not supported with g sync lcd panel pricelist

I"m the process of buying a secondhand Alienware 15 r3 laptop. On my first visit to the seller, I was disappointed to discover that even though the laptop had both a iGPU and a dGPU, there was no way to switch (MUX switch) the graphics from the dGPU.

Information on this error message is REALLY sketchy online. Some say that the G-Sync LCD panel is hardwired to the dGPU and that the iGPU is connected to nothing. Some say that dGPU is connected to the G-Sync LCD through the iGPU. Some say that they got the MUX switch working after an intention ordering of bios update, iGPU drivers then dGPU drivers on a clean install.

I"m suspecting that if I connect an external 60hz IPS monitor to one of the display ports on the laptop and make it the only display, the Fn+F7 key will actually switch the graphics because the display is not a G-Sync LCD panel. Am I right on this?

If I"m right on this, does that mean that if I purchase this laptop, order a 15inch Alienware 60hz IPS screen and swap it with the FHD 120+hz screen currently inside, I will also continue to have MUX switch support and no G-Sync? The price for these screens is not outrageous.

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It’s difficult to buy a computer monitor, graphics card, or laptop without seeing AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync branding. Both promise smoother, better gaming, and in some cases both appear on the same display. But what do G-Sync and FreeSync do, exactly – and which is better?

Most AMD FreeSync displays can sync with Nvidia graphics hardware, and most G-Sync Compatible displays can sync with AMD graphics hardware. This is unofficial, however.

The first problem is screen tearing. A display without adaptive sync will refresh at its set refresh rate (usually 60Hz, or 60 refreshes per second) no matter what. If the refresh happens to land between two frames, well, tough luck – you’ll see a bit of both. This is screen tearing.

Screen tearing is ugly and easy to notice, especially in 3D games. To fix it, games started to use a technique called V-Syncthat locks the framerate of a game to the refresh rate of a display. This fixes screen tearing but also caps the performance of a game. It can also cause uneven frame pacing in some situations.

Adaptive sync is a better solution. A display with adaptive sync can change its refresh rate in response to how fast your graphics card is pumping out frames. If your GPU sends over 43 frames per second, your monitor displays those 43 frames, rather than forcing 60 refreshes per second. Adaptive sync stops screen tearing by preventing the display from refreshing with partial information from multiple frames but, unlike with V-Sync, each frame is shown immediately.

Enthusiasts can offer countless arguments over the advantages of AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync. However, for most people, AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync both work well and offer a similar experience. In fact, the two standards are far more similar than different.

All variants of AMD FreeSync are built on the VESA Adaptive Sync standard. The same is true of Nvidia’s G-Sync Compatible, which is by far the most common version of G-Sync available today.

VESA Adaptive Sync is an open standard that any company can use to enable adaptive sync between a device and display. It’s used not only by AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync Compatible monitors but also other displays, such as HDTVs, that support Adaptive Sync.

AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync Compatible are so similar, in fact, they’re often cross compatible. A large majority of displays I test with support for either AMD FreeSync or Nvidia G-Sync Compatible will work with graphics hardware from the opposite brand.

AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync Compatible are built on the same open standard. Which leads to an obvious question: if that’s true, what’s the difference?

Nvidia G-Sync Compatible, the most common version of G-Sync today, is based on the VESA Adaptive Sync standard. But Nvidia G-Sync and G-Sync Ultimate, the less common and more premium versions of G-Sync, use proprietary hardware in the display.

This is how all G-Sync displays worked when Nvidia brought the technology to market in 2013. Unlike Nvidia G-Sync Compatible monitors, which often (unofficially) works with AMD Radeon GPUs, G-Sync is unique and proprietary. It only supports adaptive sync with Nvidia graphics hardware.

It’s usually possible to switch sides if you own an AMD FreeSync or Nvidia G-Sync Compatible display. If you buy a G-Sync or G-Sync Ultimate display, however, you’ll have to stick with Nvidia GeForce GPUs. (Here’s our guide to the best graphics cards for PC gaming.)

This loyalty does net some perks. The most important is G-Sync’s support for a wider range of refresh rates. The VESA Adaptive Sync specification has a minimum required refresh rate (usually 48Hz, but sometimes 40Hz). A refresh rate below that can cause dropouts in Adaptive Sync, which may let screen tearing to sneak back in or, in a worst-case scenario, cause the display to flicker.

G-Sync and G-Sync Ultimate support the entire refresh range of a panel – even as low as 1Hz. This is important if you play games that may hit lower frame rates, since Adaptive Sync matches the display refresh rate with the output frame rate.

For example, if you’re playing Cyberpunk 2077 at an average of 30 FPS on a 4K display, that implies a refresh rate of 30Hz – which falls outside the range VESA Adaptive Sync supports. AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync Compatible may struggle with that, but Nvidia G-Sync and G-Sync Ultimate won’t have a problem.

AMD FreeSync Premium and FreeSync Premium Pro have their own technique of dealing with this situation called Low Framerate Compensation. It repeats frames to double the output such that it falls within a display’s supported refresh rate.

Other differences boil down to certification and testing. AMD and Nvidia have their own certification programs that displays must pass to claim official compatibility. This is why not all VESA Adaptive Sync displays claim support for AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync Compatible.

AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync include mention of HDR in their marketing. AMD FreeSync Premium Pro promises “HDR capabilities and game support.” Nvidia G-Sync Ultimate boasts of “lifelike HDR.”

This is a bunch of nonsense. Neither has anything to do with HDR, though it can be helpful to understand that some level of HDR support is included in those panels. The most common HDR standard, HDR10, is an open standard from the Consumer Technology Association. AMD and Nvidia have no control over it. You don’t need FreeSync or G-Sync to view HDR, either, even on each company’s graphics hardware.

PC gamers interested in HDRshould instead look for VESA’s DisplayHDR certification, which provides a more meaningful gauge of a monitor’s HDR capabilities.

Both standards are plug-and-play with officially compatible displays. Your desktop’s video card will detect that the display is certified and turn on AMD FreeSync or Nvidia G-Sync automatically. You may need to activate the respective adaptive sync technology in your monitor settings, however, though that step is a rarity in modern displays.

Displays that support VESA Adaptive Sync, but are not officially supported by your video card, require you dig into AMD or Nvidia’s driver software and turn on the feature manually. This is a painless process, however – just check the box and save your settings.

AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync are also available for use with laptop displays. Unsurprisingly, laptops that have a compatible display will be configured to use AMD FreeSync or Nvidia G-Sync from the factory.

A note of caution, however: not all laptops with AMD or Nvidia graphics hardware have a display with Adaptive Sync support. Even some gaming laptops lack this feature. Pay close attention to the specifications.

VESA’s Adaptive Sync is on its way to being the common adaptive sync standard used by the entire display industry. Though not perfect, it’s good enough for most situations, and display companies don’t have to fool around with AMD or Nvidia to support it.

That leaves AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync searching for a purpose. AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync Compatible are essentially certification programs that monitor companies can use to slap another badge on a product, though they also ensure out-of-the-box compatibility with supported graphics card. Nvidia’s G-Sync and G-Sync Ultimate are technically superior, but require proprietary Nvidia hardware that adds to a display’s price. This is why G-Sync and G-Sync Ultimate monitors are becoming less common.

My prediction is this: AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync will slowly, quietly fade away. AMD and Nvidia will speak of them less and lesswhile displays move towards VESA Adaptive Sync badgesinstead of AMD and Nvidia logos.

If that happens, it would be good news for the PC. VESA Adaptive Sync has already united AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync Compatible displays. Eventually, display manufacturers will opt out of AMD and Nvidia branding entirely – leaving VESA Adaptive Sync as the single, open standard. We’ll see how it goes.

If you have a G-SYNC Compatible Adaptive Sync monitor, variable refresh rate will be enabled automatically following the installation of R417.71 or later drivers on system that meets the system requirements.

Please note: Some Adaptive Sync monitors will ship with the variable refresh rate setting set to disabled. Consult with the user manual for your monitor to confirm the Adaptive Sync setting is enabled. Also some monitors may have the DisplayPort mode set to DisplayPort 1.1 for backwards compatibility. The monitor must be configured as a DisplayPort 1.2 or higher to support Adaptive Sync.

If your Adaptive Sync monitor isn’t listed as a G-SYNC Compatible monitor, you can enable the tech manually from the NVIDIA Control Panel. It may work, it may work partly, or it may not work at all. To give it a try:

2. Enable the Variable Refresh Rate functionality of your display by using the monitor"s controls and On-Screen Display. If needed, also check that DisplayPort 1.2 or higher is enabled.

3. From within Windows, open the NVIDIA Control Panel -> select "Set up G-SYNC" from the left column -> check the "Enable settings for the selected display model"box, and finally click on the Apply button on the bottom right to confirm your settings.

If the above isn"t available, or isn"t working, you may need to go to "Manage 3D Settings", click the "Global" tab, scroll down to "Monitor Technology", select "G-SYNC Compatible" in the drop down, and then click "Apply". Additionally, you may need to go to "Change Resolution" on the left nav and apply a higher refresh rate, or different resolution

For the best gaming experience we recommend NVIDIA G-SYNC and G-SYNC Ultimate monitors: those with G-SYNC processors that have passed over over 300 compatibility and quality tests, and feature a full refresh rate range from 1Hz to the display panel’s max refresh rate, plus other advantages like variable overdrive, refresh rate overclocking, ultra low motion blur display modes, and industry-leading HDR with 1000 nits, full matrix backlight and DCI-P3 color.

We’re displaying for keeps at CES this week in Las Vegas with the expansion of the G-SYNC ecosystem, pre-orders of our new BFGD monitors and the announcement of new G-SYNC displays.

And we broke new ground with G-SYNC HDR monitors that are the very best displays for HDR gaming on PC. They offer the best tech, the highest brightness, cinematic color and never before seen contrast in gaming monitors to display deep, dark black tones.

Since the launch of G-SYNC, gaming monitors have evolved quickly with higher refresh rates, HDR and new form factors. They’ve become the standard for pro gaming, and we continue to help guide their evolution by working with partners and with end-to-end development and certification testing.

There are hundreds of monitor models available capable of variable refresh rates (VRR) using the VESA DisplayPort Adaptive-Sync protocol. However, the VRR gaming experience can vary widely.

To improve the experience for gamers, NVIDIA will test monitors. Those that pass our validation tests will be G-SYNC Compatible and enabled by default in the GeForce driver.

G-SYNC Compatible tests will identify monitors that deliver a baseline VRR experience on GeForce RTX 20-series and GeForce GTX 10-series graphics cards, and activate their VRR features automatically.

Support for G-SYNC Compatible monitors will begin Jan. 15 with the launch of our first 2019 Game Ready driver. Already, 12 monitors have been validated as G-SYNC Compatible (from the 400 we have tested so far). We’ll continue to test monitors and update our support list. For gamers who have monitors that we have not yet tested, or that have failed validation, we’ll give you an option to manually enable VRR, too.

For the most demanding gamers, G-SYNC and G-SYNC Ultimate HDR displays featuring an NVIDIA G-SYNC processor will represent the very highest image quality, performance and experience. These displays will benefit from an end-to-end certification process that includes more than 300 tests for image quality.

They’ll feature a full refresh rate range from 1 Hz to the display panel’s maximum rate, plus other advantages like variable overdrive, refresh rate overclocking, ultra-low motion blur display modes and industry-leading HDR with 1,000 nits, full matrix backlight and DCI-P3 color.

In February, G-SYNC HDR tech will be available in 65-inch super-sized NVIDIA Big Format Gaming Displays featuring 4K, 144 Hz with 1,000 nit HDR, 384 zone matrix backlight and cinematic DCI-P3 color.

If you want the biggest and best G-SYNC Ultimate PC gaming display, it’s available for pre-order now from HP. Other partners will start taking pre-orders as we approach the launch of BFGDs later this quarter.

Soon, ASUS will unleash its curved 35-inch, 3440×1440, 200 Hz G-SYNC Ultimate display. It reaches a brilliantly bright 1,000 nits, has a 512 zone matrix backlight and best-in-class color and contrast for the best possible HDR gaming experience.

LG has just started shipping its 34-inch, 3440×1440, 120 Hz 34GK950G display, which is the first G-SYNC monitor to feature LG’s Nano IPS technology, delivering stunning color fidelity.

And Lenovo unveiled its 27-inch, 2560×1440, 240 Hz monitor, bringing esports-class refresh rates to QHD resolution for crisp, detailed visuals during gameplay.

On Friday NVIDIA announced G-Sync, and considering the little details available out there I wanted to write a quick follow-up on this new technology, as it really is a big announcement - a really big thing actually. In recent years we all have been driven by the knowledge that on a 60 Hz monitor you want 60 FPS rendered, this was for a reason, you want the two as close as possible to each other as that offers you not only the best gaming experience, but also the best visual experience. This is why framerate limiters are so popular, you sync each rendered frame in line with your monitor refresh rate. Obviously 9 out of 10 times that is not happening. This results into tow anomalies that everybody knows and experiences, stutter and tearing.

Very simply put, the graphics card is always firing of frames as fast as it can possibly do, that FPS this is dynamic and can bounce from say 30 to 80 FPS in an matter of split seconds. On the eye side of things, you have this hardware which is the monitor, and it is a fixed device as it refreshes at 60 Hz (60Hz is example). Fixed and Dynamic are two different things and collide with each other. So on one end we have the graphics card rendering at a varying framerate while the monitor refreshes at 60 images per second. That causes a problem as with a slower or faster FPS then 60 you"ll get multiple images displayed on the screen per refresh of the monitor. So graphics cards don’t render at fixed speeds. In fact, their frame rates will vary dramatically even within a single scene of a single game, based on the instant load that the GPU sees.

In the past we solved problems like Vsync stutter and Tearing basically in two ways. The first way is to simply ignore the refresh rate of the monitor altogether, and update the image being scanned to the display in mid cycle. This you guys all know and have learned as ‘VSync Off Mode’ it is the default way most gamers play.

The downside is that when a single refresh cycle show 2 images, a very obvious “tear line” is evident at the break, yup, we all refer to this as screen tearing. You can solve tearing though.

The solution to bypass tearing is to turn VSync on, here you will force the GPU to delay screen updates until the monitor cycles to the start of a new refresh cycle. That delay causes stutter whenever the GPU frame rate is below the display refresh rate. Iit also increases latency, which is the direct result for input lag, the visible delay between a button being pressed and the result occurring on-screen.

Enabling VSYNC helps a lot, but with the video card firing off all these images per refresh you can typically see some pulsing (I don"t wanna call it vsync stuttering) when that framerate varies and your you pan from left to right in your 3D scene. So that is not perfect.

Alternatively most people disable VSYNC - but that runs into a problem as well, multiple images per refreshed Hz will result into the phenomenon that is screen tearing, which we all hate.

Basically this is why we all want extremely fast graphics cards as most of you guys want to enable VSYNC and have a graphics card that runs faster then 60 FPS.

Nvidia is releasing G-Sync. Now as I explained the graphics card is running dynamic Hz, the monitor is static Hz, these two don"t really match together. G-Sync is both a software and a hardware solution that will solve screen tearing and stuttering. A daughter hardware board (it actually looks a little like a mobile MXM module) is placed into a G-Sync enabled monitor which will do something very interesting. With G-Sync the monitor will become a slave to your graphics card as the its refresh rate in Hz becomes dynamic. Yes, it is no longer static. So each time your graphics card has rendered one frame that frame is aligned up with the monitor refresh rate. So the refresh rate of the monitor will become dynamic. With both the graphics card and monitor both dynamically in sync with each other you have eliminated stutter and screen tearing completely.

It gets even better, without stutter and screen tearing on an nice IPS LCD panel even at 30+ Hz you"d be having an incredibly good gaming experience (visually). BTW monitors upto 177 hz will get supported with Gsync as well as 4K monitors.

Summed up : NVIDIA G-SYNC is a solution that pretty much eliminates screen tearing, VSync input lag, and stutter. You need a G-SYNC module into monitors, allowing G-SYNC to synchronize the monitor to the output of the GPU, instead of the GPU to the monitor, resulting in a tear-free, faster, smoother experience.

Not a lot really. But sure, low FPS could get nasty as say 10 FPS on a LCD panel would look like weird. Now 10 fps doesn"t mean that your panel will flicker at 10 Hz as LCDs do not flicker. Unlike CRTs which have physical refresh rate. Even if your video card gives 3 frames per sec, it will be slideshow, but it should be a pretty nice one. When new frame arrives, it will be drawn in 5ms (or 2ms, or 1ms) - according to monitor specs. But sure, in an optimal situation you will need a graphics card that can stay above 30 FPS as minimum. Secondly, dynamically altering the Hz refresh rate on your monitor just has to put some load on the monitor hardware, it MIGHT have an effect on your monitors lifespan. Last but not least. It is Nvidia proprietary technology and thus works with selected Nvidia GeForce Graphics cards only.

You can see the first monitors and upgrade kits later this year, realistically we expect good availability Q1 2013 already. One current ASUS model actually can be updated where (ASUS VG248QE) you can insert the G-Sync hardware yourself. G-Sync is going to included into monitors from ASUS, BenQ, Philips and ViewSonic.

That is not yet disclosed, but we think you can expect a 75 EUR/USD price premium per monitor for this solution. But after such an upgrade, even a Geforce GTX 760 running 30+ Hz/FPS would result into a very nice visual gaming experience. We learned that Asus will release the VG248QE (used in the demo) in a G-Sync-Enhanced version for 399 U.S. dollars .

For now, yes. Currently these graphics cards will be G-Sync compatible: GTX TITAN, GTX 780, GTX 770,GTX 760, GTX 690, GTX 680, GTX 670, GTX 660 Ti, GTX 660, GTX 650 Ti Boost. You need to be running Windows 7 or higher as operating system.

In the end we feel Nvidia G-Sync has the potential to be a game changer in the PC gaming industry. As even with the more mainstream graphics card you"ll be enhancing your graphics experience greatly, think of it .. no more vsync stutter or screen tearing. That means silky smooth input lag free gaming at say 40 FPS. As such G-Sync has huge potential for the you guys the gamers, and the hardware industry.

I got a refurbished Alienware 15 R3 today, when i placed the order i made sure to look for one which doesn"t have a g-sync display so i can switch off the dedicated gpu in order to save battery, however when i got the laptop and tried switching to the internal gpu it doesn"t give me the option and only lets me use the dedicated one.

At first i thought that maybe i was sent a laptop with a g-sync display but when i checked in device manager the display is listed as "generic pnp display" no mention of g-sync yet i cant seem to be able to turn off the gpu and whenever i press fn+f7 i get the following message "not supported with g-sync ips display" even though the display is not a g-sync display.

When shopping for a gaming monitor, you’ll undoubtedly come across a few displays advertising Nvidia’s G-Sync technology. In addition to a hefty price hike, these monitors usually come with gaming-focused features like a fast response time and high refresh rate. To help you know where your money is going, we put together a guide to answer the question: What is G-Sync?

In short, G-Sync is a hardware-based adaptive refresh technology that helps prevent screen tearing and stuttering. With a G-Sync monitor, you’ll notice smoother motion while gaming, even at high refresh rates.

G-Sync is Nvidia’s hardware-based monitor syncing technology. G-Sync solves screen tearing mainly, synchronizing your monitor’s refresh rate with the frames your GPU is pushing out each second.

Your GPU renders a number of frames each second, and put together, those frames give the impression of smooth motion. Similarly, your monitor refreshes a certain number of times each second, clearing the previous image for the new frames your GPU is rendering. To keep things moving smoothly, your GPU stores upcoming frames in a buffer. The problem is that the buffer and your monitor’s refresh rate may get out of sync, causing a nasty line of two frames stitched together.

V-Sync emerged as a solution. This software-based feature essentially forces your GPU to hold frames in its buffer until your monitor is ready to refresh. That solves the screen tearing problem, but it introduces another: Input lag. V-Sync forces your GPU to hold frames it has already rendered, which causes a slight delay between what’s happening in the game and what you see on screen.

Nvidia’s first alternative to V-Sync was Adaptive VSync. Like the older technology, Nvidia’s driver-based solution locked the frame rate to the display’s refresh rate to prevent screen tearing. However, when the GPU struggled, Adaptive VSync unlocked the frame rate until the GPU’s performance improved. Once stable, Adaptive VSync locked the frame rate until the GPU’s performance dropped again.

Nvidia introduced a hardware-based solution in 2013 called G-Sync. It’s based on VESA’s Adaptive-Sync technology, which enables variable refresh rates on the display side. Instead of forcing your GPU to hold frames, G-Sync forces your monitor to adapt its refresh rate depending on the frames your GPU is rendering. That deals with input lag and screen tearing.

However, Nvidia uses a proprietary board that replaces the typical scaler board, which controls everything within the display like decoding image input, controlling the backlight, and so on. A G-Sync board contains 768MB of DDR3 memory to store the previous frame so that it can be compared to the next incoming frame. It does this to decrease input lag.

On the PC end, Nvidia’s driver can fully control the display’s proprietary board. It manipulates the vertical blanking interval, or VBI, which represents the interval between the time when a monitor finishes drawing the current frame and the beginning of the next frame.

With G-Sync active, the monitor becomes a slave to your PC. As the GPU rotates the rendered frame into the primary buffer, the display clears the old image and gets ready to receive the next frame. As the frame rate speeds up and slows down, the display renders each frame accordingly as instructed by your PC. Since the G-Sync board supports variable refresh rates, images are often redrawn at widely varying intervals.

For years, there’s always been one big caveat with G-Sync monitors: You need an Nvidia graphics card. Although you still need an Nvidia GPU to fully take advantage of G-Sync — like the recent RTX 3080 — more recent G-Sync displays support HDMI variable refresh rate under the “G-Sync Compatible” banner (more on that in the next section). That means you can use variable refresh rate with an AMD card, though not Nvidia’s full G-Sync module. Outside of a display with a G-Sync banner, here’s what you need:

Because G-Sync is a hardware solution, certified monitors must include Nvidia’s proprietary board. Fortunately, most major monitor manufacturers like Asus, Philips, BenQ, AOC, Samsung, and LG offer G-Sync displays.

For G-Sync Ultimate displays, you’ll need a hefty GeForce GPU to handle HDR visuals at 4K. They’re certainly not cheap, but they provide the best experience.

As for G-Sync Compatible, it’s a newer category. These displays do not include Nvidia’s proprietary G-Sync board, but they do support variable refresh rates. These panels typically fall under AMD’s FreeSync umbrella, which is a competing technology for Radeon-branded GPUs that doesn’t rely on a proprietary scaler board. Nvidia tests these displays to guarantee “no artifacts” when connected to GeForce-branded GPUs. Consider these displays as affordable alternatives to G-Sync and G-Sync Ultimate displays.

Overall, resolutions range from Full HD to 4K while refresh rates range from 60Hz max to 240Hz max. Nvidia provides a full list of compatible monitors on its website. Prices range from about $100 to well over $1,000, like the Asus’ ROG Swift PG279Q 27-inch monitor selling for $698.

Since G-Sync launched in 2013, it has always been specifically for monitors. However, Nvidia is expanding. Last year, Nvidia partnered with LG to certify recent LG OLED TVs as G-Sync Compatible. You’ll need some drivers and firmware to get started, which Nvidia outlines on its site. Here are the currently available TVs that support G-Sync:

As we pointed out earlier, AMD’s FreeSync derives from VESA’s Adaptive-Sync technology. One of the main differences is that it doesn’t use proprietary hardware. Rather, FreeSync-certified displays use off-the-shelf scaler boards, which lessens the cost. The only AMD hardware you need for FreeSync is a Radeon-branded GPU. AMD introduced AdaptiveSync support in 2015.

FreeSync has more freedom in supported monitor options, and you don’t need extra hardware. So, FreeSync is a budget-friendly alternative to G-Synch compatible hardware.Asus’ MG279Qis around $100 less than the aforementioned ROG Swift monitor.

No matter which you choose, each technology has advantages. There are also numerous graphics cards and monitors to up your gaming experience. FreeSync covers graphical glitches caused by monitor and GPU synchronization issues.

One downside is the price. Whether you’re looking at a laptop or desktop, G-Sync requires both a capable monitor and graphics card. While there are many G-Sync compatible graphics cards, giving you plenty of budgetary options, G-Sync monitors are almost always more expensive than their AMD Freesync counterparts. Compatible laptops may be even more expensive.

In addition, users point to a lack of compatibility with Nvidia’s Optimus technology. Optimus, implemented in many laptops, adjusts graphics performance on the fly to provide the necessary power to graphics-intensive programs and optimize battery life. Because the technology relies on an integrated graphics system, frames move to the screen at a set interval, not as they are created as seen with G-Sync. One can purchase an Optimus-capable device or a G-Sync-capable device, but no laptop exists that can do both.

The best G-Sync monitors make for a silky smooth gaming experience. This is because a G-Sync monitor will synchronize the frame rate to the output of your graphics card. The end result is a tear-free experience. This is just as great for high frame rates as it is for sub-60fps too, so you"re covered for whatever games you love to play.

But what is G-Sync tech? For the uninitiated, G-Sync is Nvidia"s name for its frame synchronization technology. It makes use of dedicated silicon in the monitor so it can match your GPU"s output to your gaming monitor"s refresh rate, for the smoothest gaming experience. It removes a whole load of guesswork in getting the display settings right, especially if you have an older GPU. The catch is that the tech only works with Nvidia GPUs.

G-Sync Ready or G-Sync Compatible monitors can be found, too. They"re often cheaper, but the monitors themselves don"t have dedicated G-Sync silicon inside them. You can still use G-Sync, but for best results, you want a screen that"s certified by Nvidia(opens in new tab).

Here"s where things might get a little complicated: G-Sync features do work with AMD"s adaptive FreeSync tech monitors, but not the other way around. If you have an AMD graphics card, you"ll for sure want to check out the best FreeSync monitors(opens in new tab) along with checking our overall best gaming monitors(opens in new tab) for any budget.

Why you can trust PC GamerOur expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

Brand new gaming monitor technology comes at a premium, and the Asus ROG Swift PH32UQX proves that point. As the world"s first Mini-LED gaming monitor, it sets a precedent for both performance and price, delivering extremely impressive specs for an extreme price tag.

The PG32UQX is easily one of the best panels I"ve used to date. The colors are punchy yet accurate and that insane brightness earns the PG32UQX the auspicious DisplayHDR 1400 certification. However, since these are LED zones and not self-lit pixels like an OLED, you won"t get those insane blacks for infinite contrast.

Mini-LED monitors do offer full-array local dimming (FALD) for precise backlight control, though. What that means for the picture we see is extreme contrast from impressive blacks to extremely bright DisplayHDR 1400 spec.If you want to brag with the best G-Sync gaming monitor around, this is the way to do it.

Beyond brightness, you can also expect color range to boast about. The colors burst with life and the dark hides ominous foes for you to slay in your quest for the newest loot.

Of course, at 4K you"ll need the equivalent of one of the best gaming PCs(opens in new tab) to get 144fps. I did get Doom Eternal to cross the 144Hz barrier in 4K HDR using an RTX 3080 and boy was it marvelous.

That rapid 144Hz refresh rate is accompanied by HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort 1.4 ports, along with two USB 3.1 ports join the action, with a further USB 2.0 sitting on the top of the monitor to connect your webcam.

As for its G-Sync credentials, the ROG Swift delivers G-Sync Ultimate, which is everything a dedicated G-Sync chip can offer in terms of silky smooth performance and support for HDR. So if you want to brag with the best G-Sync gaming monitor around, this is the way to do it. However, scroll on for some more realistic recommendations in terms of price.

OLED has truly arrived on PC, and in ultrawide format no less. Alienware"s 34 QD-OLED is one of very few gaming monitors to receive such a stellar score from us, and it"s no surprise. Dell has nailed the OLED panel in this screen and it"s absolutely gorgeous for PC gaming. Although this monitor isn’t perfect, it is dramatically better than any LCD-based monitor by several gaming-critical metrics. And it’s a genuine thrill to use.

What that 34-inch, 21:9 panel can deliver in either of its HDR modes—HDR 400 True Black or HDR Peak 1000—is nothing short of exceptional. The 3440 x 1440 native resolution image it produces across that gentle 1800R curve is punchy and vibrant. With 99.3% coverage of the demanding DCI-P3 colour space, and fully 1,000 nits brightness, it makes a good go, though that brightness level can only be achieved on a small portion of the panel.

Still, there’s so much depth, saturation and clarity to the in-game image thanks to that per-pixel lighting, but this OLED screen needs to be in HDR mode to do its thing. And that applies to SDR content, too. HDR Peak 1000 mode enables that maximum 1,000 nit performance in small areas of the panel but actually looks less vibrant and punchy most of the time.The Alienware 34 QD-OLED"s response time is absurdly quick at 0.1ms.

HDR 400 True Black mode generally gives the best results, after you jump into the Windows Display Settings menu and crank the SDR brightness up, it looks much more zingy.

Burn-in is the great fear and that leads to a few quirks. For starters, you’ll occasionally notice the entire image shifting by a pixel or two. The panel is actually overprovisioned with pixels by about 20 in both axes, providing plenty of leeway. It’s a little like the overprovisioning of memory cells in an SSD and it allows Alienware to prevent static elements from “burning” into the display over time.

Latency is also traditionally a weak point for OLED, and while we didn’t sense any subjective issue with this 175Hz monitor, there’s little doubt that if your gaming fun and success hinges on having the lowest possible latency, there are faster screens available. You can only achieve the full 175Hz with the single DisplayPort input, too.

The Alienware 34 QD-OLED"s response time is absurdly quick at 0.1ms, and it cruised through our monitor testing suite. You really notice that speed in-game, too.

There"s no HDMI 2.1 on this panel, however. So it"s probably not the best fit for console gaming as a result. But this is PC Gamer, and if you"re going to hook your PC up to a high-end gaming monitor, we recommend it be this one.

4K gaming is a premium endeavor. You need a colossal amount of rendering power to hit decent frame rates at such a high resolution. But if you"re rocking a top-shelf graphics card, like an RTX 3080(opens in new tab), RTX 3090(opens in new tab), or RX 6800 XT(opens in new tab) then this dream can be a reality, at last. While the LG 27GN950-B is a fantastic gaming panel, it"s also infuriatingly flawed.

The LG UltraGear is the first 4K, Nano IPS, gaming monitor with 1ms response times, that"ll properly show off your superpowered GPU. Coming in with Nvidia G-Sync and AMD’s FreeSync adaptive refresh compatibility, this slick slim-bezel design even offers LG’s Sphere Lighting 2.0 RGB visual theatrics.

And combined with the crazy-sharp detail that comes with the 4K pixel grid, that buttery smooth 144Hz is pretty special.The color fidelity of the NanoIPS panel is outstanding.

While it does suffer with a little characteristic IPS glow. It appears mostly at the screen extremities when you’re spying darker game scenes, but isn"t an issue most of the time. The HDR is a little disappointing as, frankly, 16 edge-lit local dimming zones do not a true HDR panel make.

What is most impressive, however, is the Nano IPS tech that offers a wider color gamut and stellar viewing angles. And the color fidelity of the NanoIPS panel is outstanding.

The LG UltraGear 27GN950-B bags you a terrific panel with exquisite IPS image quality. Despite the lesser HDR capabilities, it also nets beautiful colors and contrast for your games too. G-Sync offers stable pictures and smoothness, and the speedy refresh rate and response times back this up too.

The MSI Optix MPG321UR is kitted out for high-speed 4K gaming, and it absolutely delivers. Despite the price point this monitor doesn’t have a physical G-Sync chip, it is officially certified and has been tested by Nvidia to hit the necessary standards for G-Sync compatibility. It does also offer FreeSync Premium Pro certification, as well as DCI-P3 RGB color space and sRGB.

That makes this a versatile piece of kit, and that 3840 x 2160 resolution is enough to prevent any pixelation across this generous, 32-inch screen. The 16:9 panel doesn"t curve, but does offer a professional-level, sub 1ms grey-to-grey (GTG) response rate.

Sadly, there"s been no effort to build in any custom variable overdrive features, so you’ll have to expect you"ll get artifacts on fast moving objects.

Still, the MSI Optix MPG321UR does come with a 600nit peak brightness, and Vesa HDR 600 certification, alongside 97% DCI-P3 colour reproduction capabilities. All this goes toward an amazingly vibrant screen that"s almost accurate enough to be used for professional colour grading purposes.

The Optix is one of MSI"s more recent flagship models, so you know you"re getting serious quality and performance. Its panel looks gorgeous, even at high speeds, managing a 1ms GTG response time.

Though MSI"s Optix is missing a physical G-Sync chip, it"ll still run nicely with any modern Nvidia GPU, or AMD card if you happen to have one of those lying around.

The Xeneon is Corsair"s attempt at breaking into the gaming monitor market. To do that, the company has opted for 32 inches of IPS panel at 1440p resolution. Once again we"re looking at a FreeSync Premium monitor that has been certified to work with GeForce cards by Nvidia.

It pretty much nails the sweetspot for real-world gaming, what with 4K generating such immense levels of GPU load and ultrawide monitors coming with their own set of limitations.

The 2,560 by 1,440 pixel native resolution combined with the 32-inch 16:9 aspect panel proportions translate into sub-100DPI pixel density. That’s not necessarily a major problem in-game. But it does make for chunky pixels in a broader computing context.It‘s punchy, vibrant, and well-calibrated.

Here, you"re looking at a swanky cast aluminum stand, which adjusts for height, tilt, and swivel, and is a definite cut above the norm for build quality. The OSD menu UI is clearer and more logical than many, too, and those unusually high levels of polish and refinement extend yet further.

That sub-3ms response, combined with a 165Hz refresh, means the thing isn"t a slouch when it comes to gaming capability, though there are certainly more impressive gaming monitors out there.

The two HDMI 2.0 sockets are limited to 144Hz, and the DisplayPort 1.4 interface is predictable enough. But the USB Type-C with power delivery for a single cable connection with charging to a laptop is a nice extra. Or, at least, it would be if the charging power wasn’t limited to a mere 15W, which is barely enough for something like a MacBook Air, let alone a gaming laptop.

The core image quality is certainly good, though. It‘s punchy, vibrant, and well-calibrated. And while it"s quite pricey for a 1440p model, it delivers all it sets out to with aplomb. On the whole, the Corsair Xeneon 32QHD165 doesn’t truly excel at anything, but it"s still a worthy consideration in 2022.

Housing Nvidia’s tech alongside a 4K resolution and HDR tech means that this is an absolute beast of a monitor that will give you the best of, well, everything. And by everything, we mean everything.

The XB273K’s gaming pedigree is obvious the second you unbox it: it is a 27-inch, G-Sync compatible, IPS screen, that boasts a 4ms gray-to-gray response rate, and a 144Hz refresh rate. While that may not sound like a heck of a lot compared to some of today"s monitors, it also means you can bag it for a little less.

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey looked glorious. This monitor gave up an incredibly vivid showing, and has the crispest of image qualities to boot; no blurred or smudged edges to see and each feature looks almost perfectly defined and graphically identified.The contrasts are particularly strong with any colors punching through the greys and blacks.

Particular highlights are the way water effects, lighting, reflections and sheens are presented, but there is equal enjoyment to be had from landscape features, the people, and urban elements. All further benefiting from a widespread excellence in color, contrast, shades (and shadows), and tones.

The contrasts are particularly strong with any colors punching through the greys and blacks. However, the smaller details here are equally good, down to clothing detail, skin tone and complexion, and facial expressions once again. There is an immersion-heightening quality to the blacks and grays of the Metro and those games certainly don’t feel five years old on the XB273K.

The buttons to access the menu are easy enough to use, and the main stick makes it particularly simple to navigate. And the ports you have available increase your ability to either plug and go or adapt to your machines’ needs: an HDMI; DisplayPort and five USB 3.0 ports are at your service.

The Predator XB273K is one for those who want everything now and want to future-proof themselves in the years ahead. It might not have the same HDR heights that its predecessor, the X27, had, but it offers everything else for a much-reduced price tag. Therefore, the value it provides is incredible, even if it is still a rather sizeable investment.

The best just got a whole lot better. That’s surely a foregone conclusion for the new Samsung Odyssey Neo G9. After all, the original Odyssey G9 was already Samsung’s tip-top gaming monitor. Now it’s been given the one upgrade it really needed. Yup, the Neo G9 is packing a mini-LED backlight.

Out of the box, it looks identical to the old G9. Deep inside, however, the original G9’s single most obvious shortcoming has been addressed. And then some. The Neo G9 still has a fantastic VA panel. But its new backlight doesn’t just have full-array rather than edge-lit dimming.

It packs a cutting-edge mini-LED tech with no fewer than 2,048 zones. This thing is several orders of magnitude more sophisticated than before. As if that wasn’t enough, the Neo G9’s peak brightness has doubled to a retina-wrecking 2,000 nits. What a beast.

The problem with any backlight-based rather than per-pixel local dimming technology is that compromises have to be made. Put another way, an algorithm has to decide how bright any given zone should be based on the image data. The results are never going to be perfect.

Visible halos around small, bright objects are the sort of issue you expect from full-array dimming. But the Neo G9 has its own, surprisingly crude, backlight-induced image quality issues. Admittedly, they’re most visible on the Windows desktop rather than in-game or watching video.Graphics-heavy titles such as Cyberpunk 2077 or Witcher III are what the G9 does best.

If you position a bright white window next to an all-black window, the adjacent edge of the former visibly dims. Or let’s say you move a small, bright object over a dark background. The same thing happens. The small, bright object dims. Even uglier, if something like a bright dialogue box pops up across the divide between light and dark elements, the result is a gradient of brightness across the box.

All this applies to both SDR and HDR modes and, on the Windows desktop, it’s all rather messy and distracting. Sure, this monitor isn’t designed for serious content creation or office work. But at this price point, it’s surely a serious flaw.

Still, that 1000R curve, huge 49-inch proportions, and relatively high resolution combine to deliver an experience that few, if any, screens can match. Graphics-heavy titles such as Cyberpunk 2077 or Witcher III are what the G9 does best. In that context, the Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 delivers arguably the best visual experience on the PC today.

In practice, the Neo G9’s mini-LED creates as many problems as it solves. We also can’t help but observe that, at this price point, you have so many options. The most obvious alternative, perhaps, is a large-format 120Hz OLED TV with HDMI 2.1 connectivity.

G-Sync gaming monitor FAQWhat is the difference in G-Sync and G-Sync Compatible?G-Sync and G-Sync Ultimate monitors come with a bespoke G-Sync processor, which enables a full variable refresh rate range and variable overdrive. G-Sync Compatible monitors don"t come with this chip, and that means they may have a more restricted variable refresh rate range.

Fundamentally, though, all G-Sync capable monitors offer a smoother gaming experience than those without any frame-syncing tech.Should I go for a FreeSync or G-Sync monitor?In general, FreeSync monitors will be cheaper. It used to be the case that they would only work in combination with an AMD GPU. The same went for G-Sync monitors and Nvidia GPUs. Nowadays, though, it is possible to find G-Sync compatible FreeSync monitors(opens in new tab) if you"re intent on spending less.Should I go for an IPS, TN or VA panel?We would always recommend an IPS panel over TN(opens in new tab). The clarity of image, viewing angle, and color reproduction are far superior to the cheaper technology, but you"ll often find a faster TN for cheaper. The other alternative, less expensive than IPS and better than TN, is VA tech. The colors aren"t quite so hot, but the contrast performance is impressive.

The speed at which the screen refreshes. For example, 144Hz means the display refreshes 144 times a second. The higher the number, the smoother the screen will appear when you play games.

Graphics tech synchronizes a game"s framerate with your monitor"s refresh rate to help prevent screen tearing by syncing your GPU frame rate to the display"s maximum refresh rate. Turn V-Sync on in your games for a smoother experience, but you"ll lose information, so turn it off for fast-paced shooters (and live with the tearing). Useful if you have an older model display that can"t keep up with a new GPU.

G-SyncNvidia"s frame synching tech that works with Nvidia GPUs. It basically allows the monitor to sync up with the GPU. It does by showing a new frame as soon as the GPU has one ready.

AMD"s take on frame synching uses a similar technique as G-Sync, with the biggest difference being that it uses DisplayPort"s Adaptive-Sync technology which doesn"t cost monitor manufacturers anything.

When movement on your display leaves behind a trail of pixels when watching a movie or playing a game, this is often a result of a monitor having slow response times.

The amount of time it takes a pixel to transition to a new color and back. Often referenced as G2G or Grey-to-Grey. Slow response times can lead to ghosting. A suitable range for a gaming monitor is between 1-4 milliseconds.

TN PanelsTwisted-nematic is the most common (and cheapest) gaming panel. TN panels tend to have poorer viewing angles and color reproduction but have higher refresh rates and response times.

IPSIn-plane switching, panels offer the best contrast and color despite having weaker blacks. IPS panels tend to be more expensive and have higher response times.

VAVertical Alignment panels provide good viewing angles and have better contrast than even IPS but are still slower than TN panels. They are often a compromise between a TN and IPS panel.

HDRHigh Dynamic Range. HDR provides a wider color range than normal SDR panels and offers increased brightness. The result is more vivid colors, deeper blacks, and a brighter picture.

ResolutionThe number of pixels that make up a monitor"s display, measured by height and width. For example: 1920 x 1080 (aka 1080p), 2560 x 1440 (2K), and 3840 x 2160 (4K).Round up of today"s best deals

If you’ve ever experienced screen tearing in a PC game, you know how annoying it can be — an otherwise correctly rendered frame ruined by gross horizontal lines and stuttering. You can turn on V-Sync, but that can be detrimental to system performance.

Nvidia and AMD have stepped up to solve the issue while preserving frame rates, and both manufacturers have turned to adaptive refresh technology for the solution. That often leads to a very obvious recommendation: If you have an Nvidia GPU, use G-Sync. If you have an AMD GPU, use FreeSync.

But if you have a choice in monitors or graphic cards, you may be wondering exactly what the differences are and which syncing technology is best for your setup. Let’s break it down to reveal which is a better option for you.

G-Sync and FreeSync are both designed to smooth out gameplay, reduce input lag, and prevent screen tearing. They have different methods for accomplishing these goals, but what sets them apart is that the former keeps its approach close to the vest, while the latter is shared freely. Nvidia’s G-Sync works through a built-in chip in the monitor’s construction. FreeSync uses the video card’s functionality to manage the monitor’s refresh rate using the Adaptive Sync standard built into the DisplayPort standard — the result is a difference in performance.

Users note having FreeSync enabled reduces tearing and stuttering, but some monitors exhibit another problem: Ghosting. As objects move on the screen, they leave shadowy images of their last position. It’s an artifact that some people don’t notice at all, but it annoys others.

Many fingers point at what might cause it, but the physical reason for it is power management. If you don’t apply enough power to the pixels, your image will have gaps in it — too much power, and you’ll see ghosting. Balancing the adaptive refresh technology with proper power distribution is hard.

Both FreeSync and G-Sync also suffer when the frame rate isn’t consistently syncing within the monitor’s refresh range. G-Sync can show problems with flickering at very low frame rates, and while the technology usuallycompensates to fix it, there are exceptions. FreeSync, meanwhile, has stuttering problems if the frame rate drops below a monitor’s stated minimum refresh rate. Some FreeSync monitors have an extremely narrow adaptive refresh range, and if your video card can’t deliver frames within that range, problems arise.

Most reviewers who’ve compared the two side-by-side seem to prefer the quality of G-Sync, which does not show stutter issues at low frame rates and is thus smoother in real-world situations. It’s also important to note that upgrades to syncing technology (and GPUs) are slowly improving these problems for both technologies.

One of the first differences you’ll hear people talk about with adaptive refresh technology, besides the general rivalry between AMD and Nvidia, is the difference between a closed and an open standard. While G-Sync is proprietary Nvidia technology and requires the company’s permission and cooperation to use, FreeSync is free for any developer or manufacturer to use. Thus, there are more monitors available with FreeSync support.

In most cases, you can’t mix and match between the two technologies. While the monitors themselves will work irrespective of the graphics card’s brand and can offer both Freesync and G-Sync support, G-Sync is only available on Nvidia graphics cards. Freesync works on all AMD cards and some Nvidia cards, too. But there’s a catch — it’s only guaranteed to work correctly on FreeSync monitors that are certified Nvidia G-Sync Compatible. The cards have undergone rigorous testing and are approved by Nvidia to ensure that FreeSync runs smoothly across the card range. Here’s a current list of certified monitors.

If you go the Nvidia route, the monitor’s module will handle the heavy lifting involved in adjusting the refresh rate. They tend to be more expensive than Freesync counterparts, although there are now more affordable G-Sync monitors available, like the Acer Predator XB241H.

Most recent-generation Nvidia graphics cards support G-Sync. Blur Busters has a good list of compatible Nvidia GPUs you can consult to see if your current card supports it. Nvidia, meanwhile, has special requirements for G-Sync rated desktops and laptops for a more thorough check of your system.

You won’t end up paying much extra for a monitor with FreeSync. There’s no premium for the manufacturer to include it, unlike G-Sync. FreeSync in the mid-hundreds frequently comes with a 1440p display and a 144Hz refresh rate (where their G-Sync counterparts might not), and monitors without those features can run as low as $160.

G-Sync and Freesync aren’t just features; they’re also certifications that monitor manufacturers have to meet. While basic specifications allow for frame syncing, more stringent premium versions of both G-Sync and Freesync exist, too. If monitor manufacturers meet these more demanding standards, then users can feel secure that the monitors are of higher quality, too.

FreeSync Premium: Premium requires monitors to support a native 120Hz refresh rate for a flawless 1080p resolution experience. It also adds low frame rate compensation (LFC), which copies and extends frames if the frame rate drops to help smooth out more bumpy experiences.

FreeSync Premium Pro: Previously known as FreeSeync 2 HDR, this premium version of FreeSync is specifically designed for HDR content, and if monitors support it, then they must guarantee at least 400 nits of brightness for HDR, along with all the benefits found with FreeSync Premium.

Nvidia’s G-Sync options are tiered, with G-Sync compatible at the bottom, offering basic G-Sync functionality in monitors that aren’t designed with G-Sync in mind (some Freesync monitors meet its minimum requirements). G-Sync is the next option up, with the most capable of monitors given G-Sync Ultimate status:

G-Sync Ultimate: Ultimate is similar to FreeSync Premium Pro, a more advanced option available on the more powerful GPUs and monitors that are designed for HDR support and low latency. It used to demand a minimum brightness of 1,000 nits, but that was recently reduced to demand just VESA HDR400 compatibility, or around 400 nits.

The G-Sync from Nvidia and the Freestyle feature from AMD both come with amazing features that can improve your game levels. Personally, when you compare the two, the G-Sync monitors come with a feature list that is slightly better, especially for the products rated at the G-Sync Ultimate level. That said, the difference between the two isn’t so great that you should never buy a Freesync monitor. Indeed, if you already have a decent graphics card, then buying a monitor to go with your GPU makes the most sense (side note for console owners: Xbox Series X supports FreeSync and PS5 is expected to support it in the future, but neither offer G-Sync support).

If you eliminate the price for any additional components, you can expect to shell out a few hundred dollars on a G-Sync monitor, at least. Even our budget pick is available for about $330. Unfortunately, due to product shortages, prices can vary significantly for a compatible G-Sync graphics card. Mid-range options like the RTX 3060are releasing shortly and will offer fantastic performance for around $400, but they’ll also be in short supply. Any other new generation cards will also be tough to find and could set you back at least $500 when available.

If you need to save a few bucks, FreeSync monitors and FreeSync-supported GPUs cost a bit less, on average. For example, the AMD Radeon RX 590 graphics card costs around $200. That said, all of the power-packed graphics cards were pretty difficult to find in the early part of 2021. It may be best to wait a few months and then buy a new RX 6000 card for a more budget-friendly price instead of buying MSRP right now.

Screen tearing is one of the most common display issues faced by PC gamers. Variable refresh rate, otherwise known as Adaptive Sync is easily the best solution to this age-old problem. Both NVIDIA (G-Sync) and AMD (FreeSync) have their own respective implementations of adaptive sync. Although they do the same thing (make your gameplay smoother at lower refresh rates), the way they work is fairly different.

More importantly, you’ll want to know which one is superior: G-Sync or FreeSync? And what’s this newer G-Sync Compatible standard that NVIDIA recently announced?

This happens when your GPU is rendering more frames per second than your monitor can display. The result is screen-tearing which basically happens when parts of multiple frames are displayed simultaneously on the monitor. It looks as though the frame has been stretched and torn into parts, thereby the name “tearing”.

This can be fixed by v-sync but that has its own drawbacks: mainly input lag and deteriorated performance. Input lag is rather straight-forward: you press a key and there’s a delay before you see the intended result. These two problems, (although may not seem like much of an issue) can be the cause of victory or defeat in eSports and competitive titles.

Traditional monitors come with a fixed refresh rate. The most common is 60 Hz. This is the rate at which the monitor refreshes the screen, before displaying the next frame. It tells you how many frames your monitor can display per sec without tearing. However, as I’m sure you already know games don’t always run at a fixed frame rate, there are inconsistencies, sometimes the GPU ends up rendering more frames than your monitor can display, sometimes less. This results in screen tearing and lags, respectively.

The easiest way to tackle this is to either drop some of the more intensive graphics options or enable V-Sync. However, as already explained the latter can cause input lags as it essentially limits the frame rate, generally to the refresh rate, but in some cases to half of it.

What G-Sync and FreeSync compatible monitors do is that they vary the refresh rate of your monitor according to your game performance. Say you are running a game at 50FPS. Then if your monitor supports adaptive sync, it’ll scale down the refresh rate to 50 for smoother gameplay.

What G-Sync and FreeSync compatible monitors do is that they vary the refresh rate of your monitor according to your game performance. Say you are running a game at 50FPS. Then if your monitor supports adaptive sync, it’ll scale down the refresh rate to 50 for smoother gameplay. However on the flip side, if you’re getting more frames per sec than your monitor can display, then this technology can’t help you.

With NVIDIA’s G-Sync monitors (not G-Sync compatible), there’s one big caveat. They require a proprietary G-Sync module which costs a good $100-200, greatly adding to the cost of the monitor. To make matters worse, NVIDIA is the ONLY supplier of these G-Sync enabling kits.

AMD’s FreeSync technology, on the other hand, uses the VESA certified Adaptive-Sync standard built atop DP 1.2a. So basically any monitor with Display Port 1.2a or higher can integrate FreeSync. The best part is that AMD itself doesn’t manufacture the FreeSync hardware scalars. Instead, a number of third-party OEMs do the job. And since there is more than one manufacturer (competition), the prices are much lower. You can get a Free-Sync monitor for as low as $100!

In contrast, even the cheapest G-Sync Compatible monitors which basically use the same technology cost nearly twice as much. Apparently, Jensen and Co. vouch for each monitor individually and not all displays make the cut. That requires resources and thereby the additional cost. Or so they say. Regardless, you can now use most FreeSync monitors with NVIDIA cards over DP 1.2a out of the box.

There is one main difference between how G-Sync (again, not G-Sync Compatible) and FreeSync function. NVIDIA’s G-Sync displays lock the frame rate to the monitor’s upper limit (using LFC when the average FPS is too low) while with FreeSync (and G-Sync compatible) monitors, it’s supported within a range, usually between 45 to 75Hz. If the frame rate goes above 75 Hz, there will be tearing. However, there still won’t be any input lag which is more important in eSports and fast-paced shooters.

These days, most higher-end FreeSync and FreeSync 2 monitors have a wide supported range, and very rarely will you face screen tearing if you’re using one of these displays.

One of the main differences between FreeSync and G-Sync is that the former like most of AMD’s technologies is OpenSource. It leverages the VESA Adaptive-Sync that comes along with Display Port 1.2a. As such, there are no penalties or royalties that need to be paid to implement FreeSync, allowing OEMs to integrate it into even the cheapest of monitors. The lower end FreeSync models cost less than $120.

G-Sync, on the other hand, is NVIDIA’s own proprietary technology. Earlier there was only one version that required a PCB from Green team to enable it. However, recently NVIDIA embraced the VESA standard, dubbing the monitors that support it “G-Sync Compatible”. G-Sync compatible displays are essentially FreeSync monitors vetted and tested by Jensen and Co.

All this requires ma