Nvidia has finally decided to bring G-Sync support to FreeSync monitors, which removes the hassle of having to buy a specific G-Sync compatible monitor to take advantage of the technology.
FreeSync and G-Sync are both adaptive sync features that synchronizes the refresh rate of your monitor with the graphics card to deliver smoother frames while reducing tearing and stuttering, which is one of the most important features to have on gaming.
While both are virtually the same technology, FreeSync is used by AMD and G-Sync is used by Nvidia adapters, and they have been incompatible, which meant that if you had an Nvidia graphics card, you needed to buy a far more expensive G-Sync compatible monitor to benefit from this feature. On the other hand, AMD’s FreeSync is available royalty-free, and it’s more widely available.
Starting with the driver version 417.71, Nvidia is adding support for FreeSync for many of its cards, including the RTX 2080 Ti, RTX 2080, RTX 2070, and RTX 2060, which is big news. The only caveat is that it’s only available for a limited number of monitors.
According to the manufacturer of the graphics, after testing over 400 models, only 12 FreeSync monitors have been confirmed to work with G-Sync:
- Asus MG278Q
- Asus VG258Q
- Asus VG278Q
- Asus XG248
- Asus XG258
- Acer XFA240
- Acer XG270HU
- Acer XV273K
- Acer XZ321Q
- Agon AG241QG4
- AOC G2590FX
- BenQ XL2740
Once you install the Nvidia driver version 417.71, the feature should enable automatically on compatible FreeSync monitors. If you don’t have a compatible monitor, it’s still possible to enable G-Sync with FreeSync, but there’s a chance that it may not work.
Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 14 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 20 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].