G-Sync/FreeSync Dual Display Question

[Vectraat]

1.) So, I'm looking to buy either a 144 Hz G-Sync or FreeSync monitor and I'm told that if you pair one of these monitor types with a 60 Hz non-G-Sync/FreeSync monitor that changes on the secondary monitor can drop the FPS of your primary. It sounds like people are referring to "movement" apps running on the second monitor like Discord etc. Is this true? And what can be done about it if anything apart from buying a second G-Sync/FreeSync monitor? 

2.) Also, when buying a FreeSync monitor, is it a good idea to buy a verified/G-Sync compatible monitor from this list and ignore the rest? https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/news/g-sync-ces-2019-announcements/

[Semper]

1. In my experience, running a gsync 144hz and a standard 60hz, I never had issue with frame drops on primary, but did notice that there was times where I had significant stuttering on the 60hz panel while running games above 60hz on my primary. When this happened, videos were functionally unwatchable as it seemed as though every third frame skipped back 5-6 frames. Eventually the 60hz panel was replaced, and my primary (gsync) monitor (S2716DG) was moved to my secondary monitor. My new primary became an AD27QD.

2. If you want to guarantee that Gsync will work, it's best to adhere to that list. other panels "may work, may partially work, or may not work at all", by Nvidia's own words.
I purchased my AD27QD before Nvidia had verified and added it to the approved list. it worked (still does) perfectly fine, but mileage may vary outside of verified panels.

[Vectraat]

2 minutes ago, Semper said:

2. If you want to guarantee that Gsync will work, it's best to adhere to that list. other panels "may work, may partially work, or may not work at all", by Nvidia's own words.
I purchased my AD27QD before Nvidia had verified and added it to the approved list. it worked (still does) perfectly fine, but mileage may vary outside of verified panels.

Ok, this second part has me a bit confused. Since I will likely buy a FreeSync monitor (because they are cheaper), I cannot use G-Sync? Or G-Sync still works even though there's no Nvidia chip in the FreeSync monitor? 

[WereCat]

You can experience issues, I myself had plenty of them and I tried really hard to resolve them to no avail. It got a bit better over time but there is still room for improvement. 

 

That said. These issues can be completely avoided quite easily by just disabling GSync for Windowed/Borderless mode and just using true FullScreen mode for games. 

I never experienced any issues with this. 

 

Is a bit inconvenient for using multiple monitors though since you have to ALT+TAB from the game. 

 

Still, I definitely wouldn't want to be without GSync or FreeSync. It's really good when it works as intended. 

[Semper]

5 minutes ago, Vectraat said:

Ok, this second part has me a bit confused. Since I will likely buy a FreeSync monitor (because they are cheaper), I cannot use G-Sync? Or G-Sync still works even though there's no Nvidia chip in the FreeSync monitor? 

You might be able to use gsync on freesync panels. Panels on the list that you linked are verified to work by Nvidia. All others may or may not work, mileage will vary.

[Vectraat]

1 minute ago, Semper said:

You might be able to use gsync. Panels on the list that you linked are verified to work. All others may or may not work, mileage may vary.

Verified to work with G-Sync OR, it's just that the FreeSync will work with an Nvidia GPU via DP? 

[WereCat]

9 minutes ago, Vectraat said:

Ok, this second part has me a bit confused. Since I will likely buy a FreeSync monitor (because they are cheaper), I cannot use G-Sync? Or G-Sync still works even though there's no Nvidia chip in the FreeSync monitor? 

If you have a NVIDIA card then you can use both FreeSync and GSync. 

However, FreeSync is not guaranteed to work unless its listed in the NVIDIA GSync compatibility list (Yes, NVIDIA calls FreeSync "GZync" when it's compatible). 

Many FreeSync monitors work even if they are not featured in their compatibility list. 

I highly recommend to google around and check if the monitor you picked is OK. People usually leave some reviews. 

 

EDIT

NVIDIA supports FreeSync only on Pascal and Turing... as far as I am aware, so have that in mind if you have an older card. 

[Vectraat]

3 minutes ago, WereCat said:

That said. These issues can be completely avoided quite easily by just disabling GSync for Windowed/Borderless mode and just using true FullScreen mode for games. 

I never experienced any issues with this. 

 

Is a bit inconvenient for using multiple monitors though since you have to ALT+TAB from the game. 

I always play my games at full screen and Alt+Tab--just an old habit. So if I'm playing full screen there won't be an issue, or do I still need to disable G-Sync for Windowed/Borderless? Also, how fast is the Alt-tabbing? You waiting on a black screen for a while before you see your desktop or is the transition almost instant? 

[Semper]

1 minute ago, Vectraat said:

Verified to work with G-Sync OR, it's just that the FreeSync will work with an Nvidia GPU via DP? 

It won't be true Gsync, but it will be adaptive refresh technology.

Nvidia defines their validation certificate as "adequate variable refresh rate range, no flicker, blanking, or artifacts."
 

Spoiler

 

[WereCat]

1 minute ago, Vectraat said:

I always play my games at full screen and Alt+Tab--just an old habit. So if I'm playing full screen there won't be an issue, or do I still need to disable G-Sync for Windowed/Borderless? Also, how fast is the Alt-tabbing? You waiting on a black screen for a while before you see your desktop or is the transition almost instant? 

There won't be an issue with FullScreen. 

 

ALT+TAB can be instant if you disable FastBoot in Windows 10 and then restart the PC. 

(It won't actualy affect your boot speed, this will prevent Windows to save some data and then boot with them after shut down, this feature has actually quite a big impact on GSync/FreeSync from my experience). 

I'm on mobile so I can't tell you how to exactly turn it off but it should be quite simple, just Google it. 

If you won't be able to find out how, PM me and I will respond with the exact steps when I get the time. 

[Vectraat]

1 minute ago, WereCat said:

There won't be an issue with FullScreen. 

 

ALT+TAB can be instant if you disable FastBoot in Windows 10 and then restart the PC. 

(It won't actualy affect your boot speed, this will prevent Windows to save some data and then boot with them after shut down, this feature has actually quite a big impact on GSync/FreeSync from my experience). 

I'm on mobile so I can't tell you how to exactly turn it off but it should be quite simple, just Google it. 

If you won't be able to find out how, PM me and I will respond with the exact steps when I get the time. 

Ok, thanks. I will PM you when I get the monitor if I'm having any issue. Still trying to pick a monitor. I just thought I'd do a bit of research first because I don't want to spend $400-700 dollars and feel disappointed afterward. 

[WereCat]

6 minutes ago, Vectraat said:

Ok, thanks. I will PM you when I get the monitor if I'm having any issue. Still trying to pick a monitor. I just thought I'd do a bit of research first because I don't want to spend $400-700 dollars and feel disappointed afterward. 

Yeah, doing research is a good thing. 

I found ALT+TAB inconvenient because my first 2nd screen was some cheap old used 60Hz 1080p monitor and it was enough to just press ESC so that you get your game menu screen and then you could just move your mouse to another screen and do whatever you wanted without the game getting minimised. 

 

Since I got used to this, after upgrading my main monitor to GSsync, it became quite inconvenient to me to be forced to play on FullScreen and ALT+TAB. 

 

EDIT

 

That said, some games like PUBG for example will work like this in FullScreen without having to minimise them. IDK really why... 

[Vectraat]

3 minutes ago, WereCat said:

Yeah, doing research is a good thing. 

I found ALT+TAB inconvenient because my first 2nd screen was some cheap old used 60Hz 1080p monitor and it was enough to just press ESC so that you get your game menu screen and then you could just move your mouse to another screen and do whatever you wanted without the game getting minimised. 

 

Since I got used to this, after upgrading my main monitor to GSsync, it became quite inconvenient to me to be forced to play on FullScreen and ALT+TAB. 

I see. Yah, it is kinda annoying to not be able to move your mouse to the second display without Alt-Tabbing. I guess that's just a sacrifice I'll have to make for a better gaming monitor if used in a dual display setup. 

[Semper]

35 minutes ago, WereCat said:

Yeah, doing research is a good thing. 

I found ALT+TAB inconvenient because my first 2nd screen was some cheap old used 60Hz 1080p monitor and it was enough to just press ESC so that you get your game menu screen and then you could just move your mouse to another screen and do whatever you wanted without the game getting minimised. 

 

Since I got used to this, after upgrading my main monitor to GSsync, it became quite inconvenient to me to be forced to play on FullScreen and ALT+TAB. 

 

EDIT

 

That said, some games like PUBG for example will work like this in FullScreen without having to minimise them. IDK really why... 

 

30 minutes ago, Vectraat said:

I see. Yah, it is kinda annoying to not be able to move your mouse to the second display without Alt-Tabbing. I guess that's just a sacrifice I'll have to make for a better gaming monitor if used in a dual display setup. 

It likely has to do with true fullscreen over windowed borderless.

In true fullscreen, whatever is fullscreen is essentially "taking control" of whatever monitor(s) it's running on. With borderless, the game is still technically windowed, meaning that the window manager is still drawing it, which is also the cause of potential slightly lower framerates.

[WereCat]

37 minutes ago, Semper said:

 

It likely has to do with true fullscreen over windowed borderless.

In true fullscreen, whatever is fullscreen is essentially "taking control" of whatever monitor(s) it's running on. With borderless, the game is still technically windowed, meaning that the window manager is still drawing it, which is also the cause of potential slightly lower framerates.

Yeah. Windows just has no clue what to focus on when there is for example a game running in a window or a video running in a window.