Rate adjustment technique
Rate adjustment technique
As discussed, try capping the frame rate counter off and play for a while. Initially, you might feel a bit off, but over time your mind will adapt and focus more on the game rather than the numbers. The key is that a steady frame rate reduces mental strain compared to sudden changes. If you notice drops like 130 fps to 85, it becomes noticeable, but maintaining a fixed 85 fps helps your brain adjust and lets you concentrate on the experience instead of the technical details.
You're observing differences in frame-times. The brain easily picks up shifts in speed and overall changes. At 100fps the delay is just 10ms, which is low latency. When compared to typical online gaming ping around 50ms, it stands out. Besides a game might need roughly three frames to register input (add another 50ms), many games exceed that. Overall, 10ms latency isn't a big deal; what matters more are the quick swings in timing that can feel disruptive. That's why I limit my frame rate with RTSS to ensure stable timing and rates. Below is a chart showing frame times. You'll notice after about 75fps the gains slow down. The jump from 30fps to 60fps is noticeable (16.6ms). But moving from 60fps to 120fps only changes it by 8.3ms. Going from 120fps to 240fps is almost negligible (4.15ms). For each extra 120 frames and double the effort, you save only about 4ms. The clarity improves more with higher rates, but the main advantage is sharper motion. This also affects how images stay visible. Especially with modern displays that keep an image for a moment before updating. Slow refresh times cause blurring. Fast response times help, though CRTs didn't have this problem because they didn't hold images. At 60Hz it feels smooth, and it's true that pushing beyond 100Hz on a CRT would likely offer little gain—possibly needing 1000Hz to match a CRT's clarity. For more details, check this link: https://blurbusters.com/faq/oled-motion-blur/
I regularly use a dual-monitor configuration, 60 and 120Hz, keeping the main at 120Hz for gaming and the second at 60Hz for other tasks, such as browsing, YouTube, Discord, etc. I don’t really feel the difference, perhaps because I’ve grown accustomed to it over time.
It seems you're dealing with a different issue—your iPhone and iPad run at higher refresh rates, while your setup uses lower rates. I'm used to older systems like Ocarina of Time (20fps) and 24fps movies, and I can see the difference on my 16" display. The 32-inch monitor shows it clearly, but it doesn't bother me when performance drops to 60 or 30fps.
Aside from games stutter at times, be it due to bad game or system, which feels horrible, yeah going from faster to lower definitely feels bad for sure. Anything with fast motion like shooters will feel much better at higher fps and Hz that's a fact. Ideally I'd want 120fps in general for even ultra single player game. For competitive games twice that at least. I have 4K 240Hz OLED and I switch it to dual-mode so 480Hz when I play online fps and it's instantly better. Yes game runs as high of course, clarity is vastly improved but also input lag and mouse feel is smoother and more responsive. It's just great.
My dual screens measure 165 and 144 inches. I easily spot the distinction whenever I switch between my MacBook or another monitor. I haven’t encountered a 240Hz+ screen yet, so I’m unsure if a noticeable gap exists compared to 144Hz. Previously, I had a setup like yours, but I wouldn’t have noticed much unless I played a game on a 60Hz display. Now it’s clear when a screen runs slower.
I truly believe you can train yourself to be less sensitive to frame rate. I used to worry a lot about drops below 60 frames. Once I played Assassin's Creed Odyssey on my PC, maintaining a consistent frame time above 30 fps felt essential just to keep playing. Even limiting myself to 50 fps wasn't enough to prevent noticeable jitter or tearing (depending on my V-sync settings). Eventually, I settled for 30 fps, which was a bit unsettling at first but quickly became manageable. I realized I could play the game without constant upgrades, and it felt satisfying. Looking back, I'm genuinely pleased because I no longer feel pressured to keep pushing my hardware to achieve high frame rates. Sometimes people label this as just going through the motions, but with prices rising and games becoming more demanding, I hope more players discover they can enjoy titles smoothly at lower settings. That way, they might avoid getting frustrated by expensive GPU deals.
I moved from 3080TI to 4080 recently for the frame upgrade. I don’t believe there’s a strong need to switch my card anytime soon, and the change only cost around 200 pounds.
The issue is that as long your system runs smoothly you can usually work around it... minimal textures, soft shadows, weak AA or none at all, etc. essentially low settings, even lower resolution can help. You just need to figure out what matters more to you—stable frame rates or impressive visuals. Personally I prefer stable or at least playable frames, since most games still look fine at low/medium settings these days. (though I haven’t done this often myself, my 3070 handles almost anything, but I’ve seen it work with a 1050ti, a 1060, 5500xt...)