so, i was looking through my video options and i noticed there is a setting where you can either set your framerate to automatic or custom. I have 144hz monitors and im wondering if i should just leave that at automatic, or intentionally set it at 144hz? or should i set it higher? I put it at 201 fps, and it pegged out at that number, i probably could have set it higher but im wondering if there is any need to. Should you just set it to match the refresh rate of your monitor to prevent tearing and other issues, or should you run the frame rate as high as you can before it starts to bounce around?
So here is the lowdown…
2 ideal monitor settings.
- Just below cap (141) so that you have the highest fps + gsync/freesync (0 screen tearing)
- As high as you can run it (Best for latency)
Which is best is a preference thing really some people are sensitive to the screen tearing and others aren’t.
Now, BIG issue you will want to avoid…
When trying to reach the highest fps you can get DO NOT leave it uncapped as what will happen is you’ll constantly push your GPU at 100% all the time so you want to have a cap close to what you have uncapped in team fights.
What this will do is make sure you don’t get thermal issues ect which will cause framedrops if you leave it uncapped when effects kick-off you’ll get a spike and sometimes it will need to over-throttle so you lose frames.
Next, if you are running freesync/gsync but also running the fps high than the hz make sure either the fps NEVER dips below the hz or have freesync/gsync disabled.
They turn off when you go above and back on when you go below and it can cause problems in a lot of setups.
so, if you use the automatic mode, is that considered uncapped? seems like in auto mode, my fps in game stays pegged at 144, or do you mean, just dont go into automatic and push the slider all the way up? possibly set it on about 300 and see what happens? lower it if i start seeing issues?
so, i have a GeForce video card, but i have freesync monitors (i wanted higher refresh rate monitors but with low latency, and I couldnt afford gsync monitors at the time), so im not sure if the freesync is even functioning, and im just running off the monitors natural refresh rate. I had heard, i thought, that freesync and gsync are now interchangeable, which means i think you can now use a Gforce video card with freesync monitors through a Gsync compatible mode. should I be running this, or just leave that off?
if i do run it, are you saying that I should make sure that if im running my FPS higher than my refresh rate, to just set it to make sure my FPS never dips below my refresh rate?
Moar fps=moar skills
Yeah, you want your fps to be as high as possible, buts most gpus will have a sweet spot so it depends on your hardware, I purposely use a lower resolution (1600x900 on a 1440p monitor) to maximise fps and keep consistency
Set it to the highest number you can maintain during team fights. This will allow you to get the lowest consistent latency possible. It’ll keep the game responsive, but it’ll also avoid any inconsistency in that responsiveness due to frame drops.
so, should i be trying to use the Gsync function on my freesync monitors? or just leave that off and push up the framerate?
yeah, basically
I have v-sync and g-sync off because it really limits your frames in this fast paced game, most pros tend to have them off for maximum frames
its not like older game engines where the game just stops functioning beyond 1000fps
i have a 144 and set mine to either 120 or refresh +10
anything above what can be displayed is just gpu stress for nothing (but +10 for stability, even though it never fluctuates lol)
so i just tested it by playing a game, then going back and watching the replay of that game and watching the FPS monitor, i had my max fps set to 330 and it seemed to hold around 330, but when there was a bit of action on the screen, id see it drop below 300, down to about 290, and some low spikes down around 260, so I just lowered it to about 250, hoping that will stabilize it and not cause it to jump around. Framerate bouncing around is just as bad as having frames too low right?
It doesn’t matter. According to some test by battlenonsense, you can save about 2.5 ms of input latency on average going from 150 fps capped to rendering at 300. I’d imagine the amount of input latency you get from rendering 200 would be even less (perhaps about 0.83 ms if we use linear interpolation).
Depending on your monitor it might actually be more beneficial to overdrive your display and cap your fps to your monitor’s maximum refresh rate (to reduce tearing as most displays disable variable refresh rate when turning on overdrive).
Personally I’m running a Sunsung 240 Hz VA monitor and I get the best experience over driving my display to overcome the poor pixel response time of the VA panel and setting my frame rate limit to 241 Hz.
So if you use automatic it’ll set it at 144 which is ok but you need to make sure gsync/freesync is off because it would be better to be at 141.
You can use gsync on freesync monitors (there are rare cases you can’t) Open Nvidia control panel and go to gsync settings.
If you can run the game at like 300fps and you don’t get dips to 150 then it’ll be fine.
If it does dip below 144 then you should disable gsync.
If you want to use gsync and have no screen tearing then cap the game at 141fps.
I don’t like saying what is the BEST setup but I like running the game at just below hz cap so I can use gsync and honestly, the main reason I do this is that my computer runs less hot + uses less power.
Objectively, if you aren’t affected by screen tears (which will be hard to tell) then running the game at the highest fps possible is the most competitive because you get the lowest render time possible.
Even though you haven’t talked about it remember to set render scale to 100%.
300-280 would be fine in this case.
It does, it might be a minor difference or even a small difference <0.5% but it has an impact and understanding how you use the things you BUY to the fullest I would say is important. Like if you don’t want screen tearing or optimizing for latency it’s worth understanding what setting does what.
Which is about 8-10% reduction in overall latency.
you mention battlenonsense but his recommendation would be to run 4fps below so you can fully use gsync/freesync. You technically have your fps set at the worst possible setting. With 1 above you guarantee the fps will drop below your hz messing up sync (if you have it on) and if you don’t have it on you should set it well above that number.
So you are not optimizing for picture clarity or latency. You could set your monitor to be at 236 and have 0 screen tearing and have the same latency. I wouldn’t see this and say “It doesn’t matter” and ask “Why wouldn’t you when you paid for it?”
But yeah if you don’t care about using the things you pay for, that’s a you thing.
so, im not sure how to, or if i even can overdrive my display. Im using Acer XF270H monitors, using display ports as my input method vs HDMI… do you mind explaining what that means?
does using display port over hdmi have any effect on frame rate, or the use of GSync?
Ok, i just checked my Nvidia settings in windows…when I pull up the screen, under the “set up G-SYNC” link it has the following:
Enable G-SYNC, G-SYNC Compatible - is checked
Enable for full screen mode - is checked
Enable for windowed and full screen mode - is unchecked (which is fine because i never run OW in windowed mode)
Then it shows my displays and then under that it says:
Enable settings for the selected display model - this is unchecked (SHOULD this be checked? or leave it unchecked?)
under that it has an information bubble that says “Selected Display is not validated as G-SYNC Compatible” (i assume this is because it’s a Freesync monitor, so maybe windows doesnt recognize it as gsync compatible?)
anway, im just curious, would i get smoother performance and better response by just turning off GSYNC and setting my frames manually in game, or leaving it on an just setting it to 141 fps, like you mentioned?
sorry about all the questions, just trying to check to see that I have everything set up properly.
i just looked at mine, and its set to automatic. should that be hard set to 100%?
Yeah that’s normal, when action occurs framrate is going to dip
but does frame rate dropping like that cause issues with performance? i thought i heard that allowing frames to run up and down like that causes issues with smoothness, that capping them so they stay stable is the best approach. is that incorrect?
Not really, it depends on your settings and hardware. If you can hit capped fps on a scene with no action, it’s fine when it drops slightly when characters need to be rendered on screen (especially when everyone is in your screen) so it should be fine
I am having few issues myself:
Everyone is saying play in fullscreen and not borderless. And vsync off. But i am getting really crazy screen tearing this way that i don’t get in borderless. Is it better to play in fullscreen with vsync on or borderless with vsync off?
Also for whatever reason, i am getting fps drops during the gameplay every few seconds and during the team fights. So my second question is, are y’all using the low settings that are recommended by all the pros and high rank players? Is it true that totally turning off shadow or reflections can be a disadvantage?
And 3rd, is it true that Nvidia Reflex on + boost can destroy the GPU? Is it better to use on, or it’s recommended to use on + boost?
I have 1080p 75Hz monitor that is few years old, but on Ultra settings i am simply not able to get stable 75fps at all and i am also getting frame drops.
Short answer: Both are bad, and if you dont want tearing, invest in a freesync/gsync monitor.
Long answer: The issue is a bit complicated. Enabling vsync adds a considerable amount of latency to the game. Some people may not mind, but the general consensus is that you should never ever enable vsync. The reason you dont get tearing in borderless mode is likely because the game is being rendered by the desktop compositor, which will also add latency (can be both better or worse than vsync depending on your exact framerate), but it also means its composing the most recently finished frame instead of scanning directly to the display.
In both cases the added latency will likely be 1-2 frames (e.g. 16-32ms at 60hz).
Lower settings gives you a higher framerate, which will improve your minimum framerates (allowing for a more stable baseline). If your PC is high end enough it may not matter.
In terms of shadows/reflections: Technically having dynamic shadows can give you a small advantage - for example, you may see a pharah’s shadow on the ground from above you. But honestly I don’t think it matters that much. Reflections will not make any difference at all. Without raytracing nearly all reflections are implemented with a technique called screen-space reflections, which means it only reflects stuff thats already visible on screen anyway.
No it will not destroy your GPU. The +boost setting just always runs the GPU at max frequency, which is likely happening anyway. But the GPU will throttle itself appropriately based on thermal limits. No modern hardware will allow you to destroy your GPU with in game settings.
why would it destroy the gpu?
Just turn down the settings to low for maximum frames, this game is so watered down that even low settings look fine
this happens to everyones gpu, when other characters and effects appear on the screen, the gpu has to expend more energy to compute the effects and extra models on your screen, hence the lower frames
If you use Freesync and uncapped fps, you should turn on vsync
That you leave it out in any case is outdated
ive seen youtubers who say to put it on + boost. Ive had that setting on for a long time now and ive had no issues with it.