Nvidia G-Sync vs AMD FreeSync vs Adaptive Sync in 2024

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00:00 - Welcome Back to Monitors Unboxed
00:24 - What is Adaptive Sync?
03:04 - FreeSync and G-Sync Monitor Compatibility
05:29 - Nvidia G-Sync Branding Explained
09:15 - How to Enable G-Sync on Non-G-Sync Branded Monitor
10:18 - AMD FreeSync Branding Explained
13:59 - How to Ensure FreeSync is Enabled
14:28 - Final Thoughts

Nvidia G-Sync vs AMD FreeSync vs Adaptive Sync in 2023

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Outro music by David Vonk/DaJaVo

[wyntje]

This has to be one of THE most clear and concise explanations of fps vs. Hz I've ever seen, incl. coverage of the downsides of v-sync and why adaptive sync is relevant today. The first three minutes of this video alone should be required watching for anyone trying to understand gaming monitor refresh rate specs.

[papabepreachin]

Love how Nvidia removed the 1000 nit brightness requirement for "G-Sync Ultimate" qualifications lol.

[fernandoCA]

Thank you so much for this extensive deep and yet simple explanaition of the topic. If there are other resources like this online I have not stumbled upon them.
Great work!

[Knuffle]

Thanks so much for the clear explanation! Things have changed so much that I had myself in knots trying to understand the current differences in G-sync and freesync. Learned some new things too. Great vid!

[jorismak]

Maybe something to clarify to all: In the nvidia conrtol panel, there is an option to force v-sync on or off. That has an 'adaptive' and 'adaptive half refresh' option for _YEARS_ now. That has NOTHING to do with VRR :). It's just an old-school option but with a duplicate name. It basically means 'soft vsync lock'. By setting it do adaptive sync, you force a framepaced fps limit to the refreshrate of your monitor, causing perfect framepacing without turning vsync on in games (and not having the double buffering). But the moment you drop below your refreshrate, vsync is dropped and you get tearing instead of a big latency hit. It's like consoles used to do, and it is the perfect way to get good smooth gameplay at a perfect locked 60 or locked 30 if you have a 60hz-non-VRR screen. But if you have VRR, its' useless, and the name 'adaptive' has nothing to do with 'adaptive sync' in monitors :). (It's 'adaptive on or off' so to speak)

[Bioniclema]

Thank you for this, I wondered for ages wtf adaptive sync is compared to g-sync and freesync and I couldn't find a decent explanation anywhere. I thought adaptive sync was a frame sync tech for hdmi or something lol

[marshallb]

One thing to note is AMD FreeSync Premium Pro monitors have the display's color gamut / luminance values embedded in the EDID so HDR games can calibrate to the display's capabilities a lot better than some stupid brightness sliders ever could, AFAIK this is something NVIDIA could interoperate with instead of letting Dolby reinvent the same thing and charge royalties for every device in the chain....

[SomePotato]

Thank you! Adaptive sync is one of these things that unnecessarily complicated thanks to marketing.

[joaomartins]

Here in Portugal, sometimes retailers don't even put basic specs in the spec sheet like Refresh Rate or Panel Type let alone Adaptive Sync or VRR. Fortunately we have your channel to save us from ignorance.

[nellybod]

Nice & informative video Tim. As usual my well rounded PC knowledge tree has never spent much time in monitors. So this sort of content is a godsend!

[mmaakk]

Thank you. Very good video. All my doubts are now cleared. I feel better. Cheers Australia ❤

[davidbanner]

Excellent video. Thank you very much. It was very clear regarding the various standards etc.

[RobertFromEarth]

In my opinion, Adaptive Sync technologies is the greatest addition to gaming in the last ~10 years.

[xhenriquefps]

Wtf how is this video so complete?
Congrats guys! Insanely useful video 👏👏👏👏

[boredomkid]

I am lucky to come across this video because I was having a very hard time buying a monitor because I was afraid that I needed a G-sync monitor because I didn't want to lose out on a feature but this video helped me realized that what I thought was wrong. But in a good way because now it made it way easier for me to pick a monitor since I now know that I won't miss out on anything if I don't buy a monitor with G-sync.

[Thephysiquemechanic]

Thanks so much for making this video and clarifying this for me, as I was up in the air about the Asus Rog strix 27 in LED panel that just recently came out that you reviewed in your top five, and it didn't say g-sync so I was worried it wasn't going to work well

[susegadgaming]

Thank you for making this very educational video.

[MegaFdjk]

Thank you for this. I've been holding off on buying a new monitor for ages because I wasn't sure how any of this worked

[NerfHerdsman]

Going to have to edit the title in a dozen days!

This was great to hear as someone who has paid very little attention since getting my XB270HU, the first all-boxes-ticked 1440p display.

[jimbobspov]

The fact that these are essentially the same technology with different brand names on them is all I needed to know. I was between 2 of the exact same monitor wondering if I should get the one that’s “G-Sync compatible” since I have an NVIDIA card lol. Thank you sir.