Question Is it okay to use Nvidia card on a Freesync monitor?

[LukaAvicii]

Hi.. so i had an amd gpu but it’s now faulty for some reason, I intend to buy GTX 1660 Ti because it’s strong and kind of cheap but i have a Freesync monitor which is MSI Optix MAG241C and I’m afraid to get flickering or something like that.

But I’ve also heard that new GTX , RTX cards are okay for Freesync monitors, so have any one tried this GPU on the same monitor? Is it a gamble to even think of buying a GTX gpu on a Freesync monitor?

Specs ( in case needed )
CPU : Ryzen 5 2600
RAM : 2x8GB ( 16GB 3000Mhz )
MB : msi B450M gaming plus
PSU : EVGA 550 B3
120 GB SSD + 1 TB HDD

 

[ko888]

NVIDIA started officially supporting FreeSync displays back in January 2019. You may have to manually enable FreeSync support in the graphics card's device driver though.

https://www.pcworld.com/article/333...c-monitor-support-geforce-graphics-cards.html

 

[cryoburner]

...and I’m afraid to get flickering or something like that.

That's pretty much just nonsense Nvidia made up (or at least exaggerated) to make "G-Sync Compatible" screens sound better. Now that they finally support it, FreeSync should work just as well on an Nvidia graphics card as it does on an AMD one, so long as the screen supports the feature over a DisplayPort connection, which I believe that one does. You'll just have make sure that you manually enable G-Sync for the display in the graphic's card's control panel, and of course make sure FreeSync is enabled in the monitor's settings as well.

A small number of early FreeSync displays exhibited issues like flickering, but those were issues with the screen itself that would manifest on AMD cards as well. If FreeSync was working fine with your AMD card, it should work fine with your Nvidia card as well, again, so long as you connect it via a DisplayPort cable.

 

[LinuxDevice]

Someone here on the forum only recently got me interested in looking at FreeSync monitors which work with G-Sync, and this is something you might be interested in:
https://thepcenthusiast.com/msi-freesync-monitors-compatible-with-g-sync/

Don't know about other brands, but it looks like in some cases this is possible if your NVIDIA driver is new enough.

 

[tennis2]

All free sync monitors work on Nvidia GTX10xx cards or better over DisplayPort.

As cryoburner said, the whole GSync Compatible nonsense was just a way to discourage uninformed consumers so Nvidia (and partners) could clear out their GSync inventory while also drawing attention to Nvidias most loyal monitor partners and drive FreeSync sales for them also. Sleazy

 

[TheBigOrton]

NVIDIA graphic cards will work on any monitor. Graphics cards are just external cards that help process visuals and send them to a monitor through a display cable. The graphics card can't exactly say "hey, that's a XYZ monitor! I'm not going to display anything!". It will display the image if everything is working and connected correctly.

As said earlier, NVIDIA started letting users use FreeSync monitors in the sense that users can match the monitors refresh rate to the frames that the graphics card is pushing out, allowing for a smoother experience.

Final answer: NVIDIA graphics cards will work fine on any monitors, including FreeSync monitors, if everything is working and connected correctly and there are no hardware issues with the monitor and/or the graphics card.

 

[cryoburner]

As cryoburner said, the whole GSync Compatible nonsense was just a way to discourage uninformed consumers...

I wouldn't say it's necessarily just nonsense. Some of Nvidia's claims about FreeSync displays certainly was, but the "G-Sync Compatible" certification itself doesn't seem entirely terrible. FreeSync leaves a lot of the specifications open to manufacturers, so you get some things like 75Hz 1080p FreeSync displays, which are arguably fine for the lower price points they sell at, but don't provide the same refresh range people would get on a G-Sync display at that resolution. So if they want to set certain criteria for a manufacturer to advertise their screen as being "G-Sync Compatible", that's up to them. Of course, there are some other, more arbitrary requirements for meeting that certification, such as having adaptive sync enabled by default, which excludes some screens that otherwise perform on-par with Nvidia's native G-Sync offerings.

 

[tennis2]

And that Nvidia isn't even halfway through the alphabet yet on their GSync Compatible certifications.... The thing I don't like is that it's been 6 months and they still haven't completed their "compatibility" list (misleading naming scheme).

I agree, the industry is NOT doing a good job at handling variable refresh rate marketing. With [OG] GSync, the refresh range was pretty well a fixed quantity. However, FreeSync is up to the monitor manufacturers to allow them to hit various price points besides "ultra premium". And finding variable refresh range is challenging at best for a stat that should be clearly stated in any spec sheet. The best place to find info is on AMD's curated FreeSync monitor list (link here).
I know Nvidia wants to push the 2.4:1 VRR with LFC as an optimal experience. I can definitely agree with that since I've got personal experience with both a 40-75Hz (w/o LFC of course) and a 48-144Hz monitor. The 48-144Hz monitor just works, while 40-75Hz requires some amounts of adjustments to be made to stay within the VRR. AMD has frame rate limiters in their driver suite (Chill or FRTC) and you can apply frame rate limiters on Nvidia cards also (not sure if this can be done in the driver, or if you need a 3rd party app like Afterburner).

 

[knickle]

All free sync monitors work on Nvidia GTX10xx cards or better over DisplayPort.

As cryoburner said, the whole GSync Compatible nonsense was just a way to discourage uninformed consumers so Nvidia (and partners) could clear out their GSync inventory while also drawing attention to Nvidias most loyal monitor partners and drive FreeSync sales for them also. Sleazy

"G-Sync Compatible" is essentially an nvidia marketing phrase. I guess it sounds better to say "the monitor complies with us" than to say "we are compliant with Adaptive Sync, VRR and Freesync(TM)".

For the uninformed readers:

• Adaptive Sync is an part of the VESA standard for Display Port 1.2a
• Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) is part of the HDMI 2.1 standard

With these (optional) standards now in place, I imagine it's become tough to convince monitor makers to include separate G-Sync technology inside their hardware. Freesync is really just an enhanced version of the above mentioned standards and can be included at a negligible cost.

Some Samsung TVs have already included VRR and Freesync in 2018, and LG has announce that they will be following suit this year on some of their models. It won't be that long before other TV manufactures follow. I plan to buy one of these in the near future for the "cave". Couch gaming on a recliner sofa with a big screen should be interesting.

 

[tennis2]

Ay! My 55" Samsung Q6 has FreeSync. Haven't used it yet, but that was a consideration in the decision making phase of the purchase.