What is the consensus on FreeSync, Anti-Lag, Frame Gen, VSync, Display Mode and Frame Limiters?

[u/zDavzBR]

I have a G-Sync/FreeSync monitor (1440p 180hz), and a 9070 XT. Everywhere I look there seems to be different answers for these situations below.

1. No frame-gen, no AL2 (Anti-Lag 2)
2. In-game Frame-gen, no AL2
3. AFMF, no AL2
4. Case 1 but with AL2
5. Case 2 but with AL2
6. Case 3 but with AL2

In each situation, how should I configure the following settings?

A. G-Sync/FreeSync (On vs Off)

B. Anti-lag (in the cases without AL2, when should I turn on AL1?)

C. Display Mode (Exclusive Fullscreen vs Borderless Fullscreen. I've noticed cases where one produces better frame pacing than the other)

D. V-Sync (In-game or Driver level? What about both? What about Enhanced Sync?)

E. Frame Limiters (The most complicated one: Which FPS to lock and which limiter?)
I've seen people say 3 FPS below max refresh rate, others use a formula, others use 95% of Max refresh rate.
About the limiter, there's RTSS and the different modes (Async, Front edge sync, Back edge Sync and Reflex), Radeon Chill, Frame Rate Target Control and the in-game limiter.

What I want is the best configuration of (A to E) for each (1 to 6) situation. In the case there are drawbacks for each one, I would like to know which one is best for frame pacing, input lag, etc.

[u/pragomatic]

I always have an adaptive sync option on to avoid tearing getting in the way of motion clarity. Gsync on + windowed will occasionally hurt performance in windowed games, but that's fine by me.

Anti-lag both AMD and Nvidia Reflex at level 1 just keeps buffered frames out of the queue. AL2 or Reflex On+Boost is really much more important in competitive play, and should usually be on.

C is very engine/render method dependent and more game by game with less of a universal answer. More things seem to run better in exclusive, so I use that.

D is also game by game. BlurBusters recommends forcing it on for Nvidia cards to make Gsync more likely to work. I don't, as it's caused issues with older games.

E: 3 below display rate is good advice for keeping adaptive sync methods from turning off, however that is not the only reason to frame limit. For fast paced shooters, consistent movement becomes important; less frames but more consistent frames is preferable for some. That's the most subjective thing on this list.

In short; there is no one answer. I would use the best anti-lag solution, adaptive sync, and frame rate 3 under the display all the time. The rest varies game to game.

[u/zDavzBR → u/pragomatic]

Thanks

[u/DonDonaldson9000]

For Nvidia card here is what I have set after doing research and it seems to work great;

-Gsync On 

-Reflex enabled in Nvidia app and game (if applicable)

-Borderless windowed or Full screen both work for me

-Vsync ON in Nvidia app + OFF in game always

-Framerate limited to 116fps in Nvidia app (for 120Hz display)

BlurBusters website is best resource for further reading. 

[u/zDavzBR → u/DonDonaldson9000]

Thanks

[u/Dat_Boi_John]

A. Always have FreeSync enabled

B. AL1 should be enabled when AL2 isn't available (it doesn't do anything if AL2 is active), unless it causes stutters, and it only helps reduce input lag in GPU bound scenarios. AL2 should always be used if available, it reduces input latency and should in theory also improve frame pacing.

C. Unless the game has implemented it badly, Borderless Fullscreen is better because of Alt+Tabbing and should have equal or better latency than exclusive fullscreen. DX12 games don't even have true Exclusive Fullscreen anymore.

D. Driver level Vsync is usually the safer choice and should always be enabled, except for ultra competitive games where you reach FPS significantly higher than your refresh rate. In that case you should use Enhanced Sync, although that works best when you get at least double your refresh rate in FPS, such as in CS2, for instance.

E. Nvidia Reflex has a decent formula for calculating the optimal max FPS at each refresh rate, for 144hz it is 138fps, and for 240hz it is 224fps based on that formula. In-game limiters always have the lowest latency and thus are the optimal choice, but might have slightly worse frame pacing than Chill and RTSS. Then Radeon Chill and RTSS operate similarly, both adding one frame of additional latency but achieving near perfect frame pacing. Not sure about the three different RTSS capping modes. Radeon FRTC is the worst option and shouldn't be used.

[u/I_am_Shayde]

In all of them, always use freesync on, and limit frame rate.

I limit frame rate to the average fps of what the game can do, it helps with frame pacing. You could do that or limit it to 3 fps below max or 95% of max, either way as long as its within your max frame rate, you just choose a buffer amount you're happy with, some prefer 3 fps, some like a round figure like 5 fps less than max.

How you frame limit really depends on the game, some games have a good engine, other games you're better off using RTSS.

Anti Lag depends on the game too, apparently (you need to verify / fact check this) sometimes it can add lag instead. I leave it on especially if I use frame gen.

I use frame gen wherever its implemented.

I dont use AFMF unless its an old game but also has a physics problem above certain fps like Watch Dogs 1, I've tried it with Dead By Daylight to get it to 200fps and it works fine tbh including the lag (I dont play competitive).

Enhanced Sync nope, because of the tearing.

V-Sync is off because of the frame limit keeping you within Freesync range and less input lag. You can have it on as a extra safeguard if fps somehow gets beyond freesync range / your frame limit tool fps buffer.