Embodiments of the present invention provide end-to-end frame time synchronization designed to improve smoothness for displaying images of 3D applications, such as PC gaming applications. Traditionally, an application that renders 3D graphics functions based on the assumption that the average render time will be used as the animation time for a given frame. When this condition is not met, and the render time for a frame does not match the average render time of prior frames, the frames are not captured or displayed at a consistent rate. This invention enables feedback to be provided to the rendering application for adjusting the animation times used to produce new frames, and a post-render queue is used to store completed frames for mitigating stutter and hitches. Flip control is used to sync the display of a rendered frame with the animation time used to generate the frame, thereby producing a smooth, consistent image.