Driver Settings Poll (forcing vsync)

[CP5670]

Interesting discovery. Is this only in DX10?

I guess it's a good thing I always use vsync in any case.

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: DerekWilson

Originally posted by: Martimus
Nice article. Now I know never to disable vsync in the control panel!

thanks ... hope that clears up why I made the poll the way I did as well

In case some of you don't know what he's talking about, I added a link in the OP to the page of my 9800 GTX article that explains why I wanted this info.

Awesome discovery Derek, today's GTX article certainly shed light on why you were polling. In any case I always leave it to default (application) unless 1) there's significant tearing and 2) I can't turn on Vsync in the game. Otherwise I leave it to application and OFF in the game.

Another seldom mentioned setting of interest in the CP is for multi-monitor performance. There were a few posts on these forums stating performance dropped after adding a 2nd monitor, not even used for 3D applications. I've used a 2 panel set-up for a very long time, so I wouldn't have noticed any drop in performance. I did run some tests in Crysis with only 1 active panel and with the different settings in the CP with 2 panels (hybrid, single panel performance etc) and found no difference in any of the runs, but I'd hardly call it conclusive. Have you seen any performance drop in your experience simply from running a 2nd panel in extended desktop mode?

 

[geokilla]

I got a bit lost about forcing vsync in the ATI control panel. I currently have it at Off, unless application specifies. Would I leave it at that or would I change it to something else in order to get better performance?

 

[Jax Omen]

Chizow, I can attest that some games run horribad with a second monitor. I have to go into the Nvidia Control Panel and disable my second monitor to make Doom 3 playable on my 8800GTS (320MB). With the second monitor active, even low resolutions like 800x600 were unplayably bad. I mean like 10-15fps bad.

And, for some reason, disabling the second monitor in Ultramon didn't work. HAD to be done via NCP.

I dunno why any of this is true, but it's what I experienced.

 

[taltamir]

oh wow, this is hillarious. Read the new anandtech article? forcing off REDUCES performance by 25%. You get better performance with it on.
Most people who force it off do so in order to get better performance, and in fact they loose performance...
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3275&p=5

 

[SniperDaws]

Originally posted by: taltamir
oh wow, this is hillarious. Read the new anandtech article? forcing off REDUCES performance by 25%. You get better performance with it on.
Most people who force it off do so in order to get better performance, and in fact they loose performance...
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3275&p=5

Hilarious ?

Whatever floats your boat big cheese

 

[BFG10K]

It's high in nearly CPU limited situations and lower as you move toward a GPU limitation, which implies to me that it's a driver overhead issue (and a pretty freaking big one at that).

How can it be driver overhead? Without vsync the driver doesn't have to do anything. It's only with vsync that it has to inject code to throttle things.

This to me looks like a nVidia driver issue rather than a vsync issue.

Also did you confirm when the performance was lower you really were forcing vsync off (e.g. evidence of tearing, plus no fractional framerate problem or extra input lag)?

It could be in DX10 nVidia's driver has the setting reversed so forcing it off actually forces it on, and vice versa. That would be my primary theory here.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: BFG10K

It's high in nearly CPU limited situations and lower as you move toward a GPU limitation, which implies to me that it's a driver overhead issue (and a pretty freaking big one at that).

How can it be driver overhead? Without vsync the driver doesn't have to do anything. It's only with vsync that it has to inject code to throttle things.

This to me looks like a nVidia driver issue rather than a vsync issue.

Also did you confirm when the performance was lower you really were forcing vsync off (e.g. evidence of tearing, plus no fractional framerate problem or extra input lag)?

It could be in DX10 nVidia's driver has the setting reversed so forcing it off actually forces it on, and vice versa. That would be my primary theory here.

interesting .. it doesn't happen with AMD drivers does it ... maybe i should go back to 'always off'
-of course i could let the "application decide" since i can't


[it is April 1 still, isn't it?]
:Q

 

[BFG10K]

interesting .. it doesn't happen with AMD drivers does it

I doubt it, but you can check by testing it yourself.

-of course i could let the "application decide" since i can't

Unless the application has a hidden forced setting you still have to decide by using its own option.

"Always off" in the driver will force it off in the application regardless of what setting it has (or so it should).

 

[Munky]

Originally posted by: BFG10K
It could be in DX10 nVidia's driver has the setting reversed so forcing it off actually forces it on, and vice versa. That would be my primary theory here.

As humorous as that might sound, I wouldn't discount this as a possibility.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: BFG10K

interesting .. it doesn't happen with AMD drivers does it

I doubt it, but you can check by testing it yourself.

-of course i could let the "application decide" since i can't

Unless the application has a hidden forced setting you still have to decide by using its own option.

"Always off" in the driver will force it off in the application regardless of what setting it has (or so it should).

OK, i will do it and report back ...

Always off is the way i *like* it
- screw "tearing" - i barely notice it and i will accept it without whining as long as i get smoothness and performance without that damned annoying mouse input lag
--or whatever the hell it is annoys the heck outta me ... and i can adjust it a bit ... but i hate fritzing with it for every game and i don't make profiles - so, after that rant>
:music:"always off is the life for me":music:
i like my cake RAW if i can eat it that way



btw, it will be annoyingly slow .. i am testing with a single stock 2900pro right now as i am switching cards back and forth and changing drivers like socks ... i might O/C her .. DX10 Crysis, right .. i can use lesser settings, right .. or do i need to stick my XT back in for Xfire?


EDIT it's never easy is it ... sigh, it's gonna take awhile .. i will stick my 2900xt back in and test at "very high"

in the article, Derek writes:

Slower GPUs will benefit less from not forcing VSYNC off in the driver, but even if the framerate is near a CPU limit (say, within 20%) performance will improve. NVIDIA seems more impacted by this than AMD, but we aren?t sure at this point whether that is because NVIDIA?s cards expose more of a CPU limit due to their higher performance.

NVIDIA is aware of the VSYNC problem, as they were able to confirm our findings yesterday.

so .. there IS an easy button .. i don't even have to test it as Derek did .. it could be partly a "DX10 - MS" issue

 

[BFG10K]

it could be partly a "DX10 - MS" issue

I didn't see the bit about ATi earlier so yeah, it could be. Unless both vendors have the same problem with their control panel, but I find that extremely unlikely.

It could even be a game issue.

I'm going test this on DX9 + XP later.

 

[covert24]

can i join the club with it off?

 

[imported_maxz]

Can someone please tell me how exactly I can force vsync off for the 4870? I have a mouse acceleration problem with Fallout 3 and I have read on forums that forcing mouse acceleration off fixes the mouse problems.

 

[TantrumusMaximus]

on, or my 2405 tears constantly when panning up/down in shooters or MMOs.

 

[ViRGE]

Necromancy is bad, mmkay. Make a new thread, maxz.

-ViRGE