diff --git a/src/qt/bitcoingui.cpp b/src/qt/bitcoingui.cpp
index 9cd22ed29..635e0cb34 100644
--- a/src/qt/bitcoingui.cpp
+++ b/src/qt/bitcoingui.cpp
@@ -67,7 +67,8 @@ BitcoinGUI::BitcoinGUI(QWidget *parent):
     aboutQtAction(0),
     trayIcon(0),
     notificator(0),
-    rpcConsole(0)
+    rpcConsole(0),
+    prevBlocks(0)
 {
     resize(850, 550);
     setWindowTitle(tr("Bitcoin") + " - " + tr("Wallet"));
@@ -527,52 +528,17 @@ void BitcoinGUI::setNumBlocks(int count, int nTotalBlocks)
         importText = tr("Reindexing blocks on disk...");
     }
 
-    if(count < nTotalBlocks)
-    {
-        int nRemainingBlocks = nTotalBlocks - count;
-        float nPercentageDone = count / (nTotalBlocks * 0.01f);
-
-        progressBarLabel->setText(importText);
-        progressBarLabel->setVisible(true);
-        progressBar->setFormat(tr("~%n block(s) remaining", "", nRemainingBlocks));
-        progressBar->setMaximum(nTotalBlocks);
-        progressBar->setValue(count);
-        progressBar->setVisible(true);
-
-        tooltip = tr("Processed %1 of %2 blocks of transaction history (%3% done).").arg(count).arg(nTotalBlocks).arg(nPercentageDone, 0, 'f', 2);
-    }
-    else
-    {
-        progressBarLabel->setVisible(false);
-
-        progressBar->setVisible(false);
-        tooltip = tr("Processed %1 blocks of transaction history.").arg(count);
-    }
-
     QDateTime lastBlockDate = clientModel->getLastBlockDate();
-    int secs = lastBlockDate.secsTo(QDateTime::currentDateTime());
-    QString text;
+    QDateTime currentDate = QDateTime::currentDateTime();
+    int secs = lastBlockDate.secsTo(currentDate);
 
-    // Represent time from last generated block in human readable text
-    if(secs <= 0)
-    {
-        // Fully up to date. Leave text empty.
-    }
-    else if(secs < 60)
-    {
-        text = tr("%n second(s) ago","",secs);
-    }
-    else if(secs < 60*60)
-    {
-        text = tr("%n minute(s) ago","",secs/60);
-    }
-    else if(secs < 24*60*60)
+    if(count < nTotalBlocks)
     {
-        text = tr("%n hour(s) ago","",secs/(60*60));
+        tooltip = tr("Processed %1 of %2 (estimated) blocks of transaction history.").arg(count).arg(nTotalBlocks);
     }
     else
     {
-        text = tr("%n day(s) ago","",secs/(60*60*24));
+        tooltip = tr("Processed %1 blocks of transaction history.").arg(count);
     }
 
     // Set icon state: spinning if catching up, tick otherwise
@@ -582,20 +548,46 @@ void BitcoinGUI::setNumBlocks(int count, int nTotalBlocks)
         labelBlocksIcon->setPixmap(QIcon(":/icons/synced").pixmap(STATUSBAR_ICONSIZE, STATUSBAR_ICONSIZE));
 
         overviewPage->showOutOfSyncWarning(false);
+
+        progressBarLabel->setVisible(false);
+        progressBar->setVisible(false);
     }
     else
     {
+        // Represent time from last generated block in human readable text
+        QString timeBehindText;
+        if(secs < 48*60*60)
+        {
+            timeBehindText = tr("%n hour(s)","",secs/(60*60));
+        }
+        else if(secs < 14*24*60*60)
+        {
+            timeBehindText = tr("%n day(s)","",secs/(24*60*60));
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            timeBehindText = tr("%n week(s)","",secs/(7*24*60*60));
+        }
+
+        progressBarLabel->setText(importText);
+        progressBarLabel->setVisible(true);
+        progressBar->setFormat(tr("%1 behind").arg(timeBehindText));
+        progressBar->setMaximum(totalSecs);
+        progressBar->setValue(totalSecs - secs);
+        progressBar->setVisible(true);
+
         tooltip = tr("Catching up...") + QString("<br>") + tooltip;
         labelBlocksIcon->setMovie(syncIconMovie);
-        syncIconMovie->start();
+        if(count != prevBlocks)
+            syncIconMovie->jumpToNextFrame();
+        prevBlocks = count;
 
         overviewPage->showOutOfSyncWarning(true);
-    }
 
-    if(!text.isEmpty())
-    {
         tooltip += QString("<br>");
-        tooltip += tr("Last received block was generated %1.").arg(text);
+        tooltip += tr("Last received block was generated %1 ago.").arg(timeBehindText);
+        tooltip += QString("<br>");
+        tooltip += tr("Transactions after this will not yet be visible.");
     }
 
     // Don't word-wrap this (fixed-width) tooltip
diff --git a/src/qt/bitcoingui.h b/src/qt/bitcoingui.h
index b7afdb1c8..0726db7f9 100644
--- a/src/qt/bitcoingui.h
+++ b/src/qt/bitcoingui.h
@@ -98,6 +98,8 @@ private:
     RPCConsole *rpcConsole;
 
     QMovie *syncIconMovie;
+    /** Keep track of previous number of blocks, to detect progress */
+    int prevBlocks;
 
     /** Create the main UI actions. */
     void createActions();
diff --git a/src/qt/clientmodel.cpp b/src/qt/clientmodel.cpp
index 084ad12a5..5f3368c30 100644
--- a/src/qt/clientmodel.cpp
+++ b/src/qt/clientmodel.cpp
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ QDateTime ClientModel::getLastBlockDate() const
         return QDateTime::fromTime_t(1231006505); // Genesis block's time
 }
 
+
 void ClientModel::updateTimer()
 {
     // Some quantities (such as number of blocks) change so fast that we don't want to be notified for each change.
diff --git a/src/qt/guiconstants.h b/src/qt/guiconstants.h
index 405ba396b..92417834e 100644
--- a/src/qt/guiconstants.h
+++ b/src/qt/guiconstants.h
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 #define GUICONSTANTS_H
 
 /* Milliseconds between model updates */
-static const int MODEL_UPDATE_DELAY = 500;
+static const int MODEL_UPDATE_DELAY = 250;
 
 /* AskPassphraseDialog -- Maximum passphrase length */
 static const int MAX_PASSPHRASE_SIZE = 1024;