Timer Resolution from 15ms to 1ms [Turn 60Hz-feel into 240Hz-feel on 240Hz]

[zudau]

Hello,

I am using Windows 10 and tried to do timer resolution tweak (for lower pc latency).

I made 2 benchmarks with Timer Resolution tweak (0.5ms) and default value + CS2 gameplay.

My results:

With this tweak method:

su programa.JPG (142.29 KiB) Viewed 15954 times

Without tweak method:

be programos.JPG (157.01 KiB) Viewed 15954 times

Because of this tweak lower my latency from 15ms to 1ms (15times lower).
Game feels more responsible , smooth, mouse feels like without “heavy featws”.

Can somebody explain me the results I get?
This is the placebo or real difference?
Any feedback on this topic?

Thanks!

[Chief Blur Buster]

Timer event granularity is a big rabbit hole, and different motherboards and different OSes (Win10 vs Win11) use different defaults -- but higher timer resolution definitely improves latency in many games, as long as the higher timer resolution is not overloading the computer.

On one hand, high timer-event precision and/or frequencies can thrash a CPU core, slowing framerates down.
On the other hand, 15ms vs 1ms is definitely a human-feelable jitter & latency improvement depending on lag context (see Milliseconds Matters).

In stutter variances, 15ms is like almost four 240Hz refresh cycles, aka a major stutter.
In absolute latency, 15ms is like a 15 pixel lagbehind at 1000 pixels/sec
In latency variance, [0..15ms] is like a [0..15] pixel sudden off-misaim at 1000 pixels/sec
Etc.

Your sawtooth is a proven latency variance and a potential accompanying stutter varance, turning 240Hz into 60Hz-feel. 240Hz monitors can feel worse than 60Hz monitors when given a terrible 15ms timer granularity.

Many people don't need to do this tweak because many computer already ship with 1ms timer resolution by default. But not all do, and that can be a problem oneself needs to solve.

[Slender]

Hello,

I am using Windows 10 and tried to do timer resolution tweak (for lower pc latency).

I made 2 benchmarks with Timer Resolution tweak (0.5ms) and default value + CS2 gameplay.

My results:

With this tweak method: su programa.JPG
Without tweak method: be programos.JPG

Because of this tweak lower my latency from 15ms to 1ms (15times lower).
Game feels more responsible , smooth, mouse feels like without “heavy featws”.

Can somebody explain me the results I get?
This is the placebo or real difference?
Any feedback on this topic?

Thanks!

what is that software?

[zudau]

Timer event granularity is a big rabbit hole, and different motherboards and different OSes (Win10 vs Win11) use different defaults -- but higher timer resolution definitely improves latency in many games, as long as the higher timer resolution is not overloading the computer.

On one hand, high timer-event precision and/or frequencies can thrash a CPU core, slowing framerates down.
On the other hand, 15ms vs 1ms is definitely a human-feelable jitter & latency improvement depending on lag context (see Milliseconds Matters).

In stutter variances, 15ms is like almost four 240Hz refresh cycles, aka a major stutter.
In absolute latency, 15ms is like a 15 pixel lagbehind at 1000 pixels/sec
In latency variance, [0..15ms] is like a [0..15] pixel sudden off-misaim at 1000 pixels/sec
Etc.

Your sawtooth is a proven latency variance and a potential accompanying stutter varance, turning 240Hz into 60Hz-feel. 240Hz monitors can feel worse than 60Hz monitors when given a terrible 15ms timer granularity.

Many people don't need to do this tweak because many computer already ship with 1ms timer resolution by default. But not all do, and that can be a problem oneself needs to solve.

Thanks for your detailed answer! I fixed my ms at 0.5220ms

Actually, I used program called "MeasureSleep" to track results of ms:
Resolution: 0.5220ms Sleep (1) slept 15.1ms (delta 14.1)

When I turn on DPC Latency checked I got these results:
Resolution: 0.5220ms, Sleep (1) slept 1.04 delta 0.03

With DPC latency checked ON, I feel that this timer resolution tweak is working and responsiveness goes to another level, as my numbers say. Can it be? Do you know more about this program / topic?

[Slender]

Timer event granularity is a big rabbit hole, and different motherboards and different OSes (Win10 vs Win11) use different defaults -- but higher timer resolution definitely improves latency in many games, as long as the higher timer resolution is not overloading the computer.

On one hand, high timer-event precision and/or frequencies can thrash a CPU core, slowing framerates down.
On the other hand, 15ms vs 1ms is definitely a human-feelable jitter & latency improvement depending on lag context (see Milliseconds Matters).

In stutter variances, 15ms is like almost four 240Hz refresh cycles, aka a major stutter.
In absolute latency, 15ms is like a 15 pixel lagbehind at 1000 pixels/sec
In latency variance, [0..15ms] is like a [0..15] pixel sudden off-misaim at 1000 pixels/sec
Etc.

Your sawtooth is a proven latency variance and a potential accompanying stutter varance, turning 240Hz into 60Hz-feel. 240Hz monitors can feel worse than 60Hz monitors when given a terrible 15ms timer granularity.

Many people don't need to do this tweak because many computer already ship with 1ms timer resolution by default. But not all do, and that can be a problem oneself needs to solve.

Thanks for your detailed answer! I fixed my ms at 0.5220ms

Actually, I used program called "MeasureSleep" to track results of ms:
Resolution: 0.5220ms Sleep (1) slept 15.1ms (delta 14.1)

When I turn on DPC Latency checked I got these results:
Resolution: 0.5220ms, Sleep (1) slept 1.04 delta 0.03

With DPC latency checked ON, I feel that this timer resolution tweak is working and responsiveness goes to another level, as my numbers say. Can it be? Do you know more about this program / topic?

ye, we know.
after 1809 MS broke timer.
it break kernel timer also.
DPC latency cheker use OLD timer request func (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windo ... resolution), dpc lat cheker use driver for it, and timer call from kernel driver.

but for w11 you can just use that thing:

Code: Select all

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\kernel]
"GlobalTimerResolutionRequests"=dword:00000001

[zudau]

So my main question is: Should I game with default values before the tweak + program as:
Resolution: 0.5ms Sleep (1) slept 15.1ms (delta 14.1) (approx ms values)

Or should I use DPC latency checker on Windows 10 and get these constant values:
Resolution: 0.5220ms, Sleep (1) slept 1.04 delta 0.03

Because with second option, I feel gaming on CS2 (source engine) is much more responsive.

Or this is placebo?

[Slender]

nice tool. i was wrong about 0.5033.
0.5034 is better (w10 / w11 same).
but 0.5033 shows 0-1us timer latency in latency moon (kernel test), 0.5034 shows 27-28us.

[zudau]

nice tool. i was wrong about 0.5033.
0.5034 is better (w10 / w11 same).
but 0.5033 shows 0-1us timer latency in latency moon (kernel test), 0.5034 shows 27-28us.

Amazing latency results, what more did you do? Windows 10?

I am currently on 0.522

[unconnected]

Hello,

I am using Windows 10 and tried to do timer resolution tweak (for lower pc latency).

I made 2 benchmarks with Timer Resolution tweak (0.5ms) and default value + CS2 gameplay.

My results:

With this tweak method: su programa.JPG
Without tweak method: be programos.JPG

Because of this tweak lower my latency from 15ms to 1ms (15times lower).
Game feels more responsible , smooth, mouse feels like without “heavy featws”.

Can somebody explain me the results I get?
This is the placebo or real difference?
Any feedback on this topic?

Thanks!

What hardware are you on?

[zudau]

I have AMD ryzen 5800x3d + RTX 3080 + 32gb RAM, playing on 1440p monitor with 280hz