Been hearing that you should Cap FPS Below Monitor Refresh Rate often?
The debate has been on whether or not capping vs uncapping is still raging.
But is it worth going a little under the limit and how does it work?
Cap FPS Below Monitor Now
Firstly you should Cap FPS Below Monitor Hz only if you care about input lag. But in detail you should be aiming for a little bellow the maximum output of your monitor. Because in short hitting the exact frame cap of you monitor causes stutter.
See when the frame rate matches the refresh rate exactly both can go adrift. Because when this happens they go out of sync with one another. Also when games run into those little bumps or variations in the FPS this makes the frames miss their sync window.
And when this happens this appears as a micro stutter or judder. However you really only notice these in fast fps shooters or Sonic titles.
But for example lets sasy you got a monitor with the max refresh rate of 180. If we cap our games to about 175 or 177 odd this fixes the issue. Because by doing this we give the GPU a little bit of room to breathe.
Although more importantly it gives it time to correct any frames that go awry. You may have noticed these judders happening even when you had V-Sync turned on. Because as mentioned its not giving the GPU enough space to catch those deviations.
However we get other benefits from the Cap FPS Below Monitor method.
Lower Input Latency occurs as capping the frames does not create needless rendered frames. Because when you uncap those extra frames are just sitting in waiting like a DMV line!
Also the GPU ends up drawing less power naturally and the frames are consistent.
Numbers Or Feels
Although for me the big reason for the Cap FPS Below Monitor method is consistency. Before as a same sized child I could play Sonic 06 at 10 FPS no problems. But now a slight dip in CS makes me sick to my stomach.
I start thinking why are the frames dipping, who’s fault is this and is it all Joever. But capping means I get not weird dips or spikes. Although when it does occur it does mean something has gone wrong.
Also V-sync is fine but really you are just generating rendered frames for queue still. But when you can use any in game FPS limiter to get just below. NVIDIA Reflex or AMD adrenaline is alright for manual caps outside of games.
However the biggest test for the Cap FPS Below Monitor method is trying yourself. Boot up CS2 (or source if you got no gear) and play rounds with it capped, uncapped and just below. You will be able to feel what I am talking about.
Also when I say just below I do mean by like 2-5 frames here not 20! But we do not have to be exact here just do what feels right for the GPU. Go one give her some love now.
Also dust her off you cretin I know you have not been keeping on that!
