to what extent does a bad fps hold back your game? (let's say if you went from 40 to 20, no drops)

the reason I ask is right now, I'm averaging about 15 fps with drops to 9 on spam fights, but I get a lot of people telling me that it shouldn't affect me that badly since I'm playing medic.

I can still see rockets and scouts, but I'm not really sure whether my fps is adversely affecting my ability to dodge them. Any opinions?

Whoa there, if you're dropping to 6 fps during fights that's definitely a major issue. Everyone has a different opinion when it comes to optimal fps settings, but I'm pretty sure nobody's would ever say 15 fps is a good average. You should definitely look into running a high fps config, here the two most popular:

Quantums Little Config (http://www.dieall.de/da2008/index.php?mod=articles&action=view&id=40)
m0re's configs (http://m0re.nocrits.com/index.php?site=files&cat=1)

yes well from experience i can say that having a low framerate makes it harder to aim at first, but once you get used to it its like watching the game in slow-motion, which is pretty helpful.

the pros are that you have more time to look at the situation, and its easier to spot flickers of enemies off in the distance when you have more time to look at each individual frame. also, the "slow motion" makes it easier for you to aim once you get used to it (like i said above).

the bad side is pretty much everything else you would think of when you talk about bad fps.

I'd have to respectfully disagree with wand here, I don't think there is anything positive to having a low frame rate. Your brain is capable of processing far more than 15 fps. Unlike film and television there is no motion blur to compensate fast moving objects so when something happens very quickly on your screen your aim will be stressed and prediction becomes much more difficult than it would on a higher fps.

Yeah, what bod said. Lower fps means your screen updates slower. So when you move your mouse to aim, it's not all one smooth motion, but rather choppy. Really nothing good about low fps.

i suppose you're right... i was just saying how it felt to me. sometimes i'm just full of it.

I can't snipe or scout with 40fps. If it drops randomly it can mess up my shots.

Since my monitor only displays at 60fps, that's what I always see. If ever there is an issue and my fps drops, I can instantly tell and it ruins me. I think it's because when you're leading shots, the smoother you can perceive the target on a line, the easier it is to estimate where they will be. When we're talking about twitchy shots, and a half second to respond, every frame of reference assists in your prediction.

chip remember that time you played ringer medic for Vir? yeah...that was....unbearable. the disconnects, the bad computer, etc. just fix it/get a new one when you can and you'll be back in comp play in no time. <20 fps is just unacceptable i don't see how anyone would be able to play.

i used to do comp medic with 20 fps.. then i build a new machine and everything just seems easier. mainly because any up close and personal things that happen dont choke my machine and just cause a death..
Fix it!

yeah, that ringing game with vir. is the reason I'm asking xDD

I'm already running m0re's highfps config with his HUD; I guess the only way I'm fixing this is to get my build going ASAP :3

As a medic? Those people are retarded.

The rockets and pipes will appear to get to you faster because they appear to skip, so you won't be able to dodge properly. I'm guessing the people you spoke to were pubbers?

yeah, that ringing game with vir. is the reason I'm asking xDD

I'm already running m0re's highfps config with his HUD; I guess the only way I'm fixing this is to get my build going ASAP :3
Try using a lower screen res. 640x480 might work well for you, and if you run in windowed mode, you can actually go much lower than that (although if you do this the game won't be taking up all of your screen...)

840x484

Try using a lower screen res. 640x480 might work well for you, and if you run in windowed mode, you can actually go much lower than that (although if you do this the game won't be taking up all of your screen...)

Windowed mode slightly decreases FPS because it's also rendering what's on your desktop. So if you have a lot of shit running it will clog your FPS up more than usual.

sorry turtle, completely missed your first post. They were in a PUG, but I usually get that from really angry people, both pugs and pubs (not sure if the anger counts for anything)

Anything below 60 affects my aim...

I have a ATI 5770 and the rest of my PC is very high end, in general, and I still use m0re's high FPS config. So at any time, regardless of the situation, I have a constant 75FPS.

Even though I have a very good GPU and CPU, and a sufficient amount of RAM, I use this config to get a constant framerate.