Going from 100hz G-Sync to 300 hz no-Gsync. Does it matter?

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svperstar
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Going from 100hz G-Sync to 300 hz no-Gsync. Does it matter?

Post by svperstar » 07 May 2020, 18:56

So I am typing this on a 100 hz G-Sync laptop and I preordered a new laptop with a 300 hz panel that should be here at the end of the month.

I usually use G-Sync in anything single play or Coop but turn G-Sync/V-sync off for competitive games like PUBG or CSGO.

At 300 hz should I just leave V-Sync off all the time?

Is screen tearing even noticeable on a 300 hz display?

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Re: Going from 100hz G-Sync to 300 hz no-Gsync. Does it matter?

Post by Chief Blur Buster » 07 May 2020, 19:28

Hello,

(New users below a few posts require manual approval of posts, you posted twice).

Tearing is only visible for 1/300sec on a 300Hz display. I can still sometimes see faint tearing at >240Hz, including during my 480Hz tests, but it is almost impossible to notice most of the time.

The appearance of sync technologies converge in identicalness (VSYNC ON versus VSYNC OFF versus G-SYNC) when approaching retina refresh rates (>1000Hz). So disabling G-SYNC at 300Hz+ is less painful than disabling G-SYNC at 100Hz.

Motion clarity bottlenecked by GtG limitations
One big problem is GtG pixel response of laptop LCDs are extremely slow. 3ms GtG 240Hz LCDs won't be as clear as 0.5ms GtG 240Hz LCDs by a huge mile, 300Hz-vs-144Hz sometimes looks only like a 40% improvement instead of a 100% improvement. I have a 240Hz Razer Blade 15, and it has a rated 3ms GtG pixel response -- three-quarters of a refresh cycle (1/240sec ~= 4.16ms). So it won't be 3x clearer than your 100Hz LCD. Your motion clarity will be only approximately ~1.5x-2.0x better than 100Hz instad of 3x better if both screens are 3ms GtG.

Reduced stutters and reduced tearline visibility
However, your tearlines will be almost too briefly visible to notice, and microstutter amplitudes of fixed-Hz 100Hz versus fixed-Hz 300Hz, will usually be approximately one-third microstutter amplitude (how far objects jump during stutters) from the reduced Hz-aliasing (gametime:photontime) of the fixed-Hz screen. It will be pretty much 3x smoother at lower frame rates, since the 300Hz-ness will provide a partial G-SYNC-like stutter filtering effect. 55fps@300Hz fixed-Hz is smoother than 55fps@100Hz fixed-Hz with approximately one-third-amplitude stutter-jumps. For that purpose, brute Hz can be used as a G-SYNC substitute.

You can also use low-lag VSYNC ON tricks if you need a perfect frame rate, if you still see the tiny microstutters.
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Re: Going from 100hz G-Sync to 300 hz no-Gsync. Does it matter?

Post by svperstar » 07 May 2020, 19:41

Thanks for the lengthy reply. I notice right away at 100hz if G-Sync is off. Its not as painful as 60 hz but its clear as day.

I was worried the lack of G-Sync on my new laptop would drive me nuts but hoped the 300 hz panel would greatly reduce the effect.

Last question if you dont mind.

Is forcing V-Sync off in the control panel good enough or do I also need to do it in every title I play?

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Re: Going from 100hz G-Sync to 300 hz no-Gsync. Does it matter?

Post by Chief Blur Buster » 07 May 2020, 19:49

svperstar wrote:
07 May 2020, 19:41
Is forcing V-Sync off in the control panel good enough or do I also need to do it in every title I play?
Sort of.

Just configure it to "Application Controlled". And turn VSYNC OFF in the game menus.

Many games behave better and more predictably if you directly turn VSYNC OFF in the game. You had to do this anyway with G-SYNC. ("G-SYNC" in NVIDIA Control Panel, VSYNC OFF in the game).

Your procedure will be ("Application Controlled" in NVIDIA Control Panel, VSYNC OFF in the game).

So yes, it's a global change, but change it to Application Controlled where possible, and keep using the VSYNC OFF setting that you already had in the games with G-SYNC.

That way, you can use VSYNC ON selectively for those situations where you want to, since some games play smoother with VSYNC ON than VSYNC OFF, and latency may not be a problem (Example: solo game of Cyberpunk 2077).

VSYNC ON latency is relatively low at 300Hz, it likely is lower lag than 100Hz G-SYNC on average absolute lag. Even a super laggy worst-case 3-frame lag is only 10 milliseconds at 300Hz, compared to 50 milliseconds at 60Hz VSYNC ON.

Sync technology latency is much closer to latency-identicalness at these refresh rate stratospheres.
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Re: Going from 100hz G-Sync to 300 hz no-Gsync. Does it matter?

Post by disq » 08 May 2020, 00:58

Chief Blur Buster wrote:
07 May 2020, 19:49
So yes, it's a global change, but change it to Application Controlled where possible
do you mean - "Use the 3D application setting" ? Application controlled i see on the Refresh Rate option, not on V-Sync

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Re: Going from 100hz G-Sync to 300 hz no-Gsync. Does it matter?

Post by Chief Blur Buster » 08 May 2020, 19:18

Yes -- that's correct. I meant "Use the 3D application setting".

Some well-written game engines automatically optimize their gametime logic based on VSYNC ON or VSYNC OFF.

If you find stutters in the 150-300fps range problematic, one can use RTSS to cap to 150fps, to simulate half-Hz. RTSS caps are reliable enough to simulate half-Hz VSYNC with less lag than the NVIDIA Control Panel setting.
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Re: Going from 100hz G-Sync to 300 hz no-Gsync. Does it matter?

Post by svperstar » 08 May 2020, 20:47

So I know if you have 60 hz V-sync on and it can't hit 60 it drops half to 30, so on a 300 hz panel if I can't get 300 hz will it be 150 fps?

I thought I read it was different somewhere.

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