AMD and FreeSync

[David Bisset]

Simple explanation, adaptive sync (Freesync, Gsync, etc) is something you won't miss until you try it, then you will hate not having it. The are two main types Freesync and Gsync, these can be compared to VHS and Betamax, two competing standards devised by competing companies. Freesync only works with AMD GPUs (though others can license it) and Gsync only works with Nvidia GPUs. The two are visually indistinguishable to humans and so the isn't really much difference from the user experience POV. In order to take advantage of either the monitor must support it.

As per the first question, if you're seeing tearing then yes it's definitely worth looking into adaptive sync if your planning a new monitor purchase.

Adaptive sync is the industry standard as devised by vesa, which includes amd, nvidia and intel. It's not one standard per manufacturer. All three support adaptive sync with the caveat that nvidia disable it on their desktop gpus to create a market for gsync.

Freesync is the name given to amd's adaptive sync, and also sometimes includes some stuff outwith the spec such as sync over hdmi.

 

[heatonpkmassive]

Happy with the R290 though - running PUBG on high settings with no slow down feels like a whole new wolrd!

The 290 is still a stonking card, I got rid of mine way too soon. My mate bought it off me a couple of years ago and he's still gaming very happily with it.

 

[mods1965]

My MSI reference R9 290 will be four years old in January. I have it paired with a Samsung C27HG70 and so far 1440P has not been a problem with its FreeSync range 48-144hz.
It was a noisy and hot card when I bought it, but EK water block and backplate resolved that. Overall, this is a reliable card, which has improved with driver updates over the years.

 

[Marine-RX179]

My MSI reference R9 290 will be four years old in January. I have it paired with a Samsung C27HG70 and so far 1440P has not been a problem with its FreeSync range 48-144hz.
It was a noisy and hot card when I bought it, but EK water block and backplate resolved that. Overall, this is a reliable card, which has improved with driver updates over the years.

Yea the Hawaii cards (290 series) aged really well...it is like the 8800GTX back in the days, or the Q6600 for the CPU side of things.

I also got my reference 290x on release (I am really glad to have gotten that instead of the GTX780!), and have a play around with trying different 3rd party coolers, and eventually settled on using the Corsair HG10 A1 mount bracket together with a Corsair H105 AIO. Now 4 years have passed, the problem now I face is that the Vega is not as big as an upgrade that I am hoping for (not GTX1080Ti level)...and even if I was to go for it, there's no elegant way of mounting my H105 AIO onto it, as there's no 3rd party manufacturer making compatible mount bracket.

 

[ubersonic]

Adaptive sync is the industry standard as devised by vesa, which includes amd, nvidia and intel. It's not one standard per manufacturer.

Vesa Adaptive Sync, AMD Freesync and Nvidia Gsync are all types of adaptive sync. Freesync and Gsync being the only two the consumer really needs to care about and are (currently) manufacturer specific.

 

[gupsterg]

Appreciate the feedback one and all. I'll look in to getting one when there's a deal on or after Christmas

Happy with the R290 though - running PUBG on high settings with no slow down feels like a whole new wolrd!

IMO you won't regret going FreeSync, personally I found it a bigger must have than going higher refresh rate monitor.

I tried a gtx 1080 on my 34 ultra wide freesync and noticed a huge difference.
Even at a higher FPS from the 1080 my v56 still was much smoother.

+1, I went GTX 1080 on ASUS MG279Q. I had been using a Fury X with it. 2 titles I had a lot of hours of usage with I tried on GTX 1080 without using variable refresh rate tech and it killed gaming experience for me. As I had already sold my Fury X prior to buying GTX 1080 and had not envisaged I'd miss variable refresh rate tech I went VEGA then. I couldn't be bothered to have hassle of disposing of MG279Q and paying a premium for G-Sync panel if I wanted the like model with it.

 

[D1craig]

i have been looking at getting a freesync monitor and came across the 2 ultrawide ones on the website. the cheaper ones mind. is LFC really that big a deal? both the ones im looking at dont have it but only do freesync from 48-75 i think. would it still be better than a non sync monitor? ive a rx 480.

LG freesync ultrawide.
£280
£260

 

[David Bisset]

Vesa Adaptive Sync, AMD Freesync and Nvidia Gsync are all types of adaptive sync. Freesync and Gsync being the only two the consumer really needs to care about and are (currently) manufacturer specific.

Except that all 3 main manufacturers support* adaptive sync - Intel remain the largest graphics provider by a long way, though to be fair their large existing installed base do not support it but have said they're adding it to their next iGPU... Of course salt required. nvidia support it with their mobile GPUs. As I said in the post you quoted, only nvidia on desktop do not & are not yet looking like adding it, by choice now if by hardware limitation on initial release.

Yes, on these forums that is a *very* significant omission. But to ignore adaptive sync being the standard is misleading especially for generic 'consumers' as you put it.

 

[MoNkeE]

Looks like I've got an ASUS MG248QR arriving next week - looking forward to seeing how it looks

Big thanks to all the advice in this thread!

 

[heatonpkmassive]

Be sure to come back and tell us what you think, I reckon you'll be happy.