1. GSYNC benefits older cards, even back to the 700 series. You should still upgrade eventually but you can delay your GPU upgrade, given the mining craze is making it hard at the moment to buy good GPUs for cheap.xenphor wrote:I've been looking at gsync for a long time because I can't stand tearing or stuttering. I have a few questions:
1. Am I right in thinking that gsync could be useful when paired with a low end video card such as a 1050ti that I have? I would be more than happy if I could get a fluid, stable image, even at a low frame rate. That way I don't have to worry about keeping up with increasingly more expensive gpu hardware.
2. If true, how low can the framerate go and still receive the benefits of gsync? I see in the article that there is an operating range, but what is it like in practice? I would expect to see sub 30 fps frame rates on a lower end card in high end games which I am fine with, as long as the frames are presented uniformly, without tearing.
3. Even though I would be mostly dealing with fps in the ~30 range, I don't think I have a choice but to also buy a monitor with a high refresh rate because that's how gsync is being sold. How would I set that up knowing that I would most likely never approach the 100+ fps range in high end games that those monitors support? Should I buy a 120hz+ monitor but set the refresh rate to 60hz or does it matter?
3. What are peoples' opinions on freesync? Since I already have a 1050 ti I would not use it, but just curious.
2. There's not necessarily lower limit. Low Frame Rate compensation algorithms helps. You still have the low-framerate stutter but the stutter is regular (perfect frame pacing) rather than erratic. Close all apps/browser windows and run one stutterfree browser window on the simulated GSYNC animated demonstration at www.testufo.com/gsync and watch it ramp downwards to 30 frames per second to understand what I mean. Try Slow Ramp, Fast Ramp, Slow Random, Fast Random, and Struggle At Max.
3. High-Hz GSYNC monitors have lower lag. 30fps @ 144Hz has much less lag than 30fps @ 60Hz. You will benefit anyway. This is because the screen is refreshed-out faster (1/144sec frame scanout) so the pixels appears to your eyes quicker. That said, stutter reduction benefits are a little less, however, you'll have the full enjoyment of framerate smoothly fluctuating from 30 to 50 frames per second.
Although GSYNC has a 30fps/30Hz bottom range, there are already low-framerate compensation algorithms in it -- that works all the way down to approximately 1 frame per second. Refresh cycles are repeated automatically below 30fps (with refresh cycle repeats doing a best-effort avoidance of the frame interval times, to avoid delaying subsequent frames near the 30fps threshold) in a way not too dissimilar from AMD's Low Framerate Compensation.
And sometimes, you might play certain games that run at really high framerates -- The classic Half Life and Bioshock games still runs at over 100 frames per second on a GTX 1050 Ti -- and you'll love the benefits. Which will prompt you to later upgrade your graphics cards once they come out with the GTX 1100 or 1200 series, and used better graphics finally become affordable. Long before you need to upgrade your monitor.
Right now, given the bitcoin mining craze, your 1050 Ti is sufficiently fast enough that you'll gain more benefits from buying one of the cheaper GSYNC monitors than spending a fortune on an overpriced 1080+ card. I am hoping graphics cards will settle better soon, but you're right at the threshold where today I'd go GSYNC first before doing the graphics card upgrade.
