Sometimes you just have to throw your hands up and admit the following: you done messed up. In my case, I recently came to the embarrassing conclusion that I’d been using the incorrect V-Sync setting based on my current PC setup for quite some time. And said screw-up had been hampering my favorite Steam games in a way I’m only just realizing.
Despite owning Nvidia GPUs since 2014, it wasn't until a few months ago that I found out I was enabling the wrong graphics settings through the Nvidia Control Panel. Because of this fog-brained error, almost every title I was running on my PC felt more sluggish than it should.
If you’re like me and own a Team Green graphics card, read on to school yourself on the one crucial video setting you should probably disable if you’re lucky enough to have a high-end rig.
Nvidia Says You Should Turn Off This Feature to Fix the Reduced Performance With the Nvidia App
The Nvidia App has a bug that will take away some of your GPU's performance.
V-Sync vs. Fast Sync
Comparing the two PC-focused frame technologies
Let’s cut back to basics for a moment. V-Sync or “Vertical Synchronization” is a form of video game-focused display technology that matches the number of frames your GPU is rendering with the refresh rate of your display.
The big upsides of said tech? V-Sync eliminates screen tearing (a graphical defect that occurs when your GPU and screen are out of sync in terms of the frames they can display). The major downside of V-Sync? It can substantially increase input lag.
Enter Fast-Sync (or V-Sync Fast). While traditional V-Sync is available on all manner of PC configurations, Fast-Sync only works with systems that have Nvidia GPUs. When enabled, this Nvidia-only feature slaps the kibosh on screen-treating. Yet unlike V-Sync, latency/input lag figures should be roughly as low as if V-Sync were switched off entirely.
How does Fast Sync achieve such impressively speedy response times? It’s because, with this setting enabled, your Nvidia GPU will render as many frames as it is physically capable of, but crucially, it will only display the most recent, natively rendered one.
In short, Fast Sync gives you all the benefits of V-Sync, while also cutting out that oh-so distracting input lag. There are minor issues with Fast Sync, which I’ll get to in a little bit, but first, let’s crunch some numbers.
Reducing input lag
The one area Fast Sync slays V-Sync
Before I break down the following stats in easy-to-digest table form, I’ll provide some context. The recent reason I’ve become so acutely aware of the latency woes associated with V-Sync? That's because Nvidia’s latest update has made me a frame generation believer.
From my experience, Nvidia Dynamic Multi Frame Generation tech does not play nicely with V-Sync. I’ve tested a bunch of titles with Team Green’s latest MFG update, and a good number of games produce strange visual hiccups when V-Sync is enabled. The most recent example I can think of at the time of writing? That would be super-distracting shimmering whenever on-screen text appeared in the otherwise incredible Resident Evil Requiem.
In general, I’ve found that replacing V-Sync with Fast-Sync via the Nvidia Control panel on a PC that costs more than my car has been nothing but beneficial. Not only has it reduced visual bugs in cutting-edge games that support frame gen, but more crucially, it’s also sliced my input lag numbers, as you can see in a table that's about to pop up shortly.
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5080
- Brand
- Gigabyte
- GPU Speed
- 2.73 GHz
- Memory
- 16GB
- Power
- 360W TDP
- CUDA Cores
- 10,752
The Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5080 delivers next-generation performance for gaming and creative workloads, featuring advanced ray tracing, AI-enhanced graphics, and high-speed GDDR7 memory. Its robust cooling system ensures stable operation under load, while factory overclocking and modern connectivity make it ideal for high-resolution gaming, streaming, and demanding GPU-intensive tasks.
Why is video game latency important?
The slower the response, the worse the gameplay feels
There’s a good chance the numbers in that table I'm (honestly) about to get to may not mean that much to you. And if so, I totally get it. Video games should be enjoyed in a way that doesn’t involve constant number-crunching.
Yet if you own an RTX 5090 souped-up PC like I do, you're inevitably going to obsess about frame times and latency stats in the futile pursuit of justifying a $2700 outlay on the fastest consumer graphics card on the market. Please note: the testing figures below were set at 4K/lUltra settings with max ray-tracing enabled and 4x MFG switched on.
|
Game tested |
Lowest input lag (V-Sync) |
Highest input lag (V-Sync) |
Lowest input lag (Fast Sync) |
Highest input lag (Fast Sync) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Crimson Desert |
65ms |
80ms |
41ms |
63ms |
|
Cyberpunk 2077 |
80ms |
103ms |
39ms |
67ms |
|
GTA V Enhanced |
76ms |
88ms |
37ms |
49ms |
|
Resident Evil Requiem |
63ms |
82ms |
59ms |
74ms |
All I can say is this: the lower those latency figures, the better a game feels to play. Of the four titles I tested above, some come close to producing half the input latency with x4 MFG enabled when Fast Sync is used as opposed to V-Sync.
If you have the hardware, you need to turn on Fast Sync
This is the point that if you’re a savvy PC gamer, you should feel fairly smug. Yes, I’ve made a V-Sync mistake for longer than you probably would have. But hey, at least I’m owning up to my error in judgment now, right? Also, while you’re judging me, here's why I replaced my monitor with a TV.
If you own an Nvidia GPU and a high refresh rate display, you should probably switch from V-Sync to Fast Sync. Though the latter tech isn’t quite flawless yet, it will help to reduce latency in your favorite PC games. In short, V-Sync had its time. Now let the reign of Fast Sync commence. I’m sure unbelievably geeky PC players (like myself) will be breaking out the bunting any second.