Frames Per Second Limiting

[eragi]

I've been looking everywhere for a FPS limiter. When I play graphically intensive games (Far Cry 3, etc.) I'm getting roughly 45-63 FPS on ultra with 97-99% GPU utilization. I can hear my rig fire up when I get into the game, it isn't a loud system and it doesn't get overheated, but I can hear the fan switch on high and can tell my rig is working. I never experience any lag, but I honestly CAN NOT tell what-so-ever any difference between 30 FPS and 60+ FPS in any game I play.

So my question, is there a way to limit the FPS my PC tries to achieve, instead of having it work hard to provide unnoticeably high performance on graphically maxed out games? It's downright sensible to limit frames to 30 or less to give your PC a break and extend it's lifetime while not even noticing a difference. I would much prefer FC3 capped at 30 FPS with <99% utilization instead of 99%.

 

[Kekoh]

Open C:\Users\*your name*\Documents\My Games\Far Cry 3\GamerProfile.xml

search for "MaxFPS" and change it what you want. It should end up looking like this: MaxFPS="30"

FYI fps limiting is usually different between games. Some even have it built in.

 

[OnkelCannabia]

Activate Vsync. Games will run at the hz of your monitor. So 60fps max on a 60hz monitor. If you can't achieve 60fps it will drop to 30fps. So in the case of FC3 it would be exactly what you want.

A better solution would be to use console commands or command line arguments, but that depends on the game. You'd have to find out if there is a way to this in each game individually.

 

[Amdlova]

i remember the time when played quake 1 quake 2 on crt monitors 19" 120hz. geting insane 220fps on quake 1 with voodoo 2.
at 30 fps the game is playable but not perfect game play. the sweet spot is 60 a 90 fps.
do you have a nvidia or amd graphic card?

 

[CrispyChips]

Rivatuner Statistics Server is great for all kinds of things like Capping your FPS, Profile management and,when coupled with MSI Afterburner,it makes a great On Screen Display configuration tool.

 

[bgunner]

Don't go under 30 FPS as the games will feel laggy. if you limit your FPS to 30 you will have a few drops below this and it is common even when you use Vsync. the frames will just briefly drop below the 60 mark and for those of us that can see the difference between 30 and 60 can notice it.

IF the games permit the limiting in the config files this is the best way for what you want as you can manually set it to what you want. If not then the most you can hope for is using Vsync to limit to 60 FPS.

 

[bgunner]

Rivatuner Statistics Server is great for all kinds of things like Capping your FPS, Profile management and,when coupled with MSI Afterburner,it makes a great On Screen Display configuration tool.

other than controlling the on screen display Rivatuner statistics server has nothing to with controlling frame rates and settings.
I have run MSI afterburner for years and still use the statistic server and Know it will not work in this way.

 

[Plusthinking Iq]

with a 60hz monitor using a games fps cap and limit the fps to 60 is some if the best things you can do, just lower you game settings and try to get 90fps non capped then the gpu is relaxed and happy😛
its nice to see someone enjoy 30 fps, i notice much inputlag at that fps and have 60 fps as a minimum playable fps.

 

[CrispyChips]

Rivatuner Statistics Server is great for all kinds of things like Capping your FPS, Profile management and,when coupled with MSI Afterburner,it makes a great On Screen Display configuration tool.

other than controlling the on screen display Rivatuner statistics server has nothing to with controlling frame rates and settings.
I have run MSI afterburner for years and still use the statistic server and Know it will not work in this way.

....Thought i linked the screenie,anyway.

EDIT:..the URL is right there,why isnt the text coming up?

http://imgur.com/tP88QnU

EDIT #2: apparently BB code is broken,for me.

 

[eragi]

Thanks for the replies, all. I'll try going into the XML and manually setting the cap, good tip, hope it works. Guess I'll have to look up how to limit FPS on each game I got. They don't explicitly say you can limit FPS on FC3 for some odd reason.

I have a GTX 760 2 gig and I have tried turning on Vsync. The options given are; "on," "adaptive," and "adaptive (half refresh rate.)" However, I've tried all of them and setting my monitor to 60Hz, or under had no effect. The only option regarding 30 Hz was "30 Hertz, interlaced." I have no idea what interlacing is, but I assume the reason the max frames didn't change was because teh setting wasn't changed in the XML. I used MSI Afterburner for all teh FPS monitoring.

And, yes, I know everyone loves 60 FPS. Recently got this PC and upgraded from a junk dual core one where I'd consistently get roughly 14 FPS on almost every good game I could play. Maybe that's why I'm not the hugest fan of 60 FPS. About the tip to simply lower GFX settings to ease the workload, I would prefer running Ultra as I am but just slower at a lower FPS so it's easier (hopefully) on my PC. But I suppose I might not notice much difference between Ultra and High or a similar custom setting if the XML tweak fails.

 

[Rationale]

Rivatuner Statistics Server is great for all kinds of things like Capping your FPS, Profile management and,when coupled with MSI Afterburner,it makes a great On Screen Display configuration tool.

other than controlling the on screen display Rivatuner statistics server has nothing to with controlling frame rates and settings.
I have run MSI afterburner for years and still use the statistic server and Know it will not work in this way.

I've also used Rivatuner SS for framerate limiting, so you clearly don't know what you're talking about.


Anyway, I currently use DXtory as that's the only one I've found that works in every single game.

 

[Rationale]

I've been looking everywhere for a FPS limiter. When I play graphically intensive games (Far Cry 3, etc.) I'm getting roughly 45-63 FPS on ultra with 97-99% GPU utilization. I can hear my rig fire up when I get into the game, it isn't a loud system and it doesn't get overheated, but I can hear the fan switch on high and can tell my rig is working. I never experience any lag, but I honestly CAN NOT tell what-so-ever any difference between 30 FPS and 60+ FPS in any game I play.

So my question, is there a way to limit the FPS my PC tries to achieve, instead of having it work hard to provide unnoticeably high performance on graphically maxed out games? It's downright sensible to limit frames to 30 or less to give your PC a break and extend it's lifetime while not even noticing a difference. I would much prefer FC3 capped at 30 FPS with <99% utilization instead of 99%.

As mentioned, edit the XML or use an external program. I use Dxtory, as Rivatuner SS and the Nvidia driver framerate limiter both introduce anomalies for me in certain games.
Rivatuner adds microstutter in certain smallish games (like Delver or Minecraft), and the Nvidia driver limiter disables vsync.

I recommend you cap at 35 fps and set vsync on. If you cap at just 30, it'll always fluctuate 1 or 2 fps either way from 29-31 and some engines bug out at 29 fps. 35 fps + vsync should kill most of the input lag associated with pre-rendered frames running too quickly without introducing screen tearing. In FC3 you'll probably want pre-rendered frames set to 2.

 

[bgunner]

Rivatuner Statistics Server is great for all kinds of things like Capping your FPS, Profile management and,when coupled with MSI Afterburner,it makes a great On Screen Display configuration tool.

other than controlling the on screen display Rivatuner statistics server has nothing to with controlling frame rates and settings.
I have run MSI afterburner for years and still use the statistic server and Know it will not work in this way.

I've also used Rivatuner SS for framerate limiting, so you clearly don't know what you're talking about.


Anyway, I currently use DXtory as that's the only one I've found that works in every single game.

Umm it is a new option since I have had to change any settings in that part of the program, The issue with the limiting the frames in this manner, using Rivatuner SS, is you need to limit the frames Higher than desired because the program forces the frames to drop. My experience is 3 frames under with about 4 seconds to recover back. To slow IF you play FPS games. And easy there, fella, on the "I don't know what I'm talking about" when the program has changed to allow this feature in the year or so. Not everyone will update there programs to the newest and screwiest that was just released.

this was the first time it was put in the rivatunner ss: Version 4.3.1 (published on 16.01.2012 with EVGA Precision v2.1.2)

 

[bystander]

Thanks for the replies, all. I'll try going into the XML and manually setting the cap, good tip, hope it works. Guess I'll have to look up how to limit FPS on each game I got. They don't explicitly say you can limit FPS on FC3 for some odd reason.

I have a GTX 760 2 gig and I have tried turning on Vsync. The options given are; "on," "adaptive," and "adaptive (half refresh rate.)" However, I've tried all of them and setting my monitor to 60Hz, or under had no effect. The only option regarding 30 Hz was "30 Hertz, interlaced." I have no idea what interlacing is, but I assume the reason the max frames didn't change was because teh setting wasn't changed in the XML. I used MSI Afterburner for all teh FPS monitoring.

And, yes, I know everyone loves 60 FPS. Recently got this PC and upgraded from a junk dual core one where I'd consistently get roughly 14 FPS on almost every good game I could play. Maybe that's why I'm not the hugest fan of 60 FPS. About the tip to simply lower GFX settings to ease the workload, I would prefer running Ultra as I am but just slower at a lower FPS so it's easier (hopefully) on my PC. But I suppose I might not notice much difference between Ultra and High or a similar custom setting if the XML tweak fails.

Use adaptive (half refresh rate) and you'll have 30 FPS cap and V-sync.

For Far Cry 3, you can also use their double refresh per frame option (or what ever it is called). It essentially does the same thing as adaptive (half refresh rate) does.

If V-sync is not working at all, it may be a FPS limiter you have running. Stop using that FPS limiter, and it will work. Nvidia recently stopped allowing V-sync with FPS limiters. It will probably be fixed eventually, but that is likely your issue.

 

[Rationale]

Thanks for the replies, all. I'll try going into the XML and manually setting the cap, good tip, hope it works. Guess I'll have to look up how to limit FPS on each game I got. They don't explicitly say you can limit FPS on FC3 for some odd reason.

I have a GTX 760 2 gig and I have tried turning on Vsync. The options given are; "on," "adaptive," and "adaptive (half refresh rate.)" However, I've tried all of them and setting my monitor to 60Hz, or under had no effect. The only option regarding 30 Hz was "30 Hertz, interlaced." I have no idea what interlacing is, but I assume the reason the max frames didn't change was because teh setting wasn't changed in the XML. I used MSI Afterburner for all teh FPS monitoring.

And, yes, I know everyone loves 60 FPS. Recently got this PC and upgraded from a junk dual core one where I'd consistently get roughly 14 FPS on almost every good game I could play. Maybe that's why I'm not the hugest fan of 60 FPS. About the tip to simply lower GFX settings to ease the workload, I would prefer running Ultra as I am but just slower at a lower FPS so it's easier (hopefully) on my PC. But I suppose I might not notice much difference between Ultra and High or a similar custom setting if the XML tweak fails.

Use adaptive (half refresh rate) and you'll have 30 FPS cap and V-sync.

For Far Cry 3, you can also use their double refresh per frame option (or what ever it is called). It essentially does the same thing as adaptive (half refresh rate) does.

If V-sync is not working at all, it may be a FPS limiter you have running. Stop using that FPS limiter, and it will work. Nvidia recently stopped allowing V-sync with FPS limiters. It will probably be fixed eventually, but that is likely your issue.

Capping with vsync pretty much doubles input lag. I don't recommend it. Vsync has a well known bug where frames pre-rendered on the CPU will bloat the framerate (ie, 2 pre rendered frames on 60 fps really means 62 fps), and the 2 overlapping frames throws off vsync, causing input lag. Nvidia recommends capping at 58 fps or lower on a 60hz refresh to avoid this.

30 fps will always have a bit of input lag, but only a few ms, not really noticeable for most people. Using vsync at half refresh will double the input lag, making it very noticeable.
I find it works better to put vsync at 60 and cap at 30 or 35. That way frame is drawn every other refresh with the 2 extra pre rendered frames being harmlessly integrated every 1/15 of a second, with as little input lag as possible at 30 fps.

Of course, you could probably just force pre rendered frames to 0, but I wouldn't be surprised if that caused microstutter and uneven frame times.

 

[bystander]

Capping with vsync pretty much doubles input lag. I don't recommend it. Vsync has a well known bug where frames pre-rendered on the CPU will bloat the framerate (ie, 2 pre rendered frames on 60 fps really means 62 fps), and the 2 overlapping frames throws off vsync, causing input lag. Nvidia recommends capping at 58 fps or lower on a 60hz refresh to avoid this.

30 fps will always have a bit of input lag, but only a few ms, not really noticeable for most people. Using vsync at half refresh will double the input lag, making it very noticeable.
I find it works better to put vsync at 60 and cap at 30 or 35. That way frame is drawn every other refresh with the 2 extra pre rendered frames being harmlessly integrated every 1/15 of a second, with as little input lag as possible at 30 fps.

Of course, you could probably just force pre rendered frames to 0, but I wouldn't be surprised if that caused microstutter and uneven frame times.

I'm aware of what V-sync does with DirectX (that does not happen with OpenGL). He mentioned he tried it without results, but as I said, it does work, but Nvidia's drivers do not allow a limiter and v-sync to work together, and he appears to want v-sync. And FPS capping at 59 is all that is needed, 58 is not necessary, that said, it doesn't work until Nvidia fixes their drivers to allow FPS capping and V-sync again.

 

[Rationale]

Capping with vsync pretty much doubles input lag. I don't recommend it. Vsync has a well known bug where frames pre-rendered on the CPU will bloat the framerate (ie, 2 pre rendered frames on 60 fps really means 62 fps), and the 2 overlapping frames throws off vsync, causing input lag. Nvidia recommends capping at 58 fps or lower on a 60hz refresh to avoid this.

30 fps will always have a bit of input lag, but only a few ms, not really noticeable for most people. Using vsync at half refresh will double the input lag, making it very noticeable.
I find it works better to put vsync at 60 and cap at 30 or 35. That way frame is drawn every other refresh with the 2 extra pre rendered frames being harmlessly integrated every 1/15 of a second, with as little input lag as possible at 30 fps.

Of course, you could probably just force pre rendered frames to 0, but I wouldn't be surprised if that caused microstutter and uneven frame times.

I'm aware of what V-sync does with DirectX (that does not happen with OpenGL). He mentioned he tried it without results, but as I said, it does work, but Nvidia's drivers do not allow a limiter and v-sync to work together, and he appears to want v-sync. And FPS capping at 59 is all that is needed, 58 is not necessary, that said, it doesn't work until Nvidia fixes their drivers to allow FPS capping and V-sync again.

It'll work if he doesn't cap within his drivers. I've tested on Nvidia cards and every other method of framerate limiting outside the drivers still works with vsync.

 

[bystander]

It'll work if he doesn't cap within his drivers. I've tested on Nvidia cards and every other method of framerate limiting outside the drivers still works with vsync.

When was the last time you tested this? People have been having this issue in the last couple months. It is a new problem, though the latest drivers could have fixed it, but I do not know yet.

 

[Rationale]

It'll work if he doesn't cap within his drivers. I've tested on Nvidia cards and every other method of framerate limiting outside the drivers still works with vsync.

When was the last time you tested this? People have been having this issue in the last couple months. It is a new problem, though the latest drivers could have fixed it, but I do not know yet.

I updated my drivers about a month ago. Currently running 335.23 WHQL, though it's been the same problem since 320.46. Obviously since I cap at 30-35 fps in all my games, I noticed right away that my vsync broke. Took me forever to identify the Nvidia driver framerate limiter as the cause, since back then nobody seemed to notice.

I switched to capping with several programs at first, testing Rivatuner, then smaller injectors, before settling on Dxtory. Using external limiters instead of the driver limiter definitely fixes it, at least for the 6xx series. Or maybe just for the 660. The point is it fixed it for me.

 

[bystander]

It'll work if he doesn't cap within his drivers. I've tested on Nvidia cards and every other method of framerate limiting outside the drivers still works with vsync.

When was the last time you tested this? People have been having this issue in the last couple months. It is a new problem, though the latest drivers could have fixed it, but I do not know yet.

I updated my drivers about a month ago. Currently running 335.23 WHQL, though it's been the same problem since 320.46. Obviously since I cap at 30-35 fps in all my games, I noticed right away that my vsync broke. Took me forever to identify the Nvidia driver framerate limiter as the cause, since back then nobody seemed to notice.

I switched to capping with several programs at first, testing Rivatuner, then smaller injectors, before settling on Dxtory. Using external limiters instead of the driver limiter definitely fixes it, at least for the 6xx series. Or maybe just for the 660. The point is it fixed it for me.

So you are aware of the problem. Most people who are having troubles are having troubles with Rivatuner, since that is the most commonly used and recommended FPS limiter (MSI Afterburner and EVGA PrecisionX use Rivatuner).

 

[bgunner]

It'll work if he doesn't cap within his drivers. I've tested on Nvidia cards and every other method of framerate limiting outside the drivers still works with vsync.

When was the last time you tested this? People have been having this issue in the last couple months. It is a new problem, though the latest drivers could have fixed it, but I do not know yet.

I updated my drivers about a month ago. Currently running 335.23 WHQL, though it's been the same problem since 320.46. Obviously since I cap at 30-35 fps in all my games, I noticed right away that my vsync broke. Took me forever to identify the Nvidia driver framerate limiter as the cause, since back then nobody seemed to notice.

I switched to capping with several programs at first, testing Rivatuner, then smaller injectors, before settling on Dxtory. Using external limiters instead of the driver limiter definitely fixes it, at least for the 6xx series. Or maybe just for the 660. The point is it fixed it for me.

So you are aware of the problem. Most people who are having troubles are having troubles with Rivatuner, since that is the most commonly used and recommended FPS limiter (MSI Afterburner and EVGA PrecisionX use Rivatuner).

FYI, iTurbo, Trixx, MSI Afterburner, EVGA PrecisionX and I think one more are actually all based off of Rivatuner's program for OCing just with different skin.

 

[eragi]

Use adaptive (half refresh rate) and you'll have 30 FPS cap and V-sync.

For Far Cry 3, you can also use their double refresh per frame option (or what ever it is called). It essentially does the same thing as adaptive (half refresh rate) does.

If V-sync is not working at all, it may be a FPS limiter you have running. Stop using that FPS limiter, and it will work. Nvidia recently stopped allowing V-sync with FPS limiters. It will probably be fixed eventually, but that is likely your issue.

For teh sake of possibly assisting others with my problem I guess I'll just have to admit I'm an asshead and had my Far Cry 3 on borderless window mode. Once I set it to fullscreen, AND restarted, Vsync starting working and the framerate capped at 30. My GPU workload is now calculated at 50-70% just as I wanted. Thanks again for all teh help.

 

[bystander]

Use adaptive (half refresh rate) and you'll have 30 FPS cap and V-sync.

For Far Cry 3, you can also use their double refresh per frame option (or what ever it is called). It essentially does the same thing as adaptive (half refresh rate) does.

If V-sync is not working at all, it may be a FPS limiter you have running. Stop using that FPS limiter, and it will work. Nvidia recently stopped allowing V-sync with FPS limiters. It will probably be fixed eventually, but that is likely your issue.

For teh sake of possibly assisting others with my problem I guess I'll just have to admit I'm an asshead and had my Far Cry 3 on borderless window mode. Once I set it to fullscreen, AND restarted, Vsync starting working and the framerate capped at 30. My GPU workload is now calculated at 50-70% just as I wanted. Thanks again for all teh help.

I had not thought of that. Good to see you are up and running. For less latency, you may try Rationale's suggestion, and use regular V-sync with dxtory FPS limiting you to 30.