Engadget: Capping Frame Rates Can Cut GPU Load and Screen Tearing

According to the Engadget report, capping frame rates is worth considering in most games. A cap can help players hit and hold stable performance, provided their hardware can sustain it, while lowering the chance of screen tearing. It can also put less stress on the GPU, which can reduce fan noise and power draw.

The case for a cap is strongest on VRR monitors. Engadget said a cap helps games stay inside the effective VRR range, generally described as starting at 48 fps and ending at the display’s maximum refresh rate. By keeping in-game action from hitting the refresh-rate ceiling, a cap slightly lowers latency. Paired with V-Sync, the report said, limiting fps should prevent screen tearing.

Engadget described screen tearing as a defect that occurs when the GPU sends a new frame while the monitor or TV is still displaying the previous one. Parts of both frames appear at the same time, showing as flickering horizontal lines in motion. The report called the result ugly, distracting and, in the writer’s view, game-breaking.

The author said he has capped frame rates for years to get smoother, more visually consistent play on an NVIDIA G-Sync-compatible monitor. He usually does not set a minimum fps because G-Sync and AMD’s hardware-agnostic FreeSync match a display’s refresh rate to the GPU’s frame output. On his custom RTX 5090 system, he said, frame drops are uncommon, and he cannot see or feel a dip to 110 fps from 120 fps.

For players who want to cap frame rates, Engadget said the easiest route is a game’s built-in fps limiter, though the report described those options as not always reliable. A safer bet is GPU software. NVIDIA users can go to Manage 3D Settings, then Global Settings, then Max Frame Rate in the NVIDIA Control Panel or use the NVIDIA app, and set a target. AMD users can open AMD Adrenalin, go to Gaming and then Radeon Chill, and set the minimum and maximum fps to the same rate. Third-party programs such as Guru3D RTSS RivaTuner are another option.

The target depends on the display’s maximum refresh rate. Engadget said V-Sync plus a cap three or four frames below the screen’s maximum will stop tearing in most cases: 57 fps on a 60Hz panel, 117 fps on a 120Hz display and 237 fps on a 240Hz screen. On VRR displays, a cap slightly below the maximum refresh rate can reduce lag, though not to a significant degree, according to the report. It said players are almost certainly not going to notice the difference between 57 and 60 fps, or between 237 and 240 fps, and that a GPU powerful enough to stay above the chosen cap should deliver smooth, tear-free play.

Engadget also explained what V-Sync does. It caps fps at a number that will not exceed the display’s maximum refresh rate, so a 120Hz monitor cannot exceed 120 fps with V-Sync on. The feature synchronizes a game’s frame rate to the monitor or TV’s refresh rate and forces the GPU to wait until a display’s refresh cycle is complete before pushing a new frame. That adds a 16.7ms delay on 60Hz panels, 8.33ms on 120Hz screens and 4.17ms on 240Hz displays. The report said V-Sync all but eliminates screen tearing, which it called an immersion-breaker, while also carrying a fairly sizable downside.