Higher refresh rates in games?

[Hi Ho]

How can I raise the refresh rates in games? Some games have an option for that but most don't. I get a head ache just looking at the menus in games like Medal of Honor, Call of Duty, Half Life 2, Splinter Cell, etc. There must be a way to raise the refresh rates. I have it set to 75hz in the control panel and that is fine. Most games seem to default to 60hz though.

[Force Flow]

I usually change the in-game setting to No Sync (if the setting appears...sometimes it doesn't and relies on windows default setting) and disable vertical sync in the display settings for the video card

[Hi Ho]

I don't have V-Sync enabled in any game or in the control panel.

[trowand]

Doesn't the refresh rate only matter when playing on a CRT and not matter when on an LCD?

[Hi Ho]

Yeah it does but I don't have an LCD.

[THECOMPUTERN()()B]

for ati you go to the control panel, and find override. I dont know if nvidia is the same. Override helps set the refresh rates the same as in you desktop

[spyder003]

Originally Posted by THECOMPUTERN()()B for ati you go to the control panel, and find override. I dont know if nvidia is the same. Override helps set the refresh rates the same as in you desktop

I don't think nVidia has that option, at least not the 6600GT's. I've been searching on mine and can't find it anywhere.

[Hi Ho]

There are refresh rate options in the Nvidia control panel but they are set the same as the Windows setting.

[tomster2300]

Originally Posted by Hi Ho I don't have V-Sync enabled in any game or in the control panel.

V-sync caps your fps so games can run more smoothly on older machines -- they dont experience spikes. I don't think that has anything to do with refresh rates though, does it?

[Hi Ho]

V-Sync ties your frame rates to the refresh rate on the monitor to prevent "tearing". It's not just for older systems. In fact, I'd think it would be more necessary on a newer system where you're getting 150 FPS. That could cause a lot of tearing. I get tearing in MOH because I get around 113 FPS and the refresh rate is stuck at 60hz. There is no V-Sync option in that game. That's one of the reasons I want to raise the refresh rate.

[tomster2300]

Originally Posted by Hi Ho V-Sync ties your frame rates to the refresh rate on the monitor to prevent "tearing". It's not just for older systems. In fact, I'd think it would be more necessary on a newer system where you're getting 150 FPS. That could cause a lot of tearing.

So what happens when you have a low refresh rate -- how does that affect your gaming performance?

[Hi Ho]

If your refresh rate is low it can't show all the frames and it causes the upper part of hte screen to "tear" away from the bottom. It gets rather annoying. The flicker also bothers some people (me being one of them). If you set a CRT monitor to 60hz and look at the corner of the screen you'll see what I mean.

[spyder003]

Originally Posted by Hi Ho V-Sync ties your frame rates to the refresh rate on the monitor to prevent "tearing". It's not just for older systems. In fact, I'd think it would be more necessary on a newer system where you're getting 150 FPS. That could cause a lot of tearing. I get tearing in MOH because I get around 113 FPS and the refresh rate is stuck at 60hz. There is no V-Sync option in that game. That's one of the reasons I want to raise the refresh rate.

Yep, I have to keep it turned on in all my games. If not, the tearing just ruins the experience. There IS an option in the nVidia control panel to turn V-sync on, instead of application controlled. You may want to try that for MOH.

[tomster2300]

I just realized something. What does this tearing look like in game? I tried doing what you said Hi Ho, but could not tell a difference at the bottom corner of my screen. See, in Battlefield 2 my screen kind of lags when I turn really sharply -- could this be because my monitor has too low of a refresh rate? I have an emachines flat screen monitor -- just the screen is flat, not the entire monitor. It's refresh rate does not go up very high -- its maximum resolution is 1280 x 1024. In Battlefield 2 it'll let me go up to 70 mhz in 1024 x 768, but that distorts the screen for some reason (it's square at 60 mhz) -- 70 mhz in 1280 x 968 gives me a square image too. What does all this mean?

Thanks.

[spyder003]

What does this tearing look like in game?

It literally looks like the picture is tearing horizontally. Usually happens when turning in FPS games.

See, in Battlefield 2 my screen kind of lags when I turn really sharply -- could this be because my monitor has too low of a refresh rate?

Sounds like tearing. Try turning your V-sync on.

In Battlefield 2 it'll let me go up to 70 mhz in 1024 x 768, but that distorts the screen for some reason (it's square at 60 mhz) -- 70 mhz in 1280 x 968 gives me a square image too. What does all this mean?

The first time you change your resolution/refresh rate in game, you'll need to resize the picture with the controls on the monitor. Once it's done for each setting, you won't have to do it again.

[tomster2300]

What I'm going to do is call my friend tomorrow who runs a 19" Viewsonic CRT and get him to bring it over for testing. I had never thought about the refresh rate being a problem, but I'd put money on it that it is -- at least in some respect.

Thanks.

[Hi Ho]

Are you getting lag or is is just one half of the screen? If it's just lagging overall I doubt it's the refresh rate. I had the same problem in BF2. It would lag terribly when turning quickly. Turning some settings down solved the problem.

[BustaRomeo]

What you must do is find an app called NVTweak, get it on your computer, enable all the options (in power mode) and then you can force refresh rates in the control panel. I can't remember if you were allowed to do this with normal settings though.