c# - Most accurate timer in .NET?

Question

Running the following (slightly pseudo)code produces the following results. Im shocked at how innacurate the timer is (gains ~14ms each Tick).

Is there anything more accurate out there?

void Main()
{
   var timer = new System.Threading.Timer(TimerCallback, null, 0, 1000);
}

void TimerCallback(object state)
{
   Debug.WriteLine(DateTime.Now.ToString("ss.ffff"));
}

Sample Output:
...
11.9109
12.9190
13.9331
14.9491
15.9632
16.9752
17.9893
19.0043
20.0164
21.0305
22.0445
23.0586
24.0726
25.0867
26.1008
27.1148
28.1289
29.1429
30.1570
31.1710
32.1851

Answer 1

I also have witten a class which is accurate to 1ms. I took Hans Passant's code from forum
https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/6cd5d9e3-e01a-49c4-9976-6c6a2f16ad57/1-millisecond-timer
and wrapped it in a class for ease of use in your Form. You can easily set up multiple timers if you want. In the example code below I have used 2 timers. I have tested it and it works ok.

// AccurateTimer.cs
using System;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;

namespace YourProjectsNamespace
{
    class AccurateTimer
    {
        private delegate void TimerEventDel(int id, int msg, IntPtr user, int dw1, int dw2);
        private const int TIME_PERIODIC = 1;
        private const int EVENT_TYPE = TIME_PERIODIC;// + 0x100;  // TIME_KILL_SYNCHRONOUS causes a hang ?!
        [DllImport("winmm.dll")]
        private static extern int timeBeginPeriod(int msec);
        [DllImport("winmm.dll")]
        private static extern int timeEndPeriod(int msec);
        [DllImport("winmm.dll")]
        private static extern int timeSetEvent(int delay, int resolution, TimerEventDel handler, IntPtr user, int eventType);
        [DllImport("winmm.dll")]
        private static extern int timeKillEvent(int id);

        Action mAction;
        Form mForm;
        private int mTimerId;
        private TimerEventDel mHandler;  // NOTE: declare at class scope so garbage collector doesn't release it!!!

        public AccurateTimer(Form form,Action action,int delay)
        {
            mAction = action;
            mForm = form;
            timeBeginPeriod(1);
            mHandler = new TimerEventDel(TimerCallback);
            mTimerId = timeSetEvent(delay, 0, mHandler, IntPtr.Zero, EVENT_TYPE);
        }

        public void Stop()
        {
            int err = timeKillEvent(mTimerId);
            timeEndPeriod(1);
            System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(100);// Ensure callbacks are drained
        }

        private void TimerCallback(int id, int msg, IntPtr user, int dw1, int dw2)
        {
            if (mTimerId != 0)
                mForm.BeginInvoke(mAction);
        }
    }
}

// FormMain.cs
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Windows.Forms;

namespace YourProjectsNamespace
{
    public partial class FormMain : Form
    {
        AccurateTimer mTimer1,mTimer2;

        public FormMain()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }

        private void FormMain_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            int delay = 10;   // In milliseconds. 10 = 1/100th second.
            mTimer1 = new AccurateTimer(this, new Action(TimerTick1),delay);
            delay = 100;      // 100 = 1/10th second.
            mTimer2 = new AccurateTimer(this, new Action(TimerTick2), delay);
        }

        private void FormMain_FormClosing(object sender, FormClosingEventArgs e)
        {
            mTimer1.Stop();
            mTimer2.Stop();
        }

        private void TimerTick1()
        {
            // Put your first timer code here!
        }

        private void TimerTick2()
        {
            // Put your second timer code here!
        }
    }
}