Is Nvidia G-Sync worth it vs AMD FreeSync? - Ask a PC expert
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Date: 2022-03-15
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Comments and reviews: 10
Wyatt
Long story short: Cheap FreeSync monitors are not as good as Expensive G-Sync monitors
Expensive FreeSync monitors are almost always as good as their even more
expensive G-Sync counterparts
I think the way information is presented in this video is misleading. You make it sound like FreeSync, the technology itself is bad when in practice G-Sync and FreeSync are both identical. There are some bad FreeSync monitors but that is due to them 1) being extremely cheap 2) FreeSync was just an extra. If you are looking to buy a good gaming monitor you can find a FreeSync variant that is just as good as the G-Sync variant for $200 USD or more off the price. Is G-Sync worth it? No, it you look at monitor reviews like those from TFTCentral then you will know the refresh rate window. In fact some FreeSync monitors have a 20 FPS minimum range, which is better then G-Sync's minimum of 40. Both support LFC but the FreeSync has the potential to go below 30 FPS without resorting to LFC like Nvidia.
In addition, it's not even mentioned as a negative that G-Sync monitors can only use G-Sync with Nvidia cards. You are locked into Nvidia's ecosystem, which is a huge negative.
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Long story short: Cheap FreeSync monitors are not as good as Expensive G-Sync monitors
Expensive FreeSync monitors are almost always as good as their even more
expensive G-Sync counterparts
I think the way information is presented in this video is misleading. You make it sound like FreeSync, the technology itself is bad when in practice G-Sync and FreeSync are both identical. There are some bad FreeSync monitors but that is due to them 1) being extremely cheap 2) FreeSync was just an extra. If you are looking to buy a good gaming monitor you can find a FreeSync variant that is just as good as the G-Sync variant for $200 USD or more off the price. Is G-Sync worth it? No, it you look at monitor reviews like those from TFTCentral then you will know the refresh rate window. In fact some FreeSync monitors have a 20 FPS minimum range, which is better then G-Sync's minimum of 40. Both support LFC but the FreeSync has the potential to go below 30 FPS without resorting to LFC like Nvidia.
In addition, it's not even mentioned as a negative that G-Sync monitors can only use G-Sync with Nvidia cards. You are locked into Nvidia's ecosystem, which is a huge negative.
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Toby
G-Sync just doesn't seem worth it over the cheaper solution allowing you to spend more money on the quality of the monitor or maybe some other PC part. Just ask around or use the youtube monitor recommendations from tech tubers when getting a freesync monitor, it's not that much work. I got a great one thanks to Hardware Unboxed and such and It's great. I'm not tied down to Nvidia anymore.
That's another thing they didn't mention that if you get G-Sync that you'd be tied down to Nvidia for the life of that monitor if you want to get the most out of it. Screw that! The new Radeon cards look awesome, and if I wanted to upgrade now I'd probably choose that, I'd have that option.
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G-Sync just doesn't seem worth it over the cheaper solution allowing you to spend more money on the quality of the monitor or maybe some other PC part. Just ask around or use the youtube monitor recommendations from tech tubers when getting a freesync monitor, it's not that much work. I got a great one thanks to Hardware Unboxed and such and It's great. I'm not tied down to Nvidia anymore.
That's another thing they didn't mention that if you get G-Sync that you'd be tied down to Nvidia for the life of that monitor if you want to get the most out of it. Screw that! The new Radeon cards look awesome, and if I wanted to upgrade now I'd probably choose that, I'd have that option.
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James
A Big reason to get a g-sync monitor over a free sync is that a g-sync monitor has something called variable overdrive which adjust the pixel overdrive on the fly to both reduce input latency and blurring by a good bit. G-sync is quite a bit better in my opinion also the color on the g-sync monitors is precalibrated at the factory to an exact standard 100% RGB for a 8bit panel and 100% HDR for 10bit and up the also do not allow the use of frc aka Frame rate control which allows them to use a lower bit color to fake a higher bit one 6bit to fake 8.
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A Big reason to get a g-sync monitor over a free sync is that a g-sync monitor has something called variable overdrive which adjust the pixel overdrive on the fly to both reduce input latency and blurring by a good bit. G-sync is quite a bit better in my opinion also the color on the g-sync monitors is precalibrated at the factory to an exact standard 100% RGB for a 8bit panel and 100% HDR for 10bit and up the also do not allow the use of frc aka Frame rate control which allows them to use a lower bit color to fake a higher bit one 6bit to fake 8.
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BrotherMichigan
Brad is either being incredibly disingenuous or simply doesn't know what he's talking about. There are no upper or lower limits to Freesync refresh rates other than what an individual monitor supports. This whole -50-75 Hz- argument is a complete fabrication. As long as the lower refresh rate is at least half of your maximum, you get LFC and won't experience any stuttering below the minimum refresh rate, so don't buy a cheap (note: I didn't say inexpensive) monitor and you won't have ANY of the issues brought up about Freesync.
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Brad is either being incredibly disingenuous or simply doesn't know what he's talking about. There are no upper or lower limits to Freesync refresh rates other than what an individual monitor supports. This whole -50-75 Hz- argument is a complete fabrication. As long as the lower refresh rate is at least half of your maximum, you get LFC and won't experience any stuttering below the minimum refresh rate, so don't buy a cheap (note: I didn't say inexpensive) monitor and you won't have ANY of the issues brought up about Freesync.
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Gee4z
Got a question (bear with my ignorance)- I have an MSI Stealth GS75 laptop with an Nvidia Geforce RTX 2070 MaxQ gpu which I want to connect to a Dell S2716D 27- 1440p 144hz G-sync monitor. The laptop is awesome but does not have a DisplayPort out- it does have hdmi and thunder port 3 out. Is the best way to connect this monitor through thunderport to DisplayPort on the monitor? If so, where do I find a true thunderport 3 to DisplayPort cable? Seems most of what-s out there is usb 3. 1 (usbC) to DisplayPort.
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Got a question (bear with my ignorance)- I have an MSI Stealth GS75 laptop with an Nvidia Geforce RTX 2070 MaxQ gpu which I want to connect to a Dell S2716D 27- 1440p 144hz G-sync monitor. The laptop is awesome but does not have a DisplayPort out- it does have hdmi and thunder port 3 out. Is the best way to connect this monitor through thunderport to DisplayPort on the monitor? If so, where do I find a true thunderport 3 to DisplayPort cable? Seems most of what-s out there is usb 3. 1 (usbC) to DisplayPort.
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Ryan
Just my opinion here but I see a lot of people saying -would never get a G-SYNC monitor because it locks me into Nvidia- but in my experience I don-t see myself trying an AMD card again anyways. I am very happy with my 2080 and AMD does not offer much that can compete with Nvidia cards. The RX 5700 XT is decent but the reference card is terrible, runs hot and loud. So to me being -locked- into Nvidia is a non issue, they simply make the more powerful, and power efficient cards
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Just my opinion here but I see a lot of people saying -would never get a G-SYNC monitor because it locks me into Nvidia- but in my experience I don-t see myself trying an AMD card again anyways. I am very happy with my 2080 and AMD does not offer much that can compete with Nvidia cards. The RX 5700 XT is decent but the reference card is terrible, runs hot and loud. So to me being -locked- into Nvidia is a non issue, they simply make the more powerful, and power efficient cards
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My
I'm a very experienced PC Builder and appreciate your content but you need to make it absolutely clear here for the noobs that g-sync is basically only if you have Nvidia cards and freesync if you have AMD Radeon cards because they are proprietary. Now I know there is g-sync with certain freesync monitors but let's not confuse the noobs so don't mention it but you didn't make it crystal clear that g-sync is friend video and Precinct is 4 Radeon.
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I'm a very experienced PC Builder and appreciate your content but you need to make it absolutely clear here for the noobs that g-sync is basically only if you have Nvidia cards and freesync if you have AMD Radeon cards because they are proprietary. Now I know there is g-sync with certain freesync monitors but let's not confuse the noobs so don't mention it but you didn't make it crystal clear that g-sync is friend video and Precinct is 4 Radeon.
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Cjon
Amd Freesync/Vegas adaptive/vsync more standard than nvidia gsync. 2020. nvidia is now also freesync. Freesync with radeon card or nvidia 1080 ti gsync/freesync with freesync or gsync monitor cost more than $99 lcd monitor. My new asus 1440p 27 inch freesync 144hz and asus 1080p 25 inch gsync 180/240 hz 1ms cost me almost $1k for both. Gigabyte 1080ti 11gb xtreme overclocked gpu $750 before double to $1200/1400 because trump trade war.
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Amd Freesync/Vegas adaptive/vsync more standard than nvidia gsync. 2020. nvidia is now also freesync. Freesync with radeon card or nvidia 1080 ti gsync/freesync with freesync or gsync monitor cost more than $99 lcd monitor. My new asus 1440p 27 inch freesync 144hz and asus 1080p 25 inch gsync 180/240 hz 1ms cost me almost $1k for both. Gigabyte 1080ti 11gb xtreme overclocked gpu $750 before double to $1200/1400 because trump trade war.
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Francisco
All Gsync monitors have ultra motion blur (ULMB) feature it is a good adition and useful in some cases. For example usted in conjunction with rivatuner scanline sync you have a kind of crt image without stutter or tearing if you can maintain the frames, it is a really good solution. Gsync works in all refresh rate from 1 to max refresh rate too. I have another one gsync compatible monitor and works great too!
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All Gsync monitors have ultra motion blur (ULMB) feature it is a good adition and useful in some cases. For example usted in conjunction with rivatuner scanline sync you have a kind of crt image without stutter or tearing if you can maintain the frames, it is a really good solution. Gsync works in all refresh rate from 1 to max refresh rate too. I have another one gsync compatible monitor and works great too!
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Monkey
Here are my requirements: large (40in+) 4k monitor for productivity, but can do at least 120Hz in 1080p for gaming, and with adaptive sync. The only option if I don't want to spend over $1000 is a 55in RU8000 from Samsung. The 49in nano cell from LG comes close, better size for me and a little cheaper, but no freesync.
Why doesn't someone make a 40+ in 4k computer monitor for $500 with freesync?
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Here are my requirements: large (40in+) 4k monitor for productivity, but can do at least 120Hz in 1080p for gaming, and with adaptive sync. The only option if I don't want to spend over $1000 is a 55in RU8000 from Samsung. The 49in nano cell from LG comes close, better size for me and a little cheaper, but no freesync.
Why doesn't someone make a 40+ in 4k computer monitor for $500 with freesync?
reply
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