Should I enable vsync?

[MrMitchMan04]

Hello,

Even after researching I still don't understand what vsync is and if I should turn it on. I have an amd radeon rx 580 4gb, ryzen 5 1400 processor, and 8gb ram, I normally get an average of 50fps on the games I play (PUBG, BF1) and my monitor is on 75hz.

Should I enable vsync?

Thanks for the help!

 

[WildCard999]

Vsync limits your framerates to the monitors FPS to help reduce screen tearing.

 

[Sedivy]

Max you can display on your monitor is 75 so right now v-sync shouldn't make much difference to you, doubt you'll notice anything if you turn it on/off as you're not hitting that cap anyway.

 

[Solandri]

Vsync eliminates tearing. That's it. Doesn't matter if your framerate is higher or lower than your refresh rate. If there's *any* difference between the two, you get tearing. Period.

https://www.gamingscan.com/what-is-v-sync/

Different people notice tearing to different degrees. If you're one of the people who doesn't really notice it, you can leave vsync off. If tearing really bugs you, you want to turn it on.

Since your framerate is lower than your monitor refresh rate, this just means with vsync on, some frames will be displayed for multiple screen refreshes. (In this case, if vsync is off, less than a full image is updated between monitor refreshes.) This can cause something called judder - where things that are supposed to be moving smoothly appear to jerk. Again, this bothers some people, doesn't bother others.

Vsync will also introduce one frame of lag between when you move the mouse and when the screen reflects that motion. And once again, this bothers some peole, doesn't bother others.

So whether or not to enable vsync really depends on what bothers you, what doesn't. (Or you can have your cake and eat it too by getting a Gsync or Freesync monitor and video card.)

 

[bystander]

There are a lot of common misconceptions about V-sync. Solandri is the only answer that makes sense here.

Having the same FPS as your refresh rate does not remove tearing, and having lower FPS than your refresh rate also does not remove tearing. V-sync prevents the change to a new image to only happen during a period of time where your monitor is not updating the image on the screen. It "syncs" your monitor's refresh with the GPU's frame changes. It will, however, limit your frame rate to your refresh rate or lower, although in some cases the frames may be rendered at a higher rate, they just won't show more than your refresh rate can.