Software out there to cap framerates?

[Dreakon13]

I'm having all kinds of trouble with VSYNC and achieving stable framerates while not dealing with horrendeous screen tearing. Lots of jarring framerate jumps between 60fps and 30fps (as VSYNC is known to do). Tried using Triple Buffering, but even with D3DOverrider, it seems hit and miss when it actually wants to work.

So a friend suggested some movie recording software called Dxtory that has the ability to cap my framerate at 60 (my refresh rate). This prevents the framerate from going above the refresh rate, so no screen tearing, without the frustrating side effects that VSYNC has.

That being said, this Dxtory software is not free... and I don't care for the overlay or additional features. I really just want to be able to run something in the background to cap the framerate without the bells and whistles. Is there any software out there that does just that? Thanks!

[Bad 💀 Motha]

MSI Afterburner, enable the OSD features and then in RivaTuner u can enable any cap u wish.

[Dreakon13]

Really? Interesting. I already have MSI Afterburner. I'm not seeing anything in the settings about OSD features though... and I need this additional RivaTuner software to finish the job?

[Andrius227]

Originally posted by Please Hold On:

Really? Interesting. I already have MSI Afterburner. I'm not seeing anything in the settings about OSD features though... and I need this additional RivaTuner software to finish the job?

Rivatuner comes with afterburner. It should be running in the background with afterburner at all times, at least it does for me. I can find it in the bottom right side near the clock and other stuff, open it, and change settings there.

[Dreakon13]

I think when I initially installed MSI Afterburner, I must've deselected Rivatuner thinking it was unnecessary. There was an update to Afterburner anyways, so I reinstalled it and kept it this time. Who knew the option was at my fingertips all along.

Oddly enough, I'm still getting some screen tearing even capping at 60fps (hell, I was seeing it at 30fps since I tried that too just for kicks)... which goes against everything I thought I knew about screen tearing (it's the framerate going OVER the refresh rate). So either NVIDIA control panel is lying to me about refresh rates, or the game isn't actually being capped? I'm not entirely sure what to think. But I'm going to keep playing with it. Thanks for the help guys!

[Andrius227]

Originally posted by Please Hold On:

I think when I initially installed MSI Afterburner, I must've deselected Rivatuner thinking it was unnecessary. There was an update to Afterburner anyways, so I reinstalled it and kept it this time. Who knew the option was at my fingertips all along. :ghlol:

Oddly enough, I'm still getting some screen tearing even capping at 60fps (hell, I was seeing it at 30fps since I tried that too just for kicks)... which goes against everything I thought I knew about screen tearing (it's the framerate going OVER the refresh rate). So either NVIDIA control panel is lying to me about refresh rates, or the game isn't actually being capped? I'm not entirely sure what to think. :lol: But I'm going to keep playing with it. Thanks for the help guys!

Screen tearing doesnt just happen when framerate is above your monitors refresh rate, but when the framerate is not EXACTLY THE SAME as your monitors refresh rate. Basically, you MUST use vsync to get rid of tearing. No other way, simple framerate cap is not gonna help.

I personally use a gsync monitor. Never experience any tearing, no matter if i run 50fps or 144...

[Dreakon13]

Originally posted by Andrius227:

Screen tearing doesnt just happen when framerate is above your monitors refresh rate, but when the framerate is not EXACTLY THE SAME as your monitors refresh rate.

No ♥♥♥♥? Hmm... that's interesting. Live and learn, I guess. Screen tearing seems inevitable without a beefy rig to never go below 60fps no matter what... or a monitor specially built to withstand it.

[Andrius227]

Originally posted by Please Hold On:

Originally posted by Andrius227:

Screen tearing doesnt just happen when framerate is above your monitors refresh rate, but when the framerate is not EXACTLY THE SAME as your monitors refresh rate.

No ♥♥♥♥? Hmm... that's interesting. Live and learn, I guess. Screen tearing seems inevitable without a beefy rig to never go below 60fps no matter what... or a monitor specialy built to withstand it.

I'm not sure, but i think that having vsync enabled removes tearing even if you do drop below 60. So you should use it.

[MrMcSwifty]

Yep... the whole "capping frames at your refresh rate prevents screen tearing" is a common myth that I wish would go away.

You cannot completely remove screen tearing without Vsync (excluding the Freesync, Gsync, etc that's available now).

If it was as simple as capping your frame rate then there would have never been a reason for Vsync to exist to begin with! :P

[Dreakon13]

Originally posted by Andrius227:

I'm not sure, but i think that having vsync enabled removes tearing even if you do drop below 60. So you should use it.

But VSYNC locks my framerate at multiples of my refresh rate. So if it steps even 0.01 frames below 60... it drops to 30fps. That's a very jarring drop to happen randomly, especially in tense gaming moments. Triple Buffering is supposed to remedy that, but seems unreliable at best (even with third party software "forcing" it). Last night I couldn't get it to work for the life of me, and this morning it was working fine.

[Andrius227]

Originally posted by Please Hold On:

Originally posted by Andrius227:

I'm not sure, but i think that having vsync enabled removes tearing even if you do drop below 60. So you should use it.

But VSYNC locks my framerate at multiples of my refresh rate. So if it steps even 0.01 frames below 60... it drops to 30fps. That's a very jarring drop to happen randomly, especially in tense gaming moments. Triple Buffering is supposed to remedy that, but seems unreliable at best (even with third party software "forcing" it). Last night I couldn't get it to work for the life of me, and this morning it was working fine.

You must have adaptive vsync enabled in nvidia control panel. Disable it.

[MrMcSwifty]

Originally posted by Please Hold On:

Originally posted by Andrius227:

I'm not sure, but i think that having vsync enabled removes tearing even if you do drop below 60. So you should use it.

But VSYNC locks my framerate at multiples of my refresh rate. So if it steps even 0.01 frames below 60... it drops to 30fps. That's a very jarring drop to happen randomly, especially in tense gaming moments.

Do you have an NVidia card? Try enabling "adaptive Vsync" in the control panel.

You'll still get tearing when your frames drop below 60, but it prevents the harsh drops down to 30.

[MrMcSwifty]

Originally posted by Andrius227:

You must have adaptive vsync enabled in nvidia control panel. Disable it.

Think you have that backwards.

Adaptive Vsync is designed to prevent the frame rate from tanking when it goes below your refresh rate.

[Andrius227]

Originally posted by McSwifty:

Originally posted by Please Hold On:

But VSYNC locks my framerate at multiples of my refresh rate. So if it steps even 0.01 frames below 60... it drops to 30fps. That's a very jarring drop to happen randomly, especially in tense gaming moments.

Do you have an NVidia card? Try enabling "adaptive Vsync" in the control panel.

You'll still get tearing when your frames drop below 60, but it prevents the harsh drops down to 30.

Actually, adaptive vsync is what causing the frame drops. Basically, if your pc cant keep stable 60fps, adaptive vsync drops it down to 30fps vsync. Thats why its called 'adaptive'.

[MrMcSwifty]

Originally posted by Andrius227:

Originally posted by McSwifty:

Do you have an NVidia card? Try enabling "adaptive Vsync" in the control panel.

You'll still get tearing when your frames drop below 60, but it prevents the harsh drops down to 30.

Actually, adaptive vsync is what causing the frame drops. Basically, if your pc cant keep stable 60fps, adaptive vsync drops it down to 30fps vsync. Thats why its called 'adaptive'.

Yeah... you have it backwards. The frame drops are from double-buffered (regular) Vsync.

Adaptive Vsync disables itself completely when the frame rate goes below your refresh rate.

That is literally the express purpose it was designed for.

[Edit] The "adaptive" is referring to the fact that it will enable/disable itself dynamically (adapt), based on your frame rate. This wasn't possible in the past; you either had Vsync enabled all the time, or disabled completely.

[Dreakon13]

Originally posted by McSwifty:

Do you have an NVidia card? Try enabling "adaptive Vsync" in the control panel.

You'll still get tearing when your frames drop below 60, but it prevents the harsh drops down to 30.

I've tried adaptive Vsync... appreciate the advice. If it still tears though, which it does, then I might as well not be using Vsync at all.