Help: FPS drop 60 to 59/30 to 29

[MadMan861]

Hi guys,

I just got a brand new pc, after being absent for a couple of years from steam and playing on ps4/ps3.

What I have noticed, is that in most games there are split second stutters, where the frame rate drops to 59 (from 60) or 29 (from 30). This seems to happen in all games and it doesn't matter what I do with the settings. I do turn on Vsync, because I just can't enjoy a game with all those screen tears.

For example, Portal 2 runs with about 200+ frames with vsync disabled, but with vsync on, there are split second stutters and I can see the fps counter dropping to 59.

The same thing happens with Ryse Son of Rome, where the game drops to 29 from 30. Even if I set everything to low, the fps drops still happen.

What irks me is that on consoles a drop does not introduce stutters like on the pc. I have played ryse on the xbox one and while the fps are worse than on the pc, the drops do not introduce a stutter as is seen on pc.

I have tried forcing the vsync and adaptve vsync through the nvidia control panel (disabled the game vsync), but nothing changed.

The graphics blow me away, but I am saddend that the experience has been somewhat dulled because of the stutters.

Can anyone please help me with this problem? Getting a $800 gsync monitor can't be the only solution.

My specs:
Kingston 16 GB DDR4-RAM
Intel i7 6700k 4GHz (4.2 GHz Turbo)
nVidia Asus Strix GTX 960 DC2OC 2GB GDDR5
850 EVO Basic SSD (windows 10 on here)
WD HDD 2000GB (all games are on here)
Corsair 750 W power supply

[MadMan861]

I'm staring to think my video card is broken :(

[Tev]

EDIT: You could consider frame limiter instead of Vsync though.

i.e. See if Portal 2 works any better with +fps_max 61 in its launch options.

Some games drop you to 30fps Vsync if you're between 31 and 59 area; and 60 only if you're above 60 frames per second. Viktor Vran is the first game in my mind that I can think of doing this.

[3к поряды]

)

[MadMan861]

I did use the ingame frame limiter for Ryse son of rome, but that didn't stop it from dropping to 29.

[Tev]

What kind of framerates are you seeing in Ryse: Son of Rome without Vsync?

Not saying you should keep it disabled, but just wondering if it could be similar to my Viktor Vran scenario where framerates between 30 and 60 are locked to 30 and framerates above 60 are locked to 60.

[MadMan861]

Without vsync i get between 40 and 55 frames depending on the area.

[Tev]

Originally posted by rcama861:

Without vsync i get between 40 and 55 frames depending on the area.

And in those scenarios, with Vsync the FPS is locked to 30?

Next time you get 60 FPS with Vsync, could you try disabling Vsync again and seeing your framerate?

[MadMan861]

Yes, the vsync is locked to 30 but randomly drops to 29. There are rare drops to 24, but i have only seen those once or twice.

[MadMan861]

I can try that, but those areas are usually just me looking at a wall or when i am in a small building.

[Tev]

Okay, you could also try dropping your settings as a test until you get above 60 FPS framerate; then try enabling Vsync and see how it is?

[MadMan861]

In Ryse there is barely a difference between low and high, so the framerate barely changes (console port). I already tried that. I did that with Portal 2 though ( went from max to medium) and the drops from 60 to 59 still happen.

[Tev]

Well, 60 to 59 is understandable considering Vsync isn't perfect, and happens on my card too.

But 60 to 30 is what I'm wondering about; and I'm thinking it's due to how the game enforces FPS to 30 if it's wandering between 30 and 60 in Ryse.

[MadMan861]

So i checked again last night. The game runs in the forest area between 35-50 (most of the time above 35) with no vsync. With vsync there were multiple drops to 29.

[Washell]

Originally posted by rcama861:

Yes, the vsync is locked to 30 but randomly drops to 29. There are rare drops to 24, but i have only seen those once or twice.

Vsync can't do that. It's refresh rate divided by an integer. If your display is 60Hz, vsync can do 60/1 (60fps), 60/2 (30fps), 60/3 (20fps) and so on. The numbers you're seeing is the counter messing up while Vsync is switching between 30 fps and 20 fps, which is quite jarring.

Either lower resolution and/or settings so the game can stay above 30fps, or turn of vsync and live with the tearing. Or spend money on a better GPU.

[MancSoulja]

Originally posted by Washell:

Originally posted by rcama861:

Yes, the vsync is locked to 30 but randomly drops to 29. There are rare drops to 24, but i have only seen those once or twice.

Vsync can't do that. It's refresh rate divided by an integer. If your display is 60Hz, vsync can do 60/1 (60fps), 60/2 (30fps), 60/3 (20fps) and so on. The numbers you're seeing is the counter messing up while Vsync is switching between 30 fps and 20 fps, which is quite jarring.

Either lower resolution and/or settings so the game can stay above 30fps, or turn of vsync and live with the tearing. Or spend money on a better GPU.

^This is 100% the correct answer.