Games look laggy despite high FPS

[Awenna]

I've tried to search for an answer everywhere but simply haven't found a fix to this.

The problem is that each and every game looks slightly laggy, 'low fps'ish' and I have a lot of screen tearing despite having 60-120 fps and using vsynch (tried both game's vsynch and the card's settings).

Especially when I'm turning in a shooter or have an object move close to the came in-game, the objects seem to leave a "trail" on the screen for a few frames. It's kinda like dragging a window when your computer is lagging and it leaves that white box behind itself for a while.

One way I've spotted the difference is by watching a stream of a game I have. In general they look waaay smoother. Generally their ~30fps looks smoother than my 90.

I'm running Windows 7,
ATI Radeon 6780 HD,
8GB RAM
and dual monitor, main one on a DVI cable (since I've heard VGA causes this kind of problems).


I hope you'll be able to help, I'll provide more information in case it's needed =)

[Legendary old man]

Sounds like ghosting which is a monitor response issue. Have you tried using just one monitor? Using 2 is going to cut your frames in 1/2 no matter what the game says it is running at. Also tearing is caused by vsync being off. Turning it on cures the issue. Disconnecting the second display will likely fix your issue.

[Awenna]

Disconnecting the second display has helped a tiny bit, but it's not huge by any means. =/

[Awenna]

I have the game on just my main monitor which is 60hz and according to fraps I'm running stuff at around +90 fps. Taking vsync on or off or playing with just one monitor does little, although it helps. I've only been able to test capping framerate in-game with GW2 which doesn't run well to begin with, so I don't really know. Hopefully that clarifies stuff a little for you.

But, sorry my ignorance, but IPS? TN? What? D=

[Spawn of Totoro]

What games are they?

[Awenna]

I have no clue, sorry. How can I find out?

And, the games I play are pretty much the following;
Dota 2, Starcraft 2, Team Fortress 2, Path of Exile, Symphony, Audiosurf, Natural Selection 2 and Trackmania =/

[Spawn of Totoro]

Sounds to me like a video card issue, worst case a motherboard one. Maybe underpowered, overheating or failing.

Especialy since some of those games aren't realy that hard on the card.

Do you have an extra card you can swap it out with to try?

I agree with facedown that the ghosting may be the monitor though.

Do you know it's refresh rate or Make and model?

[Awenna]

Refresh rate is 60hz, as said.
I upgraded my machine a while ago but I remember having the same problem with the previous card.

[Spawn of Totoro]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Awenna:

Refresh rate is 60hz, as said.
I upgraded my machine a while ago but I remember having the same problem with the previous card.

Let me rephrase that. What is the monitors MS (milliseconds) response time?

The 60 is the refresh rate.

Diposting pertama kali oleh Awenna:

Refresh rate is 60hz, as said.
I upgraded my machine a while ago but I remember having the same problem with the previous card.

What parts did you upgrade?

[Awenna]

I recall the response time is around 5ms, and I upgraded my GPU and memory in addition to overclocking my CPU.

[Spawn of Totoro]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Awenna:

I recall the response time is around 5ms, and I upgraded my GPU and memory in addition to overclocking my CPU.

Overclocking can cause additional heat build up. Try setting the processor to it's regular settings.

Other then that, It could also be the CPU, motherboard or power supply.

This is one of those issues that you would have to be able to swap out components for in order to isolate and fix.

Worst case, may want to contact a PC repair shop or take it to a friend with a lot of spare parts (assuming you don't).

[NoHoCake]

hey i had this problem and i fixed it wat you need to do is turn off what you are using to view your fps like fraps or anything els and turn v sync on this helped me alot let me know if it works

[Awenna]

Tried and it didn't work all that well. Vsync helps, yet it doens't fix the problem

[Marble]

If you enable Vsync, your FPS should not be any higher than your monitor refresh rate. If it's reporting 90FPS with Vsync enabled, it is likely that the problem is being caused by refresh rate being set higher than the monitor can support.

This can be set by right-clicking your desktop and selecting
Screen Resolution > Advanced Settings > Monitor

The option should also be on the Nvidia Control Panel or AMD Catalyst, whichever applies.

This would be the first thing to check, if it's set stupidly high then just lower it.

[Awenna]

I'm aware of what vsynch does, and yes, when it's enabled my FPS stays at 59-60, as it should. Still, it doesn't look all that good, and I can clearly see the difference looking at a game played on my system and with someone else's.

To clarify something; Path of Exile for example allows you to keep track of frame time in addition to FPS, and despite the frame rate being really stable, it still looks a tad choppy.