Fixed Refresh Rate vs. Variable Refresh Rate (VRR): When to turn G-Sync off
Key Takeaway
- The VRR Advantage: Variable Refresh Rate (G-Sync/FreeSync) perfectly matches your monitor's Hz to your GPU's framerate, eliminating screen tearing and stuttering without the massive input lag penalty of traditional V-Sync.
- The Fixed Rate Advantage: At extremely high framerates (e.g., 500fps+ in CS2), screen tearing becomes virtually invisible. A fixed refresh rate ensures the monitor is always ready to scan the newest frame immediately.
- Input Lag Variance: VRR can introduce microscopic variances in input lag depending on where the frame is in the render queue. Fixed refresh rate provides absolute consistency for muscle memory.
- Strobing Compatibility: You must use a fixed refresh rate to enable advanced motion clarity technologies like ULMB 2 or DyAc.
For the vast majority of PC gamers, the advice is simple: turn on G-Sync or FreeSync, cap your framerate slightly below your maximum refresh rate, and enjoy tear-free gaming. However, if you watch professional esports players configure their PCs, you will often see them deliberately disable Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) in favor of a Fixed Refresh Rate. Why would anyone turn off such a highly praised feature? Let's dive into the technical reasons.
How VRR Actually Works
Without VRR, your monitor refreshes at a fixed interval (e.g., every 6.9ms for a 144Hz monitor). If your GPU finishes rendering a frame halfway through that interval, it swaps the frame while the monitor is drawing. The top half of your screen shows the old frame, the bottom half shows the new frame. This is called screen tearing.
VRR fixes this by making the monitor a slave to the GPU. The monitor waits until the GPU has completely finished rendering the frame, and then it refreshes. This eliminates tearing and makes fluctuating framerates (like dropping from 120fps to 90fps) feel incredibly smooth.
Why Pros Turn VRR Off
If VRR is so great, why disable it? It comes down to three factors: framerate overhead, input lag consistency, and backlight strobing.
1. The "Tearing is Invisible" Threshold
Screen tearing is highly visible at 60Hz because the tear stays on screen for a long time. However, if you are playing Valorant at 500fps on a 360Hz monitor, the frames are cycling so incredibly fast that any screen tearing is practically invisible to the human eye. The primary benefit of VRR is no longer needed.
2. Input Lag Consistency
To use VRR properly without adding V-Sync lag, you must cap your framerate below your monitor's max refresh rate (e.g., capping at 357fps on a 360Hz monitor). This means your game engine is artificially delaying frames to stay under the cap.
By turning VRR off and letting the game run completely uncapped (e.g., 700fps), you ensure that the game engine is processing your mouse inputs as fast as physically possible. Even though the monitor can only display 360 of those frames, the frame it does display will contain slightly newer input data than a capped VRR frame.
3. Backlight Strobing (ULMB 2)
As we discussed in our ULMB 2 guide, backlight strobing technologies provide the absolute best motion clarity by flashing the backlight on and off. This requires a perfectly predictable, fixed refresh rate. You cannot strobe a backlight if the refresh rate is constantly varying. Therefore, to get the clearest possible image, VRR must be disabled.
The Verdict: Which Should You Use?
Use VRR (G-Sync/FreeSync) if: You are playing graphically demanding single-player games (Cyberpunk, Starfield) where your framerate fluctuates heavily and rarely hits your monitor's maximum refresh rate.
Use Fixed Refresh Rate if: You are playing highly optimized esports titles (CS2, Valorant, Rocket League) where your PC can easily push hundreds of frames per second beyond your monitor's maximum refresh rate, or if you want to use backlight strobing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does turning off G-Sync increase FPS?
G-Sync itself does not lower your maximum FPS. However, the framerate cap required to use G-Sync properly does. Turning both off allows your GPU to render as many frames as possible.
What happens if my FPS drops below my Hz with VRR off?
If you are playing at 144Hz but only getting 90fps with VRR off, you will experience severe stuttering and screen tearing. This is the exact scenario VRR was invented to fix.
Should I use V-Sync with G-Sync?
Yes. The optimal setup for VRR is: G-Sync ON in NVCP, V-Sync ON in NVCP, V-Sync OFF in-game, and an in-game framerate cap 3-4 FPS below your max refresh rate.
Is Fast Sync better than VRR?
Fast Sync (NVIDIA) or Enhanced Sync (AMD) allows the GPU to render uncapped frames but drops the excess frames to prevent tearing. It is a good alternative to VRR for esports, but can introduce micro-stutters.
Does VRR add input lag?
Properly configured VRR adds roughly 1 millisecond of input lag compared to completely uncapped, tearing V-Sync OFF. For 99% of players, this is imperceptible.
How do I know if VRR is active?
Most gaming monitors have an OSD setting to display the current real-time refresh rate. If it fluctuates while you play, VRR is working. You can also test your base Hz below.
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