Is it possible that my gaming experience got much smoother when switching to a system with a much faster processor and worse graphics card?

[Jonboy12]

Pardon the asinine question but My frame rate dropped from 60 to 40 (Yes both rigs are kind of crap) but it seems like a much much smoother experience.

[CommanderAlex]

I believe it all comes down to your frame times. Calculate it by 1000 divided by your refresh rate of your monitor and you want frame times under that number and be consistent. The lower it is, the smoother it is. 

[NotMarcus]

Maybe it might just be the tool you're using to measure FPS.

[Gix7Fifty]

Well the cpu builds the house and the gpu paints it. So possibly depending on graphic settings. Maybe one rig has stuff running in the background and the other doesn't. 

[Itachi_Uchiha]

What game are u on lol. If its cpu intensive that would explain it

 

[PlayStation 2]

In theory, a better frame rate would paint a more flattering picture than a worse frame rate, but in practice, consistent frame times at a worse frame rate versus horribly staggered frame times at a better frame rate is a much nicer experience. Ideally, you want both the consistent frame times and the better frame rate, but assuming that both isn't an option here, I'd take the less ridiculous frame times.

[whm1974]

1 hour ago, Gix7Fifty said:

Well the cpu builds the house and the gpu paints it. So possibly depending on graphic settings. Maybe one rig has stuff running in the background and the other doesn't. 

This+ I would first pause/close any Videos you may have Running. If any Browser Tabs are open, then a few of them due active videos and Page that are slowing that the you System.

 

This alone will take careful a few of your Issues.

[Mark Kaine]

6 hours ago, Jonboy12 said:

Pardon the asinine question but My frame rate dropped from 60 to 40 (Yes both rigs are kind of crap) but it seems like a much much smoother experience.

this... isn't possible... in my experience. 

 

What monitor do you have? 

 

 

6 hours ago, CommanderAlex said:

I believe it all comes down to your frame times.

But assuming normal equipment, a higher framerate, especially 60 vs 40 like in this example *will* typically result in better frame times, so that's why it's not possible... 

 

Now OP says it is, but it must be something different, like a different monitor or something, or simply good old placebo effect. 

 

[Kavamale21]

7 minutes ago, Mark Kaine said:

this... isn't possible... in my experience. 

 

What monitor do you have? 

 

 

But assuming normal equipment, a higher framerate, especially 60 vs 40 like in this example *will* typically result in better frame times, so that's why it's not possible... 

 

Now OP says it is, but it must be something different, like a different monitor or something, or simply good old placebo effect. 

 

actualy i think its posible remember few old games that fps was limited to stable 30fps stable fps without any drops feels much better dont forget old crt tv was if i remember 24fps. depending on game 60fps with drops to 30-40 can be simply unplayble. and i dont see here exact setup or game that was played

[IntMD]

Depends on the game, and if previously you were particularly cpu bottlenecked then it's likely your frame time consistancy could be better now, which might appear as a smoother experience.

[CommanderAlex]

3 hours ago, Mark Kaine said:

But assuming normal equipment, a higher framerate, especially 60 vs 40 like in this example *will* typically result in better frame times, so that's why it's not possible... 

 

Now OP says it is, but it must be something different, like a different monitor or something, or simply good old placebo effect. 

Hopefully OPs equipment/compenents are giving better frame times. At 40 FPS, it should be a max of 25 ms. Anything lower is better. At 60 FPS, it should be a max of 16.66 (repeating 6) ms.

 

I can say its the placebo effect myself as I am having an issue with World of Tanks with the game and every couple seconds I'd get a spike in frame time, 10-14ms, from 4-7ms. Been in touch with WG Player Support and the only fix I have so far and have researched in why the game is crashing is Nahimic 2+ Audio Driver. Uninstalled the driver and it feels great, but I have yet to get a battle on those certain maps again. 

 

What I'm getting at is now I am getting consistent frame times and buttery smooth FPS as a result thanks to removing that program. The system he had before could have also had a background process that was causing performance issues. This "new" system to him may not even have it at all and is giving him a better experience. We don't know as OP only put so much in his original question and as the saying goes; garbage in, garbage out. 

[PeachGr]

Your character may respond faster if it's a CPU demanding game, like a shooting game. Also gsync is underestimated. A gsync monitor combined with an Nvidia card is preferable to another higher fps combination

[And Im Javert]

Did you swap from nvidia to AMD? Free sync could be a reason also a frame rate of 40 with a variation of 1/2 FPS will feel smoother than an average of 60 with a variation of 30 either side. 

[Aragorn-]

Its definitely possible.

 

A bad CPU bottleneck can give you a respectable enough average framerate, but the frame times and pacing are all over the place.

 

Its also very game dependant. I recently tried Shadow of the Tombraider on an i5-2400 machine with an RX470. Framerate was "okay", but the game was actually unplayable as there was all manner of stuttering and juddering as the 4 thread CPU was just completely overwhelmed.

 

[LogicalDrm]

-> Moved to PC Gaming