Do you turn on Triple Buffering?

I see this as off by default in the nVIDIA control panel, do you guys enable it or keep it off? I read some articles about it but I didn't really understand them, if someone can explain in layman's terms what it does I'd greatly appreciate it.

Regards,

 

Normally when you enable (double buffered) V-Sync, your FPS will automatically drop to factors of your monitor's refresh rate when you cannot maintain a frame rate that is at least equal to the refresh rate. For example, on a 60Hz monitor, if you cannot maintain 60 FPS, it drops to 30 FPS. If you cannot maintain 30 FPS, it drops to 20 FPS. If you cannot maintain 20 FPS, it drops to 15 FPS. And so on. Triple buffering fixes these drops. It does nothing when V-Sync is disabled.

The triple buffering setting in the Nvidia Control Panel only works in OpenGL applications while the vast majority of games are Direct3D, so it's pretty much useless. Neither Nvidia nor AMD's drivers offer native support for triple buffering in Direct3D, so we need to use external tools such as D3DOverrider and RadeonPro.

I never turn on triple buffering because I never play with V-Sync on in the first place. I can tolerate a little tearing, but I can't stand input lag and judder. Variable refresh rate tech (G-Sync/FreeSync) is the ultimate no compromises solution.

 

Also, he has SLI, so he's getting quad buffering anyway.

 

in what way does triple buffering fix these drops?

 

http://www.tweakguides.com/Graphics_10.html

 

Well I use G-SYNC so I enable V-Sync (smooth) which is basically geared towards SLI setups, thanks for the simply explanation about Triple Buffering

 

Alternatively if you're using G-Sync you might consider disabling V-Sync and capping FPS

 

oh, I thought for G-SYNC to properly work you had to enable V-Sync

 

You don't. G-Sync is active as long as FPS is within the VRR window. But if you disable V-Sync, FPS is allowed to exceed refresh rate, so there may be tearing, unless you cap it.

 

Thanks chief, I learn something new from you everyday! you are Da M4n

 

Why isn't gsync capping refresh to the monitor, that kind of defeats the whole sync part.

 

It used to be that when your FPS exceeded G-Sync's upper range, the monitor defaulted to V-Sync on behavior to eliminate tearing at the expense of input lag. As you can imagine this would be disastrous for twitch shooters, so pretty much anybody who played those games disabled G-Sync if they had such a monitor.

However, AMD's Freesync solution did allow you to choose what you wanted the monitor to do if you exceeded Freesync's VRR range. You could either let the monitor default to V-Sync on, or de-sync at the expense of (barely noticeable) tearing but no input lag. Despite many (possibly paid) review sites blasting Freesync left right and center, this was the one thing that everybody agreed Freesync did right, and it obviously bothered nVidia.

So starting with 353.06, nVidia finally added that option in. But nVidia being nVidia, had to make setting it as obfuscated as possible, I mean just read this: (feel free to barf at the bolded part)

Holy damn, how much more convoluted can you get? Worst part is, when you mouse over the Vertical Sync option in nV control panel, it makes NO MENTION about G-Sync at all. I mean there's a separate "Set up G-Sync" section in the control panel, why couldn't you have put it there instead of shoving it in the least obvious place?

It's almost as if nVidia was too embarrassed to publicly admit they overlooked such an important feature, so they had to sneak it in without it being overly obvious. nVidia be nVidia

 

No it doesn't

 

The harsh reality is tearing sucks. I'd clamp to 30 any day of the week not to have to deal with tearing.

 

There is still tearing if you cap at 30 FPS w/o G-Sync/V-Sync

 

How? Tearing happens in gaming most notably when framerate exceeds the refresh rate of the panel. That simply doesn't happen with vsync enabled. My 30 FPS statement was just hyperbole in regards to ditching gsync if it is in fact causing tearing at framerates greater than the monitor refresh.

Obviously I have no idea, I don't use gsync. Just going by the statements made.

 

I know, that's why I said "w/o G-Sync/V-Sync". A common misconception is that capping FPS at some arbitrary FPS below refresh rate while disabling V-Sync gets rid of tearing, but it does not.

G-Sync doesn't cause tearing, but it only works within the VRR window, and it doesn't inherently cap FPS to refresh rate like V-Sync does. Therefore when you enable G-Sync, you have the choice of either enabling or disabling V-Sync. With V-Sync enabled, FPS never exceeds refresh rate and there is no tearing but there is a slight input lag penalty at the top. With V-Sync disabled, G-Sync automatically disables itself when FPS exceeds refresh rate since that is above the VRR window, so you exchange potentially higher FPS and less input lag for potential tearing. A third option is enabling G-Sync, disabling V-Sync, and capping FPS at the refresh rate (or just below). Theoretically this should be the best option. Whichever option you choose though, G-Sync always works within the VRR window.

 

That makes sense. Why anyone would want to use gsync without capping the refresh rate is what I'm wondering in all this. The whole purpose of it is to rid yourself of those types of artifacts. At least that's what I'd be using it for.