AMD FreeSync - AMD's Free G-SYNC Alternative

[Tr3vor]

It kinda worries me that so many people have heard this "suggestion" from AMD and automatically assumed the following:

 

1. it won't cost anything (nothing is free)

2. it will be better than or the same as gsync (how?  nvidia knew about vblank and chose to go with something else why?)

3. G-sync cost more to implement (again how? has someone got a link to explain this. and don't post links to sales sites, we know it costs more to buy,  that is how marketing works and not necessarily the result of  implementation costs)

4. It will run on anything (even though the article clearly said that was an unknown)

 

Haven't we learnt anything?  wait until a fully working market ready example is out for testing before making silly comments about how this will force nvidia to drop their prices (not that we know if they are even over charging for it) or making silly decisions like buying a GPU.

 

I agree with 2 and 4, except with the costs.

 

If newer monitors conform to this new VESA standard, then it should not cost any more for the "freesync" since it might just be built into newer monitors.  G-Sync will most likely cost more because of the R&D and hardware manufacturing. From what I've read this variable VBLANK is already implemented in video cards and just need the drivers installed, and when we have monitor that have this there is not really any special hardware involved.

 

Final judgement should be reserved until after the products are available to the public of course.

[old reece frost]

Nvidia's face right now

[Suika]

Just thought I'd say you can change your temperature target in Powertune to lower the maximum temperature to something you're comfortable with , I have an R9 290 and I love it. Purchased mine when it was still the same price as a 7970 Ghz (£300~) and I have 0 regrets at all.

Tech of Tomorrow had a video with a quote I heavily agreed with, you're not going to buy a GPU to not use it to it's fullest potential (at least, the highest base clock). I also like Linus' ideology that if you're going to have a super gaming PC, there is no reason for it to not be quiet.

 

I still want to see more of these new adaptive Vsync technologies.

[Kuzma]

Tech of Tomorrow had a video with a quote I heavily agreed with, you're not going to buy a GPU to not use it to it's fullest potential (at least, the highest base clock). I also like Linus' ideology that if you're going to have a super gaming PC, there is no reason for it to not be quiet.

 

I still want to see more of these new adaptive Vsync technologies.

I do agree with you to a degree but I probably could have sufficed with a 7950, hell probably a 7870/50 and I got my R9 290 more for future proofing over anything.

[mr moose]

I agree with 2 and 4, except with the costs.

 

If newer monitors conform to this new VESA standard, then it should not cost any more for the "freesync" since it might just be built into newer monitors.  G-Sync will most likely cost more because of the R&D and hardware manufacturing. From what I've read this variable VBLANK is already implemented in video cards and just need the drivers installed, and when we have monitor that have this there is not really any special hardware involved.

 

Final judgement should be reserved until after the products are available to the public of course.

 

If indeed it does not add to the manufacturing cost of a monitor what's to say that Asus won't charge an extra $50 to put the "freesync ready" sticker on the front. It wouldn't be the first time a company charges a a premium for a inferred hardware advantage as opposed to a real one. 

 

And everyone is still assuming that it will only require a driver change to implement properly, if that was the case then why did AMD not run their presentation on a desktop monitor? why hasn't it already been released? and most importantly if the technology is already in every GPU and monitor why is it not already an option in games like the disable vsync option? 

 

I suggest the reason it is not already a thing right now (even though people claim the hardware already supports it) and why Nvidia chose to go with a different more comprehensive (read expensive r+d designed) hardware approach is because it is either:

 

1. not currently supported by enough hardware

2. not the best implementation (see @LAwLz post for an good explanation)

3. Nvidia have worked hard to promote themselves as a premium GPU company and don't want to taint that with a sync implementation that is not "premium"

 

 

Don't get me wrong, I am not anti AMD, I am anti all the hype and assumptions made with very little actually information out there to support it.

[El_indian]

 "During an impromptu meeting in a hotel ballroom this morning, we got an eye-opening demo of a dynamic refresh rate capability that's been a part of Radeon GPUs for several generations. AMD thinks this feature can be combined with triple buffering to deliver G-Sync-like animation smoothness without the cost associated with specialized display hardware."

 

 

http://www.pcper.com/news/General-Tech/AMDs-under-reported-dynamic-refresh-rates

[El_indian]

In AMD's assessment, it's possible to achieve a G-Sync-like animation smoothness with a combination of two techniques: dynamic refresh rates and triple buffering. The exec initially expressed puzzlement over why Nvidia chose to implement them in expensive, external hardware. After all, triple-buffering can be implemented by a game developer in software or even enabled via a software switch in a graphics driver control panel. He said AMD used to have an option to force the use of triple buffering in its driver control panel, in fact, and would be willing to consider bringing it back.

 

The exec's puzzlement over Nvidia's use of external hardware was resolved when I spoke with him again later in the day. His new theory is that the display controller in Nvidia's current GPUs simply can't support variable refresh intervals, hence the need for an external G-Sync unit. That would explain things. I haven't yet had time to confirm this detail with Nvidia or to quiz them about whether G-Sync essentially does triple-buffering in the module. Nvidia has so far been deliberately vague about certain specifics of how G-Sync works, so we'll need to pry a little in order to better understand the situation.

 

 

http://techreport.com/news/25867/amd-could-counter-nvidia-g-sync-with-simpler-free-sync-tech

 

Interesting. I'm not sure whether triple buffering is a good or bad thing in terms of smoothness/latency. Will have to wait for tests.  

[Tr3vor]

If indeed it does not add to the manufacturing cost of a monitor what's to say that Asus won't charge an extra $50 to put the "freesync ready" sticker on the front. It wouldn't be the first time a company charges a a premium for a inferred hardware advantage as opposed to a real one. 

 

And everyone is still assuming that it will only require a driver change to implement properly, if that was the case then why did AMD not run their presentation on a desktop monitor? why hasn't it already been released? and most importantly if the technology is already in every GPU and monitor why is it not already an option in games like the disable vsync option? 

 

I suggest the reason it is not already a thing right now (even though people claim the hardware already supports it) and why Nvidia chose to go with a different more comprehensive (read expensive r+d designed) hardware approach is because it is either:

 

1. not currently supported by enough hardware

2. not the best implementation (see @LAwLz post for an good explanation)

3. Nvidia have worked hard to promote themselves as a premium GPU company and don't want to taint that with a sync implementation that is not "premium"

 

 

Don't get me wrong, I am not anti AMD, I am anti all the hype and assumptions made with very little actually information out there to support it.

 

In general AMD is a more budget oriented with their products, but its usually not the best. Considering this I'm assuming it will be cheaper. Doesn't mean it will, but that's what I think. I also think its not an option now because variable vblank isn't supported by monitors nowdays, but it may be adopted here in the future. That also makes me wonder how long variable vblank has been a vesa standard, if its relatively new then obviously not very much hardware will support it.

 

Also its pretty much guaranteed to not be as good as Nvidia's. There is no way they didn't know about variable vblank, and there has to be a reason why they made G-sync. They probably found a problem with variable vblank and it doesn't quite do what they want it to.

 

 

Also, did AMD come up with the term "freesync", because if they did, I'm hardcore facepalming right now. That is the stupidest name I've ever heard.

[flibberdipper]

Aaaaaaaannnddd..... nVidia is thinking about fixing G-Sync to be free.

[ACatWithThumbs]

http://www.pcper.com/news/General-Tech/AMDs-under-reported-dynamic-refresh-rates

This clearly shows that it's not the same as G-sync.

With tripple buffering you would still have input lag.

 

[mr moose]

 

 

 

Also, did AMD come up with the term "freesync", because if they did, I'm hardcore facepalming right now. That is the stupidest name I've ever heard.

Don't know but. I would certainly hope that If AMD push ahead and bring the concept to market that they choose a half decent name for it.

[silencerbob]

Amd fan: yay

Nvidia fan : don't care!

[Chevaishr]

In general AMD is a more budget oriented with their products, but its usually not the best. Considering this I'm assuming it will be cheaper. Doesn't mean it will, but that's what I think. I also think its not an option now because variable vblank isn't supported by monitors nowdays, but it may be adopted here in the future. That also makes me wonder how long variable vblank has been a vesa standard, if its relatively new then obviously not very much hardware will support it.

 

Also its pretty much guaranteed to not be as good as Nvidia's. There is no way they didn't know about variable vblank, and there has to be a reason why they made G-sync. They probably found a problem with variable vblank and it doesn't quite do what they want it to.

 

 

Also, did AMD come up with the term "freesync", because if they did, I'm hardcore facepalming right now. That is the stupidest name I've ever heard.

the vblank standard was made in 2002 and updated in 2003 hasnt changed from then 

[MeltyMoon]

AMD has been doing a lot of great things lately in the GPU business. I hope they can try to get back into the enthusiast CPU market as well

[Tr3vor]

the vblank standard was made in 2002 and updated in 2003 hasnt changed from then 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coordinated_Video_Timings I'm not sure if that includes variable refresh rates.

 

Also using the term "VBLANK" is sort of incorrect when speaking of VESA standards, since VBLANK is just something that happens on pretty much all displays. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertical_blanking_interval

[Equlix]

But..but.. I just bought a 780ti like 3 hrs ago in high hopes for gsync.... well fml! Well atleast I got phyx right?..right?..Oh okay then  

no regerts.

[torogitar]

is it only for laptops?

[RexinOridle]

is it only for laptops?

 

That's exactly my question.

[ForeseenVisionz]

no regerts.

haven't recievied mine yet coz of shipping. 

[martinrox1568]

Too bad I have an Nvidia GPU..

If amd  wants to win the market, they'll probably make it open to all platforms

[7850OC]

in case some people missed it

 

here is the AMD CES 2014 Press Conference  :lol:

 

[Ebinlaw]

If amd  wants to win the market, they'll probably make it open to all platforms

If its free, i dont see how it would help AMD win the market. Nvidia people would just use FreeSync with their existing cards. on the other hand, it would drop Gsync sales which causes Nvidia to not gain profit.

[Vitalius]

If its free, i dont see how it would help AMD win the market. Nvidia people would just use FreeSync with their existing cards. on the other hand, it would drop Gsync sales which causes Nvidia to not gain profit.

That is assuming Nvidia GPUs are set up to use what Freesync uses to actually work. Which I'm assuming they aren't able to do that, or they would have.

[wpirobotbuilder]

AMD has been doing a lot of great things lately in the GPU business. I hope they can try to get back into the enthusiast CPU market as well

Not likely, they are committed to HSA for the near future. Though once software support comes through, HSA will likely be a better performer than their dedicated CPUs in all but the most single-threaded software out there.

[afa7336]

That is assuming Nvidia GPUs are set up to use what Freesync uses to actually work. Which I'm assuming they aren't able to do that, or they would have.

 

Or that it pans out and actually works. I'm really not shocked that people are jumping for joy when all we know is that it was only demo'd on laptops/tablets whatever they were, and that AMD has said they "AMD isn’t ready to productize this nor does it have a public go to market strategy" ie, you ain't seeing it for a VERY VERY long time. My guess, maybe a year or so, if not longer.