PC gamers are used to being told to choose a side, whether it's Intel, AMD, or Nvidia. That's not necessarily a bad thing, given that such fierce competition is what gives us shiny new gadgets to tinker with every so often, but it can cause slight compatibility issues down the road if you're not careful what you buy. Hop over from the red team to the green, and you might not have access to the same features on your display as you once did. Fortunately, the OMEN X 25f gaming monitor blends both FreeSync and G-Sync seamlessly, so you'll never be locked into one or the other.
Most PC gamers want the highest frame rate possible, but it's no use just kitting out your rig with the best graphics card or performing a U upgrade if your monitor can't keep up. There's also a bit more to it than just forking out for a high refresh rate.
If you're on Nvidia, you'll want the company's proprietary G-Sync technology built into the display to synchronise your frame rate with your refresh rate. This doesn't work with AMD graphics cards, however, which require FreeSync to do the same job.
Why do you need to sync your frame rate with your refresh rate, we hear you ask? The short answer is that you don't if all you want is a working display, but you do if you value quality, need to gain the competitive edge, or simply want to get your money's worth. Sure, your monitor can throw up an image by plugging your PC into it, but a lack of synchronisation can cause screen tearing, stuttering, and input lag in your games.
Screen tearing is when the visuals of your game become disted, much like ripping up a photograph and piecing it back together wrong. When this happens, a portion of the screen sticks on the previous image, failing to catch up while the rest of the visuals progress at a normal pace. This happens because your graphics card is chugging out more frames than your monitor's refresh rate can handle, throwing a spanner in the works during important matches. It can also cause two or more frames to overlap, resulting in similarly jerky movements.
If you've ever rummaged through the settings of a game, you might've noticed an option for 'Vsync' that you can toggle on or off. Vertical sync, as it's otherwise called, is the original synchronisation technology made to cap your frame rate and unify it with your monitor's refresh rate, reducing the chances of screen tearing and other artifacting.
There are more advanced adaptations around, such as:
- AdaptiveSync – Nvidia's technology which automatically enables and disables VSync when the fps of the game exceeds or falls below the refresh rate of the monitor
- Enhanced Sync – AMD's version of AdvancedSync
- FastSync – Nvidia's improvement on AdaptiveSync that throws automatic triple buffering into the mix, which uses a lot of power to pick the best frame data at any given time
These all rely on Vsync, however, which is not without its issues, as you're stuck with fewer frames and it doesn't for the potential for sudden drops.
When you reach more demanding areas of a videogame, whether you prefer to play FPS games and someone chucks a 'nade your way, you might see your frame rate dip below 144fps, 120fps, or, knock on wood, 60fps. This can also happen when your system is multitasking too much, such as when you're streaming or rendering something in the background while still trying to game.
If you have Vsync switched on when your gaming PC is pumping out fewer frames than your monitor's refresh rate, you will instead experience screen stuttering. This becomes apparent when you begin to blink around like Tracer from Overwatch, and your game appears to be visibly lagging – similar to a slideshow presentation. If you experience this, there's little that can be done other than switching Vsync off and putting a cap on the frame rate of individual games to prevent screen tearing – that is unless you have G-Sync or FreeSync.
What, exactly, is Nvidia's G-Sync
Unlike movies and television which use static frame rates, videogames use variable frame rates that fluctuate depending on what's happening at any given time. Nvidia's G-Sync was the first Vsync alternative introduced in 2013 to for this, scaling the synchronisation in real-time by making the display's refresh rate adapt rather than your system.
G-Sync is a proprietary technology made by Nvidia, requiring a specific module housed inside GeForce GTX 650 Ti or greater desktop graphics cards and anything higher than a GTX 965M.
Originally, this stirred some controversy because of the tacked onto the technology, noticeably bumping up the price of gaming monitors that used it. The problem with this is that once gamers took the leap and bought a G-Sync monitor, they were locked into Nvidia's ecosystem when upgrading their graphics card – unless they purchase yet another monitor with AMD's FreeSync.
FreeSync is the alternative for AMD s
AMD responded with its own version in 2014, and its name rubs salt in the wound of anyone that forked out for Nvidia's G-Sync. Known as FreeSync, the technology is derived from the open-source VESA Adaptive Sync standard and is partly a software solution, meaning that there are no extra costs to be ed onto you, the player.
Although it's significantly cheaper than Nvidia's version, FreeSync is only compatible with AMD graphics cards and, once again, makes it difficult to jump over to the green team if, say, a compelling new graphics card has just provided the biggest generational leap for a fraction of the cost.
In 2017, AMD launched an upgraded version that was briefly called FreeSync 2 and FreeSync 2 HDR before reemerging as FreeSync and FreeSync Pro, respectively. Although the original FreeSync should still be a better preventative of screen tearing and stuttering than Vsync at most frame rates, it was designed with 60Hz in mind. Both FreeSync and Pro provide better for higher refresh rates that are120Hz or greater, for low frame rate compensation (LFC), and Pro even boasts for HDR.
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The OMEN monitor that combines FreeSync and G-Sync
So, if these technologies are exclusive, how exactly does the OMEN X 25f gaming monitor use both G-Sync and FreeSync? Well, early in 2019, the G-Sync Compatible initiative was unveiled, which granted select Nvidia graphics the ability to use approved AMD's FreeSync monitors. Nvidia FreeSync, as we've taken to calling it, is available on GeForce GTX 10-series of graphics cards and above running driver version 417.71 or higher.
Wearing the G-Sync Compatible badge of honour means that Nvidia has given the OMEN X 25f the thumbs up, as it meets the company's strict requirements to beat screen tearing. It also means you won't be stuck in a particular ecosystem, allowing you to unleash the full potential of the new Radeon RX 6000 series graphics cards, depending on your preference.
How you can set up G-Sync and FreeSync
It's incredibly easy to activate FreeSync or G-Sync on the OMEN X 25f in just a few clicks. Just make sure you've updated to the latest Nvidia or AMD drivers and follow the instructions below.
Everything should be active by default for AMD s, but if you wanted to check manually, simply:
- Hop into the Radeon Settings by right clicking your desktop
- Go to the 'Display' tab
- Confirm that 'AMD FreeSync' is on
- Head into the 'Gaming' tab
- Select a game
- Check that AMD FreeSync is set to 'AMD optimized', which means the best settings will be applied automatically. You can also turn FreeSync on or off from this menu
If you're an Nvidia , all you need to do to turn this feature on is:
- Bring up the Nvidia Control by right-clicking your desktop
- Choose 'Set up G-Sync' under the 'Display' section
- Select your monitor if you have more than one connected
- Tick the box for 'Enable G-Sync, G-Sync Compatible'
- Tick the box for 'Enable settings for the selected display model'
- Hit 'Apply'
- Repeat these steps if more than one of your displays s FreeSync
If you want to find out more about the versatility of the OMEN X 25f gaming monitor, head over to the HP Store.