Recently after switching from 800x600@120Hz CRT to 1920x1080@120Hz LCD I've noticed that in Quake Live the game doesn't feel as smooth on LCD. To be more precise while the reported fps was constantly on 125 it felt like something between 90 -120fps with quite annoying "microstuttering" even though I am not running SLI/CF setup (just single GPU Sapphire HD 6850) I could simulate similar effect also in other games like Warsow.

At first I thought the LCD is to blame but when I tested QL in 800x600 and old Q3 in 1920x1080 here the games run without issues so I started looking for other causes... after some investigation I've found the problem is indeed related to my VGA (after carefully studying GPU load and core / memory clock in Afterburner). I am pretty confident that this "microstuttering" occurs when GPU core is frequently underclocked / overclocked. While playing QL in full HD there were frequent changes of core frequency from 600 to 750MHz and back etc. also with memory underclocking as the game is not exactly among the most demanding.

After I increased load with setting 8XFSAA this made the 1920x1080 to run smoothly as the core was running on 750Mhz most of the time (no significant drop in clock). On the other hand it has caused 800x600 resolution to become "microstutterish" as now the GPU was not capable of handling the game completely at lower clocks but was switching between low <-> high clocks.

Then I found that another good way to fix it is to use another VGA (driver) bug - while Youtube video is opened in browser the core will stay fixed at 300MHz - no matter if in 2D or 3D mode. So with paused youtube video and constant 300Mhz (still conastnatly at 125 fps) the game feels smooth - much smother as with core freq oscillating between 600 and 750 MHz. On the other hand I think this behavior and use of such hacks to defeat those bugs is quite absurd...

I just want to ask:

1.)
Are there some other people who have experienced similar problem (or are at least able to duplicate it) - with HD 6850 GPU but possibly some other cards as well.

I think that if you can see the difference between com_maxfps 90 and com_maxfps 125 (which is pretty obvious) and your setup is affected by the mentioned bug - you should see it without problems. Though if the mentioned bugs really take place may vary based on your visual settings (e.g. I was using vertex lightning and some post-processing)

Note that I am using Catalyst 10.11 with 10.10e hotfix


2.)
IS THERE SOME WAY how to force core freq in GPU to maximum when in 3D mode ??
WITHOUT AUTOMATIC DOWNCLOCKING BASED ON CURRENT GPU LOAD ??

I couldn't find anything. Can this be done with some possible driver update in the future ?

So as many years CRT user I bought this display as I wanted something bigger than 19" and there seems to be a lot of hype about new Benq with all that LED stuff etc... Here is my opinion about it:

* with instant mode off, AMA off: it feels horribly blurry - near impossible for quake - though colors look OK, which means not that bad considering it's a TN panel but not great. Just acceptable. The same goes for viewing angles.

* instant mode ON, AMA off: bluring is mostly eliminated, but here comes the ghosting, so in dynamic scenes colors become quite crappy (white becomes yellowish at edges etc.)

* instant mode ON, AMA on: here it feels best as far as responsiveness goes, however the colors in dynamic scenes are even crappier meaning complete crap -> the PQ is horrible, that is when compared to how it would look on CRT and this is quite annoying
Even if is definitely much! better than any 60Hz panel for quake due to the messed colors it somehow doesn't feel as silky smooth as 120 Hz CRT

So is this supposed to be the best that 120 Hz LCDs can offer ? OK I knew there will be some compromises and that it will not be like (advertised) CRT experience, but still - is this the best they can do ? To me the ghosting is quite distracting during gameplay and it also feels lame that after so many years gaming! LCDs are still inferior to even the cheapest CRT.

Please can anyone tell me if other 120Hz displays suffer with the same problems ? (I guess yes but there are probably some differences) I would also like to know if there exist some IPS panels - for general usage (60Hz - not quake) that have low blurring and ghosting (and possibly low input lag). Is it possible that 120 Hz IPS monitors when they come (and I hope they will come) will be better in those regards ? Without need for retarded tricks like "AMA" or "Instant mode" ? Or is this just the limitation of LCD technology ?

PS: and the OSD menu buttons are definitely the worst I've ever seen on any monitor, very difficult to use and any attempts to set things from software have failed so far.

Hi, I recently bought Logitech g500 mouse and so far I am not very satisfied wit it. Can someone wit both mice compare Logitech g500 vs. SteelSeries xai ?

Here is list of my complaints on g500
* First of all it is too heavy (I am used to lift up the mouse during gaming) - my hand hurts me after longer gaming session, it's too heavy when compared to either one of my other gaming mices (MX310, Razer Lachesis) - and of course I am speaking about g500 with those additional weights unloaded
* mid button requires a lot of effort when clicking. G500's scroll button is simply too loose for my taste. I just don't give a damn about hyperscroll if the basic mid-click functionality doesn't work as I would expect. MX310 or Lachesis are good examples how it should work in my opinion (both provide good scroll resistance)
* due to that strange material on sides of the mouse my thumb sweats like hell on g500 - never had this problem with any other mouse before - not very comfortable

So I am in serach for a replacement of g500.

Xai seems like my next logical choice. It seems almost perfect but I really need to know how its weight compares to g500 . If Xai weight is anything like MX310 or Lachesis then it's OK, if it's more like g500 then it's a deal breaker. Is here anyone who tried both these mice ?

I am also interested about the mid button of Xai how does it compare. I just think - mice so expensive as these shouldn't perform that much worse from some cheap 10$ generic mice - which most of the time are quite easy to midclick.

As far as the sensor goes I know g500 and Xai both use the same sensor with some little positive accel problem if you go above like 1.5 m/s or so - but I guess it's not a big deal for me as I am not a low sens player and the g500 tracks fine for me.

Also if I'll go for Xai I wonder if you could give my some recommendation on good pad for this mouse. (I am not that happy about my current SteelSeries SX)