Gamersquare Forum

[IDD]

Vertical sync is a default option on some of my games. In Oblivion and Mafia: The City of Lost heaven, they were default options, but I unchecked them.
I had these horrible graphics glitches which made both games unplayable.
I also have the option in Fallout 3 but I haven't really played it yet so I'm not sure if it has and graphics glitches.
I have Windows Vista 64 bit (Home Premium) 8 gigs of ram, a GTX 260 video card, and Intel Quad Core.
When I checked vsync. in Mafia and Oblivion it fixed the graphics glitches, why?
Should I enable it in Fallout 3?
What exactly does vertical sync. do?
Why did this fix the graphics glitches?
I know this is a long question but I really need an answer.

[razyman]

The V-Sync option basically restricts the video card to producing frame rates no higher than the refresh of the monitor. Testers turn it off to how fast a video card can go. However, when turned off, and the fps are above the refresh rate of your monitor, you can get artifacts and tearing on the screen.

Lets say your monitor's refresh rate is 85Hz. That means the screen refreshes 85 times per second. But lets say your video card is producing 150 frames per second. In one seconds time your video card has produced 65 more frames than your monitor can display. This is why you get artifacts and tearing.

Now you usually don't see too many problems unless the fps produced by your card are substantially higher than the refresh rate of your monitor. In the above example, you would likely see the artifacts and tearing. However, lets say your refresh rate is 110Hz, and your card is only producing 120 fps. You won't likely have too many problems, if any at all, with this.

Now you also need to understand one thing. If you had a refresh rate of 85Hz, but your card was capable of 150 fps, and never, ever, dropped below 100 fps, then your fps would still stay pegged at 85Hz at all times. Only if the card dropped below 85 fps, even when V-Sync was off, would you see drops under 85 fps