G-Sync/High Refresh Rate Issues with OpenGL Games

[GameLifter]

I've had my ROG Swift since late August and it has been amazing experiencing G-Sync and high refresh rates in gaming. However, I've noticed that OpenGL games seem to have issues on this monitor. When I first tried Doom 3: BFG Edition it would get really low fps with the monitor set to 144hz. When setting it to 120hz with ULMB enabled it would exhibit the same low FPS. I was able to get it working decently by setting the monitor to 120hz and activating ULMB after starting a game up. Even though it made the fps better the game would still have odd stutters every once and a while but the game was still playable and fun. After trying it again after the last driver update it was always a little choppy no matter what I tried. The same issue would happen when playing gzdoom which is an OpenGL source port of the original Doom engine. If I started up the game with 120hz and/or ULMB enabled it would be very choppy. After a while the game would start defaulting to 144hz regardless of what I set it to in the Nvidia control panel. What I would have to do is set the monitor to 120hz in the control panel then after starting up the game use the turbo button to set the game to 120hz then finally enable ULMB. This was the only way to get the game running at 120hz with ULMB without the awful choppiness but last time I played it the choppiness returned after playing a few levels.

The other game I tried was Wolfenstein: The New Order and not only were the splash screens super choppy on start up but it also lowered the resolution of the monitor all the way down to 640*480 and I had to change it back after exiting the game. I haven't bothered with it since because of how ridiculous that was. It's worth noting that when I tried these games the LED light on Swift didn't turn red like it's supposed to when G-Sync is activated but yet the games didn't have any tearing as if it were on. Has anyone else come across issues like these when playing OpenGL games on a G-Sync/high refresh rate monitor or is it simply an issue with the games I've tried?

[RealNC]

Doom 3 and Wolfenstein are capped at 60FPS. id software does not believe in blur reduction. If you play with ULMB and the game is running at 60FPS, you get a double-image effect. This is where the "choppiness" comes from. (The menus and videos are even worse, since they run at 30FPS, which means you get a quadruple-image effect.)

I don't know about the other issues though...

To see if it's an OpenGL issue in general, you should try some OpenGL game that doesn't use the id Tech 4 or 5 engine. Try OpenArena, for example (it's free.)

[GameLifter]

Doom 3 and Wolfenstein are capped at 60FPS. id software does not believe in blur reduction. If you play with ULMB and the game is running at 60FPS, you get a double-image effect. This is where the "choppiness" comes from. (The menus and videos are even worse, since they run at 30FPS, which means you get a quadruple-image effect.)

I don't know about the other issues though...

To see if it's an OpenGL issue in general, you should try some OpenGL game that doesn't use the id Tech 4 or 5 engine. Try OpenArena, for example (it's free.)

Yeah, I've noticed the double image effect before in other games. Even with ULMB turned off I still get stuttering motion in Doom 3. Also, in the BFG edition of Doom 3 you can set the refresh rate to 120hz and increase the frame rate cap to 120 in the menu (or higher in the config file). Even when I tried setting the monitor to 60hz and setting the frame rate cap back to 60 it was still stuttery both when strafing and moving the mouse. It's most likely a driver issue since it played a bit better before the driver update but since I get similar issues with gzdoom it made me wonder if OpenGL games simply act weird being run on a G-Sync monitor even though they don't appear to be using G-Sync.

I'll try OpenArena when I get the chance to see if it has similar issues.

[RealNC]

The micro-stutter in Doom 3 was there for me ever since the first time I played it. Back then with an ATI Radeon 9800Pro.

It's the game's fault, not the driver's.

[GameLifter]

The micro-stutter in Doom 3 was there for me ever since the first time I played it. Back then with an ATI Radeon 9800Pro.

It's the game's fault, not the driver's.

Are you talking about the precise tick thing? That should be gone from the BFG Edition. When I first got the BFG Edition I was on a 60hz monitor and it was perfectly smooth. It didn't start acting up until I got my Swift.

[GameLifter]

I tried OpenArena and it felt smoother than Doom 3 but the fps was capped at 91. Is that normal?

[RealNC]

I tried OpenArena and it felt smoother than Doom 3 but the fps was capped at 91. Is that normal?

It seems it's capped by default. You can change it though:

http://openarena.wikia.com/wiki/Manual/ ... #Framerate

[GameLifter]

Sweet! I tried it at 333 like that page said and it was really smooth. I guess the main issue is with the Id games I tried. Shame because they are great games. Oh well.

[Haste]

Doom 3: BFG Edition was very stuttery for me. Even at 144fps@144Hz stable. I don't know why it's like that.

Would be nice if a game developer could shed some light on why some games feel stuttery even when the frame rate is stable.

[GameLifter]

Dang, glad to know it's not only me but still..... Even at 60fps@60hz it felt stuttery which is what the game was designed to run at in the beginning. Also, I realized the game doesn't even hit 120 fps anymore when before I thought it did. It only gets around 70-80 fps which seems low for a game this old.