Vsync doesn’t affect my fps in Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

[Amul]

I play at 1920x1080 and turning off vsync doesn’t seem to affect my fps in anyway. What does this mean and why does turning it off not improve my fps?

[Orochimaru]

I had to force vsync off in the nvidia cpanel as well as disabling it in the ini file for it to really work, have you tried confirming with something like MSI afterburner or FRAPS to see what the FPS is. In the main menu I go up to like 2000 fps with it disabled. The entire point of Vsync is to cap the framerate at 60FPS. This prevents screen tearing on monitors with a refresh rate below 59/60. If you aren't seeing any benefit that most likely means that your PC isn't powerful enough to exceed 60FPS anyway.

[VazV]

V-sync isn't exactly just a fps cap. It just tries to keep your fps so that your screen doesn't do tearing. With your normal 60 Hz LCD when the fps gets under 60 it will half the fps to 30 to keep it in sync with the monitor. If fps gets lower than that it will put 20 etc. That fluctuation is what makes the "lag" that most people have "fixed" with disabling v-sync. When V-sync is disabled the graphics card just tries to draw as many screens as it can. Usually you might see some "fake" increase in fps if it's just little bit lower than 60. And for OP have you actually put the iPresentInterval=0 in the skyrim.ini NOT the skyrimprefs.ini.

[Jung]

I was unable to turn off Vsync through the .ini files. I had to use nvidia Control Panel to force it off. However, that creates its own problems. With Vsync off, the speed at which your mouse moves up/down is directly affected by how many FPS you have. Literally. Lots of folks have complained about it (myself included). I am leaving Vsync on because my mouse speed is so fast up/down that the game is unplayable.

[Nimos]

You can force VSYNC off through your graphic's card's control panel or by putting iPresentInterval=0 in the Display section of your Skyrim.ini. Your mouse sensitivity will vary depending on the frame rate though; meaning if your frame rate exceeds 80-ish the camera will start flying around with just a gentle push of the mouse. To combat this, you'll want to cap your frame rate at about 60 with this FPS Limiter.

[Enos]

Vsync is only useful if your PC is powerful enough to provide a framerate above 60FPS constantly. Once your FPS surpasses your monitor refresh rate, it will create screen tearing. Vsync limits your FPS at 60 to prevent this. If your PC can't surpass 60FPS in the first place, then it won't matter if you have it enabled or disabled. If Vsync is on, your framerate will never reach the 60FPS cap anyway. If you have Vsync on and FPS is constantly at 60, then turning it off will most likely see a performance boost (as well as create screen tearing). If it rarely reaches 60, then turning it off won't make a different.

[Shikamaru Nara]

That's true, though I'm fairly sure that this can't be prevented even with Vsync on. To be perfectly honest though, there's really no point in playing without Vsync enabled (unless it really is that broken and actually kill framerate when it should only be capping it). Even if the difference between 60FPS and higher framerates is noticeable (and I've never found it to be), is it really necessary? The majority of games on the 360 don't run higher than 30FPS.

[Badmannah]

At that point it's not about the framerate. The input (mouse) lag becomes really bad if your computer is fast enough to render more than 60FPS. Many people notice it in menus, but claim it goes away ingame and don't care about it further. This is because menus usually run a lot faster.

[DevenderD]

If you got the right monitor, yes. But i don't think you understood the problem. This problem only occurs if you got a very fast computer (compared to the game's requirements) and are using a standard 60Hz TFT display. The problem will not occur if you're using an old CRT monitor or a modern TFT with either 120Hz support, input lag reduction or both. I assure you once you experience real mouse lag you may happily accept screen tearing over it.

[Halle]

If screen tearing is a problem, and mouse lag is a problem, and both of these things are fixed by leaving Vsync enabled. You said the input lag becomes bad if your computer is fast enough to render more than 60FPS and you're using a 60Hz display (which, according to you, is standard). Turn on Vsync, limit FPS, problem solved. Screen tearing (for the most part) is caused by framerate exceeding monitor refresh rate (except you have a 120Hz display, which the majority of people don't). Turn on Vsync, limit FPS, problem solved. If the majority of gamers can only benefit from leaving Vsync enabled