If vSync is enabled, how can you tell in fps drops down to 30? I'm using the Steam in-game fps counter, I think my system is probably maintaining 60fps most of the time, but if it drops below 60fps I understand that it drops all the way down to 30fps, but is this reflected in the Steam fps counter? I'm just asking because it never seems to drop below 60fps when racing, yet I'm pretty sure there must be some occasions where the actual framerate must drop below that. I'm using an Nividia 970M GPU with most (but not all) things set to the highest quality settings
If your PC doesn't capable to run game on stable 60 fps with v-sync turned on then it will run game on 30 fps. And after that, if your PC still doesn't capable run your game on 30 fps it will drop to 15 fps. That's how v-sync works. V-sync is useful when you have powerful PC with a huge amount of free fps under huge load. For example you are @ Nords with 24 cars grid and at start you have 120-160 fps with all those cars near. If not, turn off v-sync, because you will have input lag.
My main reason for enabling vSync was that I was getting alot of tearing without it (my laptop's monitor only support 60Hz and not GSync), but I was getting way over 60 fps. I don't have Nords and haven't run any big grid races yet, though. I've yet to see the FPS counter drop below 60 fps in game yet, but it probably would in big grids.
Your GPU is good enough to hold a steady 60fps for the vast majority of a race. The only time you will experience a drop is on the starting grid and first few corners when using a large field of AI and lots of visible cars. Once the pack spreads a little you will get a steady 60fps no probs. Try using 'Adaptive Vsync' in the Nvidia Control Panel. This will switch off vsync when the frame rate drops below 60 meaning that, for instance, if your FPS drops to 55 you won't get the drop down to 30 with vsync enabled.
Okay, I might try that. BTW I just turned off vSync to see what FPS I would get, with a 12 car grid at Suzuka I was getting between 120-160 FPS! I also didn't notice much tearing, but have in the past, perhaps something has changed...
I'm not seeing "Adaptive vSync" in the Nvidia control panel, where would you usually find this? I can see Vertical Sync, but not Adaptive vSync
Okay, though I'm still trying to figure out how to use Nvidia Profile Inspector with R3E, as it seems to point to the wrong .exe (mss32.exe)
Okay, in Nvidia Profile Insepctor, I see settings for: "Adaptive" under "Vertical Sync Tear Control", I assume that's what to use?
In the toolbar along the top do you see these options? Add application to current profile Remove application from current profile