What still baffles me is the recommendations i keep seeing regarding the benefit of capping FPS in the in-game V-sync to a low number (half refresh rate or 33% refresh rate) as opposed to simply capping the FPS in Nvidia control panel with V sync OFF.
The reasoning i keep seeing behind this recommendation is that “it eliminates stutters” even if the frames fall below the cap number. Is this true?
I have a 120 HZ monitor. The maximum i’ve seen my FPS reach is around 52 in the air in very well optimized planes. The average overall is around 38 FPS in the air. On the ground it’s a different story, it varies between airports and it’s between 25 FPS and 38 FPS (sometimes a bit higher in the small AI generated default airports).
My point is, if i use V-sync in game to 33%, there’s no way i can maintain a steady 40 FPS in those busy airports, so isn’t it better to turn V-sync OFF and cap the frames in NVidia Control Panel to 40 FPS??
Capping to 30 doesn’t work for me because my eyes are very sensitive and 30 is not smooth enough for me. I start seeing smooth frames around 33 FPS.
I also keep seeing this half-refresh rate capping rule, which is said to have some kind of magic as opposed to capping to any other number? So confusing
If you have V-sync activated, this should remove in any circumstances the tearing (horizontal trailing’s of image) and, from my point of view, this is already a sufficient reason to use V-sync.
Personally, with MSFS, I use V-sync set on 30 FPS, which is the best value around the medium performance (25~55) of my old PC (i7-7700 / GTX1080 / 32GB RAM).
Like @ACSoft47 has said. The main benefit is reduction or even removing any tearing. In my scenario I had V-Sync never enabled and FPS not capped. I have a 60Hz monitor but are often around 40-50 FPS. I have never considered to activate V-Sync but did it a few days ago (on 100% which means it’s not reducing any FPS at all as I’m not often reaching 60 FPS) and now have no tearing anymore which I had before even when limiting to 30 FPS in the NVIDIA control panel.
The thing is i have never experienced tearing not even once with V sync OFF and no cap. The main reason i cap is for power consumption and thermal reasons.
But from what i hear is that the adaptive V-sync in MSFS helps not only with tearing but also with overall smoothness, even if you can’t maintain the steady cap number all the time. That’s what mainly baffles me whether it’s true or not…
For me cap, by vsync, fps limiter, etc. is very important as it’s to force to be Limited by GPU (or GPU bottlenecked if that word exist).
You surely don’t want to be limited by the CPU as it induce lot of stutter. If you don’t cap at all, you see the result of “random” cpu time + “random” GPU time (random meaning high various time due to the current management, number of objects, etc.) equal “random” frame time.
Capping with GPU and you have something smooth, because it’s at the very end of the process, in the limit you eyes can admit the fps obviously.
Saying that, I’m with you about the more than 30 fps to have something smooth. But think it’s something you got the habit too. Try to force you flying at 30fps for several flight and you’ll see your brain will possibly admit those 30 fps. With such cap, you’re able to raise a lot your settings, and keep something smooth..
Small advice: One of the first thing I always do before flying is to set external camera and pan around the plane. Just DON’T do it when you have forced 30fps, this is the best way to give up too quickly
That’s why i know it won’t work for me . Because i’m a sucker for “being a visitor” at airports, especially high quality 3rd party ones. I like to go outside, pan around, go inside, sit in the lobby etc…
The SU11 Beta now has Nvidia reflex built into the game settings. I was using Low Latency Mode = Ultra before, but now I don’t use any NCP settings. Nvidia reflex works well with vsync because it reduces the frame buffering that occurs.
I have my vsync set to 30FPS with my 60hz monitor. I get what you mean by 30 being too low. I have noticed some blurring around vertical surfaces at 30fps. The SU11 beta has AMD FSR 2.0, and I feel this makes 30fps much more enjoyable.
Never a more objectively true statement has appeared on this forum. It applies to every single topic and would be an appropriate permanent addition to every post.
Check out this Youtube by pilotpete…it explains the vsync stuff pretty well. This method worked well for me in getting rid of the last of the micro-stutters (hence greater smoothness). Give it a try.
Thanks for that. Yes i have seen this video a while ago. His settings makes sense but i decided to cap my FPS to 40 as opposed to his 30 (i mention why in my OP).
Also, he seems to recommend a controversial topic = Prefer Maxmimum Performance for the graphic card power management. I’ve been seeing countless counter claims more recently NOT to do that and use the “Optimal power” instead. Even people who used to recommend the MAX performance are now recommending the Optimal. Either way, doesn’t hurt to keep experimenting and try both!
By the way, i’ve been using the Rivatuner statistics server he’s using and it’s amazing for monitoring. I have the frametime graph setup like him and it’s so helpful and looks nice and non intruding. It also has screen capture and a screen recorder that surprisingly works very smoothly. I disabled all my overlays once i started using this Rivatuner. Great software.
I too have switched my frame cap to 40. With SU10 I discovered I didn’t need to cap it to gain smoothness since it seemed to look great with vSync off. Uncapped I get between 30 and 60 fps depending on where I am. So, I put my monitor back up to 120hz which allows me to get 40 with the latest ingame vSync control.
Since I was perfectly happy at 30fps, 40 is obviously just fine. The advantage on my rig at least is that it reduces my GPU temps by several degrees, reduces the fan noise and cuts the GPU power draw by 40 or 50 watts. So, unless I’m testing a new beta version or something, I leave vSync on.
My version of NVidea CP only offers “normal” or “max performance”. I have it in “normal”. I may try max performance to see if it makes any difference.
For now, I’m pretty much done with tweaking things. Last night the latest SU11 beta got me well into the 70’s over the countryside with some clouds around and everything on Ultra. I think that’s as good as it gets.
. Because i’m a sucker for “being a visitor” at airports, especially high quality 3rd party ones. I like to go outside, pan around, go inside, sit in the lobby etc…