When playing 60FPS hard-capped games on a 144Hz display without VRR, is it still smooth?

[Noirgheos]

Games like Dark Souls 3, Sekiro, etc. I do have multiple questions, so I'll list them:

 

- Do the games still feel as smooth as they would if playing on a 60Hz monitor?

- Does the monitor set itself to 60Hz when playing these games, or does it stay at 144Hz?

- Am I correct in assuming having a VRR display completely alleviates all these issues?

[digitaldoughnut]

34 minutes ago, Noirgheos said:

Games like Dark Souls 3, Sekiro, etc. I do have multiple questions, so I'll list them:

 

- Do the games still feel as smooth as they would if playing on a 60Hz monitor?

- Does the monitor set itself to 60Hz when playing these games, or does it stay at 144Hz?

- Am I correct in assuming having a VRR display completely alleviates all these issues?

thats the whole point of vrr to match the frame rate of your gpu and monitor to help stop tearing, stuttering etc....

[Noirgheos]

1 minute ago, digitaldoughnut said:

thats the whole point of vrr to match the frame rate of your gpu and monitor to help stop tearing, stuttering etc....

What about the first two questions? I have the option for VRR, but it'll run me an extra $300 CAD, so I'm trying to decide if it's worth it or not.

[SpookyCitrus]

Should still be smooth, sometimes it can be choppy, as long as you're capped solid at 60fps I dont think you will have an issue.

The monitor will stay at whatever you set it to, if you set it to 144hz no mater what it will be 144hz even if you get less than the refresh rate. However if you have a VRR it will automatically adjust the refresh rate to match the output of the device connected.

VRRs like G-Sync and Freesync will automatically adjust your refresh rate to better match the FPS you are achieving in game to help smooth out the experience, so if you play capped at 60fps with G-Sync or Freesync enabled the monitor will have  a refresh rate of 60hz. 

If you plan on getting a 144hz monitor and don't expect to get that much but you will still get over 60fps play with G-sync or Freesync on and your FPS uncapped to match the higher FPS or play without it enabled, and have 144hz with whatever fps you get.

 

[digitaldoughnut]

1 minute ago, Noirgheos said:

What about the first two questions? I have the option for VRR, but it'll run me an extra $300 CAD, so I'm trying to decide if it's worth it or not.

yes it should feel as smooth as a 60hz monitor on a 144hz display, not sure about the other one sorry!

[Noirgheos]

6 minutes ago, SpookyCitrus said:

Should still be smooth, sometimes it can be choppy, as long as you're capped solid at 60fps I dont think you will have an issue.

The monitor will stay at whatever you set it to, if you set it to 144hz no mater what it will be 144hz even if you get less than the refresh rate. However if you have a VRR it will automatically adjust the refresh rate to match the output of the device connected.

VRRs like G-Sync and Freesync will automatically adjust your refresh rate to better match the FPS you are achieving in game to help smooth out the experience, so if you play capped at 60fps with G-Sync or Freesync enabled the monitor will have  a refresh rate of 60hz. 

If you plan on getting a 144hz monitor and don't expect to get that much but you will still get over 60fps play with G-sync or Freesync on and your FPS uncapped to match the higher FPS or play without it enabled, and have 144hz with whatever fps you get.

 

Does the dynamic adjustment also apply to the desktop and other parts of the PC? Like if I open the Steam overlay while playing a 60FPS-capped game, will it be running at 60Hz? Or if I alt-tab to the desktop? Will that also be at 60Hz?

 

Or is there a way to isolate it to the game? I imagine playing in fullscreen does this, but with Windows being what it is, Fullscreen is basically always borderless nowadays...

[SpookyCitrus]

If you run G-Sync and have it set to enabled for windowed and fullscreen apps it will cap the monitor at whatever window is currently active which can be pretty annoying. There is another option for only full screen apps so it only enables in Games.

[Noirgheos]

Just now, SpookyCitrus said:

If you run G-Sync and have it set to enabled for windowed and fullscreen apps it will cap the monitor at whatever window is currently active which can be pretty annoying. There is another option for only full screen apps so it only enables in Games.

Alright that fullscreen-only option sounds good. Just hope it recognizes fullscreen even with Windows' "Fullscreen Optimizations".