This article is part of a directory: Complete guide to PC gaming
Table of contents

If you have an Nvidia graphics card and a compatible gaming monitor then Nvidia G-Sync can help give you a smoother gaming experience.

Nvidia G-Sync is a technology that's designed to help a monitor and a graphics card communicate more effectively and thereby give you a tear-free gaming experience. If you have a fast refresh rate monitor you can also take advantage of Nvidia Reflex but G-Sync can make a difference too.

G-Sync works by matching the refresh rate of your gaming monitor to the frame rate (FPS) of the PC game you're playing. This prevents any screen tearing if there's a sudden dramatic drop in FPS. It's not turned on as default though, so it's important to turn G-Sync on.

How to enable G-Sync on your gaming PC photo 1
Pocket-lint

Does your monitor support Nvidia G-Sync?

Before you get started it's important to check that you have a G-Sync-capable monitor. G-Sync won't work unless you have the hardware to support it.

Nvidia has a detailed database that includes all the current G-Sync capable and compatible monitors. We'd recommend checking that to see if your monitor is on it. The top-end monitors in this list also offer G-Sync Ultimate. These high-end displays promise ultra-low latency, multi-zone backlighting, 1,000 nits max brightness and DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage.

At the other end of the spectrum are G-Sync Compatible displays which don't have full G-Sync validation but instead run another type of Adaptive-Sync technology like AMD's FreeSync. These screens can work with G-Sync but might not also work as flawlessly as approved displays.

Monitor settings

Before you do anything else you'll need to turn on Nvidia G-Sync on your monitor's hardware settings. Use the menu buttons on your monitor to find adaptive sync and G-Sync settings in there and turn it on.

Where this is located will vary from monitor to monitor. So you may need to refer to your manual to find where the setting is located. Once that's done you can turn on G-Sync in Windows.

How to enable G-Sync on your gaming PC photo 2
Pocket-lint

How to turn G-Sync on in Windows

Assuming you have an Nvidia G-Sync capable monitor, then you need to follow a few steps to activate it:

  1. Right-click on your Windows desktop
  2. Click on Nvidia Control Panel (in Windows 11 you'll need to click "show more options" first)
  3. From there look for "display" settings on the left-hand side menu
  4. Then click on "set up G-Sync"
  5. Click the box marked "enable G-Sync"
  6. Choose whether to enable it for full-screen or windowed modes

You can also find the Nvidia Control panel by clicking the start button and typing Nvidia Control panel in the search box.

How to enable G-Sync on your gaming PC photo 3
Pocket-lint

Setting your primary display

If you have more than one monitor, then you'll need to set your G-Sync monitor as the primary display so G-Sync works properly when you're gaming.

To do this:

  1. Right-click on your desktop and click display settings
  2. Click on "identify" next to the monitors being shown
  3. Work out which one is the G-Sync monitor and click on the icon for it
  4. Click on the option to "make this my main display"

You'll then find games will launch on that monitor and the settings you've turned on will work nicely when you play.

How to enable G-Sync on your gaming PC photo 4
Blizzard

Game graphics settings

Once you've turned on G-Sync then it's also worth tweaking some of the settings in your game. To get the best experience, you want your game FPS to match your monitor refresh rate. This means that if the FPS goes above your max refresh rate then your experience won't be as good.

The best thing to do is to go into each game and tweak a few settings. Firstly make sure you've set your monitor's max refresh rate in the settings. Then, also look for an FPS limiter. You may find that setting this to be the same (or a touch lower) than your max refresh rate will lead to the best results.

There's no benefit to having 300 FPS if your monitor can only handle 144Hz max. Play around with the settings until you find what works best for you. The settings may vary from game to game. You may also find it pays to activate V-Sync as well.