Smooth Gaming Requires Stable Frame Rates:
- Avoiding Stutters: The secret to smooth game play lies in minimizing frame rate inconsistencies, particularly the “1% lows.” Aim for similar values for your average FPS, 1% lows, and 0.1% lows, ideally all above 60 FPS. Significant deviations between your lows and average cause stutters despite a high average.
- Understanding 1% Lows: This metric represents the average of your worst 1% of frame rates, also known as the 99th percentile. Essentially, 99% of the time, your FPS stays above this benchmark.
- The Foundation: Before diving deeper into 1% lows, it’s crucial to grasp “frame time” and “average FPS.”
- Frame Time Explained: Frame time, measured in milliseconds, represents the time your GPU takes to render each frame. It fluctuates as some frames render faster than others.
- Calculating FPS: FPS counters measure frame time between two frames, convert it to FPS (1000ms divided by frame time), and then calculate the average based on previous FPS readings.
Average FPS Can Be Deceptive – Focus on Lows Instead:
- Beyond the Headline Number: Gamers often rely solely on average FPS in benchmarks, but this metric paints an incomplete picture.
- Understanding Frame Time Fluctuations: Imagine frames rendering in 7ms and 250ms intervals. Half the frames would average 142 FPS, the other half at 4 FPS. Averaging these gives 73 FPS, seemingly playable, but hides the reality of stutters and lag.
- Why Lows Matter: Enter “1% lows” and “0.1% lows,” representing the FPS values above which 99% and 99.9% of frames stay, respectively. Think of them as averages of your worst frame rates.
- Visualizing Lows: An FPS-time graph helps. A 1% low of 40 means the game stays above 40 FPS most of the time, while a 0.1% low of 35 indicates occasional dips to 35 FPS.
- Minimizing Stutters: Aim for lows close to your average FPS. Even moderate FPS (20-30) can feel smooth if lows are similar.
- The Bigger Gap, the Worse the Stutter: When average FPS diverges significantly from lows (e.g., 80 FPS average with 15 FPS low), stutters become much more noticeable. This is why constant-frame-rate videos appear smooth despite lower FPS (like 24 FPS).
- Tuning for Smoothness: Factors like RAM, VRAM, and CPU affect FPS and lows. Systems low on memory or VRAM suffer most. Consider my example: GTA V ran at 30-40 FPS with constant stuttering on my 8GB RAM laptop. Upgrading to 16GB eliminated the stutters, even though FPS remained below 40.
- Optimizing Lows: Besides RAM upgrades, explore options like increasing VRAM (upgrading GPU), enabling XMP memory profiles, lowering in-game settings, updating GPU drivers, and identifying performance bottlenecks. Capping FPS to match your 1% low can also create a smoother experience.
