What is V-Sync

V-Sync (vertical synchronization) refers to a function of the computer operating system. This function has actually been around for a long time. V-Sync has been introduced to DirectX and Windows as early as the era of Voodoo2. In the operating system, its main function is to make the graphics card's operation and the monitor refresh rate consistent to stabilize the output picture quality.

Both Microsoft and game developers recommend that users turn on the V-Sync function. However, in fact, turning on V-Sync will greatly affect the performance of the graphics card (what is the refresh frequency of the monitor? The graphics card can only have the same Frame output, and even after V-Sync is enabled on a Quad SLI graphics card, if its monitor refresh rate is only 65Hz, its speed in any game will only be 65 FPS at most), so it is difficult to reflect different graphics cards with V-Sync enabled. The performance difference is so far that there are basically not many graphics card tests that turn this feature on.

Function

But having said that, enabling V-Sync can actually help improve the stability of the game. After all, after it is enabled, it will force the graphics card to use Double Buffering ( Dual or front and rear cache (which will reduce graphics card performance when enabled) allows the graphics card to first store the next image to be output in the cache (video memory) when processing data and then cycle continuously, so the fact is that part of the game speed is sacrificed to ensure The coherence and stability of the picture are improved. However, for existing graphics card products, since their computing performance is already quite strong, there will basically be no problems such as frame drops or screen blur when running general 3D games. Therefore, whether V-Sync is enabled or not depends on the user's actual usage environment. It's not just a matter of graphics card performance.

Comparison of pros and cons

So if we enable V-Sync now, will its performance be the same as when V-Sync is not enabled on the same platform and graphics card? What about big losses? The answer is relative. Since V-Sync only limits the frame rate of the graphics card output and not the performance, after enabling V-Sync, users can still set high resolution and different AA/AF settings in the game to play the game. The effect Theoretically it's the same as when V-Sync is not enabled. However, because V-Sync uses Double Buffering technology, it actually has a certain impact on the computing performance of the graphics card. In order to solve this problem, both Microsoft, game manufacturers, and the two major GPU manufacturers, NVIDIA and ATi, are currently using DirectX. A technical support called Triple Buffering has been introduced for V-Sync in games and related drivers.

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