Notty_PT wrote:Because I left the OSD on the screen and could see the refresh rate all over the place if I only cap at 141 or even 138, and reaching 144hz a lot of times.
On a side note here, if you're talking about the monitor's built-in, real-time variable refresh rate meter, you can't go solely by that to determine if it is bouncing in and out of the VRR range; if it's fluctuating, VRR is working, simple as that.
I experienced the same issue (monitor's VRR meter jumping to 144 periodically, even with an appropriate FPS cap) on both my personal G-SYNC monitor, and the 240Hz monitor I used for the article a couple of years back. However, the high-speed camera tests showed that these fluctuations on the monitor's VRR meter (including when each spiked to 144/240 with a -2 FPS limit) did not affect input lag, and the monitor was well within the VRR range regardless.
In other words, those meter jumps to 144, even with an FPS cap, could be false positives, and can't necessarily be relied on.
What should be relied on instead is user feel, and more optimally, high-speed camera tests.
I'm not sure if you've ever owned a G-SYNC monitor, or if you've read my article in full, but this is what I suggest when testing G-SYNC functionality on a FreeSync monitor:
1. Use only an Nvidia approved FreeSync model (one with existing LFC support, optimally), to rule out any monitor-specific behavior.
2. Always ensure that the built-in VRR meter is fluctuating.
3. Try both G-SYNC + V-SYNC "On" (NVCP) and G-SYNC + V-SYNC "Off."
With G-SYNC + V-SYNC "Off" + a -3 FPS limit, it is normal to see partial tearing near the bottom of the screen in the upper FPS range, and to see full tearing in the lower range during a frametime spike. You will not experience a significant difference in input lag in this scenario if you're jumping in and out of the VRR range, even with an FPS limit in place, because G-SYNC will allow tearing inside it's own range, where necessary.
With G-SYNC + V-SYNC "On" + -3 FPS limit, it should never tear, but if it is jumping in and out of the VRR range in the upper FPS range, intermittent stutter could be evident as it does. This would mean with current driver implementation, a -3 FPS limit isn't sufficient, and since V-SYNC is on in this scenario, you may feel an increase in input lag when it exceeds the VRR range. However, intermittent stutter could also be caused by frametime spikes, which happens at the lower range with G-SYNC + V-SYNC "On". The stutter or input lag in these instances could also be exacerbated by lacking/insufficient LFC functionality at the driver level, which is hard enough to get right with an actual hardware module.