No matter how fancy new consoles get, PCs are still on the cutting edge of gaming tech. They allow for greater graphical fidelity and motion smoothing than PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X can fathom. However, these advantages have their own downsides as well: your frame rate is likely to jump around more than on a typical console.
In a particularly demanding scene, you might get 45 frames per second, while easier-to-render scenes can jump all the way into the hundreds. That much variance can introduce annoyances like stuttering and screen tearing, or—if you turn on Vertical Sync—added input lag.
Variable refresh rate (VRR) is a recent improvement in display technology designed to solve these problems. By synchronizing your monitor’s refresh rate to your graphics card, the monitor can draw a new frame whenever it’s ready, without introducing stutters, screen tearing, or latency. It’s a PC gamer’s dream come true.
Nvidia’s version of this tech is called G-Sync, and it’s available on a number of modern gaming monitors. Some monitors have a G-Sync processor built-in, designed specifically with Nvidia cards in mind. Other monitors use an open standard called FreeSync, but are certified by Nvidia to be G-Sync-compatible with their video cards. And some FreeSync monitors will work with G-Sync, even if they haven’t been officially certified by Nvidia (perhaps with some sacrifices).
Depending on your monitor, you may have to tweak a few things to get this software up and running in its ideal form. Here’s how to make the most of your G-Sync or FreeSync monitor. While we will be mostly focusing on Nvidia graphics cards in this guide, many of the tips will apply to AMD users too, if you can find an equivalent setting in AMD’s drivers.
Check Your Monitor’s Specifications
Before you start digging into settings, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with your monitor’s abilities because not all displays are created equal when it comes to G-Sync and FreeSync. Monitors with a G-Sync chip built in, like the Asus ROG Swift PG259QN, are capable of using G-Sync for their entire range of refresh rates, while G-Sync-compatible FreeSync monitors might be more limited.
For example, some monitors may only be capable of syncing their refresh rate between 48Hz and 144Hz, so if your game dips to 30fps, you might get a degraded experience. Check your monitor’s product page on the manufacturer’s website, and search for it in Nvidia’s database for more information.
Furthermore, your display may only support these technologies on certain inputs. In most cases, your best bet is DisplayPort, which will likely support wider refresh ranges than HDMI. Check your monitor’s spec page and manual for more information on its capabilities. Your monitor may have other limitations, like only being able to use variable refresh rate when HDR is off, for instance. And it should also go without saying that your graphics card needs to support variable refresh rate as well; some older cards might not.
Finally, if your FreeSync monitor doesn’t bill itself as G-Sync certified, don’t give up hope—it may still work. Some monitors just haven’t been certified by Nvidia yet, while others may work but don’t quite meet Nvidia’s standards. The company has quietly lowered requirements, so even if you don’t see that badge, read on for the best settings to test.
Turn On G-Sync (and Ensure It’s Working)
Once you’ve plugged your computer’s graphics card into the monitor’s ideal port, it’s time to get G-Sync up and running. First, you’ll need to bring up your monitor’s on-screen menu—usually using the buttons on the side or back of the display itself—and ensure the G-Sync, FreeSync, or Adaptive Sync setting is turned on. This will be in a different location depending on your model, but it shouldn’t be hard to find.
Next, make sure your Nvidia drivers are up to date, then right-click the Nvidia icon in your system tray to open the Nvidia Control Panel. First, head to the Change Resolution page in the left sidebar and set your refresh rate as high as it will go. Many people don’t realize that you need to enable high refresh rates on your PC before you can actually take advantage—you don’t want to spend all that money on a 144Hz monitor only to cap yourself at 60Hz because you forgot to turn it on.
Click the Set Up G-Sync option in the sidebar. If you’re using an official G-Sync monitor, this should be on by default, but if you aren’t, you may need to turn it on yourself. Check the Enable G-Sync box, choose whether to enable it for full screen or full screen and windowed mode, and select your display from the list (if you have multiple monitors).
Finally, check the Enable Settings for the Selected Display Model at the bottom of the window. This checkbox doesn’t exist for all monitors, but it’s easy to miss even when it’s present. Click the Apply button, and G-Sync should be enabled and ready to go.
If you want to be sure it’s working properly, you can download Nvidia’s Pendulum Demo and play around with its settings. Try switching between “No Vsync” and “G-Sync” along the top—you should see screen tearing disappear when switching G-Sync on. (If checking the G-Sync box doesn’t work, you may have missed a step above, or your monitor may not be compatible with G-Sync.) Try enabling the FPS sliders and play with them as well, to see how your monitor reacts to different portions of the refresh range.
The Best Settings for G-Sync
Even once G-Sync is enabled, you may need to tweak a few more settings to get the optimal experience. Open your game’s settings and make sure it’s set to use the maximum refresh rate. Even if you’ve set your Nvidia drivers to 144Hz, some games may still default to 60Hz in their own display settings, so you will want to crank that up.
You will also get the best results using exclusive Full Screen mode in your games, so use that if you can. And finally, if you find your game’s frame rate is dipping down too far—going out of the G-Sync compatible range—you might want to lower your graphics settings to boost your frame rate in tough scenes.
In addition, look to the higher end of your monitor’s refresh range. If you’re getting 200fps in a game but your monitor is only 144Hz, G-Sync won’t be active—and the game will default to whatever Vsync behavior you have chosen in the game’s settings. That means you will go right back to stuttering and screen tearing (with Vsync off) or increased input lag (with Vsync on) during easy-to-render scenes.
To solve this problem, you can set a frame rate limiter for each of your games to keep them under the max refresh rate of your monitor. Nvidia tells me it’s best to keep this a few percent below the maximum—so if you have a 144Hz monitor, set your limiter to 141 or lower. Ideally, you’d do this in-game; Call of Duty: Warzone and Overwatch and, for example, have frame rate limiters in the video settings, while Counter-Strike: Global Offensive requires a console command to enable the same function. Do some Googling to see what your game supports.
If your game doesn’t have a frame rate limiter, you can add one in the Nvidia Control Panel. Click Manage 3D Settings, choose the Program Settings tab, pick your game from the drop-down and set the Max Frame Rate option in the list.
Nvidia says this should provide optimal results; no added latency, no stuttering, and no tearing. However, some gamers—myself included—have noticed tearing even with these settings in place, particularly near the bottom of the screen. If this happens to you, you’ll want to turn Vsync on alongside G-Sync and the frame rate limiter.
You can do this by either enabling Vsync in-game or by enabling it in Nvidia’s Control Panel for that specific game (it varies from game to game which of these is better, so try both if you experience issues). Having G-Sync, Vsync, and a frame rate limiter working in tandem should eliminate all tearing, without introducing the input lag you’d typically see from Vsync.
Finally, for minimal latency, you can also enable Nvidia Reflex Mode (if it’s available in your game’s settings) or Low Latency Mode (in the Nvidia Control Panel’s Program Settings for your game). This will ensure you have the lowest latency possible—though note that the latter setting doesn’t work in DirectX 12 or Vulkan games, so it may not always be an option.
We could write books on how this fascinating tech works, but hopefully these few settings should get you where you need to be. As always, things can vary from monitor to monitor and game to game, so if you experience issues, you may need to tweak your settings. However, these should fit most ideal scenarios to get you butter-smooth gaming with nary a tear in sight.
