G-Syng not as smooth as it should be?

First things first my system

4670k

980 ti

Asus Maximus VI Hero

8GB RAM

650 Gold+ PSU

I've only tested this with a couple games since I have reformatted to rule that out as a problem. I've even gone from windows 7 > 10 and it's still the same. I feel as though G-Sync is not as smooth as it should be (aka I hoped for). I was under the immpression it will elimated stutter, granted to stay above 60 FPS. However in 2 games I've tried WoW and Witcher 3, I feel like either the games don't like it or my expectations were too high.

In WoW running side to side with my focus on a lamp post, building or w.e. I notice it doesn't smoothly go across the screen. It VERY slightly skips/stutters occasionally. Now this isn't the end of the world and I don't really notice it, say I'm in a dungeon... cause I'm not running back and forth looking at a lamp post. However I want to make sure this is... normal? Having spent so much money on a monitor, I just want to make sure it's not defective. Now I know this is solely related to G-sync. I turned on the fixed refresh rate and brought it down to 60 with vsync and things glide smoothly across the screen.

Now I figured WoW is old and maybe it doesn't like g sync so much. So I booted up the Witcher 3 and spun my camera around with a controller so it's nice and steady (GF obviously thinks I'm crazy at this point). And I notice it's doing the same thing, very slight stutter I can notice on the trees as they go across the screen (FPS was between 65-80 during this). Again like in WoW I don't really notice it much when actually playing.

I just don't know if my expectations are were too high for G-sync. I figured as long as you said between 60-144 then everything would be smoother than butter, Is the slight stutter I see a problem with G-sync? Is it normal and that's just the variable refresh rate I'm seeing? Or did I just try 2 bad games that don't fully support/ultilize G-sync?

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Vandragorax

Hi Heavenswake, there are a few things to address here:

1) NVIDIA drivers currently have a known issue with G-sync in windowed mode in all versions of Windows, so the first thing to check is that your NVIDIA control panel is set to enable g-sync for full screen mode only (NV Control Panel > Set up G-SYNC > Enable G-SYNC for full screen mode). Also ensure that you run your games in fullscreen mode, and not 'windowed' and not 'fullscreen windowed' either. This could well be the problem you have with WoW as I know a lot of people run that game in a fullscreen window, not proper fullscreen. This is likely to be addressed by NVIDIA in the future, but currently it is a known issue in all of the driver patch notes so do not expect G-Sync to work in any windowed applications.

2) In the NVIDIA control panel, you can go to the File menu at the top and click "Display > G-SYNC Indicator". This will allow you to see whether G-sync is actually working or not when you run applications/games by showing a bar on the left-hand side of the screen just above centre which says "G-sync" when it's running correctly. If you turn this setting on and don't see the G-sync logo, then your application or other g-sync settings may not be enabled correctly and this is why you still see tearing.

3) Finally, G-sync is one of those weird technologies that you don't really notice when it's working, but you really notice it when you've been using it for a while and you go back to doing without it. It's not a massive revolution like some of the hype suggests, but it does improve the game experience drastically in some situations. One of the places I noticed G-sync the most was when playing Shadow of Mordor. If you own this game, there is a place where you can view trophies and move them around the screen in a 2d axis to look for hidden clues/text. If you run this game with g-sync on, moving these objects around the screen is completely buttery smooth and looks fantastic, but try it after disabling g-sync and you notice all the horrible tearing and stutter as the object moves around the screen.

I hope this info helps you a bit, to be honest I expect it could be because you're running in windowed mode as point 1) suggests, and if you start running games in fullscreen then you will be able to benefit from g-sync Smiley Happy

Let me know how you get on!

Vand

chitown3

Vandragorax is correct it's an Nvidia issue with windowed fullscreen gsync. I was having this issue and reverted back to 358.59 and gsync windowed/windowed fullscreen works fine now.

Heavenswake

1) Using 358.91 and 359.00 have the same results. Is the issue with windowed only? Going into full screen and making sure G-Sync is set to full screen only ends up with the same kind of stuttering.

2) Having the display on I can see that G-Sync is enabled in both windowed and full screen mode, but it doesn't seem to be working as I stutter.

3) I decided to download the Valley benchmark to see if it stutters in there. I noticed no stuttering at all. Hell I was even impressed that 50 FPS was so smooth going back and forth in the trees (GF continues to make fun of me and asks me if I'm ok). So I know G-sync works and it's most likely the games fault, I mean.. I hope it's just the games/drivers fault.

And # Chitown3: I don't see 358.59 as an option from nvidia. It's either 358.00 or 358.87

Heavenswake

Found the driver you mentioned. Same thing happens.

Vandragorax

Yes, the NVIDIA drivers do not currently allow g-sync to work in anything OTHER than Fullscreen mode. So run all your games in Fullscreen mode with latest drivers, until they fix it.

If you see the G-sync logo following point 2 above, then it's definitely working, and the stuttering will be for some other reason. G-sync should stop tearing (as shown in the NVIDIA Pendulum demo) but won't remove stuttering or frame-rate spikes. Perhaps you were expecting too much from it and you need to investigate why your frame rate is spiking so much as it's likely to be another cause, perhaps overheating or other programs hogging memory (like anti-virus) Smiley Happy

Heavenswake

I've tried a couple of drivers now. All with full screen (even tried borderless for testing purposes).

I've tried a couple of games so far.

Witcher 3: Slight stutter outdoors and major stutter in cities

Portal 2: Don't really notice stuttering

WoW: Stutter

GTA 5: Stutter

Batman Akham Knight: Stutter (though I read it has a problem with windows 10)

Borderlands 2: Stutter

Bioshock Infinite: Stutter

I've lowered settings in all games to get a consistant number for each. I test all my games the same and just spin the camera and just notice lamp posts/buildings/signs all stutter slightly as they go across my screen. It's not a hard stutter like the entire screen freezes for a second.

I got this monitor because stuttering bothers me. Yet all it has really done is add stuttering that was never there before. And going to a fixed refresh with v sync gets rid of it.

chitown3

Yes I should have mentioned that. My configuration is as follows. Gsync on in Nvidia control panel and off in all games. Also a good test would be to try the Nvidia pendelum test. I was having screen tearing issues with the latest Nvidia drivers but when I reverted to 358.59, the screen tearing stopped. Havent messed with other drivers because that was the latest stable driver for me so I just went back to that. Also I run all games in windowed fullscre/ borderless.

Also note, gsync windowed mode may still be broken but I def do not have any screen tearing and or stuttering. Running a i74790k with a 980Ti

Heavenswake

I did exactly that but it only translate to like 1 game. The demo looks nice and unigine valley looks good, but only one game works like that =/.

Sperber

Even G-Sync can't completely smoothen out a game's FPS if the game's engine causes those stutterings by having to load texture and geometry data from disk to memory or from memory to VRAM. And that could be the case in some games that use level-data streaming (in particular open-world games) in contrast to those that load entire levels behind loading screens (like regular linear shooters).

If a game's scenery is very complex, even just turning your camera 360° can cause a game to constantly load and discard texture data. Games like id's Rage were notorious for that.

Heavenswake

I didn't think G-Sync would magically fix problems that some games have. However I expected games that already run just fine, like WoW for example. I played for years at 60 FPS at 60HZ with no stuttering. Now that I have this super awesome monitor with G-Sync it's now stuttering. Even limiting my monitor to 60hz WITH G-Sync it causes stutter. Capped at 144 FPS with G-Sync it still stutters. Turning off G-Sync the stutter goes away.

If this is normal G-Sync then it is not for me. And all the clains that "all my games are buttery smooth" makes me think people were lying.

Vandragorax

The only other thing I can think of is that perhaps you've disabled v-sync entirely which is causing g-sync to get disabled when you exceed the refresh rate of the monitor. If you follow this article you will see what I'm talking about: http://www.geforce.co.uk/whats-new/articles/g-sync-gets-even-better

"For enthusiasts, we’ve included a new advanced control option that enables G-SYNC to be disabled when the frame rate of a game exceeds the maximum refresh rate of the G-SYNC monitor. For instance, if your frame rate can reach 250 on a 144Hz monitor, the new option will disable G-SYNC once you exceed 144 frames per second. Doing so will disable G-SYNCs goodness and reintroduce tearing, which G-SYNC eliminates, but it will improve input latency ever so slightly in games that require lighting fast reactions."

I think this is what you might be experiencing, so please try the following:

1) You need to check that you turn "Vertical Sync" to "On" in the "Manage 3d Settings > Global Settings" tab of NVIDIA control panel.

I would strongly suggest to leave V-sync ON as mentioned above so that their "enthusiast" mode cr4p doesn't start disabling G-sync at random moments if your frame rate exceeds the monitor refresh (which could easily happen on your 980ti).

If this doesn't help, then if you could upload a short video to demonstrate what you mean by this "stutter" it will be a lot easier to try to diagnose it.

Cheers,

Vand Smiley Happy

Heavenswake

I tried those settings. G-Sync on and V-Sync enabled in the control panel (V-Sync off ingame). I can tell G-Sync on because I turn on the indicator for all my test just to be certain. Also for testing purposes I took my monitor to my GFs PC (2500k, 970, 8GM RAM, 800W PSU) and it was happening on her PC as well. Which is leading me to consider that it's either the monitors fault or that's just the way G-sync is.

As for a video I've tried using MSI afterburner to record but the entire video is choppy and not reflective of what I see on my screen. I also tried my phone camera but I think it's limited to 30 FPS so it's also not close to what I actually see.

Vandragorax

I guess it is possible that you have a defective unit then. It certainly shouldn't be constantly stuttering or tearing when g-sync is on, especially with your hardware setup. I have a similar setup but with a GTX780 and I certainly don't see any stuttering when I play the Witcher 3 on max settings with g-sync on.

Perhaps it's worth contacting Acer support via the phone and arranging for them to take a look at a repair under warranty? If it's only happening when g-sync is enabled, then that would lead me to believe it's a problem with the g-sync unit, or the display port connection - and you've ruled out your rig setup as it does the same on a whole different PC too. We seem to have ruled out other software setup issues.

Heavenswake

I feel some games are the problems themselves. However games such as WoW and CoD BO3 I still notice the ever so slight judder when panning my camera. Upon further investigation I was linked to http://www.testufo.com/#test=frameskipping and I feel my monitor may be suffering from frame skipping.

I've tested so many different drivers, and my GFs PC with really old drivers (she never likes to update them). And I came to this http://i.imgur.com/ttJiTTf.jpg from the frame skip test.

Vandragorax

Sorry that I can't help you any more with this. I will check my monitor using the frameskip test when I get home later and post back with what mine looks like for you to compare, if that's useful, although I'm using the X34 and it seems like you're using something different as your photo shows 144hz.

Heavenswake

Well after much testing I finally gave into the fact that's just the way it is. I was content for a while til my monitor developed multiple faint lines going across the screen so I went ahead and RMAed it. However this is taking a while and I stand to be monitorless for longer than I ever had the monitor and essentially paid full price for a refurbed monitor, this is pretty rediculous.

Heavenswake

Well having waited over 2 weeks to get my monitor back I now have to contact support yet again as my replacement has a scratch in the screen. Here comes another 2 weeks of not having the monitor I paid 700$ for, for a grand total over owning it for a month then not having it for a month.

Jodeth

Jeez. That sucks! I hope the next one doesn't have scratches. If your upcoming one behaves the same way (stuttering in areas where V-Sync doesn't), then that's super disappointing. I will NOT buy G-Sync if that's the case. I'm already iffy about it since reading about its performance in windowed mode. Adding stutter defeats the entire purpose of G-Sync. I f*ing hope yours was just a defected model.

paulosuperd

Hey! Sorry for bumping a really old post.

Was this a Monitors problem? I think I am having the same issue as you had.

Nvidia Pendulum Demo? Everything ok. Witcher 3? A slight stutter from time to time if I keep rotating the camera... Weird...

Why would the Nvidia Pendulum Demo work ok but Witcher 3 (or Pubg) wouldn't?

Heavenswake

paulosuperd said:

Hey! Sorry for bumping a really old post.

Was this a Monitors problem? I think I am having the same issue as you had.

Nvidia Pendulum Demo? Everything ok. Witcher 3? A slight stutter from time to time if I keep rotating the camera... Weird...

Why would the Nvidia Pendulum Demo work ok but Witcher 3 (or Pubg) wouldn't?

I'm not sure if it was the monitors fault or not. It drove me crazy since I bought it and would have periods of no issues. Most recently I moved power outlets, did a fresh install and disabled windows updates and everything was butter smooth as it should be. Eventually it came back though and I'm not sure why.

I switched monitors to an Ultrawide Alienware with gsync and got right of my second monitor. Everything has been perfect since. Sorry I couldn't be more help.

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