Major tearing, vsync kills performance

[legacy-Rebel7254]

I have major tearing problems in UT2003 and now more importantly UT2004. When I enable vsync the tearing goes away, but my frames want to randomly drop to 40-45 fps all the time. It's like it bogs down for no reason. I don't get it. I've tried every way to implement vsync (enable it in driver settings, and enable in UT2004.ini etc.) It does this no matter what video card driver revision I use

My specs:
Intel P4 3.0c GHz
Asus P4P800 mobo
512 MB DDR PC3200 RAM
ATI Radeon 9700 Pro (Catalyst 4.3)
Viewsonic G220fb monitor
Windows XP Professional

Any ideas on why I can't get vsync to work smoothly? I'm tired of the tearing.....it tears every time I move side to side if my FPS exceeds my refresh rate by even a single frame. But I have to deal with it because sudden drops to 40 fps is worse. Help me? :(

[Frogger]

Originally posted by Rebel7254
Any ideas on why I can't get vsync to work smoothly? I'm tired of the tearing.....it tears every time I move side to side if my FPS exceeds my refresh rate by even a single frame. But I have to deal with it because sudden drops to 40 fps is worse. Help me? :(

well...this is the reason i always use vsync...i don't need any fps >85..(my monitor refresh)...the fact that your fps drops to 40-45 is not necessarily the sign of a problem..some of these levels are very intense and even with the decent rig you have..i don't think it uncommon for frames to drop that low at one time or another...

[legacy-Resurrector]

In your UT2004.ini set UseTrippleBuffering to True and set your desiredrefreshrate to the highest your monitor supports at that res. That should help with the fps drop when using Vsync.

[legacy-Rebel7254]

Originally posted by frogger187
well...this is the reason i always use vsync...i don't need any fps >85..(my monitor refresh)...the fact that your fps drops to 40-45 is not necessarily the sign of a problem..some of these levels are very intense and even with the decent rig you have..i don't think it uncommon for frames to drop that low at one time or another...

I think you misunderstood. My frames don't drop that low when VSync isn't enabled. I play at 1280x1024 at normal details 2x AA, 2x aniso and the lowest I ever see is about 50 fps during intense action at some points or on huge outdoor maps.

Tripple buffering is already enabled I think. I'll try setting desired framerate higher, but doesn't that just turn a bunch of details down and such when the fps drops below the specified number? It's not the graphics that cause my frames to sporatically drop, because it ONLY happens when Vsync is enabled.

Thanks for the help for sar.

[legacy-Resurrector]

mmm Tripple buffereing can only be turn on by the ini file. As far as raising the desired refresh will let you frames go up to your refreshrate of the monitor. Default is 60 so you hit 60 fps tops when Vsync is on. If you raised it to like 80 or 75 it gives more headroom to the fps. Tripple Buffering also helps frames when Vsync is used.

[legacy-{tdc}Demo]

I read several posts about turning off the "cache all skins" or somthjing like that.. I am at work but am going to try it when I get home there is info in the "UT uses 700Mb of RAM" post http://www.ataricommunity.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=357940

[legacy-Rebel7254]

TrippleBuffering wasn't enabled like I thought. I enabled it and that fixed everything. Silky smooth. Thanks for the help.

[legacy-Resurrector]

Glad I could help. See you serverside one day.