v-sync and solving tearing

torrtoise · April 26

hi there! i'm a really casual girl gamer who mostly plays singleplayer, slow-paced games with a pretty high-end rig, aaalways using v-sync in games because i can't for the life of me stand tearing, which i get pretty heavily whenever i'm not using it. it's legitimately the only reason i use v-sync.

i've recently started dabbling in a bit more fast-paced competitive games, like overwatch and the likes, and i remembered reading somewhere that v-sync usually increases input latency. i tried turning it off and sure enough, i find that the latency is much better, and kind of got why everybody always says not to use v-sync; the problem is, my game is tearing to shreds !! and it's honestly more distracting than the input latency.

so, my question is, are there any other options for me to reduce tearing, other than maybe g-sync? i'm honestly fine with keeping v-sync on if there isn't, though i wanted to check before i make any uninformed decisions on my own.

my spec list goes something like this:

- RTX 4080 12GB (i know it's from ROG, but that's about it)

- a fancy ryzen 5900X

- 2x 16GB RAM sticks from corsair, 3800MHz

- monitor is a 2560x1080 144Hz beauty from LG, that i don't recall the model name of.

- the mouse i have is from a swedish off-brand company, genuinely do not know where it's from. i think i got it as a gift?

- 2 SSDs with 1tb each of storage, flat.

can check the motherboard if needed! i built this puppy around half a year back.

GuiltySpark_ · April 26

I've been gaming on GSync panels since 2016 and I haven't experienced tearing in any capacity since then. This topic is covered a ton and in great detail but I keep things simple. GSync on, global framerate cap in NVCP (now Nvidia app) to 2fps below my displays max refresh rate. Done, tearing gone.

Its commonly accepted to use VSync in conjunction with GSync, however, but I've never seen a need to. https://blurbusters.com/gsync/gsync101-input-lag-tests-and-settings/14/

DoctorNick · April 26

17 minutes ago, torrtoise said:

hi there! i'm a really casual girl gamer who mostly plays singleplayer, slow-paced games with a pretty high-end rig, aaalways using v-sync in games because i can't for the life of me stand tearing, which i get pretty heavily whenever i'm not using it. it's legitimately the only reason i use v-sync.

i've recently started dabbling in a bit more fast-paced competitive games, like overwatch and the likes, and i remembered reading somewhere that v-sync usually increases input latency. i tried turning it off and sure enough, i find that the latency is much better, and kind of got why everybody always says not to use v-sync; the problem is, my game is tearing to shreds !! and it's honestly more distracting than the input latency.

so, my question is, are there any other options for me to reduce tearing, other than maybe g-sync? i'm honestly fine with keeping v-sync on if there isn't, though i wanted to check before i make any uninformed decisions on my own.

my spec list goes something like this:

- RTX 4080 12GB (i know it's from ROG, but that's about it)

- a fancy ryzen 5900X

- 2x 16GB RAM sticks from corsair, 3800MHz

- monitor is a 2560x1080 144Hz beauty from LG, that i don't recall the model name of.

- the mouse i have is from a swedish off-brand company, genuinely do not know where it's from. i think i got it as a gift?

- 2 SSDs with 1tb each of storage, flat.

can check the motherboard if needed! i built this puppy around half a year back.

Not really, adaptive sync is the general term for this, and for you because you use nvidia, you simply turn on g-sync. Don't have to enable v-sync in game while having g-sync on. Make sure to use a DP cable in order to get the full range for g-sync. If you want to you can limit the game FPS to 144hz (because thats the limit for the monitor). Some games will automatically cap out at g-sync max. Overwatch might be one of them them, but test it out and see how it works for you. If it starts tearing, because fps goes over g-sync max range, then just limit the FPS. Edit: it shouldn't be necessary setting anything other than, enable g-sync in nvidia control panel.

jaslion · April 26

5 minutes ago, DoctorNick said:

Overwatch might be one of them them, but test it out and see how it works for you. I

Overwatch is best done in the global nvidia settings or amd control panel as often their framerate cap goes a bit beyond the max refresh and you get tearing. Dunno why and it changes every update somehow

WereCat · April 26

43 minutes ago, GuiltySpark_ said:

I've been gaming on GSync panels since 2016 and I haven't experienced tearing in any capacity since then. This topic is covered a ton and in great detail but I keep things simple. GSync on, global framerate cap in NVCP (now Nvidia app) to 2fps below my displays max refresh rate. Done, tearing gone.

Its commonly accepted to use VSync in conjunction with GSync, however, but I've never seen a need to. https://blurbusters.com/gsync/gsync101-input-lag-tests-and-settings/14/

This.

VSync is "required" with GSync as in some cases there may still be some minor tearing near the bottom of the screen.

If you don't have VRR display then you can use FastSync (NVIDIA) or EnhancedSync (AMD).

This eliminates tearing ONLY if your FPS is higher than your monitors refresh rate. It still ads input lag but way less than VSync and the higher the FPS the less input lag you'll get.