Have you been researching your next monitor purchase and ran into terms like G-Sync, FreeSync, and VRR? Do you want to know how G-Sync compares to FreeSync, and if your GPU will take full advantage of your monitor?
Adaptive sync display technologies from Nvidia and AMD have been on the market for a few years now and gained plenty of popularity with gamers thanks to a generous selection of monitors with plenty of options and a variety of budgets.
Earlier this year we first put Nvidia's support for FreeSync monitors to the test, grabbed every FreeSync monitor we had in the office, and verified that in all cases adaptive sync worked as expected. LG recently sent us 5 of their latest FreeSync monitors, which we've used to revisit Nvidia's FreeSync support.
To the surprise of many, Nvidia has backed down from their G-Sync tower and enabled Nvidia GPU owners to use adaptive sync with a wide range of FreeSync monitors. The feature was announced during CEO Jensen Huang CES 2019 keynote and this week it's been enabled by the latest GeForce drivers.
For the past two years the Acer Predator X34 has remained one of the best gaming monitors on the market. I've been so satisfied with it since launch that that I've kept it as my personal monitor for both gaming and video production. But this new monitor from Acer, an upgraded version of the X34, is even better in almost every way.
Like the Asus ROG Swift PG258Q we reviewed recently, the AOC Agon AG251FZ is aimed a gamers with a maximum refresh rate of 240 Hz from an essentially identical 24-inch panel. It swaps out G-Sync for FreeSync, however, and offers a few extras at a lower price point which is currently hovering around the $500 mark.
With today's cutting-edge PC hardware, a top quality monitor has never been more important. As features such as high refresh rates, 4K displays, ultrawide screens, and syncing technologies become more common, users need to choose wisely. To make picking the right monitor easier, here are our favorites in a handful of distinct categories.
