FPS cap - To use or not to use?

[Kageking]

I have pretty legit PC, with max in-game graphic options FPS is around 400. However I've seen many people say if you have too high FPS, you should limit it to some amount. My monitor's screen refresh rate is 60hz, so should I limit my FPS to 61, and how to do it?

Although I've seen if you have higher FPS, movement and aim seems to be a lot more precise. (Duh)

[mattyboyrocks23]

Originally Posted by Kageking

I have pretty legit PC, with max in-game graphic options FPS is around 400. However I've seen many people say if you have too high FPS, you should limit it to some amount. My monitor's screen refresh rate is 60hz, so should I limit my FPS to 61, and how to do it?

Although I've seen if you have higher FPS, movement and aim seems to be a lot more precise. (Duh)

Well your fps cap should be:

Screen refresh rate x 2 + 1. So your 60hz will need a 121 fps cap.

[µR¼]

fps cap might cause weird stuttering.

[satsun]

I have an nvidia card, I use nvidia Inspector to limit my FPS to 58FPS because I have a 60Hz monitor. The game runs smooth and sharp.

[esdfaz]

Originally Posted by µR¼

fps cap might cause weird stuttering.

no fps cap does not cause stuttering. vysnc will cause stuttering.

[Hartisen]

Originally Posted by mattyboyrocks23

Well your fps cap should be:

Screen refresh rate x 2 + 1. So your 60hz will need a 121 fps cap.

This, or you could try activating vsync.

[instaspawn]

fps_max 61

[Kageking]

Activating vsync makes mouse lag so I won't use that, I think I try to get that fps cap instead. So no one has answered any upsides for capping the FPS? And how did you do it exactly?

[instaspawn]

Originally Posted by Kageking

Activating vsync makes mouse lag so I won't use that, I think I try to get that fps cap instead. So no one has answered any upsides for capping the FPS? And how did you do it exactly?

Type fps_max 61 into console, press the ` (tilde) key to open the console.

[Nindo]

Hello!

I'm an competitive TF2 and quake player. My advice is that you do use fps_max. Fps in the source engine is used for more than just graphics, for instance, you netcode's smoothness is also connected to your fps. More fps gives smoother netcode!

To get the ultimate value, you need to adapt fps_max from your cl_updaterate. Since the MAC update, the updaterate was set as default to It's new maximum value; 66. To achieve maximum synchronized smooth graphics and net. you should set fps_max to your updaterate x 2. If you have not changed that rate, it should be at 66, giving you the fps cap of 132. However, make sure no never cap you fps to an fps you can't constantly maintain!

To change the cvars, I recommend you to write a config file OR download a config. In my experience, fps_max rests to 300 after each re-launch.

The others advice to cap the fps according to your monitor's frequency works too, but then you don't get the desired netcode and mouse functionality of a hardcore gamer. Also, using a 60Hz monitor is a big nono if a smooth game is what you want!

[Mogh]

Originally Posted by Nindo

-snip-

Helpful post, +rep. A few questions if I may. You say a 60 Hz monitor is insufficient, how about 75 Hz? Or does it really have to be 120 Hz?
Also, if I have a 60 Hz monitor, should I set my fps_max to 60? 61? 59?
And since you say fps_max should be twice cl_updaterate, does that mean I should lower my cl_updaterate to 30 in that case, or will that only make matters worse?
Finally, what about vsync? When should I use it? Can I use it in conjunction with a framerate cap or should I choose just one?

[Nindo]

Originally Posted by Mogh

Helpful post, +rep. A few questions if I may. You say a 60 Hz monitor is insufficient, how about 75 Hz? Or does it really have to be 120 Hz?
Also, if I have a 60 Hz monitor, should I set my fps_max to 60? 61? 59?
And since you say fps_max should be twice cl_updaterate, does that mean I should lower my cl_updaterate to 30 in that case, or will that only make matters worse?
Finally, what about vsync? When should I use it? Can I use it in conjunction with a framerate cap or should I choose just one?

You should never lower the updaterate, always use the best possible setting. If you set updaterate to 30 in order to keep the FPS equal to your monitor's frequency, you will "warp" (appear lagging to others while others appear lagging to you). Updaterate controls how often you exchange data to and from the server.

The FPS cap do not affect how your monitor display video as long as it is over your monitor's Hz. This means that as setting max_fps 132 has the same effect as setting it to 60 in terms of smoothness of video output. Fps_max 60 on a 60Hz monitor gives you ultimate video performance, but not network performance. Fps_max 132 on any monitor under 132Hz gives you ultimate video and network performance.

Vsync is used to cap and synchronize the game's frames to the same Hz as your monitor. Each video frame get's its "own" monitor frame. As a result you get reduced video tearing (tearing is when you do fast movements, vertical lines in-game sometimes appear to get torn apart on slow (60Hz) monitors). The downside of vsync is that you force your game to lag in order to achieve constant [monitor Hz] FPS. You force your game to lag, which is obviously really, really bad. Explaining vsync is not easy and I think it's easier to just accept the fact that vsync = lag = terrible mouse performance. If you really want to reduce screen tearing, it's better to have mat_vsync 0 and fps_max 60 (though i don't recommend it).

You don't HAVE to use a 120/75Hz monitor, but it's way better. It's like playing minigolf. You don't have to use the pro-gear to play the game, but the pro-gear has some slight advantage. You don't use a high frequency monitor in order to get better graphics, you use them in order to get better control of your mouse movements. To give you some perspective; with a 60Hz monitor you can interact with the game 60 times per second. In the real world, you can interact with stuff at what's seemingly infinite times per second. With a 120Hz monitor you interact with the game 120 times per second, making it closer to perfection (real world).

Understanding how higher frequencies affect the game is really hard if you have not tried it out. I myself didn't believe that there would be any difference with 120Hz vs 60Hz, but people told me that I don't understand the difference until I've tried. It takes 30 minutes of game-play on a 120Hz monitor, then you're convinced. For me, any 60Hz monitor is notably lagging and i feel like I'm not in control of my mouse movement, even while browsing the web with a 60Hz monitor. Imagine the difference in smoothness between 30Hz (fps) and 60Hz (fps), that's the same difference between 60 and 120Hz! As for your question about if 75Hz is enough or if you need a 120Hz monitor: you don't need 120Hz. But you don't need 75Hz either, it's just that Console gaming (30Hz) < 60Hz < 75Hz < 120Hz. Just don't forget that the refresh rate is not the only thing that defines a good monitor!

Sadly, there are no way for you to experience the effect on a 60Hz monitor, so you really need to borrow a friend's/getting one yourself before you can experience 120Hz.

tl;tr:
-Always use cl_updaterate 66 (and cl_cmdrate 66) on legit servers.
-Set max_fps to the highest value your computer can handle, but never any frame over 132 won't make you game any more smooth, so capping frames to a value over this is unwise.
-DON'T use vsync, it causes mouse input lag!
-You can play with 60Hz monitors, but 75/120Hz monitors are much, much smoother (however you only notice the smoothness with mouse movements, as you eyes' refresh is hypothesized to be ~50Hz)

If you don't give a crap about you input quality, and only care about a good-looking game (even though it's unplayable if you know where to find the flaws), use vsync and/or fps_max [you monitor Hz value]. If you want perfection, don't use vsync and set fps_max to 132.

[Mogh]

Thanks for the detailed explanation! I've been looking for this info for a while. Hopefully I can get more stable fps now.

[S@GA]

Wow that was really helpful and I can really feel the difference now that I turned off vsync and use cl_updaterate 132.
Thanks a lot Nindo

[stabby stabby]

No, leave it at the default of 300.

Notice nobody has given you a reason to cap it, other than faulty understandings...max updaterate is 100 in this game, and the tickrate is 66.666666-.

Here is why you do not cap your framerate: The game recieves input frame by frame--more FPS = less input lag. By capping it, your FPS will not only be limited, but fluctuate below the cap.


Capping your FPS is a technique useful only if you do not use Raw Input (you should use it).

If you're trying to avoid tearing, do the following:
http://forums.steampowered.com/forum....php?t=2640899