stuttering when FPS is above or below 60

[Lone7ur7le]

Hey, Ive got a pretty weird problem. I have a new computer I built a few months ago, the specs are as follows

Vista 64 premium SP1
AMD 9850 Quad Core 2.5 Ghz
Nvidia 260 GTX (I think its factory overclocked, not sure)
4 gigs ram
MSI K9N2 SLI Platinum Mother Board

When ever I play games I get a constant stutter whenever the frame rate isn't 60. If i turn V sync on I can lock it at 60 and gameplay is smooth, but if the framerate drops even as low as 57-56 I get the noticable stutter. If I turn V sync off Ill get over 100 FPS on games like Counter strike or WoW, and still have this stutter even tho im getting a very good framerate.

I've had this problem since I built the computer and have tried everything I can think of to fix it. Ive reformated, reinstalled the newest drivers, ran games with no anti virus installed. Nothing has worked. The REALLY weird thing is I also have a labtop that I bought about 2 years ago with the EXACT same problem(the problem was there from the day I got it). I couldn't figure it out on that computer either, it was part of why I decided to build a new computer.

Any Ideas or suggestions on this would be really appreciated, I've had this problem so long I'd be happy just to know whats causing it.

[RockmasteR]

hello Lone7ur7le and welcome to TSF

if your monitor is CRT try to put the refresh rate higher than 60, also try to force the vsync from the Nvidia forceware, maybe that could help
I think the stuttering is caused by the v-sync when it comes under 60 fps and also it could be the human eye...
when your frame rates passes 60 fps and your refresh rate is 60 Hz then you will notice some stuttering that's because your frame rates are higher than your refresh rate and your monitor can't keep up with that, so that's the V sync role, also try to force triple buffer on from the Nvidia Forceware...

hope that could help

[Lone7ur7le]

Thanks for the reply.

I forced the vsync and triple buffer in the Nvidia control panel, it helped some becuase on most games I get at least 60 FPS, so Ive got smooth gameplay at least most of time. However, I still get the stuttering when it drops below 60. I have an LCD monitor, but I still tried setting the refresh rate at 75 just to see what would happen. It just made it so vsync locked the framerate at 75 and whenever it went below that instead of 60 I would get the stutter. I guess its possible that It could be that my eyes are more sensitive to it or something.

[RockmasteR]

yes the eye is sensitive about that.

there is an article about it in this site:
http://www.tweakguides.com/
but I don't remember where exactly
there is a little demo about fps, the screen is split to two sections.
and you can set the fps at each one
you will notice the fps even if it's by 1
EDIT : here is the article
http://www.tweakguides.com/Graphics_5.html

[Tiber Septim]

If you have VSync on and your Refresh rate is 60, the only time your FPS would change is if it dropped below 60. In which case, it should be locked to 30, unless you are getting less than 30FPS (which you shouldn't). You'd be best leaving VSync off, unless you get screen tearing.

It sounds more like game or movement lag than FPS dropping. You only mentioned CS and WoW, does it happen in offline games as well?

[Lone7ur7le]

I checked out that article and the FPS demo, very interesting.

Tiber, is there a way I can lock both the FPS and the refresh rate at 30? I know its possible to lock FPS that low, but I didn't think you could go that low with refresh rate. If I only lock the FPS at 30 and not the refresh rate I get the stutter, becuase it happens whenever the FPS differs from the refresh rate.

The only offline game I have is crysis, I do get the same stuttering problem, but now that I think about it, its a little less severe than online games. Its possible that could have something to do with it, but i dont think its conection or internet speed related alone.

Thanks for the replies