As the variety of monitors has increased exponentially in terms of not only quality and size, but also features, you might have heard of the term ‘G-Sync’ being thrown around. Interestingly enough, G-sync has been around for a pretty long time, so you might be wondering why it’s become something more visible these days. The main reason for that is simply that we’re much more focused on frames per second (FPS) these days than we were a decade or even half a decade ago.
Before getting into all that though, we have to cover the basics . . .
What is Adaptive Sync?
Adaptive Sync is the umbrella terminology that covers all the ‘sync’ type technologies, whether it’s G-Sync or Freesync.
As you may have guessed, Adaptive-Sync has to do with the FPS, and more specifically, it deals with mismatches that can sometimes happen between your monitor and your GPU. You see, your GPU is constantly creating frames, and not just 1 frame per second, but sometimes up to hundreds of frames per. Unfortunately, most monitors don’t go to several hundred FPS, and instead, most tend to hover around 60Hz, although there’s a lot of newer gaming monitors that run 144Hz.
So what does Adaptive Sync actually do? Well, it basically works as an interface/timer to make sure that the number of frames output by your GPU matches the number of frames your monitor is running in. Otherwise, you can get some pretty severe tearing where half of one frame loads over half of another frame (your monitor will actually stop displaying a frame when it receives a new one and displays that instead, so it can be a big old mess).
What is G-Sync?
Now, if you’re familiar with Nvidia’s color scheme, you’ll know that G-Sync is their own Adaptive Sync solution, but it’s a little bit different. You see, where another Adaptive Sync tends to be software-based, G-Sync is also hardware-based. They achieve that with a special G-Sync chip that manufacturers can place inside their monitors to help accelerate the syncing and do it properly.
Now, the next part is a little bit complicated, because while G-Sync used to only be available with G-Sync monitors, it released a new update in 2019 that allowed it to also work with FreeSync monitors. Obviously you’re not going to get the same level of performance as a G-sync monitor, but it’s certainly cheaper. What is FreeSync you’re asking? Well, that’s AMD’s solution to Adaptive-Sync technology.
I should also mention at this point that G-Sync only really works with Nvidia, so if you have an AMD card, G-sync isn’t going to work, even if you have a G-sync monitor. Similarly, FreeSync only works with AMD graphics cards, so if you have one, you’ll be wanting a FreeSync monitor.
So why did Nvidia decide to allow G-sync to work with Freesync monitors? Well, while g-sync monitors do provide a better performance, especially with higher refresh rates and resolutions, it does come at a steeper price. You’ll often find that G-sync tends to add around $100 to any monitor that has it.
Thankfully, most monitors tend to have an option for you to pick one with G-sync or one with Freesync, so you at least have a choice.
What is FreeSync?
So how does FreeSync differ significantly from G-sync? Well, it’s mostly that G-sync hardware chip that does it. FreeSync is entirely software-based, so you don’t get as great a performance as you do with G-sync.
If you want a bit more information on FreeSync, I’ve actually written up a nice little article on FreeSync.
FreeSync vs G-sync
So which of the two should you choose? Well, for starters if you’ve already bought an AMD GPU, then you don’t have a choice but to go with FreeSync. On the other hand, if you have an Nvidia GPU, then you have free range to pick either and the decision becomes a budget based one.
If you’re not planning to play any high-end games or maybe have a mid-tier Nvidia GPU, then probably going for Freesync is a good option, since it will save $100 that can go into something else.
On the other hand, if you have a top-tier GPU like the RTX 2080, then going for G-sync is definitely worth it, even if you’re going to be spending a little bit more.
What if you haven’t bought your GPU yet? Well at that point you need to consider your overall build and what you’re aiming for, but either way, buy the GPU first before buying a monitor that has either FreeSync or G-Sync.
Final Thoughts
G-Sync is a pretty powerful technology under Adaptive Sync, which itself is super-useful when you’re trying to run 144Hz and above on a higher resolution. Unfortunately, it does come at a price, so you seriously have to consider if you’d much rather go for the FreeSync option with a slightly less powerful GPU.
Of course, you could always only ever play League of Legends, which can run on a potato, and always get 200+ FPS!