Should I get a Freesync or G-Sync

[B3NDY]

Now first off I have to point out that I do have a pair of 970s in SLI and I know right now Freesync is just used by AMD and G-Sync is for Nvidia but G-Sync is so expensive.

What I want to know is first off, is there any word on whether Nvidia is going to support freesync and secondly, if they don't, is it worth spending the extra money on G-Sync. I'm getting a 144Hz monitor so will screen tearing be so noticeable at the refresh rate and it does cost quite a bit more for the luxury of it.

 

[sathen07]

It depends on your needs and your budget, G-Sync is here right now, it's cutting edge technology, it's proven and it works very well. AMD is lobbying hard for freesync but it may be a year or two before the technology is adopted. I just purchased an asus rog g-sync monitor ($800 @ newegg) and i have no regrets. If you are an avid gamer and the stutter/tearing bothers you enough to spend the money than i would say it's worth it. If it doesn't bother you then wait because like all new technology the price will come down and if freesync is as good as gsync then nvidia will be forced to lower the price or make their solution free as well. But based on your pair of 970s in sli i would say you're probably not going to want to wait your video card may be pumping out 130 frames a second but you're only ever going to see 60 of them and those 60 frames may be torn or stuttered.

 

[JUICEhunter]

Love G-sync/High Hz combo, the AOC 24in is $450 and the least expensive right now but I'm sure more will come out that are cheaper down the road.

 

[loki1944]

First thing you should ask yourself is if you play any games that would benefit from it. For myself I can only think of 1 or 2 games out of about 190 I play that would benefit from it DA:I (Well I don't actually play that one, 'cause it sucks) and Crysis 3 at 3840x2160 (using DSR). I had considered Gsync, but once I asked myself, "what games do I have that produce stuttering/lagging/don't look smooth?" I realized it would be a waste of money for a couple of games, which if I drop to 1080p @ 144Hz, do not have these issues. Though if I could go back in time and redirect the money I wasted on the Oculus Rift SDK2 towards the ROG Swift I'd do it in a heartbeat. I will say that if I was going Gsync, I would not go smaller than 27 inch, I just couldn't bear giving up the real estate.

 

[JUICEhunter]

Amazon has this 27" for $480 and it's still $600 everywhere else, I would have gotten this one if it wasn't $600 a few weeks ago but still happy.

http://www.amazon.com/Acer-XB270H-Abprz-27-inch-Widescreen/dp/B00NUCRBCU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1422257041&sr=8-2&keywords=gsync

 

[loki1944]

Very nice JUICEhunter, and I wasn't meaning to critique your '24, I'm just saying for me personally I love 27 inch (I hate wearing my glasses). But that's almost half the price of the Swift, granted it's 1080p; but I've found myself playing more on my 144Hz 1080p monitor than my 59Hz 1440p monitor, and it looks like that one can be unlocked pretty easy over 60Hz based on the comments.

 

[JUICEhunter]

Wasn't thinking that at all, just like to point out that G-sync doesn't have to be expensive... And then came the Predator 34" ultra-wide curved g-sync...

http://www.blurbusters.com/acer-predator-xr341ck-34-144hz-g-sync-ultrawide/

 

[loki1944]

Yeah that is a gorgeous looking monitor, but my wife would murder me. I'm probably going to have to wait a year or two for another round of monitors, cross my fingers for gpus and gsync/freesync monitors capable of 4k 120+Hz.

 

[JakeAlmighty]

Yeah that is a gorgeous looking monitor, but my wife would murder me. I'm probably going to have to wait a year or two for another round of monitors, cross my fingers for gpus and gsync/freesync monitors capable of 4k 120+Hz.

I'm working on a triple 4k monitor eyefinity/surround setup myself - I want high settings and 60 fps. I'll probably go with three 27" or 28" monitors in the end (in landscape), whether it's gsync or freesync will depend on what graphic cards are being used, rather than the other way around.



There's a few holdups -

1. Need AMD/Nvidia to invent some new GPUs that have a shot in hell of doing it.

2. That wife bit you mentioned. I haven't quite solved that part yet. This is the tougher part tbh - I can wait for AMD/Nvidia to deliver the goods, but wives are real stubborn about certain things. (like 12k wide monitor setups in our study)

 

[chenw]

Personally I think that Freesync will eventually win because of the lower cost of the module compared to the proprietary G-Sync, it's just a matter of when. If FreeSync, as released, works as well as G-Sync, it will happen sooner, if not, it will happen later, but eventually I think they will merge.

What IS true however is that G-Sync works as well as advertised, but it does come with a hefty premium. So it's really between a cheaper tech that may or may not work, or a tech that is known to work well, but with a premium.

It wouldn't hurt to wait just a little bit to see what the first of FreeSync monitors are like though, since it is about around the corner, and hopefully a couple more G-Sync will be out by then to better suite your needs/wants