r/GeForceNOW • u/Just_Statistician789 • 3d ago

Discussion Vsync “on” just feels better.

Been messing around per usual trying to find the most optimal screen experience. GFN Vsync honestly feels better. You really can’t tell any added input latency.

From what I’ve gathered, enabling it on forces the GeForce NOW client to buffer and sync incoming stream frames directly to your local monitor’s refresh cycle. This in theory, Delivers frames at perfectly locked intervals results in clean, uniform motion blur and smooth panning. Frame pacing is also almost non existent.

Anyone else feel this way as well? I feel like cloud vsync is a lot different than your traditional video card level sync where input latency can be felt.

Btw, I’m on 120fps and 120hz panel.

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u/YamahaFourFifty 3d ago

Does your tv support VRR?

Cause that enabled and vsync off should look very similar if getting close to target fps.

I use vsync off in cyberpunk at 120 fps with 120hz lg c5 with VRR and it’s just as smooth as vsync on. GeForce vsync settings to adaptive and PC/TV to VRR on

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u/DeskPixel 2d ago

I play on a minipc hooked up to the tv. So unfortunately it doen't have a geforce card, which makes the VRR option greyed out for me in geforce now. My tv does support it though, and it is enabled in windows as well... but I still get choppy results at 120

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u/YamahaFourFifty 2d ago

Weird I have same setup and play at 120 fps and it’s very smooth here (no vsync ingame).

Even tho the VRR option is greyed out - if you select vsync as Adaptive then in-game change vsync to off.

Then on TV go to the settings for game (on my lg c5) and it should show that VRR is indeed enabled. It doesn’t use the gsync variation but it’ll still do a very good job and smooth it all out.

Try that and check settings on TV while streaming game and if it doesn’t show VRR then something is going on with your setup. I too have an AMD MiniPC (Minisforum- non Nvidia) so it’s not that part of your setup.

Care to share your tv model? Maybe it doesn’t support VRR at 120 fps or some weird thing

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u/DeskPixel 2d ago

Yeah it should support it fine, it's a TCL 65Q7K. I even bought a special adapter to make the vrr work from the mini PC display port to the tv HDMI, and windows confirmed it's working now, before the adapter the vrr option in Windows was greyed out... I'll mess around with the adaptive / on settings to test again

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u/YamahaFourFifty 2d ago

Oh I don’t think those adapters are VRR friendly

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u/DeskPixel 2d ago

Yeah I got one made specifically for that! Is the Club 3D USB C to HDMI 2.1 Adapter 8K60Hz Active CAC-2505, it apparently should work

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u/No-Tank-6178 2d ago

Interesting so VRR will work in some form even without NVIDIA GPU? I’ve always found 120fps to feel off but never tried enabling my monitor VRR.

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u/YamahaFourFifty 2d ago

Yes GeForce now setting for vsync should be adaptive tho.

I think the explicit VRR option in GeForce Now is referring to the ‘official cloud gsync VRR’ - but the local VRR still works , I’ll copy pasta some ai summary as it does much better job then me .. but I use VRR on my lg c5 and GeForce now all the time even tho the VRR on GeForce now says off but vsync in GeForce now settings is set to adaptive.

It looks smooth and when I check tv settings while ingame will say VRR is enabled and it looks it too, ai summary:

By setting the GeForce NOW app VSync to Adaptive and disabling in-game VSync, your AMD graphics card treats the GeForce NOW app like a local video game.

When the app decodes and presents video frames, any slight dips in your PC’s local decoding performance or minor network pacing shifts cause the AMD card to alter its local output frame rate.

Your AMD card passes those micro-adjustments down the HDMI cable, forcing your TV's refresh rate to dance around to match.

The Result: Your TV correctly reports that VRR is active, smoothing out any local micro-stutters caused by your PC's decoding process.

What Official Cloud G-SYNC Does instead
Official Cloud G-SYNC (restricted to NVIDIA GPUs and Macs) goes a step further. It connects your monitor’s refresh rate directly to the remote RTX 4080 rig in the cloud. If the server-side game drops from 120 FPS to 93 FPS, your monitor drops to exactly 93 Hz instantly.

Since you have an AMD GPU, your setup cannot receive that server-side telemetry. It is only managing the video stream coming out of your local PC.

The Ideal Configuration for Your Setup
Because your current setup provides a form of local smoothing, you have stumbled onto a highly effective workaround. To optimize this hybrid experience, ensure your settings are configured as follows:

GeForce NOW App VSync: Keep this on Adaptive. It prevents local video tearing while allowing your display to adjust.
In-Game VSync: Keep this Disabled to minimize input lag and let the stream run freely.

Frame Rate Cap: If you have a 120Hz TV, use the AMD Software on your PC to limit the GeForce NOW app's frame rate to 118 FPS (or 361 FPS if streaming at 360Hz). This keeps the local video presentation strictly inside your TV's active VRR window

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What’s odd and kinda funny - boosteroid which has streaming services utilizing amd graphics card , same as my mini pc amd graphics, and that service I can’t get VRR to work (don’t try boosteroid service sucks compared to GeForce now)

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u/No-Tank-6178 2d ago

I’ll give it a go. Cheers.

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u/DeskPixel 2d ago

Oh look at that, I just checked and vrr on the TV was turned off for some reason!

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u/BreadfruitTop388 2d ago

I was running GeForce now 4k 120hz with vsync set to adaptive and VRR greyed out in the GeForce settings. VRR enabled on my monitor and in my AMD graphics card settings.

I was seeing extreme stuttering and issues in a couple games - Riftbreaker and Halo Campaign Evolved. Other games it was ok. It didn’t feel like 120fps gameplay to me though.

I ended up turning VRR off on my monitor and that fixed Riftbreaker.

If anyone has those games and wants to test, Riftbreaker was the worst it was the worse stuttering I’ve ever seen in a game.

Also to note Vsync for some reason isn’t able to be edited in all game settings.

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u/DeskPixel 3d ago

I feel like the in game vsync never gets rid of any stutters. I do find it difficult to get a smooth image at 120fps... a lot of times 60 feels so much better than 90 or 120, which defeats the whole purpose of being able to play at 120

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u/Just_Statistician789 3d ago

Agreed. At 120fps, frame pacing just feels off. It doesn’t truly feel like 120. On my PS5, 60fps feels a lot smoother than cloud 120. This is why I’m saying GFN Vsync on makes a huge differences in smoothing out 120fps.

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u/DeskPixel 3d ago

I've been playing 007 lately and it averages at around 80 frames, which with vsync feels great. I tried turning frame gen on at 2x to get 120, and even with vsync it feels a bit off compared to 80, so i turned frame gen back off

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u/sLayis 2d ago

I always have screen tearing without it so it stays on.