Framepacing issues in the game

[Majestic]

So can anyone with a screen that is worth a damn (freesync/g-sync) confirm if this also the case when running unlocked framerate within the variable refresh-window?

[Mant0r]

Seem's fine to me, but I built my system for VR so I'm probably making up any shortcomings with brute force.

I'm running 4k resolution via DSR on a 1080 freesync monitor running in gsync mode on a 3080 with a 5800x.

I'm getting framerates between 100 and 120 outside, 120 solid inside. Frametimes between 8 and 10 ms, which is about right for that framerate. Unlike what the Internet seems to report, I haven't observed any spikes. I also, admittedly, haven't played it a huge amount yet.

Completely uncapped the game will run at 125 fps, but I have it capped at 120 just via nvidia control panel. I also have vsync set to 'fast', which is the best way to uncap the framerate. Without doing this, it'll run at 65 fps and the frame times will be all over the place. Also seems a bit jumpy if you let it do its own thing at 125.

People talk about setting low latency mode to ultra to unlock framerate. I'm not entirely sure why this is a thing. The game certainly doesn't support Reflex, so it shouldn't do anything. I think the benefit is from low latency mode disabling gsync or doing something with vsync. Not sure.

With that said there's definitely something wonky. There's a lot of web stuff of people having wierd framerate and frametime issues and even audio issues with really strange 'fixes' like opening VLC in the background, opening a chrome window with a paused youtube video, etc. I haven't had to do anything funky like that though.

[Majestic]

Originally posted by Mant0r:

With that said there's definitely something wonky. There's a lot of web stuff of people having wierd framerate and frametime issues and even audio issues with really strange 'fixes' like opening VLC in the background, opening a chrome window with a paused youtube video, etc. I haven't had to do anything funky like that though.

I get that. But you're saying that with an unlocked framerate and a decent system, it ain't so bad? Not talking absolute fps, just the framepacing not being as bad as highlighted, because I rekon most are running vsync.

It's not like the original ran perfectly, mind you...

[Mant0r]

Originally posted by Majestic:

Originally posted by Mant0r:

With that said there's definitely something wonky. There's a lot of web stuff of people having wierd framerate and frametime issues and even audio issues with really strange 'fixes' like opening VLC in the background, opening a chrome window with a paused youtube video, etc. I haven't had to do anything funky like that though.

I get that. But you're saying that with an unlocked framerate and a decent system, it ain't so bad? Not talking absolute fps, just the framepacing not being as bad as highlighted, because I rekon most are running vsync.

It's not like the original ran perfectly, mind you...

Not bad at all, and having played a bit more.. I just did some driving and a bit of insurance fraud,... It's smooth as butter.

[Majestic]

I do see what people mean, driving around it stutters ever so slightly. I think it's an asset streaming issue. Though oddly, lowering the quality of the assets doesn't improve the situation... It is also only running on 4 CPU threads, and your 5800X is in terms of IPC quite a bit faster than my 2600X. Could be the difference, not sure ofc.

I would say it def. is not annoying enough to put me off from playing it. But it is there. Though I think if you were to have these minor stutters with V-sync on, it would revert back to half-refresh every frame that didn't meet the threshold so you'd get 30fps, 60fps, 30fps, 60fps. And make it a lot worse.

Ahhh...the benefits of having variable refresh i guess :)

[Mant0r]

It's true. For the most part it's the downside of any open world or asset streaming game. I think technologies like Directstorage is really going to be a gamechanger here.

You're also right, the speed and IPC of this 5800x is nuts. I upgraded a few months ago from a 3700x and the difference was very real.

People tend to focus so much on the negative though. Compared to the original Saints Row 3 and the hardware that existed at the time... I used crossfire Radeon 5850s which would *constantly* revert to single GPU with negative performance regression and become a stuttery mess. Compared to crap like that, this is a real treat.

[Iggy Wolf]

I notice a distinct microstutter. It's there regardless of the FPS, because I'll have smooth 61-62 FPS, and it won't even change one frame during that stutter, but you'll still notice the stutter anyway (hence, "microstutter). I don't know if it was there in the original (in the original, there might have been no stutter, but different parts of the map would have the FPS drop to the low 40s and 30s, so frame pacing and/or FPS spikes have always been a problem even since the original). This one seemed to fix the FPS spikes that were there regardless of hardware, but introduced microstutter instead.