FPS Cap/Refresh Rates/FreeSync Question

[ben127127]

Hey all - I wasn't sure where to put this, so I apologize if it's in the wrong sub-forum. Before coming to a forum to ask a question I always try to find the answer on google - often tines, many people have asked the same question before me. However, for this particular question, the answers have been widely varied and I haven't been able to determine who is right. For that reason, I've come to you guys.. please try to explain why your answer is right, just so that I can fully understand where other people went wrong/make sense of the misconceptions. Anyway, on to the question: if I have a 144Hz monitor, will my FPS be able to exceed 144? If so, is that overkill, or does it offer any benefits? Is it better to cap the FPS at 144 if my monitor's refresh rate is 144Hz? Moreover, I have FreeSync - I know that FreeSync only operates within a certain range, so if I let my FPS exceed 144, will I lose the benefits of FreeSync? Or will my FreeSync automatically make my FPS 144 in order to match the refresh rate with the FPS? I get that this is a kind of intricate topic but I appreciate any responses that help me understand how refresh rates, FPS and FreeSync interact. Thanks again to everyone who tries to explain this to me!

[r4tch3t]

8 minutes ago, ben127127 said:

Hey all - I wasn't sure where to put this, so I apologize if it's in the wrong sub-forum. Before coming to a forum to ask a question I always try to find the answer on google - often tines, many people have asked the same question before me. However, for this particular question, the answers have been widely varied and I haven't been able to determine who is right. For that reason, I've come to you guys.. please try to explain why your answer is right, just so that I can fully understand where other people went wrong/make sense of the misconceptions. Anyway, on to the question: if I have a 144Hz monitor, will my FPS be able to exceed 144? If so, is that overkill, or does it offer any benefits? Is it better to cap the FPS at 144 if my monitor's refresh rate is 144Hz? Moreover, I have FreeSync - I know that FreeSync only operates within a certain range, so if I let my FPS exceed 144, will I lose the benefits of FreeSync? Or will my FreeSync automatically make my FPS 144 in order to match the refresh rate with the FPS? I get that this is a kind of intricate topic but I appreciate any responses that help me understand how refresh rates, FPS and FreeSync interact. Thanks again to everyone who tries to explain this to me!

It depends which is went you found different answers.

But my short take

Freesync/gsync/etc are all used for when you have a lower fps than the screen refresh rate. It does nothing for higher framerates. It changes the refresh rate of the screen to match the fps so if you have 144fps then do down to 90fps the screen can then change the refresh rate of the screen to 90hz matching the output from the card making everything smoother 

For if you should cap fps, its the same question as vsync on 60hz screens. 

[Taf the Ghost]

8 minutes ago, ben127127 said:

Hey all - I wasn't sure where to put this, so I apologize if it's in the wrong sub-forum. Before coming to a forum to ask a question I always try to find the answer on google - often tines, many people have asked the same question before me. However, for this particular question, the answers have been widely varied and I haven't been able to determine who is right. For that reason, I've come to you guys.. please try to explain why your answer is right, just so that I can fully understand where other people went wrong/make sense of the misconceptions. Anyway, on to the question: if I have a 144Hz monitor, will my FPS be able to exceed 144? If so, is that overkill, or does it offer any benefits? Is it better to cap the FPS at 144 if my monitor's refresh rate is 144Hz? Moreover, I have FreeSync - I know that FreeSync only operates within a certain range, so if I let my FPS exceed 144, will I lose the benefits of FreeSync? Or will my FreeSync automatically make my FPS 144 in order to match the refresh rate with the FPS? I get that this is a kind of intricate topic but I appreciate any responses that help me understand how refresh rates, FPS and FreeSync interact. Thanks again to everyone who tries to explain this to me!

This probably should be in the Display forum, but this question is no different than with a 60 Hz panel. So it really just depends on the game engine & whether Vsync prevents tearing in the game.

 

Adaptive Sync (FreeSync/Gsync) changes the delivery of the frames when you're below the native refresh of the display to make things smooth to the human eye.

[mxk]

refresh rate does not make your fps cap out. That would be extremely stupid because then you have a bunch of people who have god pc's running a petty 60fps. I own a freesync monitor with 144hz, and boy is it worth the money. It is buttery smooth and I do catch some things in csgo that I wouldn't usually. If you go above 144hz, freesync will still be enabled but it can't go above because thats not what the monitor's refresh rate.

 

[ben127127]

18 minutes ago, r4tch3t said:

It depends which is went you found different answers.

But my short take

Freesync/gsync/etc are all used for when you have a lower fps than the screen refresh rate. It does nothing for higher framerates. It changes the refresh rate of the screen to match the fps so if you have 144fps then do down to 90fps the screen can then change the refresh rate of the screen to 90hz matching the output from the card making everything smoother 

For if you should cap fps, its the same question as vsync on 60hz screens. 

 

11 minutes ago, Taf the Ghost said:

This probably should be in the Display forum, but this question is no different than with a 60 Hz panel. So it really just depends on the game engine & whether Vsync prevents tearing in the game.

 

Adaptive Sync (FreeSync/Gsync) changes the delivery of the frames when you're below the native refresh of the display to make things smooth to the human eye.

 

9 minutes ago, mxk. said:

refresh rate does not make your fps cap out. That would be extremely stupid because then you have a bunch of people who have god pc's running a petty 60fps. I own a freesync monitor with 144hz, and boy is it worth the money. It is buttery smooth and I do catch some things in csgo that I wouldn't usually. If you go above 144hz, freesync will still be enabled but it can't go above because thats not what the monitor's refresh rate.

 

So is FreeSync/GSync basically useless on high-end PCs?

[Taf the Ghost]

25 minutes ago, ben127127 said:

 

 

So is FreeSync/GSync basically useless on high-end PCs?

No. Only esports titles get above 144 Hz.

[ben127127]

34 minutes ago, Taf the Ghost said:

No. Only esports titles get above 144 Hz.

What about games like csgo and league of legends that are less demanding? I have friends who get 160-175 FPS on League.

[Taf the Ghost]

3 minutes ago, ben127127 said:

What about games like csgo and league of legends that are less demanding? I have friends who get 160-175 FPS on League.

Those are the esports titles. CS:GO, LoL, Dota2 and Rocket League. That covers the top 4.

[mxk]

1 hour ago, ben127127 said:

 

 

So is FreeSync/GSync basically useless on high-end PCs?

no, no necessarily. People who have high end pc's might play on ultra or very high settings, meaning they get less than 144fps. The g sync and freesync can help keep everything smooth since you may be getting lower fps on higher settings. 

[mxk]

8 minutes ago, Taf the Ghost said:

Those are the esports titles. CS:GO, LoL, Dota2 and Rocket League. That covers the top 4.

yup^^^. Exactly why I bought a 144hz monitor, for csgo since it gets above 144fps even on my shitty pc.

[ben127127]

30 minutes ago, Taf the Ghost said:

Those are the esports titles. CS:GO, LoL, Dota2 and Rocket League. That covers the top 4.

 

22 minutes ago, mxk. said:

no, no necessarily. People who have high end pc's might play on ultra or very high settings, meaning they get less than 144fps. The g sync and freesync can help keep everything smooth since you may be getting lower fps on higher settings. 

So for Esports titles is it better to cap at 144 and therefore keep the FreeSync capability or let yourself exceed 144FPS but then you lose FreeSync (if I'm not misunderstanding)?

[mxk]

3 minutes ago, ben127127 said:

 

So for Esports titles is it better to cap at 144 and therefore keep the FreeSync capability or let yourself exceed 144FPS but then you lose FreeSync (if I'm not misunderstanding)?

You want higher fps. The point of freesync is to keep things smooth when you're gaming, so the first priority is getting high fps, and freesync is used to keep it smooth IF you drop below 144fps. On my monitor, if I did have an amd graphics card, I would still let my fps go as high as my computer can, and have freesync enabled if my fps happened to drop below 144fps.

[Taf the Ghost]

13 minutes ago, ben127127 said:

 

So for Esports titles is it better to cap at 144 and therefore keep the FreeSync capability or let yourself exceed 144FPS but then you lose FreeSync (if I'm not misunderstanding)?

FreeSync works on its own, there's no reason to cap the frame rate unless you have significant screen tearing issues. The high frame rate will mostly remove that. If there is an issue, you can set a cap. Any time they drop below 144 Hz, FreeSync kicks in to keep it smooth. Even CS:GO at 500 FPS normally has 1% lows in the low 100 range. FreeSync smooths that out.