was really fascinated by the detail you guys are capable of describing about these subjects, such as this 2019 post reply by Chief Blur Buster (how do I tag on here?) from here: viewtopic.php?t=5940#p44935

@Chief Blue Buster quotes:

"If you have perfect 30fps on a 48Hz-240Hz monitor, your 30fps is actually making the monitor do 60Hz because LFC is doubling up the frames. Now, if your 30fps is just an average (but very highly erratic frametimes between frames), you can begin having noticeable stutters from LFC-mispredicts especially on tight-range VRR monitors."

and

"LFC-mispredict stutter is more visible on lower-Hz tight-range VRR monitors"

Based on those 2 quotes ^, am I at risk for more noticeable fps-drop-like stutter with a lower-bottom-end VRR monitor (of 30hz-144/165hz) compared to a VRR monitor (of 48hz-144/165hz), since FNC seems to fall into the latter "30fps average" category instead of "perfect 30fps"?

Thanks!

[RealNC]

For FNC, am I better off sticking with what I'm used to - a monitor Freesync premium range of 48hz-144hz/165hz)?


Such as LG 27GP83B -

Or is it better to acquire an even lower bottom-end Freesync range monitor of 30hz-165hz?

Such as Dell 2721DGF -

I'm not aware of any tests on this matter. In general, the wider the VRR range, the better. It gives the device that drives the monitor more headroom to do LFC (note that LFC is not actually done by the monitor, it's done by the device that drives the monitor, in this case your xbox.)

Issues can arise when the display has different image characteristics at low Hz. This can manifest in brightness changes between different refresh rates (which can also manifest as flicker,) especially with displays that use VA panels. This is why some people who have 30-144Hz displays use CRU to narrow the VRR range to something like 70-144 to force nvidia's LFC algorithm to always keep the panel at 70Hz or higher. This is also why by default the nvidia driver will actually widen the VRR range internally with some monitors that are known to nvidia to have issues at low Hz.

So in the end, there's no way to really tell if the LG will be better than the Dell for 30FPS gaming on the xbox until you try both My guess is that there won't be any major difference. 30FPS is cutting it awfully close with no headroom, so you'll most probably get LFC even at 30FPS. If I was implementing LFC on the xbox, that is the choice I would make, because it seems preferable to keep the panel operating at near 60Hz all the time rather than constantly switching between 30Hz and 60Hz when the FPS is fluctuating a bit (like 29FPS, 28FPS, then 30 again, etc.)

So in the end I would simply go with the display that you think is better overall, not the one that has a 30Hz bottom-end. Especially if you have a solid return policy when buying it

[deh707]

Hey thanks for your reply! Very detailed and interesting.

I have decided to just go for the Dell S2721DGF. My PC will appreciate it anyways and I'll always have my current BenQ EX2710 1080p which I really enjoy still.

On another note... I'm seeing some places state that the S2721DGF is 30hz-165hz range, and other places state that it's actually 48hz-165hz...

Do you happen to know which is true?

Thanks!

[RealNC]

On another note... I'm seeing some places state that the S2721DGF is 30hz-165hz range, and other places state that it's actually 48hz-165hz...

Do you happen to know which is true?

No, but you'll be able to find out using CRU. It reads the EDID of the monitor and you can inspect the VRR range there.

[deh707]

On another note... I'm seeing some places state that the S2721DGF is 30hz-165hz range, and other places state that it's actually 48hz-165hz...

Do you happen to know which is true?

No, but you'll be able to find out using CRU. It reads the EDID of the monitor and you can inspect the VRR range there.

Ok I will do that as soon as I can.

But since I have a Nvidia GPU (1070), will I still be able to use CRU. The Dell monitor is supposed to be officially certified Gsync Compatible but I don't know if that means CRU is usable.

And... how does this play into my Xbox Series S? Would adjusting the CRU (assuming I'm even able to) on my PC apply onto the Xbox as well?

[RealNC]

But since I have a Nvidia GPU (1070), will I still be able to use CRU. The Dell monitor is supposed to be officially certified Gsync Compatible but I don't know if that means CRU is usable.

I don't see why not. Lots of people use CRU on g-sync/freesync displays.

And... how does this play into my Xbox Series S? Would adjusting the CRU (assuming I'm even able to) on my PC apply onto the Xbox as well?

No. CRU does not write anything to the monitor. It only adds EDID overrides to the Windows registry which are loaded by the nvidia driver.