"Lock FPS" vs "V-Sync"

[Schokoladeka]

You can use "Lock FPS" in a .txt file called "commandline" in GTA V. Is that the same as V-Sync? I always use V-Sync on "Half" because I do not get 60 fps (I get ~40-50 in the city and 20-30 at grassy areas). I turn on V-Sync (half) for two reasons: 1.) I get very visible screen tearing without it 2.) I get 50 fps from time to time but occasionally it drops to 35-40 if there's a lot of things on the screen and I can feel it. So I'd rather have a stable 30-31 fps at all times, instead of an FPS value that is constantly changing.

 

However, V-Sync gives a huge amount of input lag. My question would then be, can I use this "Lock FPS" stuff instead of V-Sync? What are the differences?

Edited August 8, 2019 by Tengerecki

[Rotorhead359]

you mean the -frameLimit option in commandline.txt?

I tried it on a 60hz monitor

-frameLimit 0 turns vsync Off

-frameLimit 1 gives 60fps (vsync On)

-frameLimit 2 gives 30fps (vsync Half)

-frameLimit 3 gives 20fps

-frameLimit 30 gives 2 fps (and my game crashed)

 

looks like -frameLimit is just a fancy way to set a custom number of monitor refreshes per frame so it is essentially V-sync.

If you want less input lag you're better off using an external frame limiter like RivaTuner/MSI Afterburner, without the sync.

I suggest locking it to 30 in RivaTuner. If you have a 60hz screen, you probably won't notice the tearing, because of every 2 screen refreshes, only one might have a tear and the other will be a whole frame.

Edited August 8, 2019 by AirWolf359

[Schokoladeka]

1 hour ago, AirWolf359 said:

you mean the -frameLimit option in commandline.txt?

I tried it on a 60hz monitor

-frameLimit 0 turns vsync Off

-frameLimit 1 gives 60fps (vsync On)

-frameLimit 2 gives 30fps (vsync Half)

-frameLimit 3 gives 20fps

-frameLimit 30 gives 2 fps (and my game crashed)

 

looks like -frameLimit is just a fancy way to set a custom number of monitor refreshes per frame so it is essentially V-sync.

If you want less input lag you're better off using an external frame limiter like RivaTuner/MSI Afterburner, without the sync.

I suggest locking it to 30 in RivaTuner. If you have a 60hz screen, you probably won't notice the tearing, because of every 2 screen refreshes, only one might have a tear and the other will be a whole frame.

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I just figured it out. The commandline thing is basically V-Sync. I will try RivaTuner with V-Sync off. But I was planning to lock FPS to 33 for a smoother gameplay. Is that possible? 

 

When V-Sync is on Half I set 30 fps in Nvidia Shadowplay to match the FPS in game but when I play it back it simply does not look like it's 30 fps. It looks stuttery-ish. It is not a video render error (I use Sony Vegas 13) because this same issue occurs when I upload the raw video file (without editing or rendering)

 

I'll show you. Here's my video that I made (at this time I had 30 FPS and V-Sync was Half in the game, Shadowplay FPS was set to 30 as well and I rendered the video using 30 fps) :

 

 

 

 

Then check this video (identical at parts)

 

 

This dude's video is 30 fps as well but it looks smoother than mine. Do you know what causes this?

[Rotorhead359]

32 minutes ago, Tengerecki said:

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I just figured it out. The commandline thing is basically V-Sync. I will try RivaTuner with V-Sync off. But I was planning to lock FPS to 33 for a smoother gameplay. Is that possible?

Yes, with RivaTuner you can lock your fps to 33 too, or whatever fps you want.

 

32 minutes ago, Tengerecki said:

When V-Sync is on Half I set 30 fps in Nvidia Shadowplay to match the FPS in game but when I play it back it simply does not look like it's 30 fps. It looks stuttery-ish. It is not a video render error (I use Sony Vegas 13) because this same issue occurs when I upload the raw video file (without editing or rendering)

 

I'll show you. Here's my video that I made (at this time I had 30 FPS and V-Sync was Half in the game, Shadowplay FPS was set to 30 as well and I rendered the video using 30 fps) :

Spoiler

 

Then check this video (identical at parts)

Spoiler

 

This dude's video is 30 fps as well but it looks smoother than mine. Do you know what causes this?

 

Second video was recorded on a console? Probably looks smoother because of vsync.

Doesn't Shadowplay automatically cap your game fps to the same fps it records at? If you record at a constant 30fps with shadowplay, but your framerate is controlled by ingame vsync, a few frames go wrong here and there. If the game finishes rendering a frame late, shadowplay will record the previous frame twice, and then probably skips the next frame.

I use MSI Afterburner with RivaTuner for my recordings and it gives me the option to limit my fps when I'm recording. That way, it will run the game at the same fps it is recording at, and sync the game to the recording. When I'm not recording, it runs unlocked framerate (no vsync, never).

 

Edited August 8, 2019 by AirWolf359

[Schokoladeka]

2 minutes ago, AirWolf359 said:

Yes, with RivaTuner you can lock your fps to 33 too, or whatever fps you want.

 

 

Second video was recorded on a console? Probably looks smoother because of vsync.

Doesn't Shadowplay automatically cap your game fps to the same fps it records at? If you record at a constant 30fps with shadowplay, but your framerate is controlled by ingame vsync, a few frames go wrong here and there. If the game finishes rendering a frame late, shadowplay will record the previous frame twice, and then probably skips the next frame.

I use MSI Afterburner with RivaTuner for my recordings and it gives me the option to limit my fps when I'm recording. That way, it will run the game at the same fps it is recording at, and sync the game to the recording. When I'm not recording, it runs unlocked framerate (no vsync, never).

 

Yes it was recorded on PS4, probably with its built-in recording feature. I've no clue how Shadowplay works. With V-Sync being set to Half the NVIDIA Shadowpaly overlay shows 30 and 31 fps. I don't know why it shows 31. Thanks for the explanation btw.