How important is G-sync for 1440p at 144 Hz?

[jmlfalcons]

So I have a GTX 1080 with an AOC 2460 PG (1080p TN 144Hz G-sync), but I'm looking at Massdrop's Viotek GN32Q (1440p VA 144Hz, Freesync). The question is: Is gaining the extra monitor size and resolution worth the drop of G-sync? The AOC is super smooth to play on, but I've never really been impressed with the colors or resolution. 144Hz IPS monitors with G-sync are just way out of my price range. I mostly play strategy games, so having a good picture is probably preferable to smoothness, but nobody wants stuttering and tearing. Thoughts/recommendations?

 

[cherry blossoms]

If you don't have G-Sync, with v-sync on, your monitor will refresh fullscreen at fractions of the full refresh rate if your card can't pump out enough frames at fractions = R/x, where x=2,3,4, etc. So figure 144Hz, 72 Hz, 48Hz, etc, depending on how many frames you miss. This is instant if you miss a frame, and may lead to a perception of stuttering, depending on your tolerance for those drops.

Without v-sync, tearing of course, but at high refresh rates, less noticeable. All depends on your tolerance.

Simulate it with turning off your G-Sync on your current monitor and play the games you intend to play. Not a perfect 1:1 comparison, but with G-Sync disabled, how do those modes look to you? Enabling triple buffering may help btw.

 

[jmlfalcons]

Thanks for the response and good points. I didn't think about just turning the G-sync off and seeing how I feel about it. Part of the issue is that my computer doesn't really struggle holding 144 Hz at 1080p so the frame rate drops only occur very briefly during rapid scrolling or zooming. My concern would be on that these drops would be more noticeable (and frequent) on 1440 and not having g-sync would make it worse. And I can't actually see what that would be like without a 1440 monitor. So there is the catch.

 

[cherry blossoms]

Dynamic Super Resolution (DSR) sampling to simulate the increased resolution may be helpful to account for that difference. This would be in your NVidia control panel. This would render at that increased resolution, then sample down, thus driving your card harder.