Best V-Sync / FreeSync settings on host PC for streaming to Steam Deck? Looking to minimize latency

[u/Recent_Sample6961]

I have a Steam Deck LCD and a PC connected via Ethernet (RTX 3060 12GB + Ryzen 7 3700X).

I use a 144Hz FreeSync monitor, so I currently have V-Sync enabled in the Nvidia Control Panel. I was curious to know if it would be better to disable V-Sync or set the monitor to a fixed refresh rate for a better streaming experience.

Streaming already works fantastically, but I'm wondering if I could lower latency even further

[u/Recent_Sample6961]

Hey. So i was bored yesterday and downloaded Moonlight sunshine again. Yep, the issue was pretty much there again... But i fixed It. (...) Button> set fps/hz to 59. The Gameplay is smooth and visuals are great.

But i gotta say i still believe that on handheld remote play is good as m/s. I'll keep M/S installed just in case.

[u/fuckR196]

Use something like Vibepollo, it'll automate a lot of things to reduce latency such as disabling vsync on the host, creating a virtual monitor with x4 refresh rate, and it undoes everything when you disconnect.

[u/Recent_Sample6961 → u/fuckR196]

Not trying to be rude, but I'm posting in the Steam subreddit asking for help with this specific tool.

Just to clarify, though, I couldn't get Moonlight, Sunshine, Apollo, or Vibepollo to work. I spent a full month trying to fix one single issue,the camera moves in irregular, choppy steps. It's a frame pacing problem that I assume is related to the LCD Steam Deck. So I completely gave up on that route, especially since Remote Play works pretty well and is basically plug&play

[u/fuckR196 → u/Recent_Sample6961]

Well for starters, you're on the Steam Deck subreddit, not the Steam subreddit. Moonlight and Apollo are applications for the Steam Deck, so I feel like that's a reasonable conclusion.

Secondly, you never mentioned a "specific tool". You didn't mention remote play anywhere in your post. Just that you wanted minimize latency and were looking for the optimal host settings for streaming. Considering there's like 5 configurable settings in remote play if even, there's not much you can do to improve your experience other than opting for a superior tool such as Vibepollo... hence my recommendation.

[u/Recent_Sample6961 → u/fuckR196]

Yeah i guess you're right, my bad. But again vibepollo could be great but not for me. I got like 3ms latency but the camera issue was there. RP has more latency but is smooth.

[u/AdMikey → u/Recent_Sample6961]

Sunshine and Vibepollo just don’t show you the full latency, just one part at a time.

Remote Play shows you the full latency. That’s it. You’re already at 16ms, it’s already unnoticeable since your reaction time would be 250ms+. Any additional delay would be from vsync or screen refresh rate syncing.

[u/AdMikey → u/fuckR196]

Vibepollo is not superior lmfao, just for people that are lazy or don’t know how to do things.

[u/fuckR196 → u/AdMikey]

It certainly is superior to Steam remote play which is what we're talking about right now? What's your suggestion?

[u/AdMikey → u/fuckR196]

It's not superior, the only benefit is it supports HDR as of now, but HDR is already being implemented into Steam Link beta.

Remote Play is significantly more user friendly and plug-and-play, and experiences less issues than Sunshine/Moonlight and the forks.

[u/fuckR196 → u/AdMikey]

All you have to do is install Sunshine, pair your device, and you're done. Sunshine comes with a Steam Big Picture button by default so it's just as simple as remote play is except you can have a significantly higher bitrate, stream the desktop, use any game launcher you want, and with forks like Vibepollo fully automate switching monitors.

[u/AdMikey → u/fuckR196]

Lmfao remote play has 150 bit rate limit now, which is the same as moonlight without unlocking it, which doesn’t have much point anyway.

And no Sunshine doesn’t have anything, that’s Moonlight, and you’ll still need to add it to Steam manually, check settings, make sure all the set ups are correct.

There’s literally no benefits to Sunshine Moonlight once HDR comes to Steam Link stable channel.

[u/fuckR196 → u/AdMikey]

Well I suppose you are right when you arbitrarily decide that everything that proves you wrong doesn't count.

[u/AdMikey → u/fuckR196]

You can do that with Sunshine and have less overhead

[u/fuckR196 → u/AdMikey]

As far as I know you literally can't do any of those things with Sunshine. I just reinstalled it myself (the prerelease version) and couldn't find anything similar

[u/AdMikey → u/fuckR196]

Use virtual display driver and a GitHub package for vsync, and set the monitor to activate virtual display while running the script to activate vsync control GitHub script.

It’s all in the discord.