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Freesync and Gsync monitor

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Mar 30, 2020
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Good afternoon.

I got a monitor today, LG 32GN600-B, and it comes with Freesync ON by default.

I use an Nvidia gpu, and so I also have the Gsync option enabled in the Nvidia control panel, cause the monitor also supports Gsync when using a display port cable, which I am.

My question is, do I leave them both enabled? I never had a monitor with neither technology and now I have one with both, so I'm confused.
 
Hi RoyZ, in short, yes, keep them both enabled.
I have a similar configuration, AMD FreeSync monitor and NVIDIA GPU and works well with DisplayPort and GSync on.
Enjoy the monitor!
 
Hi RoyZ, in short, yes, keep them both enabled.
I have a similar configuration, AMD FreeSync monitor and NVIDIA GPU and works well with DisplayPort and GSync on.
Enjoy the monitor!
Thank you for the quick reply mate
 
My question is, do I leave them both enabled?
No. You don't "have" to. But you can if you want to.

I say, try it both ways. It will not harm anything, one way or another. Then see if you notice any improvement one way or another. I doubt you will since both do very much the same thing - just in different ways.

Having said that, Freesync is [more or less] "open source" and free. That is, monitor makers do not have to pay royalties to AMD to integrate it into their monitors. G-Sync is proprietary and not free - monitor makers have to pay a licensing fee to NVIDIA to include it.

This is similar to Sony and Blu-ray, the rights of which Sony owns. If a company wants to include Blu-ray support into their product, they have to pay Sony a licensing fee for each license used. Note this is exactly why Windows does not include native Blu-ray support; Microsoft would have to pay Sony a fee for each and every Windows license. And that fee, naturally, would increase the cost of a Windows license for every Windows user out there, regardless if they have a Blu-ray disc player in their computer, or not. Since most users do not need Blu-ray support, Microsoft wisely chose not to include it.

If the consumer wants to add Blu-ray support to their computers, the required licensing fee to Sony is paid by us in the purchase price of the Blu-ray disc player.

So, my point is, if your monitor supports G-Sync, you paid extra for that support. And if you have a NVIDIA card that supports G-Sync, why not use G-Sync?

If me, if I had a NVIDIA card in my PC and a monitor (or monitors) that supports both G-Sync and Freesync, and since there really is no advantage to have both enabled at the same time, I would probably disable Freesync if it was enabled by default.

On a laptop, however, if I traveled a lot and frequently used my laptop with different external monitors, TVs and/or projectors, I probably would keep both enabled (if I had the option) to ensure, regardless the type of display I connected to, I would still have the necessary tools (adaptive sync or variable refresh rate) to prevent (or at least minimize) screen tearing wherever I went.
 
Good afternoon.

I got a monitor today, LG 32GN600-B, and it comes with Freesync ON by default.

I use an Nvidia gpu, and so I also have the Gsync option enabled in the Nvidia control panel, cause the monitor also supports Gsync when using a display port cable, which I am.

My question is, do I leave them both enabled? I never had a monitor with neither technology and now I have one with both, so I'm confused.
If you want to use adaptive sync then YES.
Enable FreeSync in the monitor's options AND enable G-SYNC / G-SYNC Compatible in the Nvidia control panel.
 
I never had a monitor with neither technology and now I have one with both, so I'm confused.
The monitor doesn't support G-Sync, only FreeSync. Nvidia GPUs support FreeSync as "G-Sync Compatible" in the control panel, which is what allows monitor MFGs to claim "G-Sync Compatible" in the marketing materials, which ultimately lead to your confusion.

/Rant:
In Nvidia's effort to shield people from seeing FreeSync language to win the war on adaptive sync technology they shot themselves in the foot, as now anyone searching for a G-Sync monitor has to not only search for G-Sync, but also filter out "G-Sync Compatible", making it harder for a consumer to buy a true G-Sync monitor if they actually want one. Nvidia's intentional lack of support for open source FreeSync technology for many years really irked me and is the reason I avoided them up until the Covid related GPU shortage where I couldn't find a 6800xt.

If you want to use adaptive sync then YES.
Enable FreeSync in the monitor's options AND enable G-SYNC / G-SYNC Compatible in the Nvidia control panel.
OP: This is all that needs to be done. There are sometimes monitor settings that can disable FreeSync but you'll probably get a warning when enabling them. For your monitor, "1ms Motion Blur Reduction" would disable FreeSync.
 
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The monitor doesn't support G-Sync, only FreeSync. Nvidia GPUs support FreeSync as "G-Sync Compatible" in the control panel, which is what allows monitor MFGs to claim "G-Sync Compatible" in the marketing materials, which ultimately lead to your confusion.
Good catch! I didn't even look at the LG 32GN600-B specs before posting. I should have. My bad! :oops: G-Sync is not mentioned at all in the specs. I find it mentioned only once on the Overview page where it simply says,

with "UltraGear™ Gaming Monitors" you get features "like NVIDIA G-SYNC™ compatibility".​

"Compatibility" with G-Sync is totally different than "supporting" G-Sync.

cause the monitor also supports Gsync

Ummm, sorry @RoyZ but OkieDan is 100% correct. Your monitor does NOT "support" G-Sync. It is simply "compatible" with it meaning you cannot take advantage of any G-Sync features and it "should not" (in theory!) interfere or cause conflicts.

With that in mind I see no reason to enable G-Sync if you can disable (or not enable) it.
 
Good catch! I didn't even look at the LG 32GN600-B specs before posting. I should have. My bad! :oops: G-Sync is not mentioned at all in the specs. I find it mentioned only once on the Overview page where it simply says,

with "UltraGear™ Gaming Monitors" you get features "like NVIDIA G-SYNC™ compatibility".
"Compatibility" with G-Sync is totally different than "supporting" G-Sync.
Yeah, Nvidia really messed up with their naming and I'm sure it has cost them some royalites for fewer sales of true G-Sync displays.

With that in mind I see no reason to enable G-Sync if you can disable (or not enable) it.
Negative, Nvidia put "G-Sync" and "G-Sync Compatible" together as one option, so it ("Enable G-SYNC, G-SYNC Compatible") must be checked for FreeSync to work:
1666125617697.png
 
Okay, I see what you are saying. My monitors don't support either G-Sync or Freesync so "Set-up G-SYNC" is not even an option shown in my CP.

As for NVIDIA losing sales - I doubt it amounts to anything significant for them since no doubt, they make their big bucks off their GPU sales and licensing. If it mattered, they would change the verbiage.
 
I never had a monitor with neither technology and now I have one with both, so I'm confused.
In case you're not aware, you may still be getting bad results if your options are configured wrong.
First it looks like the sync range of your monitor is 60-165, so when the frame rate drops below 60, or goes over 165, G-SYNC is off.
If v-sync is off, then g-sync is off, so turn v-sync on in the nvidia panel, and turn it off in your games.
If you rely on the game's v-sync you might have issues in some games.
In the nvidia control panel set Max Frame Rate to your monitors max-3, so 162 for a 165hz monitor.
That way even if it jumps over the limit occasionally, it will still be withing the monitors range.
Of course your own preferences are what matters, but blurbusters has a pretty good explanation.
Enjoy your new monitor :)
 
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