Hey, everyone. I'm running UP2.01 on an AMD 2.2x4, 8gRAM, Nvidia465, with TrackIR. When I set the monitor refresh rate at 60Hz I get super smooth game play while flying and only minor dips in FPS when fighting...but there's stuttering every 10-20 seconds. Setting the monitor refresh rate to higher numbers eliminates the stuttering, but there's a greater decrease in FPS with effects, and the game doesn't feel as fluid or smooth. Could someone explain to me why this is the case? I've tried assigning different core usage, overclocking the GPU - core clock/mem, using different/higher memory .exe's, turing off services and background stuff, resizing textures, lowering graphics...nothing seems to work though. Why would the stuttering stop at anything above 70Hz? Thanks.
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Refresh rate is in direct correlation to FPS.
60hz refresh is equivalent to 60fps on the card. While your card can put out far more than 60fps, your monitor can't render faster than that. This will cause some visual skipping as the monitor tries to "catch up". If you have a TrackIr, you'll need to turn on Vsync or you will get vertical tearing when you turn your head. Vsync will lock your video card to a max refresh (FPS MAX) that is the same as your monitor's refresh. In this case 60fps (60hz).
Your objective with regards to refresh rate shouldn't really be to get the most possible, but get the most possible at the most consistent rate. The human eye really can't distinguish anything above 30-35 fps so your objective should be to get a min of about 40 - 45 with a max of around 60fps. That will give you the smoothest game play.
When you see the stuttering, check your system and see if the H/D light is also on. This is most likely where your stuttering is coming from.
As you try to increase fps, the game tries to read ahead for more information (graphics detail that needs to be drawn). If the game can't read fast enough, you get stutter.
Check your system settings and make sure that indexing service is off as this will also cause the H/D to spin up regularly as Windows tries to index all the files that you use on a regular basis.
S!
Thanks for the reply {HVY-E}Jinxx. I went ahead and began testing other refresh rates since my first post. I used the Nvidia control panel to make some custom resolutions. 63Hz seems to give me the most fluid flying and panning, and it doesn't have the stuttering that 60Hz did. My objective was to lower the refresh rate and gain the must stable FPS like you said. I just didn't understand why lowering the refresh rate would cause stuttering while showing a constant 60FPS. It seems counter intuitive to me. 70Hz performed better. I haven't tested anything below 60Hz though. I think I'll give that a try next. I used to play at 85Hz...what a difference changing a few numbers can make! A couple fires and a large city used to cripple my flying, but now it's much smoother and stable. And this is at maxed forest and water, not effects though, and playing at 1152 x 864 with Plutonium Effects. Wow, I never thought my computer would play this game right. I'll post any success I have with any refresh rates lower than 60Hz. Thanks again.
I tested 50Hz and 55Hz, but no dice. My FPS remained constant at those numbers while shooting the ground and water and such, but the overall feel was choppy. 63Hz seems to be the sweet spot. I'm really surprised how much a difference changing the refresh rate has made.
