G-SYNC 101: External FPS Limiter HOWTO


In-game vs. External Framerate Limiters*

*As of Nvidia driver version 441.87, Nvidia has made an official framerate limiting method available in the NVCP; labeled “Max Frame Rate,” it is a CPU-level FPS limiter, and as such, is comparable to the RTSS framerate limiter in both frametime performance and added delay. The “Nvidia Inspector: 2> Frame Delay” setup detailed further below is legacy, and does not apply to the “Max Frame Rate” limiter, the setup of which is also now detailed below it.

As described in G-SYNC 101: In-game vs. External FPS Limiters, In-game framerate limiters, being at the game’s engine-level, are almost always free of additional latency, as they can regulate frames at the source. External framerate limiters, on the other hand, must intercept frames further down the rendering chain, which can result in delayed frame delivery and additional input lag; how much depends on the limiter and its implementation.

In-game framerate limiters, however, aren’t available in every game, and while they aren’t required for games where the framerate can’t meet or exceed the maximum refresh rate, if the system can sustain the framerate above the refresh rate, and a said option isn’t present, an external framerate limiter must be used with G-SYNC to prevent V-SYNC-level input lag instead.

RTSS is a CPU-level FPS limiter, and introduces up to 1 frame of delay, whereas Nvidia Inspector uses a driver-level FPS limiter, which introduces 2 or more frames of delay. See G-SYNC 101: In-game vs. External FPS Limiters for complete details, along with input latency tests comparing the two external solutions against an in-game limiter.

RivaTuner Statistic Server: <1 Frame Delay

RTSS is available standalone here, or bundled with MSI Afterburner here.

If only a framerate limiter is required, the standalone download will suffice. MSI Afterburner itself is an excellent overclocking tool that can be used in conjunction with RTSS to inject an in-game overlay with multiple customizable performance readouts.

Blur Buster's G-SYNC 101: External FPS Limiter HOWTO

RTSS can limit the framerate either globally or per profile. To add a profile, click the “Add” button in the lower left corner of the RTSS windows and navigate to the exe. To set a frame limit, click the “Framerate limit” box and input a number.

Nvidia Inspector: 2> Frame Delay

An unofficial extension of the official Nvidia Control Panel, Nvidia Inspector (download here) exposes many useful options the official control panel does not, including a driver-level framerate limiter.

Nvidia Inspector can limit the framerate either globally or per profile (more details on profile creation can be found here).

To set a frame limit, locate the “Frame Rate Limiter” dropdown in the “2 – Sync and Refresh” section, select the desired limit, and then click the “Apply Changes” button in the upper right corner of the Nvidia Inspector window.

Blur Buster's G-SYNC 101: External FPS Limiter HOWTO

As of Nvidia Profile Inspector version 2.1.3.6 and Nvidia driver branch R381 or later, a new “Frame Rate Limiter Mode” dropdown has been introduced with a “Limiter V2 – Force Off” option:

Blur Buster's G-SYNC 101: External FPS Limiter HOWTO

This option claims to reduce the limiter’s input lag; exactly by how much, and with what combination of settings, remains to be determined.

NVIDIA Control Panel: <1 Frame Delay

As of Nvidia driver version 441.87, Nvidia has made an official framerate limiting method available in the NVIDIA Control panel labeled “Max Frame Rate.”

To set a framerate limit, navigate to the “Manage 3D settings” section in the NVCP, locate the “Max Frame Rate,” entry, select “On,” set the desired limit, select “OK,” and finally select the “Apply” button after it appears in the lower right corner of the NVCP window.



2686 Comments For “G-SYNC 101”

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Singularafk
Member
Singularafk

Hello. There are a few things I didn’t understand from the article and I would like to ask about them. I have a PG32UQX monitor with Gsync ultimate. I didn’t understand how it is with the Vsync setting. Should I rather use it on this monitor in game or in nvidia panel settings. So which is better for Gsync. And if I set vsync in the nvidia panel (which means I have my own 3d settings) will it change the look of the game ? Like texture quality and stuff. And the second thing. How about the windows power plan. Is it ok to use balance or is high/ultimate perfromance better ? Thanks..

mano4261
Member
mano4261

I play valorant and want to know the best possible way to optimize my game for input lag. Please answer by letting me know what to do with the following settings: G sync on vs off, V sync on vs off, Nvidia Reflex on vs off, and fps cap. Thank you 🙂 I have 3080 and 5600x

GGGQEP
Member
GGGQEP

Hello, I have an ASUS PG279QM monitor. This monitor has an FPS Counter feature with a graph displaying current frame rate. While testing with a Nvidia CP VSYNC ON + NVIDIA CP FPS LIMITER set to 237 FPS in a CS:GO game I’ve noticed that most of the time it is at 237-238 but sometimes it spikes to 240 on that “FPS Counter” graph, so does it mean that GSync is disabled and VSYNC and its latency is enabled in that case? I tried to cap it to 235 fps and still sometimes it shows me 240, I tried to lower it to 230 fps and then I didn’t noticed these spikes to 240 on that graph on my monitor. Right now I’m not sure whether I should stick to 237 FPS or to 230 because I mainly concerned whether Gsync may be disabled in that “spike case”, but I’m not sure maybe it is just a graph that is not very precise? What is your opinion on this? Also, I’ve tried to use an “In game” limiter in CS:GO but it is far less consistent compared to NVidia’s one. I’ve read articles and it is said that the recommendation is to set it to “-3 FPS” but in my case I’m not sure. What’s your thought on this? Thanks. 🙂

Corta87
Member
Corta87

Hello i have a question. I have an Samsung QLED TV with a 4k 120Hz panel and it is G-Sync compatible. I will play with fixed 60fps on 4k because my RTX 3080. What settings should i use?
120Hz on 4K, G-Sync and V-Sync i think both should be enabled.
What Framelimit should i set? 117FPS or 57 or can it still be on 60? Im am not sure about that.
Thank you for this great article.

Florian
Member
Florian

sorry i still don’t understand

why recommends Nvidea
V sync let the 3D setting decide, and not on?

first I use Gsync+Vsync + framelimiter

If Reflex is available in the game, should I turn off LLM in the Control Panel?

For example if I play a game that is very GPU bound and there is no reflex should I set LLM to ultra or on when using gsync + vsync + frame limiter .

Thank you so much.

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