Is G-Sync worth it for 1080p gaming with a 970 over a regular 144hz monitor?

GKL24

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I am planning to buy my parts soon but am stuck debating this point. Any help is appreciated.
 
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Sorry, I had to leave the PC and can not answer your question sooner but ESPclipse got that covered anyway :)
The tearings are always there without GSync but not noticeable on 144Hz monitor.
Some people said that there is no tearing on 144Hz or you can avoid tearing by using 144Hz monitor. Well, that is not entirely true.
Yes, even if the monitor is running faster than than the GPU, the tearing is always there.
The faster the monitor runs the less noticeable tearing you can see.
On 144Hz monitor, you can see like no tearing.
Yes, VSync might cause stutters if the fps falls below the monitors frequency.
On 144Hz monitor, you might as well disable VSync. The tearings are not noticeable anyway.
If you use 60Hz monitor, yes, try to push...

GKL24

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I feel that I would experience screen stuttering with my 970 with a regular 144hz monitor. And, If I went with a 60hz, I'd experience tearing and would possible have to upgrade sooner?
 

ESPclipse

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if the monitor is refreshing faster than the graphics card, then the only source of stuttering could possibly be from the graphics card, and the point of G-Sync is to make the stuttering and fluctuations in refreshes from the graphics card less noticeable. When it comes to 60Hz monitors, if you lock the framerate to 60Hz then you will not see any screen tearing because the refreshes from the graphics card will not occur faster than the monitor can refresh its image. That is what V-sync is for. Again, G-sync is really only useful if you get stuttering and frame dips to a low fps range (like <60fps, as most computer gamers would consider the standard)
 
Screen tearing is always there but on 144Hz is a lot less noticeable than on 60Hz.
If you use VSync to get rid of the tearing, you could experience screen stutters.
Only GSync/FreeSync can truly solve the tearing.

Well...in my opinion, GSync does help but if you are coming from 144Hz monitor, I do not think that GSync is really worth the extra price.
If you come from 60Hz monitor like I was, you might wanna consider getting 144Hz monitor with GSync.
If you decided to go for GSync and come from 1080p monitor, why not going for another upgrade step higher and go for 1440p?
I bought XB270HU and it is a really huge upgrade from U2412M. I got the upgrade from 1200p to 1440p, 144Hz is also an upgrade plus the GSync.
 
No real need to lock the monitor @60Hz, if it can go 144Hz.
Screen tearing on 144Hz monitor is as noticeable as on 60Hz monitor.
GSync is still expensive, do not force yourself to get it, especially if you are already on 144Hz monitor.

BTW, I saw a 144Hz on the link. Do you have the monitor already or still planing to buy it?
XL2420G worth considering if you still want to go GSync while staying on 1080p.
 

ESPclipse

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if you are planning on locking the framerate at 60fps, then you only need a 60Hz monitor. If you do not want to lock the framerate, then a high refresh rate monitor is good because you will not get tearing. It is hard to tell if you should invest in gsync if you have yet to try a standard 60Hz monitor with that card. It kinda depends on what you play and at what graphical settings you want to play at. The 970 might be enough to hold a constantly high framerate for you, and so a standard ol' 60Hz will do you just as much good as a gsync monitor. If I were you, I would not invest in gsync until I know I need it; the tech is at a price premium right now
 
Yeah, I am also trying to say that GSync is good but still too expensive for most people.

On 144Hz, you still have screen tearing but it is a lot less noticeable. You might not notice it but the tearing is still there.
The tearing is only 100% gone via GSync. <--- not really justify the premium price, unless you can really afford it.

 

GKL24

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Yeah, I would like to play at the highest FPS I can and preferably on high settings minimum. This is my first build and I would like it to last a while before I have to upgrade it again.

I plan to do SLI sometime in the future so thinking of getting a 144hz monitor. With v-sync off, would I experience noticeable tearing?

I have not purchased anything yet.
 

GKL24

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I plan to play a wide variety of games from Civ 5 to Borderlands to Fallout to CS:GO, etc. I like RPG, Strategy and Shooters.

I was thinking of getting the AOC G2460PG 144Hz 24.0" Monitor, but since it is my first build, I do not fully know how necessary g-sync is and how bad of screen tearing I would get. I could squeeze out of my wallet the money for the AOC, but if it is unnecessary over a 144hz monitor, I would prefer the cheaper option.
 

ESPclipse

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If you plan on playing on framerates greater than 60fps, then a monitor that refreshes faster than 60Hz is ideal for you. Again, the ONLY way to see screen tearing is if the monitor refreshes slower than the graphics card's framerate. Also, if you are playing on framerates greater than 60fps, then fluctuations in framerate are much less noticeable, become harder and harder to detect as the average framerate increases. With a single 970, or even two, I really doubt that you reach a framerate greater than 144Hz, or even 120Hz, so yeah, you would never have a problem with tearing
 

GKL24

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I've heard tearing occurs whenever the monitor and gpu are out of sync. So, even if monitor is faster, there will be tearing. So, are you saying tearing is just less noticeable when monitor is faster?

With my 144hz, I wouldn't have to use v sync at all correct?
 

ESPclipse

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That is a good question. In the case where the monitor refreshes faster than the graphics card's framerate, what you experience is stuttering, not screen tearing. Stuttering is the bane of cheaper graphics cards that cannot keep up with their monitor's refresh rate, which is what gsync aims to alleviate. Of course if the monitor refreshes fast (like 144Hz fast) and the graphics card puts out a good framerate (like 60+fps), then I really doubt you even notice the stuttering because the stutters will happen faster than your brain can even comprehend them. That being said, it really is preferable to have a monitor and graphics card that compliment each other, and avoid as many problems as possible
 

GKL24

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Oh, ok. I thought stuttering ONLY occurred when v-sync was enabled. Although, if my 970 can push at a decent FPS, then maybe g-sync isn't worth it now for the price. I am starting to think I should save some money and get a quality ~$250 144hz monitor w/o g-sync.
 

ESPclipse

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Vsync is for alleviating screen tearing when the monitor refreshes at 60Hz but the graphics card pushes frames faster than 60 fps (at least that's what it's meant for). Stuttering can still occur while Vsync is on, but only happens because the framerate is dipping below the refresh rate, and Vsync is not designed to deal with that. But if you can hold a good, constant framerate, then Vsync is wonderful. While I want you to do your own thing, I would consider sticking with one 970 and get a good 60Hz monitor and see how you like it before stepping up to an expensive 144Hz monitor, but that's just me and you should do whatever you really want to
 

GKL24

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With my 970, I was thinking of starting with a 144hz monitor because it would be able to get higher FPS. I can afford a 144hz monitor, but I am on the fence with g-sync.

Since it is my first build, would you say that I wouldn't have much screen tearing with a 144hz monitor and my current build? And, if I did get a 144hz monitor, would it be better to turn v sync on or off?
 

ESPclipse

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Okay, so lets say you get a cool 144Hz monitor. A 970, though it's a good card, no doubt, will not give you a framerate near 144fps, so you will never ever see so much as one torn screen, because the monitor is able to refresh its image faster than the graphics card can give it an image to refresh to. This isn't such a bad problem to have because screen tearing is most definitely worth avoiding, and a 144Hz monitor will avoid tearing better than any monitor. Also, the 970 is capable, with some graphics tuning, of giving you a consistently good framerate, probably good enough to give you >60fps on most games with Vsync off (so the framerate is not capped). Because the 970 can give you a constantly good framerate, you should not see terrible frame dips and stutters, and so Gsync is NOT necessary. In your case in which the monitor's refresh rate is faster than the graphics card's framerate, then the framerate that your eyes will see is exactly what the graphics card puts out, because the monitor will always be able to keep up with the graphics card.
 

GKL24

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Ok, thank you. I have a lot to think about.
 
Sorry, I had to leave the PC and can not answer your question sooner but ESPclipse got that covered anyway :)
The tearings are always there without GSync but not noticeable on 144Hz monitor.
Some people said that there is no tearing on 144Hz or you can avoid tearing by using 144Hz monitor. Well, that is not entirely true.
Yes, even if the monitor is running faster than than the GPU, the tearing is always there.
The faster the monitor runs the less noticeable tearing you can see.
On 144Hz monitor, you can see like no tearing.
Yes, VSync might cause stutters if the fps falls below the monitors frequency.
On 144Hz monitor, you might as well disable VSync. The tearings are not noticeable anyway.
If you use 60Hz monitor, yes, try to push the fps as high as you can, if you have fps higher than the refresh rate, you can activate VSync and you will see no stutters. You can even try to combine VSync with tripple buffering.
GSync is the ultimate solution but at the moment the price is too premium. Moving from unnoticeable tearing to no tearing is nice but with such price? well, like mentioned. It can not fully justify the premium cost unless you can really afford it. Do not force yourself to get GSync. A good 60Hz or 144Hz monitor will do just fine.
To put it short, GSync does not really worth the money today only nice to have, unless you want it real bad and can afford it.
 
Solution
Locking the FPS to match the monitors refresh rate won't get rid of tearing, that's a myth. It screen tears because the GPU and monitor aren't in sync. It will happen if you are below AND above the monitors refresh rate.

For simplicity I will use 60 and 120 Hz as examples:

A 60 Hz display refreshes every 16.67 ms, this is because 1 / 60 = 0.016 (16.67) ms. This means that the monitor picks up the frame in the GPU's frame-buffer every 16.67 ms, meanwhile the GPU draws a frame in the back-buffer. It then copies the frame in the back-buffer to the frame-buffer as often as it can.

Okay, so we know that a 60 Hz display refreshes every 16.67, but why does it tear? That is because the monitor has a set refresh rate, and it picks up the frame from the frame-buffer, at the same time the back-buffer copies it's frame to the frame-buffer.

The display don't draw induvidual pixels, it happens immediatly and parallel across all it's pixels. It's not the monitor that is half finished, it's the graphics card that is half finished and the monitor that is causing it. The monitor has a set refresh rate, again: 60 Hz = 16.67 ms. The graphics card does not.

V-sync, G-sync, FreeSync, will stop this from happening, but locking your framerate to the monitors refresh rate, will not. However, by using a faster monitor, such as the 120 Hz displays. What happens is that screen tearing occurs twice as much on a 120 Hz display, than on a 60 Hz--but why is the 120 Hz display better? That is because the difference between 2 frames, is going to be much smaller (faster). Simple math tells us that 1 / 120 = 0.008 ms. That is indeed much lower (faster) than what a 60 Hz (16.67 ms) display is capable of.

This means that the frame that is tearing, spends half as much time as the 60 Hz display, on screen. The result is that it's very hard for us to actually notice the tearing, on a 120 Hz display, in comparison to a 60 Hz display. Triple-buffering could certainly be an alternative, provided your GPU has got the small ammount of VRAM required, leftover.

But bottomline is, without V-sync, G-sync and FreeSync--you will have tearing. While a higher FPS will make the GPU render a lot more frames, which increases the chance of screen tearing, again, it doesn't mean that there is a big difference between high and low FPS, regardless of what the monitor's refresh rate is.


 
Screen tearing on fps slower than monitor refresh rate is both myth and truth.
The timing of the picture is never running constant can hit where the monitor will display pictures with tears.
I dunno how to describe this,
Monitor refresh timing. : 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
fps timing with less fps : 1 11 1 1 1 ... 1 <-- less fps than refresh rate but still potentially contain tear. The dots means also no frame. (monitor has 8 refresh timing while gpu sends 7 frames)

The faster the refresh rate, the smaller time gap between finished pictured. This make the chance of having tears smaller.
The faster the monitor finish a picture, reduce not only the tear possibility but also makes tears a lot less noticeable, if it does appear since the tear will stay shorter on the display.
The tears are there on 144Hz but not noticeable plus a lot more less likely to happen if you compare it with 60 Hz monitor.
If human eyes can not really notice a tear, that does not mean the tear is not there.