AMD FreeSync arrives

Quizzical

http://anandtech.com/show/9097/the-amd-freesync-review

It's real, it works, and it's massively cheaper than G-sync.  In other words, it is what we thought it would be.

I could understand buying a GTX 980 or a Titan X on the basis that AMD can't compete with those on performance just yet, but outside of those, I'd advise against buying an Nvidia card until they announce that they'll support adaptive sync in drivers--and not just G-sync that charges an arm and a leg to do what AMD gives you for free.  Even if you don't have an adaptive sync monitor yet, how certain are you that you'll never want a monitor upgrade or replacement before you replace the next GPU that you buy?

Nvidia could make this all moot if they just announce that they'll support adaptive sync via a driver update soonish.  But  I'd avoid Nvidia until they make such an announcement--not necessarily that driver support is available immediately, but that it's coming.  Because if you buy an Nvidia GPU now and they don't support adaptive sync, your monitor selection for your next upgrade will probably be limited to markedly inferior and/or massively overpriced options.

Hrimnir

While i am glad this works and what not, i still 100% intend to buy that acer IPS 144hz blah blah monitor when it comes out in mid/late april.  Unless they happen to update it some wonky way.  I won't be replacing my SLI'd 760's for a while, and if i do, there's a high probability i will end up with something like a 980ti, etc.

Quizzical

I am not saying that everyone needs to replace their video card and monitor right this minute.  I am, however, saying to plan ahead.  If you're going to buy a new video card or a new monitor soon, make sure that after you've bought your next new video card and new monitor, you've got adaptive sync support on both.

Hopefully Nvidia will eliminate the fuss and just announce that some particular Maxwell cards and later (ideally Kepler, too, though if you're buying a new Nvidia card now, you're probably getting Maxwell) will support adaptive sync, even if the drivers for it are still months away.  But if Nvidia won't make such an announcement, I'd be leery of buying their cards.

Hrimnir

Originally posted by Quizzical

I am not saying that everyone needs to replace their video card and monitor right this minute.  I am, however, saying to plan ahead.  If you're going to buy a new video card or a new monitor soon, make sure that after you've bought your next new video card and new monitor, you've got adaptive sync support on both.

Hopefully Nvidia will eliminate the fuss and just announce that some particular Maxwell cards and later (ideally Kepler, too, though if you're buying a new Nvidia card now, you're probably getting Maxwell) will support adaptive sync, even if the drivers for it are still months away.  But if Nvidia won't make such an announcement, I'd be leery of buying their cards.

One can hope.  But, i honestly don't care about that right now.  That Acer monitor is reviewing very well and checks all the boxes.  *if* i replace my 760's in the near future the most likely candidate will be a 980ti if/when that comes out.  Its extremely unlikely nvidia is going to totally screw the pooch in the next 2-3 years and even if AMD comes out with something great, which is possible, i still won't mind picking up an nvidia card.

In all honestly all the games i play should run fine on my 760's and the games im looking to play should still run fine on 760's.  Especially because i am one of those weird people who pretty much hates antialiasing, so i usually turn it off for most games.

Edit: BTW, i don't mean this post to be snarky, im just saying in my very specific scenario, im not ultra concerned about freesync.

Ridelynn

I think it's too early to tell.

Freesync looks great on paper. And yeah, every displayport monitor here forward should support it.

But right now it's very early - the first generation of this hardware. Driver support is extremly lacking right now (only a handful of specific AMD GPUs, no Crossfire, some mouse pointer and other various random issues that are probably driver related).

I wouldn't throw my entire weight behind either of them just yet -- if the quirks get ironed out of Freesync yeah, I can absolutely understand what you are saying... if you are buying a video card and monitor at the same time.

yaminsux

Monitor is the last thing I would upgrade. The only time I would even considers AMD products is when they run cooler and wont overheat as much.

Sure you could say invest in a better aftermarket cooler, but that defeats the cheap pricing of AMD products.

Quizzical

If there's a case for not buying Nvidia cards that may never support adaptive sync, then there's a stronger case for not buying AMD cards that will certainly never support adaptive sync.  So it's time to move on from Radeon HD 7000 series rebadges.  There may still be a case for something up to a 250X if you can find it at bargain bin prices, but if you've got the budget for a 270X, 280, or 280X, then you've got the budget for a card that properly supports adaptive sync.

Trionicus

I found myself a squeaky clean 280x for $100 usd. I had to get!

 

If the R9 3xxxx bench leak was real, then, combine that with freesync... Almost all laptops will be AMD? On top of that, no real reason to pay +$200 more for Gsync monitors vs freesync monitors (aka will likely be most monitors)?

Ridelynn

I will say, right now, I don't think GSync is worth an extra $150-200.

I guess what I'm really saying is that, at least right now, I wouldn't predicate my GPU choice based on adaptive sync technologies that are currently available. It will probably be a couple years or more before this stuff really settles out (or dies a slow death, like Steroscopic and some other fads). You could easily be on another GPU entirely in a upgrade cycle by then.

Gsync is expensive, and a bit laggy (from what I have heard), and proprietary. FreeSync still has some quirks to work out, and right now is more GPU-model restricted than GSync. The idea is very appealing, none of the implementations as they exist today are really up to the hype though - at least not yet.