Can't get freesync to work :-(

Discussion in 'Videocards - AMD Radeon' started by SpajdrEX, May 25, 2019.

  1. SpajdrEX

    SpajdrEX Ancient Guru

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    Hello guys,
    so I finally bought my first freesync LCD monitor
    https://uk-store.acer.com/sa-monitor-sa240ya-black
    Not the best, but my wallet is limited :)
    Problem is that I can't get free sync to work in any game, not even in freesync windmill demo (Test pattern ON easily shows that freesync is not working)
    In Radeon Settings - I have Radeon FreeSync - ON
    If I disable Freesync mode on LCD then in Radeon Settings Radeon FreeSync will change to disable/not supported (as expected).

    Any tip is welcome!


    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
  2. OnnA

    OnnA Ancient Guru

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    CRU is not working as good as before in New WinX 1903.
    Try to do minimal setup with as few as possible Options.

    Leave Freesync Range and try to put only one Valid resolution.
    Connect with DP

    Yes it can be done. Go in the way of trial & error :cool:
     
  3. JESTSTAR

    JESTSTAR Guest

    Make sure you set your windows refresh rate. My FreeSync would not work until I changed mine from 60 to 75Hz...
    [​IMG]

    Also, use this FreeSync demo from AMD to test that it's working (Shared from my Goold Drive)...
    https://drive.google.com/open?id=1qdLwZLIb_pjZMqIVkO0KnoixYIVXGSNk

    Finally, the new 2019 series breaks FreeSync with my Radeon Fury X. I had to preform a clean install using DDU and installed the older WHQL 18.10.1 driver to fix my FreeSync.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 25, 2019
  4. Caesar

    Caesar Ancient Guru

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    Try to change HDMI cable :rolleyes:
     

  5. SpajdrEX

    SpajdrEX Ancient Guru

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    Thanks for suggestions guys.
    Caesar : only have one, but that was not the issue.

    JESTSTAR : I used that demo, for some reason it didn't work, even though it mentioned that my Monitor is freesync compatible.

    A lot of strange things happened, after I changed to a new monitor, first when windows booted up, I was greeted with a checkerboard-like screen like GPU got faulty.
    After that, every few seconds black screens and Wattman popup window informed me about graphic card adapter was reset.
    1. First I tried to do clean amd driver uninstall, it does nothing.
    2. Disabled and enable freesync in monitor menu - nothing
    3. Reinstalled latest AMD chipset driver - now AMD graphic panel informed me that Freesync is not available
    4. Booted in safe mode, cleared driver via DDU
    5. Installed driver 19.5.2, still no Freesync option available
    6. Disabled, enable Freesync option in monitor menu - Freesync is available again
    7. Rechecked with a freewind demo, now it works.

    Didn't realize how Vsync added input lag, it's so smooth now with just Freesync enabled.
     
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  6. SpajdrEX

    SpajdrEX Ancient Guru

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    Hmm, while windmill demo is fine, games not so much, oh well... I guess I'm gonna need to live with it or with Vsync enabled again :-/
    Division 2 still shows tearing, but only at the bottom of the screen, not all the time.
    Assassin's Creed Origins - same tearing as Division 2. Also when fps flies between 62-55 it does not show tearing but the first half of screen when rotating around is choppy.
     
  7. Undying

    Undying Ancient Guru

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  8. SpajdrEX

    SpajdrEX Ancient Guru

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    Thanks for tip Undying.
    Now I'm again like at the start, Radeon FreeSync is On but it's not working in demo/games.
    It just randomly stops working, restarting windows or reenabling Radeon FreeSync / disabling/enabling on LCD does nothing for now.

    EDIT.: FRTC + Freesync changed nothing unfortunately, it's still showing tearing at the bottom of the screen.
     
    Last edited: May 25, 2019
  9. JESTSTAR

    JESTSTAR Guest

    I'm glad to hear FreeSync is working for you now. I was about to suggest rolling back to an older driver. The new 2019 series breaks FreeSync with my Radeon Fury X. I had yo use the older WHQL 18.10.1 driver to fix my FreeSync...
    [​IMG]

    Also, using FRTC (Frame Rate Target Control) and setting it about 2 frames below your max Verticle Sync rate is crucial.
    [​IMG]
     
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  10. SpajdrEX

    SpajdrEX Ancient Guru

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    JESTSTAR : I have it set to 73Hz in freesync range (via CRU), FRTC to 70fps.
    Division 2 - works most of the time, with occasional tearing at the bottom of the screen.
    Tom Clancy Ghost Recon Wildlands - works very well.
    Assassin Creed Origins - when fps flying between 55 - 65fps there is noticeable stutter when rotating camera.
    Could Scanline Sync help with something?
    I think that stronger gfx card would remedy most of my issues (Vega56+) as 1920x1080 is sometimes too much for RX580.
    Anyway, I'm performing noticeably better in hitting dudes in Division 2, damn Vsync...
     

  11. Morax

    Morax Master Guru

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    Actually, when using "Enhanced Sync", you can just set maximum fps @ screen Hz. There should be no tearing WHEN Freesync is actually working (Enhanced Sync is useless without Freesync though). Some people claim Enhanced Sync stutters for them, but I personally (on a Vega 64) never had any stutters caused by Enhanced Sync.
    However, if you're one of the "unlucky ones", and have to disable Enhanced Sync, set max fps to Vertical Hz-minus-2, or even 3. I would suggest using the in-game frame-limiter (if available ofcourse) FIRST, before trying to use FRTC, since the latter one causes a slight lag or input delay.

    RTSS enforcing a framerate limit actually seems to break Freesync, so no, it wouldn't help.
     
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  12. SpajdrEX

    SpajdrEX Ancient Guru

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    Morax: Will try it again with Enhanced Sync tomorrow, I'm at work now, but last time I had stutter with or without it enabled. I also need to find what breaks freesync so bad, that I need to reinstall the driver to get it to work again.
    I found that when Freesync is really enabled, Overdrive option in the monitor settings menu is greyed out.
    Will ignore Scanline Sync settings then, thanks.
     
  13. Chastity

    Chastity Ancient Guru

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    Cuz Overdrive should be off when using FreeSync.
     
  14. Morax

    Morax Master Guru

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    Best way to check if Freesync is working is watching the Monitor's OSD adjusting the refresh rate to the game's frame rate.
     
  15. SpajdrEX

    SpajdrEX Ancient Guru

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    Morax : Enabling Monitor OSD proved to be invaluable, thanks for mentioning that :)
    If I set fps limit to 72fps via FRTC it has the tendency to jump still between 72-75Hz in Monitor OSD (MSI Afterburner shows 72fps max).
    Lovering fps limit to 68fps via FRTC makes it much better, although not flawless, still, it's better than before.
    Maybe I should set 72Hz as maximum for 1920x1080 resolution.
    Also, I'm still not sure what is breaking Freesync that need driver reinstall, already it happened once for me today.
     

  16. shakyor

    shakyor Active Member

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    For me Ingame Vsync + Freesync works the best. W/O any Limiter activ.
    If games have not vsync (yeah not many games) frt works the best to limit the fps.
    Any other limiter (rtss, ingame) breaks freesync for me.
     
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  17. Richard Nutman

    Richard Nutman Master Guru

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    I agree with shakyor. Freesync + Vsync enabled works great for me.
    After I bought my Gigabyte Aorus monitor freesync wasn't working until I re-installed the AMD drivers.

    If I turn Vsync off the screen mostly just blacks out in games. I don't know if this is because it was going over 144hz or what. But it works fine without any limiter needed with Vsync on.
     
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  18. SpajdrEX

    SpajdrEX Ancient Guru

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    Richard Nutman: If you have freesync limit to 144fps and have freesync enabled, it will black out as it's outside freesync supported range.
    Unless you change freesync range with CRU (and hope that LCD freesync range will work outside supported range).
    Having enabled Freesync + Vsync add input lag.
    I got acceptable results in the end with 19.5.1 driver and have enabled ISLC with timer resolution set to 0.9996ms
    As long fps does not fly quickly from example 60 to 52fps in a second, it's fine, otherwise, I can see stuttering for a while.
    Thankfully I'm playing games where I can set the resolution to 90%/85% etc. and that keeps me around 60fps most of the time.
    But for smooth 1080p play without sacrificing many details I would need at least Vega 56.
     
  19. Truder

    Truder Ancient Guru

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    Enabling V-sync defeats the point of Freesync as in, you're not using Freesync at all when using V-sync.

    When you use V-sync, a game matches it's framerate to the monitors refresh rate setting - so if the monitor is 60hz, the game will lock it's framerate to match, not only does V-sync lock your frame rate, you also have increased input lag and whats worse, if the Vsync method is using double buffering, not only does it hurt performance but if framerate drops below the refresh rate, V-sync will cause the game to limit the framrate to half and insert additional blank frames. (so 30fps for 60hz in this scenario).

    Now when it comes to Freesync, it's actually transparent to games as it's handled by the video driver/gpu/monitor - it's always on (once you've enabled it in drivers and on the monitor). Now the trouble is not all games have effective methods of ensuring framerate doesn't exceed your monitors refreshrate range and so frame limiters are put to use. Personally however, I prefer to use freesync+enhanced sync (option in drivers) as this offers a solution to minimise tearing at high framerates whilst allowing Variable Refresh Rates to continue functioning.
     
  20. Richard Nutman

    Richard Nutman Master Guru

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    Only Intruder, I think your fundamentals on this are wrong.

    For a start Vsync doesn't really lock your frame-rate. It just means the driver waits until the vertical blanking period before sending down the new image. The side effect when you have a fixed frame rate monitor (i.e. non adaptive sync) is that the game when rendering at or above the monitor rate will be locked to it.

    But when Freesync is on, the monitor isn't at a fixed refresh rate. The monitor changes it's vertical blanking duration based on the game frame rate. But you still don't want to be updating the image halfway through the monitor drawing the screen, as this will still cause tearing.

    With Freesync and Vsync on, I can still see completely variable monitor refresh in the OSD. It is not locked and controlling the game, the game is controlling the monitor.

    Unless the game is capable at rendering faster than the maximum refresh rate of the monitor, there is no point in using Enhanced Sync with Freesync. Enhanced sync just allows the game to render at fullspeed and the driver holds the most recently generated image until vertical blanking to update the monitor. This gives the visual niceness of Vsync, without the game being blocked at a low render rate.

    For example; if your Freesync monitor max refresh is 144hz, and the game is running at 120fps. Then the monitor should also be at 120hz. The driver will not be receiving newer frames from the game before it has sent the current frame to the monitor as both are at the same speed. There is no lag, as the game is not able to render or update any faster anyway.
     
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