AMD Comments on GPU Stuttering, Offers Driver Roadmap & Perspective on Benchmarking
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6857/amd-stuttering-issues-driver-roadmap-fraps
Quick summary...
Graphics cards &/or on-board graphics can stutter displaying the game you're playing -- rather than a constant 30 or 40 or 60 fps [frames per second] individual frames could take longer to display, with other frames taking less time to process making up for it, so the 60 or whatever fps average is maintained. It used to be few were aware of this, but Scott Wasson at Tech Report devised a way to detect this using FRAPS, & the world changed.
For many gamers this is a big deal... if you reduce or eliminate stuttering not only is the game's display smoother, but you get higher fps. It's also a big deal when it comes to graphics card reviews & comparisons. Comparing the amount of stutter, which BTW varies by the game, makes for better, more complete info. But the method of measuring stutter using FRAPS is far from ideal, & there's no accounting for the amount of stutter that any individual will notice, let alone find objectionable. New tools & methods of measurement are on the way.
In this article AnandTech & AMD both explain why FRAPS isn't the ideal way to measure stutter -- it counts the frames *before* they're processed & displayed, just as they're entering the cache, & that cache smooths out variations in processing &/or time to display. It talks about how AMD/ATI wasn't aware of the problem, what they're doing to fix it [it's already fixed in many cases], & how AMD/ATI is re-designing future drivers with an eye towards Crossfire, their method of using more than one graphics card in unison.
SO OK, you run Nvidia, so why should you care? Well, Nvidia agrees about FRAPS not being ideal for measuring stutter, the explanation of what & why re: stutter applies whatever the brand, Nvidia will benefit from better tools & the better info they provide, and lastly, whatever makes AMD/ATI or Nvidia better winds up making the opposing company's products better as well -- neither ATI nor Nvidia would be as good as they are today without the competition between them.