Low Frame Rate on a High Refresh Monitor

[KedsDead]

So I have been thinking about getting a new high refresh rate monitor. Currently I have a very old 1440p Dell U2711. It is 60hz, but when games drop below that, ie Ray Tracing enabled on my AMD card, I can see the vertical refresh line run up the screen.

My Question is, As our (or my) systems age, and the frame rate goes down on the newer game titles, how well do the high refresh rate monitors handle low fps?

If I am playing lets say, Allan Wake 2 or Cyberpunk at 1440p with all the bells and whistles loaded and the my frame rate is 40fps, how well does the monitor perform at that flow a frame rate. Or do they just do it and it is not an issue and I am worried about nothing?

 

[N/A]

With FreeSync turned on every display has a predefined range that it maintains the refresh in sync with the FPS. As low as 48Hz no tearing but horrible ghosting. When turned off it is always 144Hz or 240 fast pixel refresh but tearing can manifest. I have a 144 and it still doesn't feel right, 48 is unimaginable. Just set your refresh to 30Hz and feel the difference.

 

[Launcestonian]

OP, you got a RX 6900XT in your system specs & you've been playing on a 60Hz monitor? Time for a monitor upgrade, no doubt. RT aside, unless its your thing & you can't play without it on.

 

[oxrufiioxo]

Best thing to do is look at reviews of specific monitors with good response times at lower framerates, most are atrocious but there are a few that do it well... Oled does not suffer like LCD at lower FPS when it comes to pixel response so I find it more pleasant to game on at 60 ish fps vs a VA/IPS but I still prefer 90+.

What I like to look at if I know I might be gaming at lower refresh rates.

 

[tabascosauz]

So I have been thinking about getting a new high refresh rate monitor. Currently I have a very old 1440p Dell U2711. It is 60hz, but when games drop below that, ie Ray Tracing enabled on my AMD card, I can see the vertical refresh line run up the screen.

My Question is, As our (or my) systems age, and the frame rate goes down on the newer game titles, how well do the high refresh rate monitors handle low fps?

If I am playing lets say, Allan Wake 2 or Cyberpunk at 1440p with all the bells and whistles loaded and the my frame rate is 40fps, how well does the monitor perform at that flow a frame rate. Or do they just do it and it is not an issue and I am worried about nothing?

VESA VRR/G-sync/Freesync specifically addresses that problem. But the end result differs

• Hardware G-sync monitors (with the physical module, certified by Nvidia as G-Sync or G-Sync Ultimate) have an advertised range VRR throughout the whole refresh range (ie. 1-144Hz on a 144Hz monitor). But iirc the truth is they still rely on some form of LFC (doubles the fps a little bit like VR reprojection) at the lower end of that range, to achieve that wide range.
• Freesync/Freesync Premium/"G-Sync Compatible" have a narrower advertised VRR range (usually lower bound starts at 48Hz), but you get a similar result in that if fps falls below that lower bound, LFC kicks in and pushes you back into VRR range by doubling the frames. If fps becomes so low that not even LFC can help, VRR probably is the least of your worries.

Problem with a lot of VRR/Freesync/"G-Sync Compatible" panels is that they can start flickering at a high-ish frequency when VRR is working. There's no hard and fast rule - it depends on the game, the monitor/TV, the resolution/settings you play at, Windows build, and your luck. I don't think hardware G-sync monitors are immune either, but there's less talk about it (could also be due to their rarity).

But at least for monitors, playing games either naturally/artificially at lower fps or refresh rate (~60fps or 60Hz) raises the likelihood of encountering the flickering.
For VRR TVs, it's a complete shit show as to whether panels will flicker. High refresh VRR TVs also generally have low VRR bound (<20Hz), but it doesn't change much.
Seems to be some recent talk about inherent VRR flickering for OLED and QD-OLED panels, but again it's not set in stone.

 

[oxrufiioxo]

Seems to be some recent talk about inherent VRR flickering for OLED and QD-OLED panels, but again it's not set in stone.

I only notice this on static screens like loading screens with bars that fill up at the bottom, during normal gameplay I have never seen it.

example but on this screen there is no flicker but I have seen it in some games it isn't universal.

 

[KedsDead]

OP, you got a RX 6900XT in your system specs & you've been playing on a 60Hz monitor? Time for a monitor upgrade, no doubt. RT aside, unless its your thing & you can't play without it on.

Yeah.. I am looking into a monitor now, RT isnt really my thing, more like, in a few years and the new next gen games are coming.. ya da ya ya, and my 6900xt starts really showing its age, will the lower frame rate stick out?

Right now, a lot of the newer games I load at 1440p with the highest settings, and I seem to only be able to get 70-100fps. So I was wonders, what happens when it gets down lower, does the monitor perform the same at lower refresh rates? I was looking at a 3440x1440p with a refresh rate of 100hz or 144hz. But then I was also looking at 4k, but most of them are 60hz, unless you go spend on it. Even then, if I lower the resolution down to 1440p, I would still be stuck at 60hz, like I am now.

 

[tabascosauz]

I only notice this on static screens like loading screens with bars that fill up at the bottom, during normal gameplay I have never seen it.

Yeah it's also hard to separate the monitor flickering stories from TV flickering stories, for the OLEDs. TV VRR seems to behave very differently - handles some games like butter and much better than monitors (heck, those even work smoothly with VRR off only on TV), but others are a complete trash fire. QN90B is absolutely allergic to DCS and flickers wildly at all times, but a perfect angel in other games.

Some people said OLEDs aren't any worse than others, but being more responsive tech it just becomes more visually obvious.

 

[oxrufiioxo]

Yeah.. I am looking into a monitor now, RT isnt really my thing, more like, in a few years and the new next gen games are coming.. ya da ya ya, and my 6900xt starts really showing its age, will the lower frame rate stick out?

Right now, a lot of the newer games I load at 1440p with the highest settings, and I seem to only be able to get 70-100fps. So I was wonders, what happens when it gets down lower, does the monitor perform the same at lower refresh rates? I was looking at a 3440x1440p with a refresh rate of 100hz or 144hz. But then I was also looking at 4k, but most of them are 60hz, unless you go spend on it. Even then, if I lower the resolution down to 1440p, I would still be stuck at 60hz, like I am now.

They do not all perform the same at lower refreshes best to look a reviews from reputable sources like Monitors Unboxed/TFT central to see how they perform at lower refresh rates a lot of budget tier ones do not perform very well even at their native refresh rate.

Yeah it's also hard to separate the monitor flickering stories from TV flickering stories, for the OLEDs. TV VRR seems to behave very differently - handles some games like butter and much better than monitors (heck, those even work smoothly with VRR off only on TV), but others are a complete trash fire. QN90B is absolutely allergic to DCS and flickers wildly at all times, but a perfect angel in other games.

Some people said OLEDs aren't any worse than others, but being more responsive tech it just becomes more visually obvious.

I've used woled for 2 years now both a C1 and G2 and it has never been an issue except for that one scenario with the loading screens on my QDOLED monitor I have not noticed it at all yet.

 

[tabascosauz]

Yeah.. I am looking into a monitor now, RT isnt really my thing, more like, in a few years and the new next gen games are coming.. ya da ya ya, and my 6900xt starts really showing its age, will the lower frame rate stick out?

Right now, a lot of the newer games I load at 1440p with the highest settings, and I seem to only be able to get 70-100fps. So I was wonders, what happens when it gets down lower, does the monitor perform the same at lower refresh rates? I was looking at a 3440x1440p with a refresh rate of 100hz or 144hz. But then I was also looking at 4k, but most of them are 60hz, unless you go spend on it. Even then, if I lower the resolution down to 1440p, I would still be stuck at 60hz, like I am now.

Review sites like RTINGS test response time/input lag at different refresh rates. Some monitors perform well at their max refresh rate but have doodoo 60Hz response time, some vice versa. Some just suck.

 

[KedsDead]

Review sites like RTINGS test response time/input lag at different refresh rates. Some monitors perform well at their max refresh rate but have doodoo 60Hz response time, some vice versa. Some just suck.

Thanks.. I'll check that site out, I saw the post that @oxrufiioxo posted earlier and was looking at, my monitor has a gtg speed of 5ms.. so there 4 monitors on that list, that are 1440p, that are faster. (at gtg 60 anyway)

Ok, grabbing my "these make my face look funny glasses" so I can do me some research..

 

[oxrufiioxo]

Thanks.. I'll check that site out, I saw that post you had earlier and was looking at, my monitor has a gtg speed of 5ms.. so there 4 monitors on that list, that are 1440p, that are faster. (at gtg 60 anyway)

Ok, grabbing my "these make my face look funny glasses" so I can do me some research..

Ignore any marketing a monitor says it does and only go by professional data. They use the best case scenario in usually an unusable mode to come up with their marketing BS.

Most modern IPS monitors will say 1ms on the box it's mostly a load of BS.

 

[tabascosauz]

Thanks.. I'll check that site out, I saw the post that @oxrufiioxo posted earlier and was looking at, my monitor has a gtg speed of 5ms.. so there 4 monitors on that list, that are 1440p, that are faster. (at gtg 60 anyway)

Ok, grabbing my "these make my face look funny glasses" so I can do me some research..

No substitute for independent review data. Monitor companies have this supposedly more accurate number they advertise now (MPRT) but it's still 100% bs like gtg. 43" Neo G7 is a recent example that comes to mind, advertises 1ms MPRT but is objectively one of the worst gaming monitors of all time.