HOWTO: Blacklisting or whitelisting G-SYNC for specific apps (forcing G-SYNC ON/OFF for just one app, etc)

[Chief Blur Buster]

How to Force G-SYNC ON/OFF automatically only for specific apps

Some software don't work well with G-SYNC due to various kinds of problem (glitching, stutter, flicker, etc).

NVIDIA Control Panel (NVCP) lets you force-disable or force-enable G-SYNC for specific apps, but it's a very non-intuitive procedure.

You can do it in a blacklist approach (NVCP Enable G-SYNC globally and disable per-app)
Or you can do it as a whitelist approach (NVCP Disable G-SYNC globally and enable per-app)

First, do this:
- Always enable G-SYNC on your monitor (if it's a G-SYNC Compatible, it may be a "FreeSync" setting or "AdaptiveSync" setting)
- For blacklist approach, enable G-SYNC globally in NVCP (Display -> Set up G-SYNC -> Enable for all apps, windowed too)
- For whitelist approach, disable G-SYNC globally in NVCP (Display -> Set up G-SYNC -> Clear checkbox)

Then in NVCP:
1. Then create an application-specific profile via "Program Settings" tab of "Manage 3D Settings".
2. Choose the application (e.g. steam.exe or photoshop.exe) in "Select a program to customize"
3. Select "High performance NVIDIA processor" if it prompts you for a preferred GPU instead of integrated GPU.
4. In the list of "Specify settings for this program", scroll down to "Monitor Technology"
5. Change "Monitor Technology" away from "Use Global Setting" to use "Fixed Refresh Rate" (blacklist) or "G-SYNC" (whitelist)

Voila!

Repeat per-app for the applications you want to surgically force-enable or force-disable G-SYNC in.

Both approaches of blacklisting and whitelisting works. But regardless of approach you do, monitor menus VRR setting should always be enabled before you begin to configure per-app. Otherwise, "Monitor Technology" disappears if you disable VRR in the monitor OSD.

Per-windowed-application G-SYNC configuration!

[Crazyness]

if you are lucky enough,and you have G-Free-Sync in yours monitor OSD..

You can with 1 click ON-OFF toggle it

example:

On my Acer 390hz in OSD i have that toggle,
so when i select OFF there is not even G-Free-sync setting in NVCP available.

Enable global G-Free-sync in NVCP
and when you want 2 blacklist,
just flip the switch and voila


On my previus 1440p 144hz i didnt have that option,
in monitors OSD,

I personally dont like any sort of "crutch" tech helping with fluidity or clarity,
beside native pannels capabilty of producing clear and fluid image,

So i needed 2 use HDMI 2 "overcoom" G-Free-sync appearing in NVCP
bcs on DP conection,it will appear.

(you can also force ON/OFF via nvidia profile inspector no matter DP-HDMI)

I honestly think that TOGGLE in monitors OSD should be standard and forced on every future monitors release.

[jabbo]

I know this is old so I apologize. But I have an issue with this whitelist/blacklist process. If I have Gsync enabled then launch a game where I have a specific profile setup set to Fixed Refresh, it does correctly disable gsync. If I then close that game and launch any other Gsync game, Gsync never turns on (using gsync indicator and monitor info OSD page to confirm). Its like launching any game on Fixed Refresh breaks Gsync until you restart or disable/enable it again. Has anyone else noticed this or know if there is a fix or workaround?

[Chief Blur Buster]

I know this is old so I apologize. But I have an issue with this whitelist/blacklist process. If I have Gsync enabled then launch a game where I have a specific profile setup set to Fixed Refresh, it does correctly disable gsync. If I then close that game and launch any other Gsync game, Gsync never turns on (using gsync indicator and monitor info OSD page to confirm). Its like launching any game on Fixed Refresh breaks Gsync until you restart or disable/enable it again. Has anyone else noticed this or know if there is a fix or workaround?

What monitor model is this? And which driver? Some drivers and some display models have firmware bugs that causes G-SYNC to be unable to turn back on.

Possible (untested) workaround: What happens if you configure the global settings to force G-SYNC?

[jabbo]

Its the Alienware 2725 (OLED). I've seen this on 2 different models though, previously the Alienware 3423 ultrawide. If I disable Gsync from NVCP but then set it on the global profile, it will actually flip Gsync back on at NVCP like the 2 settings are connected. If I leave Gsync on but set global refresh to Fixed, it disables Gsync. And then when I try to do either option by game profile, as soon as Gsync or Fixed are applied, they will not change back for another profile until I reboot.

[RealNC]

4. In the list of "Specify settings for this program", scroll down to "Monitor Technology"
5. Change "Monitor Technology" away from "Use Global Setting" to use "Fixed Refresh Rate" (blacklist) or "G-SYNC" (whitelist)

There's a better way, actually. The problem with this approach is that some kind of mode switch will happen every time the game or app in question gets focus and loses focus. It's not seamless, the screen goes black for a bit, and is quite annoying. To fix this, don't touch the Nvidia control panel. Instead, use Nvidia Profile Inspector, and in the "Sync and Refresh" section, set "GSYNC - Application Mode" to "off":

Screenshot (150).png (32.64 KiB) Viewed 4566 times

Leave the other GSYNC fields at their defaults. This makes the application or game behave seamlessly, without any screen blanking. When doing this, the profile in the NVCP will show "G-SYNC" as "Monitor Technology." Just ignore that.

In fact, there is a bug in NVCP where if you change monitor technology to "fixed refresh", and then switch it back to "g-sync", it won't actually work, because the other fields that are only viewable in profile inspector are not changed back. This is quite an old bug. Note that this happens even without ever using profile inspector. The NVCP itself sets the other options to disable g-sync, but then forgets to set them back, unless you click "restore defaults" on the profile.