Vertical synchronization is a technology designed to bring to a common indicator the frame rate in the game with the vertical frame rate of the monitor in order to create a smooth and uninterrupted picture. Opposite situations can lead to image breaks: in some, a monitor with a fixed frequency does not have time to process a picture behind an efficiently working video card, while in other video cards there is not enough performance to bring the output signal to a monitor that can work at a higher frequency in time.
How V-Sync Works in Games
The effectiveness of V-Sync is ambiguous, most of the debate and discussion about whether to enable vertical synchronization in games comes down to the assertion that the performance depends directly on the user's gaming preferences and the compliance of these computer performance preferences, and the correct synchronization in some games. In competitive games where speed and clarity of movements are required (for example, the games of the battle royale genre that are so popular now), with a relatively powerful or average hardware and a regular monitor (60-75 Hz), synchronization will be more expedient to disable, because excessive smoothness slows down and player reaction efficiency. In addition, the load on the system will be reduced, which will allow to regain several important precious shots. The resulting gaps in most cases are not critical, and the eyes get used to them over time. However, if the hardware of the computer runs to the limit of its capabilities, then the resulting image cannot be called comfortable: V-Sync will still have to be turned off, choosing the lesser of two evils.
In games of calmer genres (or many singles), where the emphasis is more on atmosphere, plot and graphics, synchronization will not hurt, but, on the contrary, will help, making the image smooth and comfortable. Again, if the appetites of the game are fully consistent with the stuffing of the computer. Otherwise, the inclusion of vertical synchronization, as a rule, will not bring benefits, increasing the system requirements that are already inaccessible for a weak machine.
How to turn on
Most often, you can activate the function in the game settings. In some cases, developers place all system settings in the game launcher. But it also happens that there are no advanced graphics settings in the game menu, allowing, for example, to change only resolution and levels of detail. In this case, you can try to edit the configuration file of the game (if there is one, of course).
For example, you can enable vertical synchronization in Skyrim, as well as change many other settings, in the SkyrimPrefs.ini file by placing the line iPresentInterval = 0 in the [Display] section.
Well, if such an opportunity is not provided, then the utility for managing the settings of the video adapter will help.
AMD setup
Calling the settings menu is completely identical (desktop or system tray area), the interface is slightly different, although it is logical and understandable.
In the upper left corner you need to open the "Games" section, where you can also adjust the general settings (the "Global Settings" tab), and separate for each installed game. Next, select the "Wait for vertical update" tile and select one of the configuration options.
Radeon Settings allows you to enable vertical synchronization as well as configure this parameter: next to it is the “Frame Rate Control” tile, where the video card can specify the maximum FPS limit, and another Chill section is responsible for automatically lowering the frequency when transmitting less resource-intensive game data.
If the desired game is not in the menu, you can add it manually by clicking on the "Add" button located in the upper right corner. Manual add and auto scan options are available.
For AMD video adapters built into motherboards, the setup recommendations will be similar.
NVIDIA Setup
NVIDIA adapters allow you to enable vertical synchronization, like AMD, from the control panel. To call it, you can use the icon in the system tray, or by calling the desktop context menu. Vertical synchronization management is located in the “3D Settings” tab, where you can set parameters common to all applications, and configure each of them individually (the list will depend on the number of games installed in the system). In the settings list, you need to find the required parameter and select the value of interest.
Intel HD Graphics
You can enable vertical synchronization, as you know, on integrated graphics from Intel. Settings are called up via the tray icon by clicking RMB on the desktop or using the hot keys Ctrl, Alt and F12. You need to go to the "Settings mode", then to the "Control Panel", from there to the "Three-dimensional graphics" and, finally, to the "User Settings". Unlike NVIDIA and AMD, there is no line in the synchronization settings item responsible for disabling the function, only "Application Settings" and "Enabled" are available. To disable, you should use the functionality of the game itself.
Should I turn on vertical sync
It turns out that V-Sync is far from a panacea. It can only help owners of gaming computers, whose performance margin is enough for high-quality processing of the game image (again, if there is not a budget monitor itself). On weak PCs, you should not enable synchronization.
The ideal combination is a powerful computer and a gaming monitor with a frequency of 144 Hz. In this case, the use of vertical synchronization will not only make the picture smooth, but will also limit the aimless expenditure of video subsystem resources, and, as a result, excessive overheating.
In any case, in both undemanding and resource-intensive games like PUBG or The Witcher, you should turn on vertical synchronization, as a rule, only after testing on a specific computer.