Lowest input lag for competitive games?

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Jestaz
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Joined: 09 Nov 2019, 12:59

Lowest input lag for competitive games?

Post by Jestaz » 09 Nov 2019, 13:16

This is my first post here on this forum. However i have read through most of the gsync guides and other guides aswell on this site and am very interested in the whole gsync subject.

I was wondering what would give me the lowest input lag possible when playing a competitive game (Apex Legends, Fortnite, etc.).
I used to set up gsync in the past by enabling gsync in NVCP, enabling Vsync in NVCP (turned off in game) and capping my fps 3 or more frames below the refresh rate of my monitor via rtss. I also used the recommended settings that were mentioned besides those.
As a result i had no stutters and all my games felt pretty smooth.
When NULL came out i activated it (ultra) and the games i played besides fortnite felt awesome with it as long as i capped in a way that i could provide consistantly.
I also was watching battlenonsense videos on how to use gsync properly and set everything up.

I know gsync is meant to provide a stutter free game and isn't meant to give me the lowest input lag possible, but i was wondering what i should run if i want the lowest input lag? Is it just running games with gsync and vsync disabled and uncapped fps? Or would It be gsync etc. disabled but capping my fps at a rate that i can provide consistantly? I am pretty sure battlenonsense mentioned that it is always best to cap the framerate so you achieve a consistant frame timing/pacing and leaving the frames uncapped kinda provides more stutters which makes sens. But i also felt that it was mentioned that not capping frames will cause the input lag to increase. Is that true?

Also while i know that lots of pros just game and don't worry about their settings too much, i also feel that most of them are using settings that gives them the best performance and by best i mean most responsive performance. Since in most games pros seem to not use gsync and not cap their framerate. Afew seem to do it via rtss but it is not the norm yet. So does gsync really add a noticeable increse in input lag, even if it is not much, or what seems to be the reason that most pro players are not using gsync to this date?

I feel like it might be because they want the absolute lowest input lag, while not caring about their games are smooth and stutter free?

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jorimt
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Re: Lowest input lag for competitive games?

Post by jorimt » 09 Nov 2019, 14:50

Jestaz wrote:I was wondering what would give me the lowest input lag possible when playing a competitive game (Apex Legends, Fortnite, etc.).
Absolute lowest input lag would be G-SYNC off + V-SYNC off (both NVCP and in-game) + highest refresh rate and highest FPS possible + in-game FPS limit at the highest sustainable FPS average. But, there's not much of an attainable reduction (typically, 1-3ms at crosshair-level, unless you can reach 1000+ FPS :P) over properly configured G-SYNC:
https://www.blurbusters.com/gsync/gsync ... ettings/9/
Jestaz wrote:I used to set up gsync in the past by enabling gsync in NVCP, enabling Vsync in NVCP (turned off in game) and capping my fps 3 or more frames below the refresh rate of my monitor via rtss.
That's about right, though a good in-game limiter will usually give you around 1 frame less input lag than RTSS:
https://www.blurbusters.com/gsync/gsync ... ttings/14/
Jestaz wrote:When NULL came out i activated it (ultra) and the games i played besides fortnite felt awesome with it as long as i capped in a way that i could provide consistantly.
NULL does nothing to further reduce input lag if you're system's framerate is already sustained above and limited by an FPS cap.
Jestaz wrote:I am pretty sure battlenonsense mentioned that it is always best to cap the framerate so you achieve a consistant frame timing/pacing and leaving the frames uncapped kinda provides more stutters which makes sens. But i also felt that it was mentioned that not capping frames will cause the input lag to increase. Is that true?
If your system becomes GPU-bound, the pre-rendered frames queue will increase, causing 1-2 more frames of input lag, typically. Setting an FPS limit that prevents max GPU usage will prevent this (NULL on it's own only reduces it).
Jestaz wrote:Also while i know that lots of pros just game and don't worry about their settings too much, i also feel that most of them are using settings that gives them the best performance and by best i mean most responsive performance. Since in most games pros seem to not use gsync and not cap their framerate. Afew seem to do it via rtss but it is not the norm yet. So does gsync really add a noticeable increse in input lag, even if it is not much, or what seems to be the reason that most pro players are not using gsync to this date?

I feel like it might be because they want the absolute lowest input lag, while not caring about their games are smooth and stutter free?
As I stated recently in another thread about this:
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=5910&p=44730#p44730
Some of it is probably due to misinformation and/or a lack of familiarity with G-SYNC, but either way, much of it comes down to preference and conditioning; again, G-SYNC can simply feel different and be hard to adjust to after being accustomed to V-SYNC OFF + uncapped FPS, regardless of whether the former can be a more consistent experience.
(jorimt: /jor-uhm-tee/)
Author: Blur Busters "G-SYNC 101" Series

Displays: ASUS PG27AQN, LG 48CX VR: Beyond, Quest 3, Reverb G2, Index OS: Windows 11 Pro Case: Fractal Design Torrent PSU: Seasonic PRIME TX-1000 MB: ASUS Z790 Hero CPU: Intel i9-13900k w/Noctua NH-U12A GPU: GIGABYTE RTX 4090 GAMING OC RAM: 32GB G.SKILL Trident Z5 DDR5 6400MHz CL32 SSDs: 2TB WD_BLACK SN850 (OS), 4TB WD_BLACK SN850X (Games) Keyboards: Wooting 60HE, Logitech G915 TKL Mice: Razer Viper Mini SE, Razer Viper 8kHz Sound: Creative Sound Blaster Katana V2 (speakers/amp/DAC), AFUL Performer 8 (IEMs)

Jestaz
Posts: 8
Joined: 09 Nov 2019, 12:59

Re: Lowest input lag for competitive games?

Post by Jestaz » 09 Nov 2019, 15:45

Thanks a lot for your detailed answer.

So NULL only really benefits people plaing on lower end systems? I know it is intended for those, but thought it would actually give some sort of improvement regarding input lag even for higher end systems. At least it seems to do its job now, since the input lag increase at 99% gpu load seems to be gone.

Is there any reason though to keep it on ultra? Seems like i have no benefit atm from keeping it activated. Unless it behaves indeed like i saw in another post, where it is said that NULL does some sort of keeping the framerate within the gsync range and i could use it instead of rtss.

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jorimt
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Re: Lowest input lag for competitive games?

Post by jorimt » 09 Nov 2019, 15:54

Jestaz wrote:So NULL only really benefits people plaing on lower end systems? I know it is intended for those, but thought it would actually give some sort of improvement regarding input lag even for higher end systems. At least it seems to do its job now, since the input lag increase at 99% gpu load seems to be gone.
NULL (or any setting that attempts to reduce the pre-rendered frames queue) is most effective when used with uncapped/fluctuating FPS that is maxing out the GPU usage.

Again, if your framerate can be sustained above an FPS limit, and that FPS limit is preventing your GPU from maxing out, NULL won't reduce input lag any further.
(jorimt: /jor-uhm-tee/)
Author: Blur Busters "G-SYNC 101" Series

Displays: ASUS PG27AQN, LG 48CX VR: Beyond, Quest 3, Reverb G2, Index OS: Windows 11 Pro Case: Fractal Design Torrent PSU: Seasonic PRIME TX-1000 MB: ASUS Z790 Hero CPU: Intel i9-13900k w/Noctua NH-U12A GPU: GIGABYTE RTX 4090 GAMING OC RAM: 32GB G.SKILL Trident Z5 DDR5 6400MHz CL32 SSDs: 2TB WD_BLACK SN850 (OS), 4TB WD_BLACK SN850X (Games) Keyboards: Wooting 60HE, Logitech G915 TKL Mice: Razer Viper Mini SE, Razer Viper 8kHz Sound: Creative Sound Blaster Katana V2 (speakers/amp/DAC), AFUL Performer 8 (IEMs)

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jorimt
Posts: 2481
Joined: 04 Nov 2016, 10:44
Location: USA

Re: Lowest input lag for competitive games?

Post by jorimt » 09 Nov 2019, 15:55

Jestaz wrote:Is there any reason though to keep it on ultra? Seems like i have no benefit atm from keeping it activated. Unless it behaves indeed like i saw in another post, where it is said that NULL does some sort of keeping the framerate within the gsync range and i could use it instead of rtss.
Refer to this post (and that thread in general regarding this):
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=5903&start=30#p44825
(jorimt: /jor-uhm-tee/)
Author: Blur Busters "G-SYNC 101" Series

Displays: ASUS PG27AQN, LG 48CX VR: Beyond, Quest 3, Reverb G2, Index OS: Windows 11 Pro Case: Fractal Design Torrent PSU: Seasonic PRIME TX-1000 MB: ASUS Z790 Hero CPU: Intel i9-13900k w/Noctua NH-U12A GPU: GIGABYTE RTX 4090 GAMING OC RAM: 32GB G.SKILL Trident Z5 DDR5 6400MHz CL32 SSDs: 2TB WD_BLACK SN850 (OS), 4TB WD_BLACK SN850X (Games) Keyboards: Wooting 60HE, Logitech G915 TKL Mice: Razer Viper Mini SE, Razer Viper 8kHz Sound: Creative Sound Blaster Katana V2 (speakers/amp/DAC), AFUL Performer 8 (IEMs)

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