What are "playable" FPS?

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

tigersty1e

Golden Member
Dec 13, 2004
1,963
0
76
Crysis was smooth at 30 fps because the highs and lows were very muted.

Everything was visually demanding, so it was almost like you were looking at the most demanding part of the game everytime. Wait, what?
 

bryanW1995

Lifer
May 22, 2007
11,144
32
91
In Crysis, or in general?

IME, "playable" FPS is directly proportionate to the speed of gameplay. 25 FPS is doable in Crysis, while anything under 125 (or so) FPS in Quake Live could be felt, even on a 60hz LCD.

wow, that's, um, interesting to know. How exactly is your 60hz lcd supposed to show you 125 fps? What about with vsync on, did it feel sluggish at 60fps?
 

taltamir

Lifer
Mar 21, 2004
13,576
6
76
wow, that's, um, interesting to know. How exactly is your 60hz lcd supposed to show you 125 fps? What about with vsync on, did it feel sluggish at 60fps?

while it is plausible that he is imagining things (a 60hz monitor can only display 60 FPS)

He is most certainly referring to average FPS so it is possible that the specific game he cited, on his machine had severe FPS dips causing a min FPS well below 60 and thus noticeable on a 60 Hz monitor
 

djsb

Member
Jun 14, 2011
81
0
61
FPS isn't just visual. For many games it's tied to the rate at which the game responds to user input, sends data over the network, processes physics, etc. For high speed games like Quake and its ilk, a high framerate makes for smoother movement that reflects subtle mouse movements more accurately.

And that's not even acknowledging 120Hz+ monitors which, it has been scientifically proven, exist.
 

Magic Carpet

Diamond Member
Oct 2, 2011
3,477
233
106
As Scott Sellers, Executive Vice President, Chief Technical Officer, and co-founder of 3dfx told us, "We think that 60 frames per second is the minimum to do what you want a computer game to do." And although they're promising a 60fps minimum, Scott also told us that the development team is aiming at 85fps so gamers can set their monitors at 85Hz and play flicker-free.
60 FPS minimum :thumbsup:

Should be your aim, anyway.
 
Last edited:

taltamir

Lifer
Mar 21, 2004
13,576
6
76
FPS isn't just visual. For many games it's tied to the rate at which the game responds to user input, sends data over the network, processes physics, etc. For high speed games like Quake and its ilk, a high framerate makes for smoother movement that reflects subtle mouse movements more accurately.

oh right, I forgot about that.
That is a major flaw in engine design and only occurs in some games (many are designed properly), but it does exist.
 

Magic Carpet

Diamond Member
Oct 2, 2011
3,477
233
106
First Person Shooters games
Racing games

I can play @30 FPS, no probs. But gee... 60 FPS add so much to the gameplay, it gives you the edge, specially MP.

Crysis 2 @ 30 FPS and Crysis 2 @ 60 FPS, subjectively it's a hell different experience. You just fly through the game with the latter :)
 

BrightCandle

Diamond Member
Mar 15, 2007
4,762
0
76
Some game genres need more FPS that others to be playable. I am personally more than happy on 30 fps on an RTS, but in a first person shooter I want 60 or more fairly consistently. What I would say is that some games are less smooth than others, so measuring microstutter effects can also be important as it reduces the apparent frame rate to below playable even if the actual frame rate is good. Microstutter is a problem most prevalent on crossfire/sli but it does still happen on single cards because its introduced by the game loop and how its written.

I think honestly we need a fraps like tool that can show microstutter as well as FPS and allow us to dynamically set frame rate caps to reduce the impact of MS.
 

OVerLoRDI

Diamond Member
Jan 22, 2006
5,490
4
81
It all depends. Some people are more picky when it comes to sensing the choppiness of lower frame rates, so the cut off is different for everyone. Also it depends on the game type. Strategy games, 30fps can get the job done easily. FPS? 60 is my bare minimum. I prefer the 85hz from my CRT though, so I lower settings until I can get a solid 85hz in most games.