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AMD freesync coming soon, no extra costs.... shocker

It says the first, it does not say the only. Hence the question will support be added for other cards.

Gregster said:
I wonder what games will be like that don't support or work well with freesync? Can it be turned off like G-Sync?
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I expect that can be added at driver level.
 
LtMatt said:
It says the first, it does not say the only. Hence the question will support be added for other cards.
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I would imagine that by the time 'Project FreeSync' monitors hit the market the push to support EOL hardware will disappear. It does raise the curious question though. If DPAS and 'Project FreeSync' work on a VESA standard, what do the initial support GPUs have that the older ones do not?

Will it be driver development or is it a hardware limitation?
 
Rusty0611 said:
Assuming it's those ones because it requires something new which the older ones don't have.
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Those cards are GCN1.1, but you'd think the older (GCN) cards could support it as well. Maybe Thracks can confirm if support could be added for those cards, or if it is in fact a hardware limitation?

Rusty0611 said:
I added a comment to the quotes, Matt. I was distracted so didn't get them in straight away. :D
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Got it. :p

Thracks said:
Yes, FreeSync will be a toggle in the driver.
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That's good to know. :)
 
Sin_Chase said:
Correct on all the following points:
1 "Adds Value"
2 "the community have shown real interest for the technology"
3 "if i was running asus or samsung i would include it"

Here is the point you missed:

"if i was running asus or samsung i would include it", at additional cost to the end user because end user will pay because of points 1 and 2 above.

Monitor Manufacturers are NOT going to include an OPTIONAL VESA standard into a gaming monitor to support a highly anticipated feature with NO additional cost to end user. It's not going to happen. You are dreaming if you think this feature will make production without a price tag attached.
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there is more than margins for a manufacturer to get benefits, the prospect of selling more for exemple, because when someone is browsing monitors to buy, sees a value that makes him pick you over another, like freesync.
if i give you choice between 2 monitor at the same price, one with freesync and the other isn't, if you are a gamer what would you buy ?
 
Thracks said:
Q: What AMD Radeon™ GPUs are compatible with Project FreeSync?
A: The first discrete GPUs compatible with Project FreeSync are the AMD Radeon™ R9 290X, R9 290, R7 260X and R7 260 graphics cards. Project FreeSync is also compatible with AMD APUs codenamed “Kabini,” “Temash,” “Beema,” and “Mullins.” All compatible products must be connected via DisplayPort™ to a display that supports DisplayPort™ Adaptive-Sync.
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WTH where is my R9 280X, is it gonna be compatible in the long run or never ?
you said " The first discrete GPUs compatible with Project FreeSync", i am really hoping more Radeons will be compatible in the end :(
 
AlamoX said:
there is more than margins for a manufacturer to get benefits, the prospect of selling more for exemple, because when someone is browsing monitors to buy, sees a value that makes him pick you over another, like freesync.
if i give you choice between 2 monitor at the same price, one with freesync and the other isn't, if you are a gamer what would you buy ?
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You are already working from the assumption that monitors will be priced the same with the technology and without.

You are STILL failing to grasp this will not be the case. The target audience WILL pay a premium for the feature. It's new, not offered in the market currently and manufacturers will slap on a price premium.

There is more the profit than margins.....but there is more profit when you know you can sell them AND increase your margins.

It's not going to be a free implementation for the hardware manufacturers, they will seek to reclaim their costs. On an unproven technology like FreeSync, it's going to be in the margins for early adopters. Maybe, just maybe when the technology is well established and adopted FreeSync becomes a Value-Add between 2 competing monitors with no premium pricing associated.

Not for first iterations, no chance.
 
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Sin_Chase said:
You are already working from the assumption that monitors will be priced the same with the technology and without.

You are STILL failing to grasp this will not be the case. The target audience WILL pay a premium for the feature. It's new, not offered in the market currently and manufacturers will slap on a price premium.

There is more the profit than margins.....but there is more profit when you know you can sell them AND increase your margins.

It's not going to be a free implementation for the hardware manufacturers, they will seek to reclaim their costs. On an unproven technology like FreeSync, it's going to be in the margins for early adopters. Maybe, just maybe when the technology is well established and adopted FreeSync becomes a Value-Add between 2 competing monitors with no premium pricing associated.

Not for first iterations, no chance.
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ofc i dont deny the fact that early monitor could be or will be premium priced.
it's up to the manufacturers to analyze the market and see, how much margin would bring most benefit without slowing the potential sales.
if the projections lead to a peak in sales, a manufacturer could benefit more by adding the option with minimal margin(related to the cost of the tech addition) to grab that rush before other manufacturer follow the trend, rather than act as a deterrent for buyers and lose these prospect to another manufacturer because he was too greedy with the margins, as i said above, the 4k and freesync makes an interesting timing for upgrade, now some will see in it opportunity to maximize market share other will see margins, and they are the experts, not me, this is my opinion in the end and i am pretty optimistic to see this out soon and widely adopted, and it's my belief that even if the price starts high the competition will drive it down fast enough.
 
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I notice Thracks' post doesn't say it will not cost any more. It says G-Sync is expensive but doesn't mention the Freesync exactly. It does say low cost of ownership though. I'm not sure that low cost of ownership is the same as free, but I think low-cost-of-ownership-sync was probably pipped at the post when they were coming up with names :)

Thracks might want to go back and update that list to include the 5000 and 6000 series cards which a few people confirmed will work with it. :p
It is a bit interesting about the GPU support, it could be understood that the cards listed will be the first to support it and the older cards will be added later (presumably like with Mantle?) or it could just be worded like it is so that people don't get confused when the R9 390X, R9 390, etc. also support the technology.

One other difference between G-Sync and FreeSync is it's availability. G-Sync seems to already be available, just, for desktop users while FreeSync isn't, but could in theory be just around the corner for laptop users with a eDP connection and AMD graphics (assuming you can get a laptop with one of the listed cards integrated? If not, how did they demo it?)

Strikes me that in some ways this and G-Sync is a bit like Mantle and DirectX 12. One is sort of out now and one isn't out for a good few months at least. I'm not sure if that argument will carry as much weight in this 'discussion' though.

As with Mantle and DirectX 12 I think there may be some benefits and probably not any real drawbacks. So seems like it can only be a good thing.
 
So we will end up with 3 monitor types.

basic monitor, costs X .........for anyone who just needs a monitor.

basic monitor with adaptive sync, costs X +premium.....just for AMD users.

basic monitor with G-sync, costs X +premium.....just for Nvidia users.

Oh good :(
 
bru said:
So we will end up with 3 monitor types.

basic monitor, costs X .........for anyone who just needs a monitor.

basic monitor with adaptive sync, costs X +premium.....just for AMD users.

basic monitor with G-sync, costs X +premium.....just for Nvidia users.

Oh good :(
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Adaptice Sync is for AMD and nVidia.
 
Gregster said:
Adaptice Sync is for AMD and nVidia.
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Sorry just going by what the FAQ that thracks put up says.

Q: What are the requirements to use FreeSync?
A: To take advantage of the benefits of Project FreeSync, users will require: a monitor compatible with DisplayPort™ Adaptive-Sync, a compatible AMD Radeon™ GPU with a DisplayPort™ connection, and a compatible AMD Catalyst™ graphics driver. AMD plans to release a compatible graphics driver to coincide with the introduction of the first DisplayPort™ Adaptive-Sync monitors.
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one other thing, it is not just a two horse race. There are more than just AMD and Nvidia to consider, lots of other devices can connect to a monitor.
 
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