Is it better to keep games in the AMD Control Panel to watch, or should I turn them off?
Is it better to keep games in the AMD Control Panel to watch, or should I turn them off?
I know that's something I've always wanted if there are no games listed in AMD Control Panel while playing, but lately I checked if this feature works better now. So I tested a few games and added the right links for their EXE files manually. For some reason, the automatic scan and add still isn't working well. The only difference that stands out is when you have games monitored and listed in AMD Control Panel: these games now run in Freesync AMD optimized mode instead of normal Vsync on or off in the panel. This gives the best performance possible on my machine. I took some FPS data from those games to see if it helps with tweaking. As you can see in my screenshot, most of the low FPS games were set to 4K and the ones with higher FPS were set to 1920x1080. All games were configured according to their own engine capabilities and hardware specs to get the best quality and FPS as I knew how to improve them, maybe with some input I'll figure out even more improvements later. https://imgur.com/ZMF1hg6
Does a monitor actually make things work better? To me, it only shows what the computer sees. I'm not sure if that matters much. Nvidia has a page on GeForce Experience that tweaks games based on my card, but you can't find that link anymore. It's not like Game Advisor - https://www.amd.com/en/support/kb/faq/dh2-031 nvm, found it - https://www.amd.com/en/support/kb/faq/dh2-028 its actually just a compatibility checker so maybe changing the settings for each game could help. I wonder if those settings need to run in the background. It looks kind of similar but not exactly the same. Its more than 7 years since I used an AMD GPU, its almost due again.
Most monitors run on your computer's CPU when they turn on, so there might be a tiny bit slower performance. But is that slow down noticeable? Since modern CPUs are very good at handling different jobs, it probably won't show up in practice. It's hard to tell for sure without looking around because you wouldn't notice the difference unless someone told you about it specifically.
The only thing I see is a tiny delay when I press buttons, maybe just 5 or 10 milliseconds. But they clearly did a lot better than before because back then the lag was much worse. When I talk about my PC speed, look at how good it stays up for most games. My computer can still handle things well unless they are very demanding and want to play on 4K screens like GTA IV or F1 2020. It seems that the AMD monitor is reading the frame rate from the game menu screen instead of what happens when I'm actually playing. For example, in F1 2020 my computer shows around 60 to 70 frames per second while I play, but the monitor says only about 38.5 fps because that's what is shown on the screen. Other games are getting too low frame rates like Assassin's Creed Blackflag at 56.8fps or Assassin's Creed II at 55.7fps. It looks like DiRT Rally 2.0 is also hitting a limit set by the game engine at about 60Hz, which seems to be my hardware ceiling even with good settings. It feels like I should buy new hardware soon, but right now that upgrade isn't necessary for me.
You might be better off getting an app like Afterburner to check your FPS. You won't get a chart that easy though. But you will see it in the game itself... maybe you could set up a spreadsheet to track them or use the afterburner logging function - I guess you can export the info as a CSV file that opens in excel, not sure if google sheets can import those. Maybe it works. Does the AMD thing add performance to games or just make the monitor look better? You might need a newer GPU to run things smoothly at 4k with the settings you want. Your card is about the same age as mine. I want a new one but I don't care much about 4k, I stick to 2k. I actually have a 4k monitor that I am just not using right now.
I don't think that it will slow things down or speed them up too much. Yes, I have been waiting to buy a new graphics card because some video games are designed to run at 4K quality and can be faster when played on better hardware. Even if the game settings stay the same, upgrading the GPU will make sure they look good even with high frame rates. I haven't found the right upgrade yet for me. As for the current model's performance, I'll leave it alone to see what it does with those games listed here.
i would look at the 7000 series from AMD, but well... they still haven't released the 7900 yet and the 7800 is not due for a few months. rx 7900xt & rx 7900 xtx due out 13 Dec, I wouldn't bother trying to get one next month. They releasing the AMD Reference cards on 13th and maybe some made by Asus as well. Its unclear when some makers cards will release. I think a lot of people will want them before Xmas and I am not in that much of a rush. Both 7900 meant to be on par with 4080 in some ways, better in some, worse in others. Its a 4k card no idea what 7800 competes with. I am awaiting reviews as we don't know anything really until then. I probably need to replace my 2070 Super but I don't really need a 4k card, just one that runs my 1440p screen at 144. 7900xt might be overkill for that really. I need to replace PSU at same time. 750 wouldn't cut it for even a 7800.
For FPS, the real number doesn't matter as much as how it compares to others. If I got 52fps with Freesync on and a monitor, but 56fps with no monitor and v-sync, that small difference between them isn't huge compared to the big benefits of smoother movement, fewer or no stuttery moments when using Freesync. Performance is usually just talked about as being how many frames per second there are, but actually it's all about finding a balance for performance versus what looks good on the screen. This really matters once you hit or pass your monitor's refresh rate.
Seems like a solid plan. That's exactly why I can play games like GTA IV and F1 2020 at lower frame rates but with the highest quality settings on my computer, even though it might not have been designed for that. If I can get smooth performance, that is enough reason to justify it. Yes, still undecided whether being monitored or unmonitored is better; if you are not monitored, you see all your system's performance details, and if you are monitored, you only get more stability as noted.