G Sync vs V Sync Monitor’s Feature | Which One is Better?

AMD’s V Sync and NVidia’s V Sync are two major graphical technologies. These technologies are used to get rid of screen tearing and make your screen experience better. No one likes any sort of stuttering, slow motion, and disruptions while playing games. And technologies like G Sync and V Sync help you in syncing your monitor’s refresh rate with GPU’s FPS, thus producing good quality images. However, they do not work similarly. The peculiar functionality of the two creates a major difference and makes one better than the other.

Difference Between G Sync and V Sync

G Sync has been developed by NVidia surpassing V Sync in many aspects. Unlike V Sync, G Sync lowers the monitor’s refresh rate to match the GPU’s FPS. Hence, games opened with G Sync can get out of the full potential of your graphics card. Games should run smoothly eliminating stuttering and lagging of any sort. G Sync is the best technology available as of now in the graphics world but with a staggering price tag.

On the other hand, V Sync works oppositely to G Sync. AMD introduced V Sync which provides a lot more monitor flexibility compared to G Sync. You can use any kind of monitor to play games with V Sync on. V Sync does not lower the refresh rate of monitors; rather it adjusts the GPU’s FPS so that the graphics card and the monitor sync well with each other. Because of the fact that all of your FPS is not used, this can create input lagging in games damaging your experience.

By now you must be realizing that G Sync is an improved version of V Sync. Especially, the heavy graphics-dependent games are way better in G Sync. Hence, you might prefer G Sync. But hang on a second, G Sync is much more costly than V Sync. So, if you are restricted by budget, then you might go for V Sync; other than that G Sync wins in all other aspects.

What about the combo of G Sync and V Sync? If you play a game running both the G Sync and the V Sync, any mismatch in refresh rate and FPS (FPS>>refresh rate) would result in turning off G Sync. So, in this case, what you should do is- cap your FPS to just below your highest refresh rate. This way you will get the most out of the FPS of the GPU.

Pros and Cons of G Sync and V Sync

Now that you have known the differences between G Sync and V Sync, it is time to get into their pros and cons. First of all, let’s start with V Sync –

V Sync

Here are the pros of V Sync –

1. It eliminates the screen tearing problem while gaming.
2. Makes gaming smoother by syncing Hz and FPS on older monitors.
3. Prevent overheating by matching the FPS to the monitor’s Hz.
4. Provides a better gaming experience for legacy or old games. 

Here are the cons of V Sync –

1. It creates a delay for keyboard and mouse commands while syncing Hz and FPS, making gaming harder for competitive gamers when occurs.
2. Sometimes the FPS all of a sudden drops below the Hz during an intense scene while gaming, in order to suit the monitor’s performance. Unfortunately, it downgrades the performance instead of enhancing it.

G Sync

Here are the pros of G Sync –

1. It removes any screen tearing issues caused by GPU’s inconsistencies.
2. Helps the GPU to match both monitor’s and GPU’s Hz by proper adjusting.
3. Provides a minimal delay for mouse and key commands, or in other words, reduces the input lag.
4. G Sync with HDR display makes sure excellent image quality by offering enormous brightness. 
5. Provides ultra-low motion blur in order to ensure an immersive viewing experience.

Here are the cons of G Sync –

1. You cannot take full benefit of G Sync if you lack a powerful GSync-compatible Nvidia GPU.
2. You will need a large storage capacity and more speed to let G Sync properly utilize.
3. It is very addictive. Once you get entirely dependent on it, it will be very problematic for you to use any other Gsync-incompatible monitor.
4. Monitors with the G Sync feature always come at a high cost. Budget users may not afford them or find it difficult. 

Our Verdict

By now you must be realizing that G Sync is an improved version of V Sync. Especially, the heavy graphics-dependent games are way better in G Sync. Hence, you might prefer G Sync. But hang on a second, G Sync is much more costly than V Sync. So, if you are restricted by budget, then you might go for V Sync; other than that G Sync wins in all other aspects.

What about the combo of G Sync and V Sync? If you play a game running both the G Sync and the V Sync, any mismatch in refresh rate and FPS (FPS>>refresh rate) would result in turning off G Sync. So, in this case, what you should do is- cap your FPS to just below your highest refresh rate. This way you will get the most out of the FPS of the GPU.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is V Sync good for low-end frame rates?

Actually, no. At low-end frame rates, the V sync gets inactive when it finds the perfect balance. But as a result, the stuttering and input lag gets increased.

Does V Sync decrease FPS?

Yes, it does. When the refresh rate of both monitor and GPU do not match, V Sync decreases the frame rate or FPS to ensure a proper balance.

Is it better to use V Sync or not?

For easier understanding, if you face screen tearing while gaming, you should use V Sync to get rid of it. But on the contrary, if the frame rate is low or there is input lag, it is better to skip using V Sync.

Conclusion

To wrap things up, we can say that gaming quality is much increased with G Sync as it uses maximum FPS. But you have to sacrifice quality with V Sync if you are restricted by the budget. Hopefully, you have got a grip on the concept of the two technologies. That’s all for today!