Why do some games experience more Screen Tearing?

[MxOAgentJohnson]

I've been playing a lot of games recently, going through my list to complete what i purchased through each sale, and for some reason the more games ive played out of the few i often do, some games have ungodly amounts of screen tearing, to the point i have to enable VSYNC or it feels like my game is stuttering.

Take note, i lock every demanding game i play at max that would normally fluctuate fps between 70-120 to 60fps because it creates an overall smoother experience than fps fluctuation stuttering.

Heres an example of a game that runs amazingly, Sleeping Dogs, locked at 60fps on my 120hz BenQ (or any monitor) i max out the graphics, and there's no tearing atall with vsync off (There obviously is its just so unnoticeable and so small and out the way it never seems to bother me.

However, a handful of games i played, Mirrors Edge, Crysis 2, Skyrim, Saints Row 4 and Borderlands 2 all have ungodly amounts of screen tearing, to the point i get separate tears and the screen stutters at times (unrelated to the fps) i worried if maybe it was my fault so i locked vsync at 60hz just to be safe and low and behold, the stuttering feel was gone, i played all through mirrors edge and Crysis 2 without a single problem (all be it the dreaded mouse lag of vsync), i played through Saints Row 4 like it too and it was a lot better.

However some games that i play, Tomb Raider, Sleeping Dogs, Doom 3, Bioshock Infinite have just a little bit that it never looks like its stuttering.

I've been in the planning of getting a GSYNC for a while, but with recent news of the driver i have held off until further news, but surely if games are going to tear they would all do it the same? Im rather uneducated in this field as its only recently ive started playing more demanding games and locking them at a lower fps than exactly 120.

Also how well does GSync run in every game, i've heard some games have issues with it.

GTX 970 3.5GB, i7 4790k @ 4.5, 16GB Ram.

[lexlazootin]

Some engines/game have poor frame pacing issues when it comes to capping off fps. One of the big one that stood out to many people when moving from CS 1.6 to CS:GO was how well CS 1.6 felt and handled being capped at 100fps and how bad CS:GO was in comparison. Some games are just made better then others and it something you have to deal with sadly :\

If you must cap fps remember to do it IN GAME and not with a driver. In engine frame pacing seems to be much better then drivers and can have a more seamless experience. Also if you don't mind letting the gpu getting a little toasty, letting the fps reach well beyond your monitors refresh rate will act kinda like GSync where frame tears and frame drops will MUCH MUCH less noticeable.

EDIT: Here, I actually needed to make this to explain it to someone else.



It's not 100% accurate but it shows how a higher fps can help eliminate frame tears and drops. in a perfect world, all frames would come out just in time to be drawn on the screen.

[flood]

well in some games there's more movement than others...

[Q83Ia7ta]

Game engine or rendering differs from game to game. That's the reason.

[MxOAgentJohnson]

Some engines/game have poor frame pacing issues when it comes to capping off fps. One of the big one that stood out to many people when moving from CS 1.6 to CS:GO was how well CS 1.6 felt and handled being capped at 100fps and how bad CS:GO was in comparison. Some games are just made better then others and it something you have to deal with sadly :\

If you must cap fps remember to do it IN GAME and not with a driver. In engine frame pacing seems to be much better then drivers and can have a more seamless experience. Also if you don't mind letting the gpu getting a little toasty, letting the fps reach well beyond your monitors refresh rate will act kinda like GSync where frame tears and frame drops will MUCH MUCH less noticeable.

EDIT: Here, I actually needed to make this to explain it to someone else.



It's not 100% accurate but it shows how a higher fps can help eliminate frame tears and drops. in a perfect world, all frames would come out just in time to be drawn on the screen.

Thank you for the informative answer, its something i dont come across much due to being a very limited gamer in what i play, but i noticed that games like Dishonoured, Payday 2, Borderlands 2, L4D2 always had a bit of tearing but would sometimes stutter aswell, like ,4/,5 of a second stutter, unrelated to the framerate, which i can only assume is that i locked my fps to 60 on 120hz and sometimes it comes across and issue and tears the whole screen, i have two rigs but the other isnt built i wanna test this theory on that one too at some point.

Enabling VSYNC at 60hz removes these problems with most games, like going past a certain area in borderlands 2 doesnt give me that stutter anymore and i dont get screen tearing stutter. I was hoping it wasnt my rig as this is a brand new second rig i made more powerful by far than my last, i was wondering if it was my new gcard causing more tearing.

usually when the fps is capped to 120 on 120hz its fine, i dont get the screen tearing stutter thing happen atall!

[DNAMouse]

i think VSyc caps it so all frames are in line