wanted upgrade because of stutter, maybe I just need gsync?

Talk about NVIDIA G-SYNC, a variable refresh rate (VRR) technology. G-SYNC eliminates stutters, tearing, and reduces input lag. List of G-SYNC Monitors.
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alexander_1986
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Joined: 20 Mar 2018, 16:51

wanted upgrade because of stutter, maybe I just need gsync?

Post by alexander_1986 » 20 Mar 2018, 17:09

Hello all!

I play a lot of Fortnite and this is my current system:

i5-3470
gtx 1060 6gb
8gb ddr3
win10

asus VG248qe monitor @ 120hz 10% lightboost


So there is an area on the Fortnite map that is called "Tilted Towers" which is a pretty big area and very poorly optimized it seems, whenever I stand outside this area looking in my fps decreases from 120 fps solid to 60-80 fps, once I get inside this area the fps is alright again,


So, to my problem, At first I didn't realize why the mouse input and overall smoothness was completely destroyed whenever I was at this particular area, I thought 60 fps should be smooth what the heck?


So I started planning on upgrading my motherboard, cpu and ram as I thought my current stuff was somehow bottlenecking in an extreme fashion causing this jarring stuttering ( at ALL other areas in the Fortnite map and ALL other situations ingame my fps is 120 rock solid more or less, or more than 120 if uncapped framerate )

And then yesterday, just before I was going to order my new parts, I realized, could it be because of how lightboost works that the stuttering feels extreme when it drops from 120 fps to 60-80 ?

So I read all the gsync articles here and trying to figure out how it works and stuff, and it seems like my suspicion might be correct, from what I have read on this site it seems that lightboost / ULMB is only smooth and good in 2 cases,

1. if you have 120 fps at basically all times in the game, monitor locked to 120 hz

2. if you have overkill fps at all times, (2x 3x 5x or higher framerate compared to refreshrate ) , monitor locked to 120 hz


In my case, I have 120 fps at all times EXCEPT in this one particular area of the map, and normally 60 fps is considered smooth in games I thought, but when my fps drops to 60-80 from 120 here, its hard to explain but it feels like 5-10 fps, the mouse input is very bad, extreme stuttering, etcetera,

So my first idea was to upgrade my system to raise the framerate to 120 fps in this area too, problem gone! but then I researched some more, and it seems even with extremely high-end systems, this particular area causes framerate to tank no matter what, which would leave me back at square 1,


And then after reading this site very carefully, my new theory is, all I really have to do is get a Gsync monitor, so that even when the framerate drops suddenly from 120 to 60-80, it will still be as smooth as 120, more or less (some slight motion blur perhaps, but no stuttering whatsoever and mouse input should be basically same as when at 120 ?) is my thinking correct here guys?

If my idea is correct, then I don't really have to upgrade my system yet, I'd just have to sell my monitor and get a gsync one?


Sorry for long post but this has been on my mind for a month now or so, saving money to make it happen and i'm happy I found this site before ordering the new parts, would suck to have exactly the same situation with a new system !

I probably should upgrade my mobo/cpu/ram anyway since they are like 6 years old, but I have a feeling in this particular game, in these particular situations (fps dropping from 120 solid to 60-80 for a while) , a gsync monitor would easily be the best option for smooth feeling/ no stuttering in all situations?


Any and all help appreciated, my very last question would be, how does Freesync compare to Gsync nowadays on the newest monitors in 2018, is there any reason for me to get gsync instead of freesync or are they identical ingame in my above explained situation? gsync costs quite a bit more so I would like to get a asus freesync monitor if I wont notice any difference to a asus gsync monitor, so to speak,


Puh, long post :D again thanks for any and all help on the matter, cheers.

Alexander

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Re: wanted upgrade because of stutter, maybe I just need gsy

Post by Chief Blur Buster » 20 Mar 2018, 19:18

Low framerates do look crappy with strobing, so you definitely want to make sure framerates stay high if you're using strobing.
If you like LightBoost,

Short term tweak

1. Try the Low-Lag VSYNC ON HOWTO, combined with 100 Hz LightBoost.
-- This reduces the input lag of VSYNC ON noticeably.
-- The lower 100 Hz refresh rate also keeps the maximum-motion-quality triple match (framerate = refreshrate = stroberate) without as much GPU. With LightBoost, 100fps@100Hz looks MUCH better than 100fps@120Hz ...
-- If you use VSYNC OFF, it will amplify microstuttering unless you give overkill frame rates (e.g. 300fps @ 120Hz LightBoost begins to look smooth again). VSYNC OFF is important for lowering input lag but it won't do favours to motion smoothness for strobing.

The long term upgrade:

2. Yes, I certainly recommend keeping your GPU temporarily for now (crypto mining cost premium, ugh, ugh) and upgrade to a 144Hz GSYNC monitor.
-- ULMB has better color quality than LightBoost. So you have a better "LightBoost" with a new monitor.
-- GSYNC smoothes out stutters. You'd have to turn off LightBoost/ULMB to get the benefits of variable refresh rate.
By now, you've probably seen the demos at http://www.testufo.com/gsync

GSYNC-smoothed 70fps-90fps does look better than super-stuttery 100-120fps. That said, it only goes so far: GSYNC 35-40fps usually looks worse than stuttery 150-200fps. Approximately, GSYNC gives you a ~50% multiplier factor to the beauty of a very stuttery game -- basically, a GSYNC smoothed average framerate looks better than a stuttery average framerate 50% higher. This "margin" varies from game to game, but that is what you should expect -- it's like a major graphics card upgrade without upgrading the graphics card. Unfortunately, you will have to turn off strobing (unless you do the ULMB+GSYNC hack)

On the other hand GSYNC displays do give you a better LightBoost called ULMB (in some monitors, they are much brighter than VG248QE's LightBoost).

So you have many options - using GSYNC to smooth stutters, using ULMB to eliminate motion blur (and better colors than LightBoost), and optionally (if you don't mind erratic flicker especially at menus), the ULMB+GSYNC hack.
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