G Sync – everyone talks about it, everyone wants it, but does everyone know what it really is? Nvidia's not-so-secret weapon in the gaming arms race is cheaper to get your hands on now than it was a few years ago, so it's a good time to think a bit and ask yourself if it is worth investing in cutting-edge technology.
ContentsHow G-Sync WorksSo… Is G-Sync Worth It?G-Sync Now Compatible with FreeSync MonitorsConclusionHere's everything you need to know.
To understand G-Sync, we must first understand V-sync and its limitations.
You're probably familiar with a little something called V-sync. (We wrote an entire article on this.) This limits a game's frame rate to your monitor's refresh rate. So if you have a 60Hz, 75Hz, or 120Hz monitor, a game's frame rates will peak. This is crucial to avoid screen tearing – jerky lines that appear on your screen during gameplay when the GPU renders frames at a different rate than the monitor buffering them.
But there is a tradeoff for V-sync. Today's computers line up images to send to the monitor using double and triple buffering, essentially preparing one or two images while another is displayed on the screen. To prevent screen tearing, v-sync causes small delays in the buffering process to ensure the monitor is ready for the next frame, which can cause input lag. P> 
First of all, it depends on your level of hardcore gamer and the type of game you play. G-Sync creates the perfect marriage of low input lag and more consistent, tear-free performance, but you might not really suffer from these issues anyway.
If you have a high-end graphics card with standard vsync enabled, you'll get the performance and stable frame rates you want, even on a non-G-Sync monitor. You may suffer from increased input lag/latency, but the extent of this depends on your monitor. Manufacturers tend not to advertise input lag for their displays, but this handy website can help you find the latency on your monitor.
In 2019, Nvidia made a welcome move to make G-sync more accessible to gamers. The company has announced that it will release a driver update that will make its GPUs capable of working with the FreeSync monitor. FreeSync is essentially AMD's G-sync equivalent, but now that this patch is out, you won't need to use an AMD GPU to enjoy a monitor that features FreeSync adaptive refresh rate technology. /P>
From a business perspective, it makes sense for Nvidia to do this, as consumers won't be geared towards buying AMD GPUs for their FreeSync monitors. But it's also good news for consumers, as FreeSync monitors tend to be much cheaper than G-Sync monitors, so the entry point to set up with G-Sync becomes cheaper. P>
So far, Nvidia has said 12 existing FreeSync monitors are officially G-Sync compatible, but that number is expected to grow very quickly. Keep an eye out for the "G-Sync Compatible" label from now on.
The accessibility of G-Sync has increased significantly over the past year. Even cheap low-end Nvidia GPUs (if it's a GeForce GTX 650 Ti or later, it has G-Sync) are G-Sync capable, and the fact that additionally more FreeSync monitors becoming G-Sync compatible makes this a good time to keep an eye on the market.
If you have a high-end GPU that can stably max out your monitor's refresh rate, then you're one of the people who will notice the least difference when upgrading to G-Sync. If, however, you have a G-Sync compatible GPU and are planning to upgrade your monitor anyway, then a G-Sync (or FreeSync) monitor is an absolute no-brainer.
Whether G-Sync (or its AMD cousin, FreeSync) is worth it will be debatable for gamers a few years from now. All new GPUs made by Nvidia now feature the technology, and monitors with the technology are getting cheaper and cheaper.
If you're a committed gamer, an Nvidia GPU owner, and want to improve those quality of life issues like screen tearing and input lag, then now's the perfectly affordable time to get started.
