Something I can't explain, but can see and feel

[chocolatekarma]

Everyone says 60FPS is 60FPS, but if that's so then why does it often feel smoother on a better CPU?

 

I've used the same RTX 3060 on a 10400F system as well as a 12400F system, and both have 32GB DDR4 @ 3200.  

 

Some have said I'm delusional, but the same games feel smoother at the same FPS on the 12400F system.  I've only been gaming on PC since 2019, so I just don't understand why it feels better at the same FPS, and how to explain this to others.

 

 

[Tajoshu]

Are you sure it's the same frame rate? What does the Nvidia Performance Overlay (Alt+R) say for "FPS" and "99% FPS"? I would expect your framerate to be higher on the 12400F system, which can make the game feel smoother even if your monitor is 60 hz. The refresh rate of your monitor and the frame rate are two different things. And even if the frame rate was locked at 60 FPS, the minimum "99%" FPS can also make a difference.

[Godlygamer23]

You might have better 1% and 0.1% lows that aren't being shown by the frame rate overlay. Meaning, the differences are there, but the frame rate overlay isn't refreshing fast enough to show it. I experienced that on my previous build when I ran a game from my hard drive versus my SSD. Because the hard drive would take so long to get the required files versus the SSD, the CPU would wait just long enough for me to see the stutter, but the frame rate counter wouldn't show that because it was refreshing every one second, but the stutters would happen faster than that.

[chocolatekarma]

Yes, the 12400F system is capable of a higher max framerate.  I'm wondering why the same FPS like say when locked to the refresh rate of your display.  It's not a massive difference, but frame timings at the same FPS are more stable with higher single core performance in my experience.

[chocolatekarma]

1 minute ago, Godlygamer23 said:

You might have better 1% and 0.1% lows that aren't being shown by the frame rate overlay. Meaning, the differences are there, but the frame rate overlay isn't refreshing fast enough to show it. I experienced that on my previous build when I ran a game from my hard drive versus my SSD. Because the hard drive would take so long to get the required files versus the SSD, the CPU would wait just long enough for me to see the stutter, but the frame rate counter wouldn't show that because it was refreshing every one second, but the stutters would happen faster than that.

This makes sense.

[Tajoshu]

22 minutes ago, chocolatekarma said:

Yes, the 12400F system is capable of a higher max framerate.  I'm wondering why the same FPS like say when locked to the refresh rate of your display.  It's not a massive difference, but frame timings at the same FPS are more stable with higher single core performance in my experience.

Have you explicitly locked the framerate to 60 FPS, or are you using Vsync? If that's the case, as I and GodlyGamer said, your 1% lows (also called 99%) also play a part in the smoothness, because the 60 FPS framerate is just the average.

[chocolatekarma]

3 minutes ago, Tajoshu said:

Have you explicitly locked the framerate to 60 FPS, or are you using Vsync? If that's the case, as I and GodlyGamer said, your 1% lows (also called 99%) also play a part in the smoothness, because the 60 FPS framerate is just the average.

I used Riva Tuner to lock it to 60 on both.

[Godlygamer23]

1 hour ago, chocolatekarma said:

I used Riva Tuner to lock it to 60 on both.

What program do you use to monitor your frame rate?

[chocolatekarma]

5 hours ago, Godlygamer23 said:

What program do you use to monitor your frame rate?

Also Riva Tuner.

[Godlygamer23]

4 hours ago, chocolatekarma said:

Also Riva Tuner.

But what program is using Rivatuner? Rivatuner itself isn't a thing anymore. It's only the Rivatuner Statistics Server. 

[chocolatekarma]

6 hours ago, Godlygamer23 said:

Rivatuner Statistics Server

That's the one I'm using which comes with Afterburner.

[Godlygamer23]

2 hours ago, chocolatekarma said:

That's the one I'm using which comes with Afterburner.

Have you tried monitoring specifically 0.1% and 1% lows to see how they behave, including on the 10400F?