Settings I use

https://i.imgur.com/LnldyE5.png

https://i.imgur.com/tQDK2Er.png

https://i.imgur.com/rmjoAQE.png

pre-rendered frames is the important one for input lag.

Low Values = Lower Input Lag
Higher Values = Less Stutters
Default Value = 3

Amount of input lag can be found by multiplying frame time by PRF value.

200fps = 5ms frame time
PRF = 1 (x 5ms) = 5ms input lag
PRF = 3 (x 5ms) = 15ms input lag

You can't have a lower value than 1 because the GPU has to receive at least 1 frame from the CPU before it can render a frame.

-edit-
if you notice really bad stutters in framerate after lowering the value to 1 try 2 instead.

thanks, really appreciate it

Isn't it bad to have maximum performance in your global settings? Shouldn't it be set to that in your custom game's settings and set to optimal power normally?

Might vary a bit from setup to setup and model to model. the majority of the time my PC is on I'm playing games anyway so it probably doesn't have much of a negative impact on my system. It may have a negative impact on setups that rarely get turned off even when not in use, but I doubt it's to big of a deal for most.

I have another question actually. What about threaded optimization? I hear that it has the potential to cause input lag as well (although I don't know whether its just a rumor or not), so any reason why you have it set to auto?

Is this because you don't want your GPU running hot all the time or is there another reason why you might not want max. performance enabled?

Must've missed that setting as that was a screen cap from a different PC I setup. I use Threaded Optimization ON but honestly setting it to OFF for TF2 probably wouldn't make any difference at all.

personally id recommend adaptive. with max perf my gpu fans run full all the time, with adaptive they go slower when im on my desktop. i dont notice a performance difference

threaded optimization is an opengl setting only

So it ends up just being a thermal performance thing. I'm curious because I use a blower card (reference 980Ti) and my thermals are pretty decent because TF2 is so poorly optimized to use GPU power as opposed to CPU.

as i understand latest NVIDIA drivers now include an option for having pre-rendered frames set at zero, renaming the setting from "Maximum pre-rendered frames" to "Low Latency Mode"

the value you are looking for is "Ultra", which corresponds to pre-rendered frames = 0, On is 1 frame and Off is 1-3 frames

I’ve been using ultra for about a week now and it makes a small improvement. Very minor but noticeable. Was using 1 maximum pre rendered frame before the update.