Will your fps stay at your monitors refresh rate?

[Thadius Dean]

Like, say I had a resolution of 1920 x 1440, and the maximum refresh rate for that resolution is 64 Hz, does this mean that even if I get fps over 64, it will always LOOK like 64?

 

[furiousV]

FPS is how many frames in a seconds your graphics card is creating to be displayed by the monitor.
the Refresh rate, is how many of those frames created can be displayed in one second.
so if u got a refresh rate of 50Hz and 100FPS, your monitor will ony display every 2nd frame.
and if u got a refresh rate of 100Hz and 50FPS your monitor will be repeating 2 frames each refresh.

i personally would not go over 1280x1024, as it becomes more difficult for the human eye to really distinguish anything of higher values.

hope this helps

 

[Thadius Dean]

That does help, thanks.

so generally you would want your Hz and FPS at around the same amount? Explain to me what would be best.

 

[Ti133700N]

The frame rate is the number of images per second the computer can calculate and store in the Video Card memory. The refresh rate is something different, it's how many time the images are taken from the video memory and displayed on the screen. With that said, the refresh rate has to be the highest as possible to eliminate "tearing".

Of course, if your fps is lower than the refresh rate, some images will be displayed more than once. By default, V-Sync is enabled in your video card options, wich means that your fps won't be over your refresh rate. It can be lower, but not higher. If you want your fps higher than your refresh rate, you can disable V-Sync. (Nvidia: Right click on desktop, properties, settings, advanced, Video card properties, Performances and quality, vertical sync : off.) I would recommend to set v-sync on and set your refresh rate the higher you can. You wouldn't notice a difference between 75fps and 90fps anyway.

 

[furiousV]

You can disable/enable Vsync in games options these days, and set on the desktop "Allow application to choose".
Usually you want a minimum of 40 or 50FPS at all time, or as soon as you go out doors, into a large area, your FPS can really drop, causing lag.
But you would not want to go over 100FPS as that is too high, most games allow you to cap the FPS at a certain point, but you will have to google the console command.

 

[J_Tweedy]

if you turn vsync off you might get a higher fps, but you'll get tearing in horizontal streaks across your screen. Some people don't care tho...

 

[furiousV]

if you turn vsync off you might get a higher fps, but you'll get tearing in horizontal streaks across your screen. Some people don't care tho...

i always have Vsync off, never noticed any "tearing"
if you do, could you get me some screenshots, so i know what exactly people mean with the tearing?
thanks

 

[J_Tweedy]

i can't get you any screenshots, but at least on my monitor (Which is just a 1280x1024 @ 60hz) i get tearing in first person shooters, because when i move fast, and the framerate is too high for the monitor (6800gt!) the vertical synch can't keep up with the horizontal- hence the tearing.
You may have to look closely to see it, and its only when you're turning/ moving quite fast.
I just turn my res down to 1024x768 and turn vsync on, and get a rock solid 85 fps ALL the time,

 

[Asus]

Like, say I had a resolution of 1920 x 1440, and the maximum refresh rate for that resolution is 64 Hz, does this mean that even if I get fps over 64, it will always LOOK like 64?

What kind of graphics card do you have?

 

[theGreenBunny]

The problem with vsync is that if you have 60Hz refresh for example it only allows for 60 fps or 30 fps (or even lower) to keep the tearing away. This isn't an issue if you can run a high refresh rate, because half of 90Hz is an acceptable 45fps, if you have a TFT (max 60Hz) like me however you'll only want to enable it for games that can run at a continous 60 fps on your machine.

Not entirely certain I'm 100% correct here because it's been a while since I've read stuff about vsync. I did observe "switching" between 60 and 30 fps limits when I turned vsync on in HL2.

 

[Muhahahaha]

So it's good to turn vsync on? HL2 recommends "off", though I'm not sure if that matters. My LCD is running at 75Hz right now.

 

[J_Tweedy]

It depends i f you mind tearing across your screen during high speed movements- if your monitor's refresh rate is below your fps capability, that is.

Personally i didn't like it, and can't tell the difference once the frames get above 65- so i leave it on, at 1024X768@85hz, and with my 6800gt i basically never drop from 85fps.