What's the proper setup for a game with 60fps cap and no exclusive fullscreen?

[actualthroway]

I usually run games at 144 fps at 1440p fullscreen, but some games I play have no option for exclusive fullscreen, only window or borderless, and they also have 60 fps caps. What options should I use for those games? I tried using windowed G-sync but for some reason it just doesn't feel right. A windowed g-sync 60fps game looks different to me than a fullscreen g-sync 60fps game and I can't really tell why. It's like the windowed version has slightly more microstutters/frame drops.

For example, when I play Nioh in true exclusive fullscreen at 60fps on my 144hz g-sync monitor, it still feels "dynamic" and smooth when I move the camera.
When I play a DS emulator or a Unity game with no fullscreen option, g-sync is still on but just doesn't feel the same as fullscreen despite having the indicator that it is on.

What to do?

[diakou]

If the emulator can be run in DX11, Special K can flipmodel the game for you (run it in exclusive fullscreen) additionally - it can also help DWM tear in borderless for the foreground window (your game being active currently) allowing for G-Sync to do its work better.

https://special-k.info/ --> official "forums"

https://wiki.special-k.info/FAQ --> that's the wiki in progress, it's still in progress so might not have all answers yet.

https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Special_K --> this is pcgamingwiki's big documentation as well.

It's probably the absolute best solution out there if the game / game emu can be ran in DX11. If I didn't forget, I think Vulkan might also make it more compatible for G-Sync, so if u can do that, it'll probly work well too.

Oh also - if you're using G-Sync with NVIDIA, you can attempt the profile inspector trick shown to me by @jorimt as outlined here;
https://forums.blurbusters.com/viewtopi ... 606#p59601
Basically - you run G-Sync setup in fullscreen in nvidia control panel, but individually find the games/emulator in profile inspector and set the two modes to fullscreen + windowed. A lot better that way.
Good luck!

[actualthroway]

If the emulator can be run in DX11, Special K can flipmodel the game for you (run it in exclusive fullscreen) additionally - it can also help DWM tear in borderless for the foreground window (your game being active currently) allowing for G-Sync to do its work better.

https://special-k.info/ --> official "forums"

https://wiki.special-k.info/FAQ --> that's the wiki in progress, it's still in progress so might not have all answers yet.

https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Special_K --> this is pcgamingwiki's big documentation as well.

It's probably the absolute best solution out there if the game / game emu can be ran in DX11. If I didn't forget, I think Vulkan might also make it more compatible for G-Sync, so if u can do that, it'll probly work well too.

Oh also - if you're using G-Sync with NVIDIA, you can attempt the profile inspector trick shown to me by @jorimt as outlined here;
https://forums.blurbusters.com/viewtopi ... 606#p59601
Basically - you run G-Sync setup in fullscreen in nvidia control panel, but individually find the games/emulator in profile inspector and set the two modes to fullscreen + windowed. A lot better that way.
Good luck!

Unfortunately the emulators I use support openGL only (MelonDS, Desmume, mGBA) but Special K did work really well for the dx11 games I play that don't support exclusive fullscreen. Thanks for the advice.

[diakou]

If the emulator can be run in DX11, Special K can flipmodel the game for you (run it in exclusive fullscreen) additionally - it can also help DWM tear in borderless for the foreground window (your game being active currently) allowing for G-Sync to do its work better.

https://special-k.info/ --> official "forums"

https://wiki.special-k.info/FAQ --> that's the wiki in progress, it's still in progress so might not have all answers yet.

https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Special_K --> this is pcgamingwiki's big documentation as well.

It's probably the absolute best solution out there if the game / game emu can be ran in DX11. If I didn't forget, I think Vulkan might also make it more compatible for G-Sync, so if u can do that, it'll probly work well too.

Oh also - if you're using G-Sync with NVIDIA, you can attempt the profile inspector trick shown to me by @jorimt as outlined here;
https://forums.blurbusters.com/viewtopi ... 606#p59601
Basically - you run G-Sync setup in fullscreen in nvidia control panel, but individually find the games/emulator in profile inspector and set the two modes to fullscreen + windowed. A lot better that way.
Good luck!

Unfortunately the emulators I use support openGL only (MelonDS, Desmume, mGBA) but Special K did work really well for the dx11 games I play that don't support exclusive fullscreen. Thanks for the advice.

Did you try the nvidia profile inspector trick for the emus or not possible?