frame rate limiter Archives

AppWizard

September 16, 2025

Gearbox CEO channels inner Claptrap, offers himself up as personal tech support over rampant Borderlands 4 PC performance issues — ‘Would you like help tuning with your personal specification?’

Borderlands 4 has faced significant performance challenges, with reports indicating that even high-end PCs struggle to maintain 60 frames per second. Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford has offered personal tech support to players experiencing these issues. In response to player complaints, publisher 2K released a guide with recommended graphics settings for various resolutions and graphics cards. Pitchford has suggested players lower their resolution or use frame generation technologies like DLSS to improve performance. He provided specific optimization advice for players, including disabling Vsync, utilizing DLSS with multi-frame generation, and adjusting graphics settings. Despite his efforts, some players have expressed frustration with his responses. The game has also seen the release of PC performance patches to address ongoing issues. Borderlands 4 is set on the planet Kairos, marking a departure from the franchise's traditional setting of Pandora.

Winsage

September 11, 2025

Space Cadet 3D Pinball Had A Glitch That Ran It At An Absurdly High Frame Rate

In the mid-1990s, Full Tilt! Pinball featured Space Cadet 3D, a popular game that recently gained attention due to a bug revealed by former Microsoft engineer Dave Plummer. While porting Space Cadet from Windows 95 to Windows NT, Plummer created a new game engine that inadvertently allowed the game to run at up to 5,000 frames per second on modern machines, instead of the intended 60 to 90 frames per second. This issue was later resolved by another engineer, Raymond Chen, who added a frame rate limiter to cap the game at 100 frames per second. A version of Space Cadet 3D Pinball is currently available on the App Store.

Winsage

September 9, 2025

Microsoft veteran’s worst Windows bug was all about Pinball

Former Microsoft engineer Dave Plummer revealed that he shipped a bug in the Pinball game while porting it to Windows NT. The bug caused the game engine to render frames as fast as possible, initially manageable on older hardware but leading to excessive CPU usage on newer machines. Fellow engineer Raymond Chen identified the issue, noting the absence of a frame limiter, which resulted in frame rates exceeding 100 frames per second. By adding a frame rate limiter, Chen reduced CPU usage to approximately one percent. Plummer reflected on the seriousness of production bugs and the culture surrounding them at Microsoft.

Winsage

September 9, 2025

Former MS engineer Dave Plummer admits he accidentally coded Pinball to run ‘at like, 5,000 frames per second’ on Windows NT

Former Microsoft engineer Dave Plummer shared insights about the development of the Pinball game, known as Space Cadet 3D Pinball or Microsoft 3D Pinball, which was included in Windows NT 4.0. Plummer created a resource-intensive game engine while transitioning the game from Windows 95 to Windows NT, achieving a frame rate of 60-90 fps on a MIPS R4000 processor at 200 MHz. Another engineer, Chen, introduced a frame rate limiter that capped the game at 100 fps, allowing users to play Pinball while building software. Plummer referred to the oversight in the game's development as the worst bug he ever shipped, reflecting on the strict software quality standards of the time. Despite initial embarrassment, the legacy of the bug is fondly remembered by Plummer and his colleagues, especially in light of advancements in technology and multi-core processors.

AppWizard

July 5, 2025

I wouldn’t be able to use my gaming PC without this one mod

Special K is a versatile utility for PC gaming that enhances gameplay across various titles. It features a frame rate limiter that improves consistency, surpassing Nvidia's built-in limiter in minimum frame rates during tests. Special K allows users to force games into borderless or exclusive fullscreen modes, enable Nvidia Reflex, adjust DLSS settings, and link input devices to specific applications. It also addresses HDR support issues by enabling HDR injection in games that lack native support, with extensive customization options for HDR settings. Originally developed to fix problems in PC ports like Fallout 4 and Batman: Arkham Knight, it has evolved to optimize a wide range of games, including Elden Ring, Monster Hunter: World, and Final Fantasy VII Remake. Special K has limitations with online games due to anti-cheat concerns but is highly applicable for single-player titles. The introduction of the SKIF GUI has made it more accessible for users.

AppWizard

August 30, 2024

PSA: Star Wars Outlaws doesn’t work on Steam Deck (yet), but it’s great on ROG Ally and Legion Go

The system requirements for Star Wars Outlaws on PC exceed those of several recent titles, leading to performance concerns on handheld devices like the Steam Deck, Legion Go, and ROG Ally. Testing indicates that the game functions primarily on the ROG Ally, ROG Ally X, and Legion Go, while the Steam Deck faces multiple gameplay issues. To optimize performance on the ROG Ally and Legion Go, recommended settings include disabling ray tracing, minimizing graphics settings, enabling AMD Fluid Motion Frames, setting the refresh rate to 120Hz, and adjusting resolution to 900p. Specific in-game graphics settings suggest using low quality for various aspects, turning off ray reconstruction, and adjusting frame rate settings. Star Wars Outlaws on the ROG Ally X and Legion Go provides a commendable visual experience, though not as high-end as gaming laptops or desktops. On the Steam Deck, the game is not directly available on Steam, requiring workarounds for installation, which may lead to controller support issues and crashes. Players may encounter a warning about performance issues due to the game being installed on a mechanical hard drive, but this can be bypassed, although crashes still occur at low settings. Textures on the handheld devices are satisfactory but lack the detail found on more powerful systems. The ROG Ally, particularly the AMD Z1 Extreme model, is noted as the preferred choice for playing the game.

AppWizard

June 20, 2024

Don’t play Shadow of the Erdtree on PC without this free app | Digital Trends

Special K is a powerful utility that can remove frame rate caps in games like Elden Ring on PC. It also includes quality-of-life features such as optional PlayStation button prompts and the ability to disable the game's interface for screenshots. However, the features for Elden Ring are currently not working due to a code rewrite by From Software. Special K can also help with stuttering in Elden Ring by providing an in-depth frame rate limiter. Lossless Scaling is another app on Steam that provides upscaling and frame generation without altering game files, making it safe to use online. It includes its own machine-learning-based frame generation model that can double or triple frame rates in games like Elden Ring.