Enable G-Sync on a FreeSync Monitor

YOU’LL NEED THIS

A FREESYNC COMPATIBLE MONITOR

Stating the obvious, but this doesn’t work with just any panel; you need FreeSync on your

screen’s specs.

GRAPHICS CARD An Nvidia RTX 20-series or

GTX 10-series GPU.

THE PROBLEM IS CLEAR AND SIMPLE: Sometimes games produce screen tearing and stuttering. They don’t mean to, it’s just a function of the way your graphics card and monitor interact—GPU spews out frames as quickly as it can, monitor uses those frames at a set refresh rate, gamer looks on at torn images in frustration. This being the wonderfully infuriating world of personal computers, it’s the solution that proves far more complex. V-Sync is the simplest band-aid over frame pacing issues, telling your GPU at the software level to only provide as many frames per second as the current refresh rate—usually 60. It’s effective in its own way, but often introduces noticeable input lag and tanks the frame rate down to 30 if your graphics card can’t handle a consistent 60. Nvidia’s G-Sync and AMD’s FreeSync both offer more complex hardware-based delivery pipelines for new frame data, but previously they didn’t interface—G-Sync needed a compatible monitor and an Nvidia card, while FreeSync required AMD silicon in your PCIe slot. Now the walls have come down, though, and Nvidia has enabled G-Sync on FreeSync panels. We’ll show you how to get it up and running. –PHIL IWANIUK 1

UPDATE YOUR NVIDIA DRIVERS That’s right, we’re starting with everyone’s favorite chore: a driver update. GeForce Experience prompts you on the desktop whenever a new Game Ready Driver is available, but just in case you’ve missed one—or indeed, quite a few—open GeForce Experience, select the “Drivers” tab, and hit the green “Download” button if you see one [ Image A]. If it’s not there, your drivers are fully up to date. You need at least version 417.71 to use G-Sync with a FreeSync panel, so chances are you already have compatible drivers by now—support was enabled way back on January 15, 2019. It was a simpler time. Coronawhat?

Contained within these updated drivers is information that adds the option to enable G-Sync in Nvidia Control Panel, and tells your GPU not to produce more frames than a variable refresh rate monitor’s current Hz when G-Sync is turned on. 2

HOOK UP A DISPLAYPORT CONNECTION HDMI won’t cut it for this exercise, and although we’re still deeply in love with chunky old DVI, it’s not going to cut the mustard either. You need a DisplayPort cable between your graphics card and monitor for this one in order to enable G-Sync. Adaptive sync has been woven into DisplayPort’s feature set since version 1.2a, so you don’t need to worry overly about which DisplayPort cable you use. Your screen and GPU just need a nice high-bandwidth interface to communicate through, and because HDMI 1.4 tops out at 1080p and 60Hz, it can’t keep up. HDMI versions 2.0, 2.0a, and 2.1 can go beyond those numbers, but they’re rare to find on variable refresh rate monitors’ back panels. Mini DisplayPort is fine, if you were wondering. 3

CHECK YOUR MONITOR’S COMPATIBILITY So, your graphics card meets the requirements, and it’s using the drivers needed too. You’ve got a DisplayPort cable connecting it to your monitor, and you’re primed and ready for silky-smooth frame delivery. What next? Well, next is a bit of expectation management. Nvidia itself has tested over 400 different monitor models with variable refresh rate on their spec lists, and of those 400, it’s certified, er, 12. Aka “not very many.” Here’s the list of fully certified models—if yours is name-dropped, you can guarantee total compatibility: Acer XFA240, Acer XG270HU, Acer XV273K, Acer XZ321Q, AOC Agon AG241QG4, AOC G2590FX, Asus MG278Q, Asus VG258Q, Asus VG278Q, Asus XG248, Asus XG258, and BenQ XL2740.

What’s Nvidia’s criteria? Partly it comes down to the ratio of refresh rates a given panel offers. The screens that made the grade offered 2:4:1 refresh rate ratios or higher (that’s at least 48–144Hz, to put it in more relatable terms). When G-Sync was enabled on these

panels, they exhibited no off-putting behavior, such as blanking, pulsing, flickers, ghosting, or any other artifacts.

If your panel isn’t, by a remarkable stroke of luck, one of those 12, that doesn’t mean you can’t use G-Sync with it. Just prepare for the odd glitch or compatibility issue. Ultimately, it’s up to you to determine whether you feel the benefits, and weigh them up against any issues that might creep in. 4

ENABLE VARIABLE REFRESH RATE This step’s about delving into that darkest, most un-userfriendly of domains in all of PC gaming: your monitor’s settings menu. And, unfortunately, we’re not talking about Windows display properties but the real deal: that baffling array of terse criteria you bring up on your screen by hammering a random selection of flimsy plastic buttons, placed at the least easily accessible height and angle possible. Seriously, we’ve got UEFI BIOSes with full mouse support, but our monitors can’t handle more than an unresponsive flip-book of settings?

Soapbox dismantled. For this step, you simply need to ensure that your own monitor has variable refresh rate enabled in its settings menu. Many don’t come out of the box with this enabled either, so it’s definitely worth checking. Unfortunately, we can’t guide you through the specific labyrinth of your panel’s options, but if you’re not out of there in 10 minutes, we’ll call the police to come and rescue you. 5

ENABLE G-SYNC IN NVIDIA CONTROL PANEL Now comes the relatively easy part. With all your hardware complying to requirements, all that’s left is to open up Nvidia Control Panel and turn G-Sync on. You can access Control Panel by right-clicking the Nvidia icon in your system tray—you might need to click the arrow first to “show hidden icons”—or simply by looking for it in Windows Search Bar next to your Start icon [ Image B]. Once you’re in, head to the “Display” header then “Set up G-Sync.” Now check the “Enable G-Sync G-Sync Compatible” option, and enter the options you want to use. Select your monitor in the drag-down menu, then check “Enable settings for the selected display model” and “Apply settings.” Congratulations, you’ve turned FreeSync into G-Sync. 6

TEST YOUR RESULTS Is your work over? Forget it. Next you need to ascertain just how compatible your monitor is with its new-found G-Sync functionality. The best way to do it is to load a particularly demanding game, something you’d expect to see reasonable frame rate variance in, such as MetroExodus or BattlefieldV

[ Image C]. Keep an eye out for freezes, flickering, or any other odd behavior that wasn’t present in your monitor before. If you do see something odd, there’s not much recourse at this point. Again, it’s a matter of weighing the pros against the cons, and deciding whether to keep that G-Sync box checked. There’s always the possibility that future driver updates from Nvidia might improve things, too, so don’t write it off completely if your panel won’t play ball at this point. 7

DO YOU PLAY BETTER WITH OR WITHOUT? Finally, there’s one more question to face: Maybe you can play with G-Sync now, but should you? If you’re a competitive FPS player, you might actually prefer to leave it disabled. Running games at high frame rates that go above your monitor’s highest refresh rate could introduce some input lag, and in some titles, that’s a game-breaker [ Image D]. If the title in question allows you to set a frame limit, you can minimize that lag by setting the cap below your refresh rate. Some players might simply prefer to game at 300fps and go without G-Sync altogether, though. With margins this small—and they are small—it comes down to feel. And if something feels smoother with G-Sync enabled, then lean into it, and happy headshotting. But if not, don’t feel like you’re missing out if you prefer the responsiveness of an unsynched 300fps.