WHY you should NEVER run unlocked fps / framerate!

[Sethioz]

i still see so many players who run unlocked fps and then complain over performance issues, so let me explain this as short as possible, why you should NEVER play games with unlocked fps.

- Increased GPU/CPU Load: Unlimited FPS makes your GPU and CPU work constantly at max load, which increases power consumption, heat levels, and wear over time.

- Screen Tearing: If the frame rate exceeds the display’s refresh rate, it can cause tearing unless V-Sync, G-Sync, or FreeSync is enabled (which would no longer be unlocked).

- Unstable Frame Times: Higher frame rates don't always mean smoother gameplay; you might experience stuttering if frame times fluctuate, affecting smoothness.

- Input Delay: At very high frame rates, the game's input and physics processing can sometimes desync, leading to micro stutters or input delay.

- Human Limits: Human reaction times (~150–250ms) far exceed the differences in latency gained from unlocked FPS at high refresh rates. Beyond a point (e.g., 120–144 FPS), the practical advantage is basically not noticeable.

- Running unlocked framerate requires lot of resources, which can lead to background processes becoming unstable, for example some people have said that their mouse or keyboard "disconnects" while playing, but works fine in windows. That's most likely due the issue that their PC is under 100% load and since game is being prioritized, there's simply not enough resources to handle those background processes. Or it can simply come down to PSU not being powerful enough or is overheating.

- Human eye can't detect over 150 hertz in normal conditions. Hertz is unit of measurement for flickering of your monitor. Flicker, as in "refresh rate". 60 hertz = monitor updates the image 60 times per second aka 60 frames per second aka 60fps
So even if you have 120hz monitor and run 150fps, then it means your monitor will drop 30 frames every second as it can't display over 120.
Research shows that in special conditions, some people are able to detect 200+ hertz, but it's in special conditions. I think world record is about 500hz, but those are rare and it won't give you any advantage in a game. In gaming, 150hz monitor with 150fps is more than enough. In most cases 120hz will do fine.

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Those of you who talk about input latency, yes it is correct that unlocked fps CAN help with input latency, but it only matters if game is badly optimized and has framerate linked to input processing. here's detailed explanation:

+ Games with Separate Input and Graphics: If a game decouples input processing from frame rendering (common in well-optimized engines), FPS won't impact input latency. Inputs are processed at a fixed rate independent of visual updates, so even at low FPS, the game registers inputs accurately.

+ Games with FPS-Linked Input Processing: In games where input handling is tied to frame rendering, FPS directly impacts input latency. At 30 FPS, input updates occur ~33ms apart, while at 150 FPS, they occur ~6.7ms apart, resulting in much smoother and faster responsiveness. This difference can dramatically affect gameplay, especially in fast-paced scenarios.

Counter-Strike 2 separates input processing from rendering, so input detection is not directly tied to frame rate. The game incorporates technologies like NVIDIA Reflex to reduce input lag, prioritizing responsiveness over graphics, which is essential in competitive play. Lower FPS may still feel less responsive overall due to reduced visual fluidity, but the game detects inputs consistently regardless of FPS​.

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YES, some of those things are taken from chatGPT, cuz i can't bother writing what i already know, it was easier to ask chatGPT to explain it with better detail. if you don't believe me nor chatGPT, do your own research, you will find exactly same info. ... or you can ignore advice from expert and keep frying your PC :)

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What is unlocked fps for then?
- benchmarking: good when you want to compare 2 graphics cards, it's best to measure what is the max FPS they can run a certain game at with same settings, so it gives you a good idea how much powerful one model is from another.

- stress testing: if you want to test your PC and make sure everything is in order, you can run game with unlocked for 1-2 hours and if it doesn't crash nor overheat, then it means your PC is built properly. It's what PC builders do, they stress test before selling them to make sure everything functions properly. However most PC builders use special software for stress testing, not games.

So if you care about your computer, power bill and want smooth gaming experience, DO NOT run unlocked fps.

[Sethioz]

引用自 kabanod1m #NotoToxicity：

引用自 Sethioz：

ah ah ... good point.
i should have re-phrased it, they are doing this not because it matters in gaming, but because it's a good marketing trick and fools lot of people who don't know what DPI really is or what it does.

proves my point, those 144+ hertz monitors are for those who blindly believe that my entire post is wrong, so they spend more money on 250hz monitor or even 500hz monitor (if it even exists), thinking that it gives them advantage, when in reality they are just throwing their money out.

better hardware and better performance does give them advantage but when it's in the higher end already improvements are too negligible compared to learning grenade lineups or training on an aim map

yeah indeed. this advantage is limited by how fast your brain can process information, which for average human is below 150 hertz. Even if your brain can detect like 300 hertz, then it won't really give you any advantage in terms of being able to shoot smoother or more accurately.

If you'd have 2 AI-based robots playing against eachother, then absolutely higher fps would have advantage (assuming that those robots have cameras that can detect like 10000 hertz). But on human level, 144hz is all you need for competitive gaming.

If you put 2 similarly skilled players against eachother and one has 144hz and other has 250hz, then i assure you, they will be evenly matched and this extra fps won't help.
but if you do same test with 30fps vs 120fps, then absolutely it will give advantage to 120fps player.

[kabanod1m #NotoToxicity]

引用自 Sethioz：

引用自 kabanod1m #NotoToxicity：

better hardware and better performance does give them advantage but when it's in the higher end already improvements are too negligible compared to learning grenade lineups or training on an aim map

yeah indeed. this advantage is limited by how fast your brain can process information, which for average human is below 150 hertz. Even if your brain can detect like 300 hertz, then it won't really give you any advantage in terms of being able to shoot smoother or more accurately.

If you'd have 2 AI-based robots playing against eachother, then absolutely higher fps would have advantage (assuming that those robots have cameras that can detect like 10000 hertz). But on human level, 144hz is all you need for competitive gaming.

If you put 2 similarly skilled players against eachother and one has 144hz and other has 250hz, then i assure you, they will be evenly matched and this extra fps won't help.
but if you do same test with 30fps vs 120fps, then absolutely it will give advantage to 120fps player.

or even 30fps vs 60fps :D

[onemeow]

引用自 kabanod1m #NotoToxicity：

better hardware and better performance does give them advantage

Not in the case, when you hardware is literally faster and precise then your biological body could ever be. If you are a robot, and you could move your 10000dpi mouse on less then millimeters with precise, or you are able to react on 360fps frametime, which is 3 ms, then you are right, it gives you advantage. In all other cases, when you are human, it doesn't gives you any advantage, it just gives you a little bit smoother experience.

I could bet, that, if you take usual 360hz monitor, take some pro player, and said to him, that it is an 1000hz monitor, I believe that he would perform a little bit better, and after game, tells you that this monitor is a cheat. It just because the power of suggestion exists. Placebo is an example.

[kabanod1m #NotoToxicity]

引用自 onemeow：

引用自 kabanod1m #NotoToxicity：

better hardware and better performance does give them advantage

Not in the case, when you hardware is literally faster and precise then your biological body could ever be. If you are a robot, and you could move your 10000dpi mouse on less then millimeters with precise, or you are able to react on 360fps frametime, which is 3 ms, then you are right, it gives you advantage. In all other cases, when you are human, it doesn't gives you any advantage, it just gives you a little bit smoother experience.

I could bet, that, if you take usual 360hz monitor, take some pro player, and said to him, that it is an 1000hz monitor, I believe that he would perform a little bit better, and after game, tells you that this monitor is a cheat. It just because the power of suggestion exists. Placebo is an example.

yes, it gives you a little bit smoother experience — and that's literally the point;
yes, we are just humans, we are not as precise as robots and that's exactly the point — have you never felt that SOMETHING is wrong without being able to tell what exactly?

like how you look at a logo and feel like it's off center, while it's actually centered, but a shadow inside of the logo makes it look like it's not — so that's why most logos, like Google, or YouTube, are actually uncentered. but they FEEL right.

same concepts carry over to only just feeling like there's something wrong with the game

like the biggest placebo ever in CS? 4:3 resolution! it's literally all disadvantages — players move faster across your screen, you see less on the sides, your sensitivity is different on X and Y access, but it makes people play better! scientifically it's all disadvantages (with one advantage of making player models appear wider) but feeling-wise it feels better for most (~75% of pro) players.

we can't scientifically tell why, actually science knows the least about 3 things — ocean, space and brains. but we can feel it; so that's why my recommendation to try it out for yourself and see what works best for you stands.

personally I can't see much difference between 60 fps and 45 fps so I play games on 45 Hz on my Steam Deck to save battery, but I can see a HUGE difference between 60 and 144 Hz, and even between 144 Hz and 180 Hz even when I just move my cursor on the desktop.

[Sethioz]

引用自 onemeow：

引用自 kabanod1m #NotoToxicity：

better hardware and better performance does give them advantage

Not in the case, when you hardware is literally faster and precise then your biological body could ever be. If you are a robot, and you could move your 10000dpi mouse on less then millimeters with precise, or you are able to react on 360fps frametime, which is 3 ms, then you are right, it gives you advantage. In all other cases, when you are human, it doesn't gives you any advantage, it just gives you a little bit smoother experience.

I could bet, that, if you take usual 360hz monitor, take some pro player, and said to him, that it is an 1000hz monitor, I believe that he would perform a little bit better, and after game, tells you that this monitor is a cheat. It just because the power of suggestion exists. Placebo is an example.

glad to see someone with common sense ^^

i think 360hz is aimed too high, research shows that majority of humans are barely able to tell any difference between 144hz and 240hz. barely, means that only if there's side-by-side comparison, they notice difference. it's kind of like with colors, if you look at one color ... wait 10-20 seconds and then look at another color that is almost same, but slightly darker or brighter, then you won't notice the difference, but if you put them side-by-side under same light, you'll notice the difference only cuz transition from one to another is not clean and it makes a slight "line", which is why you'd notice it.
same goes for refresh rate, most people only barely notice if you point it out and do side by side comparison.

I think if you'd take 100 pro players and give them 144hz monitor, but lock game to 240fps and tell them it's 240hz monitor, then at least 90 of them wouldn't notice that it's not 240hz monitor.

[kabanod1m #NotoToxicity]

引用自 Sethioz：

引用自 onemeow：

Not in the case, when you hardware is literally faster and precise then your biological body could ever be. If you are a robot, and you could move your 10000dpi mouse on less then millimeters with precise, or you are able to react on 360fps frametime, which is 3 ms, then you are right, it gives you advantage. In all other cases, when you are human, it doesn't gives you any advantage, it just gives you a little bit smoother experience.

I could bet, that, if you take usual 360hz monitor, take some pro player, and said to him, that it is an 1000hz monitor, I believe that he would perform a little bit better, and after game, tells you that this monitor is a cheat. It just because the power of suggestion exists. Placebo is an example.

glad to see someone with common sense ^^

i think 360hz is aimed too high, research shows that majority of humans are barely able to tell any difference between 144hz and 240hz. barely, means that only if there's side-by-side comparison, they notice difference. it's kind of like with colors, if you look at one color ... wait 10-20 seconds and then look at another color that is almost same, but slightly darker or brighter, then you won't notice the difference, but if you put them side-by-side under same light, you'll notice the difference only cuz transition from one to another is not clean and it makes a slight "line", which is why you'd notice it.
same goes for refresh rate, most people only barely notice if you point it out and do side by side comparison.

I think if you'd take 100 pro players and give them 144hz monitor, but lock game to 240fps and tell them it's 240hz monitor, then at least 90 of them wouldn't notice that it's not 240hz monitor.

yes, definitely they won't be able to tell and will only be right in 50% of cases, just like with the tickrate (where players were tasked to blindly guess whether they're playing on a 64 tick server or on a 128 tick server, and secretly some were playing on a 49 tick server and ~50% of people mistook 49 ticks for 128!!!)

human perception is based on comparisons and is exponential, compare numbers 10 with 100 and 10530 with 10620 — difference between them is the same in both cases but difference between 10 and 100 feels bigger.

but of course it doesn't mean that you'll be happy secretly playing on a 49 tick server at 60 Hz forever after having played at 144 Hz on 128 tick for your whole life, eventually you'll be sure that something is wrong

[Sethioz]

引用自 kabanod1m #NotoToxicity：

引用自 Sethioz：

glad to see someone with common sense ^^

i think 360hz is aimed too high, research shows that majority of humans are barely able to tell any difference between 144hz and 240hz. barely, means that only if there's side-by-side comparison, they notice difference. it's kind of like with colors, if you look at one color ... wait 10-20 seconds and then look at another color that is almost same, but slightly darker or brighter, then you won't notice the difference, but if you put them side-by-side under same light, you'll notice the difference only cuz transition from one to another is not clean and it makes a slight "line", which is why you'd notice it.
same goes for refresh rate, most people only barely notice if you point it out and do side by side comparison.

I think if you'd take 100 pro players and give them 144hz monitor, but lock game to 240fps and tell them it's 240hz monitor, then at least 90 of them wouldn't notice that it's not 240hz monitor.

yes, definitely they won't be able to tell and will only be right in 50% of cases, just like with the tickrate (where players were tasked to blindly guess whether they're playing on a 64 tick server or on a 128 tick server, and secretly some were playing on a 49 tick server and ~50% of people mistook 49 ticks for 128!!!)

human perception is based on comparisons and is exponential, compare numbers 10 with 100 and 10530 with 10620 — difference between them is the same in both cases but difference between 10 and 100 feels bigger.

but of course it doesn't mean that you'll be happy secretly playing on a 49 tick server at 60 Hz forever after having played at 144 Hz on 128 tick for your whole life, eventually you'll be sure that something is wrong

that's true, human perception is a curious thing. those who are aware of their own senses, are more aware in general. i'd like to think i have really high senses, but i wouldn't blindly be able to tell difference between many things. i'd need comparison to be able to tell the difference.

unfortunetly i don't have high refresh rate monitor, so i can't test this and i doubt i get anything above 144hz any time soon. i'm 100% sure i can instantly tell difference between 60 and 144 without side-by-side comparison, but not so sure if i can tell difference between 120 and 144 or 144 and 200.

also i agree with the last part that if you are used to playing on 144hz and 128 tick and then someone secretly changes either of them, you'd be able to tell the difference quite easily.
you can call it evolution, all biological beings evolve and adapt to their environment, so if you play every day for hours, your body adapts and you'll be able to notice things that most people wouldn't.
i think 128 tick is not necessary at all, 64 tick is more than enough.
when most players wont be able to tell difference between 64 and 128, they will be able to tell difference between 32 and 64 tick servers quite easily.

[peon]

The main reasoning I see people say to unlock fps on cs2 is because it helps with those 1% lows. Which happen alot in cs2. I guess the new amd processors are strong enough to handle whatever the game is processing in the background. Alot of it happens when pointing and shooting which makes me think it has something to do with player analytics.

It prolly doesnt matter as much in cs2, since they have "sub tick" now, but in the original engine and in source, generally even if your monitor couldnt take advantage of the extra frames, input did which is why people swear that the game felt more responsive that way.

Nowadays, most people who unlock their fps are prolly using very high refresh rate monitors, like 240+, which id rather have a nice hdr oled than a 300 fps monitor.

But to each their own.

[Sethioz]

引用自 peon：

The main reasoning I see people say to unlock fps on cs2 is because it helps with those 1% lows. Which happen alot in cs2. I guess the new amd processors are strong enough to handle whatever the game is processing in the background. Alot of it happens when pointing and shooting which makes me think it has something to do with player analytics.

It prolly doesnt matter as much in cs2, since they have "sub tick" now, but in the original engine and in source, generally even if your monitor couldnt take advantage of the extra frames, input did which is why people swear that the game felt more responsive that way.

Nowadays, most people who unlock their fps are prolly using very high refresh rate monitors, like 240+, which id rather have a nice hdr oled than a 300 fps monitor.

But to each their own.

those 1% lows are caused by hardware bottleneck, it only happens if your PC is barely able to sustain the fps you lock it on or when running unlocked.

If you set your graphics settings properly, so that your GPU never goes over 90% under any circumstances (it should hover around 70% average), then you don't get those 1% lows at all.

my PC is quite old, i have i7-6700k and gtx 1080, but i have no issues with CS2. i run it in native 1440p 60fps with most settings on high (or as high as they go) and my GPU usage is only like 50%, with FSR i get it down to 30%.
my pc is taking a nap while playing cs2, however in main menu GPU usage goes to like 50-60%, no idea why, but who cares about the menu.


what you describing with older cs games, is probably because at some point graphics and input procesing were linked, which means that higher fps = lower input lag, but cs2 has it unlinked. unlinked means that input lag is not affected by low fps. if you have 30fps, then you can still click button 60 times a second and it would register, altho i can't see anyone clicking that fast.
only a macro user would notice difference.

those who buy those extremely high fps monitors ... i assure you, they have NEVER done a comparison between 144 and even 240, they just think it's better, but they never tried. i'm sure of it. just like most players who think that having more RAM, will somehow improve performance. it's a misconception. amount of ram does not affect gaming at all, it only becomes a factor if you have below what game requires to load itself into memory. lets say game requires 4gb of ram, then you'd need about 6gb total for smooth gameplay.
there aren't many games that use more than 8gb these days.
it's same principle with monitors, people buy without testing nor thinking, they just think "WOW 300hz monitor I WANT!!" .. but they don't actually know if it makes a difference.

[Uni]

引用自 Sethioz：

引用自 peon：

The main reasoning I see people say to unlock fps on cs2 is because it helps with those 1% lows. Which happen alot in cs2. I guess the new amd processors are strong enough to handle whatever the game is processing in the background. Alot of it happens when pointing and shooting which makes me think it has something to do with player analytics.

It prolly doesnt matter as much in cs2, since they have "sub tick" now, but in the original engine and in source, generally even if your monitor couldnt take advantage of the extra frames, input did which is why people swear that the game felt more responsive that way.

Nowadays, most people who unlock their fps are prolly using very high refresh rate monitors, like 240+, which id rather have a nice hdr oled than a 300 fps monitor.

But to each their own.

those 1% lows are caused by hardware bottleneck, it only happens if your PC is barely able to sustain the fps you lock it on or when running unlocked.

If you set your graphics settings properly, so that your GPU never goes over 90% under any circumstances (it should hover around 70% average), then you don't get those 1% lows at all.

my PC is quite old, i have i7-6700k and gtx 1080, but i have no issues with CS2. i run it in native 1440p 60fps with most settings on high (or as high as they go) and my GPU usage is only like 50%, with FSR i get it down to 30%.
my pc is taking a nap while playing cs2, however in main menu GPU usage goes to like 50-60%, no idea why, but who cares about the menu.

I care a little, not the only game where GPU works harder in menu than in game. Really wierd, they could lock the menu to 30FPS?

(On a side note, I have a i7-6700K with a 970 lying behind me. Never gave me any problems, great clocking potential with that CPU.)

[kabanod1m #NotoToxicity]

引用自 Sethioz：

what you describing with older cs games, is probably because at some point graphics and input procesing were linked, which means that higher fps = lower input lag, but cs2 has it unlinked. unlinked means that input lag is not affected by low fps.

引用自 kabanod1m #NotoToxicity：

by the way, can anyone please source the claim that CS2 has input and framerate separated? because I feel like mouse for sure isn't, + when my game freezes my inputs seem to be completely dropped

if inputs were to be separated from game client's framerate, the game would've had async timewarp correction for the camera, but it doesn't

can you please answer this regarding inputs being unlinked from rendering in cs2?
because I'm pretty sure that's not the case

[Uni]

Seems we need this post back in at top of the forum, a gentle bump.

[火 Natalia]

+

[Pleasure to troll you.]

引用自 Sethioz：

引用自 danka：

i play 300 fps

perfect example of why i made this post, so many players who are unaware of how computers work on basic level.
300fps = waste of resources, specially if your monitor can't even show that much.

if you have 120hz monitor, it means 180 frames per second are constantly being disgarded. it's like going to shop and paying 300 dollars for something that costs 120 dollars.

even if you found 300hz monitor, it's still waste, because i'm quite sure your eyes won't detect more than 150hz, MAYBE 200, but i highly doubt it.

thats why people like you never see difference between 64 ticks and 120 tickrate, for you CSGO feels same as random-strike2 and you see no problem whatsoever. Your brains are half deaf half blind but keep on opening cases for 0.5$ skins. Good job, keep it going.

[Sethioz]

引用自 Pleasure to kill you：

引用自 Sethioz：

perfect example of why i made this post, so many players who are unaware of how computers work on basic level.
300fps = waste of resources, specially if your monitor can't even show that much.

if you have 120hz monitor, it means 180 frames per second are constantly being disgarded. it's like going to shop and paying 300 dollars for something that costs 120 dollars.

even if you found 300hz monitor, it's still waste, because i'm quite sure your eyes won't detect more than 150hz, MAYBE 200, but i highly doubt it.

thats why people like you never see difference between 64 ticks and 120 tickrate, for you CSGO feels same as random-strike2 and you see no problem whatsoever. Your brains are half deaf half blind but keep on opening cases for 0.5$ skins. Good job, keep it going.

wow you figured all this out from a post that relies on scientific research and facts?

1) i haven't opened any cases since 2015
2) i haven't played this game for over 6 months
3) i'm neither deaf nor blind, in fact i have hypersensitive hearing and my sight is better than of average person.

4) if you would have done ANY research at all, you'd find my csgo and cs2 pro gaming videos, where you can see me play with tournament players on pro level.

5) you say all those things without having tested any of them. i assure you, that you won't be able to make a difference between 120hz and 144hz, nor are you able to make difference between 64 and 128 tick servers.
120 tick rate doesn't even exist, you clearly don't understand why tick rate is 32, 64 and 128, you throw those numbers randomly without knowing what they even mean.

also you don't understand that it is scientific FACT that average human reaction time is about 200ms. you can test this yourself on various online websites, like this one: https://humanbenchmark.com/tests/reactiontime/
those are not 100% accurate, but it gives you good idea of how it works.
instead of insults, how about you test yourself?
i doubt you even understand how this is related to tick rate, so let me explain this to you: 128 tick rate, means that server updates 128 times per second, that is beyond what humans can even detect.

based on what you said, i'm 100% sure you have NEVER tested 120hz monitor vs 144hz monitor either, you would never be able to tell the difference. you just resort to childish insults instead of testing yourself.

least you could do, is spend some time doing research and looking up scientific facts, before replying with insults.

if i had more money, just to prove my point, i would invite you to test different monitors running at different hertz, but same fps (like 300fps, but different hertz), i assure you 100%, you'd get it all wrong.
as much as you wish to be, you're not a superman nor cyborg, you have human senses and you won't be able to detect something that is humanly impossible.

but by all means, keep throwing those cheap insults, it makes you look a lot smarter ;)