G-Sync's 1ms Polling Rate: My Findings & Questions

Talk about NVIDIA G-SYNC, a variable refresh rate (VRR) technology. G-SYNC eliminates stutters, tearing, and reduces input lag. List of G-SYNC Monitors.
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jorimt
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Re: G-Sync's 1ms Polling Rate: My Findings & Questions

Post by jorimt » 08 May 2017, 15:56

mminedune wrote:vsync works with gsync it add frame buffer its much better without it you can think what you want i don't care ive been dealing with this forever now vsync /gsync is garbage no reason to have any frame buffer with gsync. Its ten times better with gsync on its own and capping frames
You sound irate, so I'm not even going to attempt a direct reply to that :shock: :P

However, I will have much more details about the differences between G-SYNC + v-sync on and G-SYNC + v-sync off in the upcoming installment of my ongoing G-SYNC 101 article that should clear some things up.

I can agree, however, that G-SYNC does not appear to work well with SLI, at least from what I've heard from you and many other SLI users. But then again, what does work well with modern SLI? *runs*
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Author: Blur Busters "G-SYNC 101" Series

Displays: ASUS PG27AQN, LG 48CX VR: Beyond, Quest 3, Reverb G2, Index OS: Windows 11 Pro Case: Fractal Design Torrent PSU: Seasonic PRIME TX-1000 MB: ASUS Z790 Hero CPU: Intel i9-13900k w/Noctua NH-U12A GPU: GIGABYTE RTX 4090 GAMING OC RAM: 32GB G.SKILL Trident Z5 DDR5 6400MHz CL32 SSDs: 2TB WD_BLACK SN850 (OS), 4TB WD_BLACK SN850X (Games) Keyboards: Wooting 60HE, Logitech G915 TKL Mice: Razer Viper Mini SE, Razer Viper 8kHz Sound: Creative Sound Blaster Katana V2 (speakers/amp/DAC), AFUL Performer 8 (IEMs)

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RealNC
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Re: G-Sync's 1ms Polling Rate: My Findings & Questions

Post by RealNC » 08 May 2017, 16:12

mminedune wrote:vsync works with gsync it add frame buffer its much better without it
If you set in-game vsync to off, and nvcp vsync to on, no frame buffer is added. An additional frame buffer is only added for games that use triple buffered vsync. Which is why setting in-game vsync to off is usually best.
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Halabaluza
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Re: G-Sync's 1ms Polling Rate: My Findings & Questions

Post by Halabaluza » 16 Jun 2017, 13:38

jorimt wrote:
mminedune wrote:vsync works with gsync it add frame buffer its much better without it you can think what you want i don't care ive been dealing with this forever now vsync /gsync is garbage no reason to have any frame buffer with gsync. Its ten times better with gsync on its own and capping frames
You sound irate, so I'm not even going to attempt a direct reply to that :shock: :P

However, I will have much more details about the differences between G-SYNC + v-sync on and G-SYNC + v-sync off in the upcoming installment of my ongoing G-SYNC 101 article that should clear some things up.

I can agree, however, that G-SYNC does not appear to work well with SLI, at least from what I've heard from you and many other SLI users. But then again, what does work well with modern SLI? *runs*
Hello. I have nearly read the whole article and I am amazed by your job. Especially the graphic with the configurations you made is awesome.

Nevertheless, I have one question left: I have bought a gaming laptop with G-Sync. I run the monitor with 100 Hz and I want to play CSGO. CSGO is known for high FPS and its easy too have more than 200 or even 300 FPS.
Your graphic recommends that I have to turn G-Sync on (logical), I have to turn Vsync on (this refers to my question) and I have to use a fps limiter (CSGO has ingame fps limiter) to set the game to 87 FPS because of the 1ms polling range (I still dont really know what it is but I believe you :D ).
Now, my question is: Why should I leave Vsync on??? As far as I understand, Vsync works as FPS limiter itself and caps the FPS to the refresh rate of the monitor. But thats like doing it 2 times. Can't I just use the ingame FPS limiter, cap it to 87 FPS and switch off Vsync? That would not make any difference, right? Vsync only works on frames which are over the refresh rate of the monitor. Gsync adapts the refresh rate to the FPS. So there shouldnt be any tearing, even though Vsync is off, right?

It would be amazing if you (or someone else) can answer me.

Greetings

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Re: G-Sync's 1ms Polling Rate: My Findings & Questions

Post by RealNC » 16 Jun 2017, 14:03

Vsync does not cap the frame rate. The game will render extra frames before waiting for the vsync signal. Those extra frames are buffered and this is what causes vsync input lag.

Frame capping makes sure the game does not buffer extra frames. That way input lag is minimized.

Halabaluza wrote:I have to use a fps limiter (CSGO has ingame fps limiter) to set the game to 87 FPS because of the 1ms polling range
Capping to 98 or 97FPS should be enough. No need for 87FPS.
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Re: G-Sync's 1ms Polling Rate: My Findings & Questions

Post by Halabaluza » 16 Jun 2017, 14:58

I have read this article now: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3319

Its more logical for me now. However, it was said that G-Sync and V-Sync dont bother eachother in working, but as it seemed they do, right?!

And what about the 1ms polling range? It is not mentioned there.

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Re: G-Sync's 1ms Polling Rate: My Findings & Questions

Post by jorimt » 16 Jun 2017, 22:07

@Halabaluza

My complete 4-part article will be published Monday, with MUCH more information, and input latency tests as well.

With G-SYNC enabled, V-SYNC isn't V-SYNC; it's basically a mislabeled setting. It controls whether frametime compensation is active within the G-SYNC range.

As for the polling rate, that's outdated information. The closest to thing to that was the performance hit with G-SYNC enabled on Kepler GPU architecture, which was fixed for Maxwell and later.
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Author: Blur Busters "G-SYNC 101" Series

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Re: G-Sync's 1ms Polling Rate: My Findings & Questions

Post by Halabaluza » 17 Jun 2017, 09:00

Thanks man. To sum up so far: Best solution is to have Vsync On in Nvidia Control Panel, ingame off and to have a frame limiter, which is set 2 or 3 frames under the refresh rate of the monitor. Am I right?

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Re: G-Sync's 1ms Polling Rate: My Findings & Questions

Post by RealNC » 17 Jun 2017, 09:46

Yes. An additional thing is making sure the game is using the maximum refresh rate of the monitor. Some games will try to switch to 60Hz (I think Skyrim SE tries that.) In the nvidia panel, the setting "preferred refresh rate" (in the "3D Settings" section) should be set to "highest available" when using g-sync. Some games will STILL try to switch to 60Hz though and might ignore the nvidia panel setting. In those cases you'd need to search for a workaround for the specific game on how to force it to use the highest refresh rate. Fortunately, most games don't do that. They will either obey the "preferred refresh rate" setting in the nvidia panel, or use the same refresh rate as the desktop.

Another consideration is average frame rate. For example, if a game runs at about 100FPS at most, and often dips down to 70FPS, it might make more sense to cap to something like 90FPS instead to make the game feel more consistent. However, that's not a technical issue. It's pure user preference. The only thing to note here is that even if you cap to a lower frame rate (like 90, 80, or even 60 or 30), it's still best to use a high refresh rate (like 144Hz). With g-sync, even if you play a 30FPS game, 144Hz will have lower input lag compared to 60Hz.
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Re: G-Sync's 1ms Polling Rate: My Findings & Questions

Post by jorimt » 17 Jun 2017, 14:05

^ I concur: everything RealNC said.
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Author: Blur Busters "G-SYNC 101" Series

Displays: ASUS PG27AQN, LG 48CX VR: Beyond, Quest 3, Reverb G2, Index OS: Windows 11 Pro Case: Fractal Design Torrent PSU: Seasonic PRIME TX-1000 MB: ASUS Z790 Hero CPU: Intel i9-13900k w/Noctua NH-U12A GPU: GIGABYTE RTX 4090 GAMING OC RAM: 32GB G.SKILL Trident Z5 DDR5 6400MHz CL32 SSDs: 2TB WD_BLACK SN850 (OS), 4TB WD_BLACK SN850X (Games) Keyboards: Wooting 60HE, Logitech G915 TKL Mice: Razer Viper Mini SE, Razer Viper 8kHz Sound: Creative Sound Blaster Katana V2 (speakers/amp/DAC), AFUL Performer 8 (IEMs)

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Re: G-Sync's 1ms Polling Rate: My Findings & Questions

Post by Chief Blur Buster » 17 Jun 2017, 15:24

Monday, June 19.

It's worth the wait.

I had the opportunity to preview the article.

This is Blur Busters' biggest ever article on the GSYNC input lag subject. Some of you remember we were the world's first website to measure the input lag of GSYNC ( www.blurbusters.com/gsync/preview ) but this article is even bigger than that, testing far more GSYNC lag scenarios.

While not an official Blur Busters monitor review (yet), and it focuses on the scope of input lag, Jorim's been testing a 240Hz monitor specifically for this article.
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