GTX 780Ti SLI Screen Tearing Questions

[JThorpe]

Hello All,

I am new to Nvidia GPU's (came from two HD 4890's in crossfire) and I have a few questions regarding GTX 780Ti in SLI.

I currently have two EVGA GTX 780Ti SC w/ACX in SLI, and I noticed that if I do not have V-Sync active there is a lot of screen tearing (mainly in AC4). I currently have a 60Mhz monitor, but I will be planning to upgrade to a 120+Mhz monitor soon.

Here are my questions:

1) Will the only way for me to remove the screen tearing is keep V-Sync on?
2) Is there a setting that I am missing (within the Nvidia software or other) to eliminate the screen tearing (other than V-Sync)?
3) If I want to go to a 120+Mhz monitor will there still be screen tearing (with V-Sync off)?
4) If I go with a 120+Hhz monitor will V-Sync set to the refresh rate of the monitor (120+Mhz) or will it stay at 60 fps (60Mhz)?
5) Would a G-Sync monitor (without V-Sync active) eliminate the screen tearing?
6) Would a Lightboost monitor do anything (still not exactly sure what Lightboost does)?

Thank you in advance for the assistance, and I apologize if this has been asked before

 

[bystander36]

1) V-sync or G-sync are the only ways to prevent tearing.
2) No, see #1
3) 120hz (not Mhz), will make tearing less obvious, but it is still there.
4) Most games will lock your FPS at your refresh rate, what ever that may be. Exceptions exist.
5) A G-sync monitor with G-sync active will eliminate tearing. Since the refresh is variable, it is as responsive as not using v-sync, but fixes tearing. Until you get to your refresh rate, latency is minimal, but near your refresh rate, you get V-sync like latency. Set a FPS limiter 5-20 FPS lower than your refresh rate to fix this.
6) Lightboost removes motion blur, primarily. G-sync has a new Lightboost mode that is optional when G-sync isn't used.

 

[Venomous]

That's the bad side of SLI/CF is the tearing. I used lightboost at 120hz and it's worked out pretty damn good for me. I'm moving to Nvidia shortly and have 2 gsync capable monitors now, so we will see which I prefer. When they can combine LB and Gsync together, that's going to be the end of our issues.

 

[apoe]

1) Will the only way for me to remove the screen tearing is keep V-Sync on?
2) Is there a setting that I am missing (within the Nvidia software or other) to eliminate the screen tearing (other than V-Sync)?
3) If I want to go to a 120+Mhz monitor will there still be screen tearing (with V-Sync off)?
4) If I go with a 120+Hhz monitor will V-Sync set to the refresh rate of the monitor (120+Mhz) or will it stay at 60 fps (60Mhz)?
5) Would a G-Sync monitor (without V-Sync active) eliminate the screen tearing?
6) Would a Lightboost monitor do anything (still not exactly sure what Lightboost does)?

1. Vsync or gsync (or freesync maybe) are the only ways to remove tearing.
2. No
3. Yes, higher refresh rate will result in less tearing, but it will always still be there without vsync / gsync etc.
4. It will be at 120, unless the game has some hard FPS cap below that. Double buffered vsync on 60 hz can do 60 / 30 / 20 / 15 fps etc., 120 hz can do 120 / 60 / 40 / 30 / 24 etc. (more "levels").
5. Yes
6. Lightboost more or less completely removes all motion blur. This comes at a cost of worse colors.

Example, for this test at 1080p:
http://www.testufo.com/#test=photo&photo=toronto-map.png&pps=960&pursuit=0&height=0

I can read the street names at 120 fps / 120 hz, but it takes a bit of work. Still blurry.
With lightboost on at 120 fps / 120 hz, it is crystal clear, as clear as if the image was not moving at all. I can double the panning speed to 1920 pixels per second and still read the street names.

I highly recommend reading these links, it should answer any questions you have about response time, tearing, etc.

http://pcmonitors.info/articles/factors-affecting-pc-monitor-responsiveness
http://www.blurbusters.com/zero-motion-blur/lightboost-faq/

 

[imaheadcase]

If for some reason you see screen tearing, you prob don't need that fast of GPU. You could get by fine on a cheaper GPU adn limit frames.

Saved you 700+ dollars.

 

[apoe]

If for some reason you see screen tearing, you prob don't need that fast of GPU. You could get by fine on a cheaper GPU adn limit frames.

Saved you 700+ dollars.

Screen tearing happens regardless of your frame rate as long as you are not using vsync.

 

[bystander36]

A couple notes.

Lightboost messes up color, but G-sync's improved version does not.

120hz does not reduce the number of tears. It just makes the tearing go away faster, and have less tears showing at a time.

You get exactly 1 tear per frame created. The higher your FPS, the more tears you get. Every refresh the monitor gives, removes existing tears, which is why it is less visible at double the refresh rate.

 

[apoe]

Lightboost messes up color, but G-sync's improved version does not.

Do you know how they managed to do that? Benefits of lightboost without any downsides sounds too good to be true... I hope all monitors support something like this in the future.

$100 extra for nearly complete motion blur removal with no downsides... more tempting than the gsync feature itself.

 

[bystander36]

Do you know how they managed to do that? Benefits of lightboost without any downsides sounds too good to be true... I hope all monitors support something like this in the future.

$100 extra for nearly complete motion blur removal with no downsides... more tempting than the gsync feature itself.

I don't recall the article I read it in, but reviews have confirmed it works.

What I recall reading is that the quick flash of the backlight causes color to get distorted. They also said that varying refresh rates can cause color to get distorted. One of the features of G-sync is to adjust the color for those conditions, on the fly.

 

[Pandamonia]

Cap FPS to 59 and turn Vsync on.

Problem is solved

 

[apoe]

Cap FPS to 59 and turn Vsync on.

Problem is solved

This can reduce the input lag caused by vsync, but since the frame rate is not harmonic 1/n of the refresh rate, it causes vsync stutter (1 stutter / second), which will look like microstutter to people sensitive to that.

Same reason many people OC their monitors to 72 hz for displaying 24 fps content, it divides evenly so there is no stutter.

For perfectionists that don't want tearing or stutter it's probably not enough. That's where the pricey Gsync comes in...

I don't recall the article I read it in, but reviews have confirmed it works.

What I recall reading is that the quick flash of the backlight causes color to get distorted. They also said that varying refresh rates can cause color to get distorted. One of the features of G-sync is to adjust the color for those conditions, on the fly.

After some reading on blurbusters, apparently the bad colors from lightboost is not an inherent problem with strobe backlight technology, the colors are that way because it was designed for 3D (hence the slight red tint). Gsync ULMB and BenQ’s equivalent Motion Blur Reduction will provide the benefits of lightboost without much of a color change. I see this becoming a standard option on all future high refresh rate monitors, starting with BenQ's Z series.

 

[tweakboy]

Just turn vsync ON. and make no other messed up tweaks.. gl