Blur Busters Forums

First off, if you haven't already @Wooohah, read my article here:
https://www.blurbusters.com/gsync/gsync ... -settings/

It covers the basics of G-SYNC, standalone V-SYNC (both double buffer and triple buffer), Fast Sync, and V-SYNC OFF (no sync).

Wooohah wrote:If I have Vsync off, I will have a faster "recovery" time between frametime spikes but I may get slight screen tearing on the bottom half of my screen.

You'll get brief, but full tearing with frametime spikes in most instances with G-SYNC + V-SYNC "Off."

Wooohah wrote:Is a viable solution for me to overclock my monitor to 165hz, then limit my frames to 144FPS via RTSS, and run Gsync with Vsync off?

That's not really how the FPS limiting works With G-SYNC. My recommended -2 or -3 FPS below the refresh rate scales to the given max refresh rate. So if you have a 144Hz monitor, you want cap at 142/141 FPS, if you have a 165Hz monitor, you want to cap at 163/162 FPS cap, and so on.

Wooohah wrote:Is it technically "normal" for me to be experiencing some hitches/ split second freezes in games? (While the game itself generally runs smoothly)

Yes, read my section about "Frametime Spikes" here:
https://www.blurbusters.com/gsync/gsync ... spikes-101

Also, the great thing about a G-SYNC monitor, is it isn't just a G-SYNC monitor. If you feel you're having more spikes because of G-SYNC, disabled it and test your games with V-SYNC OFF + uncapped FPS, as well as scenarios such as standalone V-SYNC ON + uncapped and V-SYNC ON + FPS capped below your refresh rate.

I'm guessing you're just not used to higher than 60 FPS / 60Hz performance, where framerate fluctuations are more common (more demanding on hardware), and (again) increased smoothness leads to more obvious perceived drops.

Unfortunately I can tell you that it is likely to be both fixable and difficult to pin down the exact cause and solution. The more info the more likely I can tell you but you will probably have to end up spending many hours testing solutions and troubleshooting.

Gsync should not cause extra frametime spikes normally but there are some things to check. Try different games, different driver versions, and different render modes within the game. Windowed fullscreen can work with gsync but it varies from game to game. If the game has an exclusive fullscreen mode that is your best bet. Sometimes versions of windows have issues with certain graphics drivers and using an older or newer driver will fix the issue.

Because you mention situations when the game could be loading resources and performing culling operations I would look into seeing if something is slowing down your cpu or hard drive. This could be the cpu throttling or something running in the background competing for resources with the game.

This could also simply be an issue within the game itself where it just has slower frames durring these times. Sometimes getting used to high refresh and fps can make you notice dips more.

For frametime spikes and full halt in frames
I noticed this happens with Hpet system timer enabled.
bcdedit /set useplatformclock true

Try disabling it by

bcdedit /set useplatformclock false

See if it helps you

You need to reboot computer before it takes effect

You need to be in command promt with admin privligies to type this
I get so much smoother frametime with this than I get with enabled. There is of course some disadvantages I guess with hpet turned off but at least check if this helps.

Best,
Kandor

kandor1978, what motherboard are you using?

Hi Cheif,

GA-X99-SOC Force (rev. 1.0)

Best,
Kandor

Chief Blur Buster wrote:kandor1978, what motherboard are you using?

This is interesting.

I thought going from a 60hz fixed refresh rate monitor to a 144hz vrr monitor was a straight-up improvement, but it also has downsides. And if I understand correctly, depending on your hardware, there can actually be so many downsides that you can get cornered into using your monitor at 60hz because anything higher would induce heavy stuttering.

In this situation, you'd have completely wasted your money. The only upside would be that if you upgrade your rig to handle higher framerates without stuttering, you'd be able to make full use of your monitor like you originally planned to.

This is something that should be said somewhere, as a warning. It seems like op bit more than he could chew, what with aiming to run at 144 fps on a 4K monitor, but I'm wondering if it could be the same for me. I have an i5 8400, a gtx 1070, and I've been planning on getting a 144hz 1080p gsync monitor. Am I about to make the same mistake as op ?

Modin wrote:This is something that should be said somewhere, as a warning. It seems like op bit more than he could chew, what with aiming to run at 144 fps on a 4K monitor, but I'm wondering if it could be the same for me. I have an i5 8400, a gtx 1070, and I've been planning on getting a 144hz 1080p gsync monitor. Am I about to make the same mistake as op ?

The difference between my 60Hz 1080p and my 144Hz/165Hz 1440p is rather huge. It's such a big improvement for me. Even if I play using a 60FPS lock, 144Hz 60FPS g-sync is better. With a 90FPS lock, it's much, much better.

I'm on an i5 2500K and a 980Ti.

Thanks for sharing. So you usually lock your fps if you can't get a stable 144/165fps ? If you don't, do you get the kind of stuttering op has or is it because the framerate fluctuations are too noticeable ?

Modin wrote:Thanks for sharing. So you usually lock your fps if you can't get a stable 144/165fps ? If you don't, do you get the kind of stuttering op has or is it because the framerate fluctuations are too noticeable ?

I don't get stuttering, except in very specific cases (the one I constantly mention is opening/closing the in-game map in Witcher 3.) These are fixed by disabling vsync. Some games will show temporary tearing with vsync OFF, but I haven't played a game yet that has temporary tearing and has temporary gsync+vsync stutter.

And yes, I do use FPS capping. I always do. The highest I use is 141FPS for 144Hz (explained in the G-Sync 101.) For heavier games, I use a cap that's near the typical FPS of the game (the 90% average.) In Witcher 3 that's 90FPS, in Skyrim SE that's 100FPS, in Deus Ex: MD It was 80FPS. Not because of stutter, but because of the variable input lag and motion blur. When the game runs at 70FPS at one moment, and then 1 second later it runs at 141FPS (because I look at the floor, for example, or am in a small room,) and then goes back to 80FPS 2 seconds later, that's a jarring change. The motion blur and input lag change jumps out at you. Limiting to 90FPS instead makes it feel much nicer. Fluctuations between 70, 90, 80, etc are not as jarring.

I see. Pc gaming is a rabbit hole isn't it ? There's always something to upgrade, always a higher framerate to chase after.

Doesn't 90 fps look stuttery after you get used to looking at a game at 141 fps for a while ? I keep hearing people say that you can't go back to 60 after having experienced 120+.

By the way, and this may be too far off-topic, but doesn't Skyrim have broken physics above 60 fps ?