Gaming Discussions

[jesusmarin]

Hi everyone!

I recently bought a DELL 2724D 165Hz monitor, and overall, FreeSync seems to work well in games without an FPS limit. When I check the monitor's OSD, the refresh rate matches the game's FPS perfectly. For example, in Senua's Hellblade II, if the game is running at 65 FPS, the monitor shows 65Hz and adjusts dynamically as FPS fluctuates.

The problem arises when there's an FPS cap, such as 60 FPS. In these cases, the monitor's refresh rate becomes erratic, jumping between 50Hz and 70Hz instead of staying locked at 60Hz. This causes severe tearing in games, which doesn't happen on my older 60Hz monitor.

Even in the pause menus of these games the mouse is laggy. I’ve also tried enabling and disabling VSync in the game settings, but it doesn’t seem to have any effect on the issue.

I’ve tried everything I can think of, but nothing has worked so far, and I’m getting desperate to find a solution. If anyone has experienced something similar or has any suggestions, I’d really appreciate your help!

Thanks in advance!

[BigAl01]

Are you using a Radeon GPU?  You haven't told us anything about your system except that you have a Dell 2724D monitor.  If you are using a Radeon GPU, try installing the latest Adrenalin driver update (24.12.1) and rebooting.

[jesusmarin]

Yes, I have a RX 7700 XT. I already have the latest drivers but the problem is not solved.

[BigAl01]

Are you using a DP cable?  I recommend that over an HDMI cable.  What version cables are you using (can be hard to tell unless you just bought them)?  I believe the latest DP version is 1.4, while for HDMI it's 2.1.  This guide below can help you decide what version of HDMI cable you should be using as a minimum:

[jesusmarin]

yes, I have tried with both a display port and hdmi cable and it is the same for both. I found this other forum where a user has the same problem as me, only that the “solution” he mentions about the radeon chill doesn't work for me either... 

https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/limit-fps-without-breaking-freesync-or-gsync.3721371/

[FunkZ]

Have you tried disabling FreeSync on games where you have a FPS cap set?

[jesusmarin]

yes, and there is tearing even so, although this is more normal because the monitor without freesync goes to 165hz and the game for example at 60 fps. What I don't understand is the tearing with freesync enabled because the fps and hertz should match even with a fps limit.

[atmosphere]

There is an upper and lower limit for freesync, does it happen on lower/higher res as well??? For example when doing 1080p@100Hz? 

Also, indeed enhanced sync is what I meant. Disable enhanced and enable vsync in game profile. Also is it actual tearing? It could also be jitter/stutter @ high refresh. 

Do you have HDR enabled and have you tried different in game settings (lower and higher presets) 

If above doesnt do anything, maybe fall back to previous driver..

[jesusmarin]

Happens in various resolutions ONLY if there is a limit that makes it not reach the maximum hertz. For example in 1080@100hz if the game would run at 120fps without limit there would be no problem, but when you put a limit for example at 90fps the problem returns and the freesync goes crazy. The same with 1080@60hz, if there is no limit the game runs fine, but if you put a limit at 59 fps it starts to fail, it's even ridiculous... 

I tried what you say about vsync but nothing... and yes, it has to be tearing because the fps of the game are very stable and I can see the tearing on the screen. 

HDR is always disabled. 

[atmosphere]

Do you have to enable a mode on the display itself for high refresh?? 

Do you know what the freesync range of your monitor is??

Enhanced sync should double the Hz/FPS when the FPS is too low ... but i cant imagine FPS going down that much.. so vsync&enhanced off.. only freesync enabled at lowest res & quality ... possibly consider enabling FMF ..

[jesusmarin]

No, the monitor is defaulted to 165hz, this can only be changed from windows. The freesync range is 48-165hz, so that shouldn't be the problem either. I also tried with vsync and enhanced sync disabled and just having freesync but I still have the problem, even in low power games like minecraft when limited to 60fps the hertz start to fluctuate. 

Im starting to think this is a common problem with freesync and fps limiters because I have seen many people with same problem. For example: 

https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/1gza3u5/monitor_osd_shows_a_fluctuating_refresh_rate_with...

https://www.reddit.com/r/AMDHelp/comments/1g5pn28/i_cant_fix_the_tearing_even_with_freesync/

https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/1dde2ho/screen_tearing_even_on_gsync_vsync/

https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/z13yyo/monitors_builtin_refresh_rate_counter_fluctuat...

if someone here could also support this with his monitor, limiting to 60fps any game, as long as his monitor allows to see the hertz in real time of course... 

[atmosphere]

Ok.. Just a thought, set display to 120Hz in windows. Then enable vsync in game profile (amd panel) and in-game. 165Hz is not a factor of 60, 120Hz is. 

Its not how you want to use your display, but it could just be a game-engine and driver quirk..

[jesusmarin]

I also tried setting 120hz and limiting the game to 60 but that didn't work either, this would only make sense if freesync was disabled.

I sincerely doubt that it's something related to the games when I've tried all the games I have, besides it's weird that it happens to so many people...

[atmosphere]

Theres an alternate vsync option which enabled/disbled might help. Also its possible to use RX chill to limit the frame rate to the cap.

[jesusmarin]

I think you mean enhanced sync in adrenalin. I also tried it but it doesn't seem to change anything. Same with radeon chill, I set a limit to 60 but the hertz keep fluctuating. The thing is that as soon as freesync detects that there is a fps limit it goes crazy.

[roundleafbirch]

I just got this monitor too.

Try disabling SmartHDR in the monitor OSD settings.

[jesusmarin]

I didn't notice the hdr from the monitor, but when I turn it off nothing, everything remains the same. Since you have the same monitor I would greatly appreciate if you could check if the same thing happens to you with a fps limiter, you just have to activate the hertz monitoring in the OSD of the monitor in Game, Game enhanced mode and framerate, now you should get it at the top left. Then open any game that has fps limiter, minecraft can be a good option and see if when you set a limit of 60fps the hz go crazy, appearing quite a lot of tearing or if they stay stable at 60 hz. also make sure that in the video options of the game the resolution is set to the max hz of your monitor. 

[roundleafbirch]

Sure, I'll give it a try this weekend. I've only had the monitor a few days now and haven't had time to mess with it much. They really had the brightness cranked up out of the box. I'm using the driver from the dell support page: DELL_G2724D-MONITOR_A00-00_DRVR_F6FC9.exe

Didn't know there was a built in hz/fps counter. I did notice an issue with Adrenalin Overlay where it would work for a bit then freeze and show N/A for FPS. A couple of previously working games crashed too. But I setup the monitor and upgraded to 24.12.1 at the same time so I'm not sure which one to blame.

What combination of frame limiter are you using? (in-game, Frame Rate Target Control, Radon Chill, V-sync, Enhanced sync...)

[jesusmarin]

Perfect, let me know when you try it. I'm pretty sure the problems you're talking about are because of the new driver, it doesn't make much sense that it's because of the monitor. Anyway, make sure the games are in full screen exclusive for the overlay to work properly.

I have already tried all possible combinations to see if there is no mismatch between fps and hertz. The only one that seems to work best is FRTC, as the hz's stay between 59 and 61 when fps is limited to 60, so no tearing at all, however if I do any other combination without FRTC the hertz don't match. The problem also is that FRTC for some reason doesn't work on all games, and I've read that it can introduce more input lag than the other options. Let me know if there is another option that works for you other than FRTC. 

[btanis20]

Honestly, I wouldn't be TOO fixated on what refresh rate your monitor is displaying at the current frame. The reason being is because the monitor will adjust in accordance with VRR. In all cases, the refresh rate will either match the FPS or double/triple buffer to compensate for the frame dip. (Depending on how drastic the dip was.)

Also, if you truly want to determine how smooth a game is, then you should be looking into 1% Lows along with the Frame Time graph. FPS alone doesn't hold as much weight, imo, in this particular topic.

In your case, I would try the following options to maximize smoothness in Frame Times and fluidity in games:

* In-Game Settings: Always turn off V-Sync and allow the Frame Rate to run "Unlimited, Unlocked, (or whatever the highest value is available)."

* Adrenlin Software: Select "Always On" for "Wait for Vertical Refresh," along with capping the FPS value to either 160 or 162 (max). By doing this -- in tandem with FreeSync Premium (or Open Forum VRR) -- you'll be able to avoid any screen tearing since the FPS won't ever exceed your monitor's 165Hz refresh window.