G-Sync is for making sure your HDMI coordinates timely with the GPU & everything is transmitted in the proper time.
However, Sync as the name says, means you have ways of bypassing that coordination, from drivers or from inside a game.
The primary malfunction is screen tearing, but inside games, the secondary malfunction is FPS afflictions.
The danger here is games running too fast (faster than developers intended). The new sync that keeps up with it all is Fast/Enhanced or Adaptive.
144hz is the max. I would push on any game, I run 120hz myself to soften the speedup on some older games I like.
Just go through the guide and you should be fine. V-Sync however was designed at a time when 60hz was the norm/tops & will cause problems.
I've been testing your suggestion for the past few hours and there's definitely an improvement. That said, G-Sync still provides a better experience when it's enabled.
I went ahead and downloaded MSI/Riva to see what was happening under the curtain. After starting a frametime graph I could see definite frametime stutters. So I switched each sync setting on and off independently:
All syncs off: Lots of stutters.
V-Sync on: Lots of stutters.
Fast-Sync on: Much less actual stutters, slightly less visible stutter.
G-Sync on: Almost no actual stutters, very smooth visible gameplay.
I began noticing that in every test, big stutters correlated with large FPS fluctuations. This reminded me of a
YouTube video I had seen by Battle(non)sense on the topic, where he suggested limiting FPS until the frametime became stable. With this in mind I changed my refresh limiter in Riva from 140 to 120, since my FPS was running around 110 to 115 and only occasionally spiking to 140. The results were immediate, most of the stuttering stopped. I applied a soft overclock to my card to squeeze out the extra 10 FPS and changed some settings in my games to lower the resource cost. Everything is buttery smooth.
I'm happy with the performance now. For anyone else seeking answers, try Cyberat_88's suggestion. If that doesn't work, feel free to replicate my changes (compiled below).
Programs utilized
- MSI Afterburner
- RivaTuner Statistics Server
- Nvidia Control Panel
- Motherboard BIOS
Nvidia Control Panel settings
- Cuda - GPUs > All
- Low Latency Mode > Off (On if you're using V-Sync)
- Monitor Technology > G-Sync Compatible
- OpenGL Rendering GPU > [Select your GPU]
- Power Management Mode > Prefer Maximum Performance
- Preferred Refresh Rate > Highest Available
- Shader Cache Size > Driver Default
- Texture Filtering - Trilinear Optimization > On
- Threaded Optimization > Auto
- Triple Buffering > Off
- Vertical Sync > Use the 3D Application Setting
RivaTuner Statistics Server
Before messing with Riva, find your baseline FPS. To do this. place an FPS counter on your screen and play some games or run a GPU benchmark. Keep an eye on the most consistent value. For example, if you notice that most of your games stick around 120 FP, that's your baseline.
This value may change depending on the game you're playing. The goal is to discover an FPS you're happy with that the GPU can consistently provide.
- Open RivaTuner.
- Input your baseline FPS into the field beside "Framerate limit".
- Restart your game/benchmark to test.
If you still notice frequent stuttering, or your FPS seems to always drop more than 10 frames below your baseline, lower the baseline in RIva by 5 and try again. Alternatively you can gain more frames by adjusting the graphics settings in your game. Popular choices for this are lowering shadow quality, ambient occlusion, motion blur and depth of field. In extreme cases, lowering the resolution can provide a very quick and immediate solution to reclaim tons of FPS.
MSI Afterburner is capable of overclocking your GPU, but do not attempt this unless you know what you're doing. I'll provide my settings for reference, but unless you own an RTX 3070 I wouldn't recommend copying them. Always follow a guide.
- Core Voltage > +50%
- Power Limit > Max
- Temp. Limit > Max
- Core Clock > +100Mhz
- Memory Clock > +800
This is generally considered a safe overclock for the RTX 3070 and you shouldn't see temperatures higher than 76 degrees, which is well within operating limits. For me, this brings my FPS up by +10, sometimes +15.
Additional changes
I cannot confirm whether these additional changes had any impact on solving my stutter. They are worth trying if the above solutions failed. All modifications were made within the motherboard's BIOS.
- Enabled XMP (Extreme Memory Profile) for RAM.
- Disabled TPM (Trusted Platform Module), it's been known to cause stuttering on the x570.
- Disabled Precision Boost for CPU (was running at 95 degrees with 40% usage).
- Updated BIOS (LAST RESORT, don't do this unless you have to).
Final comments
Your system is unique, even if it's an exact replica of mine. Your components will behave differently under stress and will in turn respond differently the these solutions. Take them one step at a time.
Remember, sometimes the simplest solutions are the best. In scenarios where high FPS brings along stutter, simply limiting that FPS may solve your problem. Enabling Fast-Sync or even V-Sync may fix it. Attempt the easy stuff before moving on to the complex nonsense, hopefully you won't need it.
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