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G-SYNC 101: Hidden Benefits of High Refresh Rate G-SYNC

Published Jun 20, 2017 by in: G-SYNC

Bonus Points

Often overlooked is G-SYNC’s ability to adjust the refresh rate to lower fixed framerates. This can be particularly useful for games hard-locked to 60 FPS, and has potential in emulators to replicate unique signals such as the 60.1Hz of NES games, which would otherwise be impossible to reproduce. And due to the scanout speed increase at 100Hz+ refresh rates, an input lag reduction can be had as well…

Blur Buster's G-SYNC 101: Input Lag & Optimal Settings

The results show a considerable input lag reduction on a 144Hz G-SYNC display @60 FPS vs. a 60Hz G-SYNC display @58 FPS with first on-screen reactions measured (middle screen would show about half this reduction). And while each frame is still rendered in 16.6ms, and delivered in intervals of 60 per second on the higher refresh rate display, they are scanned in at a much faster 6.9ms per.

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3105 Comments For “G-SYNC 101”

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BlurryAlienGoZ00mXD
Member
BlurryAlienGoZ00mXD

If I change Vertical sync to “On” in “Manage 3D settings”, it forces “Adjust image settings with preview” from “Let the 3D application decide” to “Use the advanced 3D image settings“.

Ideally I don’t want this as I don’t want any artificial enhancements on my game, but it seems impossible to have both at the same time.

It’s not mentioned in the guide that it does this. Any advice / insight for this? Best to set as much of the “enhancing” “Manage 3D settings” (for example: “Antialias – Gamma correction”) to “Off” to make it is as close to “Let the 3D application decide” as possible?

Let me know if I’m misunderstanding. Thanks.

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5 days 11 hours ago
jorimt
Author
jorimt

If I change Vertical sync to “On” in “Manage 3D settings”, it forces “Adjust image settings with preview” from “Let the 3D application decide” to “Use the advanced 3D image settings“.

All that signifies is the user changed one or more NVCP setting from its default.

It’s similar to if you set a game to the “Ultra” preset, but then turn motion blur off, at which point it switches to “Custom.”

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4 days 15 hours ago
dandyjr
Member
dandyjr

Hello there! I recently bought a 500Hz G-sync monitor and it’s the first time I’ve owned a true G-sync monitor with a module. The exact model is the AW2524H. One of the first things I noticed with this monitor is that the frames never hit the max range of the monitor as if the module has it’s own way to prevent leaving the G-Sync range. The monitor is technically a 480Hz panel but it has a factory overclock you can set to 500Hz. In stock form (with all of the proper G-sync settings in the control panel) the frames automatically are capped at 477 and never will hit 480. Overclocked to 500Hz, The frames will never go above 496. I tested multiple games just to make sure and they all produced the same results. What I’m wondering is if this is an effect of this specific model or if this is true for all G-Sync native monitors. Does this mean that I never have to cap my fps because the monitor won’t allow the frames to hit the ceiling anyway? I noticed that if I enable reflex in supported games, the frames will be capped at 438 instead of 496. My guess is that Nvidia set such a low limit to be safe for G-Sync compatible monitors that happen to be 500Hz (since I’ve heard they are less accurate and will leave range more often). What are your thoughts on this? I’d be stoked to hear that I don’t have to cap my fps anymore but it seems too good to be true haha!

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15 days 23 hours ago
jorimt
Author
jorimt

No G-SYNC models I know of features auto-capping, be they native or compatible, so it may be down to your particular configuration or some other quirk. And if the AW2524H does indeed feature a form of auto-capping, it’s not publicly documented to my knowledge.

Further, the higher the physical refresh rate, the less difference there is in tearing artifacts and latency between G-SYNC off + V-SYNC off and G-SYNC on + V-SYNC on/off, regardless of achievable framerate (see: https://blurbusters.com/gsync/gsync101-input-lag-tests-and-settings/6/), so beyond slightly less micro-stutter with properly configured G-SYNC, many users may be hard-pressed to notice the difference between the two scenarios anyway.

And even if your framerate does hit or exceed 500Hz with G-SYNC + V-SYNC + uncapped FPS, you’re typically only looking at an extra 4ms (2 frames) of V-SYNC latency, which many (especially non-comp) users may not even be able to detect.

In other words, the higher the physical refresh rate, the less relevant G-SYNC usage becomes.

As to why Reflex caps lower than the recommended minimum -3 FPS (key word being “minimum”), it’s an extra safety margin; as the refresh rate increases, so can frametime jitter.

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14 days 15 hours ago
dandyjr
Member
dandyjr

Okay well I’m glad to know at least that it seems like the 500Hz makes a huge difference even at lower framerates! If you were in my position, would you just run every game uncapped and let it be? I’ve been using Reflex in supported games even when they don’t hit 99% GPU usage but now I feel like running them uncapped and letting them hit 496fps would be better than the 438 auto-cap from Reflex. I’m very sensitive to micro-stutters/jitters so I’m definitely going to keep using properly configured G-SYNC in all games at the very least!

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14 days 10 hours ago
jorimt
Author
jorimt

If you were in my position, would you just run every game uncapped and let it be?

At these refresh rates it becomes entirely preferential.

I’ve been using Reflex in supported games even when they don’t hit 99% GPU usage but now I feel like running them uncapped and letting them hit 496fps would be better than the 438 auto-cap from Reflex.

I’m very sensitive to micro-stutters/jitters

If that’s the case, it’s safer to leave Reflex off whenever your system can sustain the desired framerate target the majority of the time without reaching 99%+ GPU usage, since using Reflex in non-GPU-bound scenarios can sometimes result in more frametime variations, not less (due to its dynamic limiting behavior during its continual monitoring of GPU usage).

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14 days 10 hours ago
dandyjr
Member
dandyjr

Awesome, thank you for the peace of mind! I’ll test all of the variations with Reflex off and see which feels the best!

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14 days 2 hours ago
IggyRex
Member
IggyRex

Hello, you probably get asked this a lot, but I game on a lg c1 at 120hz, and I was wondering what would be best for my setup. I am currently using Vsync – on in the control panel, but I am unsure if I should set low latency to ultra or if setting to On would be the better option for me. Having it set to ON would require me to set an fps limit on a game basis correct? So something like elden ring would work better being capped to 59 or 57fps as opposed to it set to ultra which would do it for me. What are the benefits of either option? Sorry, and please let me know. I just want to get the most out of my hardware and out of gsync.

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20 days 19 hours ago
jorimt
Author
jorimt

I am unsure if I should set low latency to ultra or if setting to On would be the better option for me.

I have answered questions on LLM hundreds of times here in the comments. Scroll down on this page, click “Load All Comments,” and page search “LLM.”

Having it set to ON would require me to set an fps limit on a game basis correct?

See:
https://blurbusters.com/gsync/gsync101-input-lag-tests-and-settings/14/#optimal-gsync-settings-llm

So something like elden ring would work better being capped to 59 or 57fps as opposed to it set to ultra which would do it for me.

Elden Ring already has an in-game limit of 60 FPS, so G-SYNC + V-SYNC + in-game borderless (which is actually DX12 fullscreen) @120Hz will suffice (at which point the game will be 60 frames within the G-SYNC range).

And as for LLM in that game, assuming your PC is at all capable, your GPU likely won’t ever hit 99%+ GPU usage, which is the only scenario where render queue-level settings like LLM and Reflex further reduce latency.

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20 days 15 hours ago
Kaffik
Member
Kaffik

Hi!
I have 165 Hz G-Sync Compatible (ls27ag500nuxen) monitor.
I used all your tips for this type of display but something irritates me a lot.
60 fps on my screen looks like 30-35 at best, I need to have like 95-100 fps to make it look like smooth 60.
For example my boyfriend has 144 Hz VRR TV and 60 fps looks like 60 fps.
I have DP 1.4 and VRR on.
Do I really need a G-Sync module to make it better?

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24 days 11 hours ago
jorimt
Author
jorimt

60 fps on my screen looks like 30-35 at best, I need to have like 95-100 fps to make it look like smooth 60.

Does this happen for you with G-SYNC off + V-SYNC off at 165Hz with the same framerates on that monitor?

Do I really need a G-Sync module to make it better?

Whatever is occurring in your case, no, a G-SYNC module won’t fix this; regardless of the VRR standard or whether the display in question has a module, VRR can’t make a framerate feel higher or lower than it is, only prevent tearing artifacts without adding any of it’s own latency or stutter in the process.

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22 days 14 hours ago
Indignified
Member
Indignified

Hello, is there any point of having gsync or reflex on if fps is uncapped?

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24 days 18 hours ago
jorimt
Author
jorimt

For G-SYNC, see:
https://blurbusters.com/gsync/gsync101-input-lag-tests-and-settings/2/

For Reflex, it monitors GPU usage and dynamically limits the framerate slightly below the currently achievable average framerate to prevent 99%+ GPU usage from causing more render queue-level latency, with or without G-SYNC enabled.

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24 days 14 hours ago
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