"GPU Max Buffered Frames" Setting.... what is this?

[jztemple]

Does anyone know what the setting in Graphics "GPU Max Buffered Frames" does or should be set at? I have a GTX 780 and I've tried it at "1" and up at "5" and I can't tell a difference. Is it only for lesser video cards or something like that?

Also, should I be concerned that this seems to be the French Steam discussion site? Is there an English one, or is this the site I should be using from the USA?

[Denton of Science]

It only has a impact if you activate Vsync. You Basicly tell your gpu how many frames it can prerender (higher value = higher delay but good vsync performance ; lower Values=lower delay but bad vsync performance)

[jztemple]

Thank Denton, I'll play around with it some more.

[Elvis II]

I don't think that setting is connected to v-sync at all. The v-sync setting has its own frame buffer settings. The GPU Max Buffered Frames does what Denton said about how many frames your GPU prerenders, but it definitely doesn't require V-Sync to work.

[Denton of Science]

without vsync your graphic card is rendering 1:1 it doesent save the frames, it does send the frames to your monitor like it generates it. With Vsync it saves/dumps the surplus to meet the Refresh Rate of the Monitor and the Buffered Setting defines how many frames it can prerender.

Basicly there are no Buffered Frames without Vsync

[Elvis II]

Originally posted by Denton:

without vsync your graphic card is rendering 1:1 it doesent save the frames, it does send the frames to your monitor like it generates it. With Vsync it saves/dumps the surplus to meet the Refresh Rate of the Monitor and the Buffered Setting defines how many frames it can prerender.

Basicly there are no Buffered Frames without Vsync

Then why does it impact my performance with vsync off?

[Theemee]

Originally posted by Elvis II:

Originally posted by Denton:

without vsync your graphic card is rendering 1:1 it doesent save the frames, it does send the frames to your monitor like it generates it. With Vsync it saves/dumps the surplus to meet the Refresh Rate of the Monitor and the Buffered Setting defines how many frames it can prerender.

Basicly there are no Buffered Frames without Vsync

Then why does it impact my performance with vsync off?

Because you don't use tripple buffering while using Vsync

[...]

Originally posted by Denton of Science:

It only has a impact if you activate Vsync. You Basicly tell your gpu how many frames it can prerender (higher value = higher delay but good vsync performance ; lower Values=lower delay but bad vsync performance)

I'm sorry, but you are wrong here. Max pre-rendered(buffered) frames is a number of frames that were prepared by CPU for the GPU. This setting put slightly more load on the CPU but it improves the performance while may increase the latency slightly. It's actually a good idea to set it to max available level, until that point where you'll be able to notice an input lag. As Elvis said(and Nvidia as well), it has nothing to do with a V-sync.

You can read more about it here: http://www.tweakguides.com/NVFORCE_7.html