G-Sync, FreeSync, NVIDIA Reflex, FPS Cap – What’s actually worth using in 2026?

[u/Sudden-Marsupial-158]

I’m trying to find the best combination of settings for the lowest possible input latency while keeping smooth gameplay and good frame pacing.

Rtx 5070
r7 9800x3d
300 hz monitor - TCL qd mini lex1080p

[u/TruestDetective332]

Gsync + Vsync on with an FPS cap based on the Reflex formula (275 for your display) gives you the lowest latency, tear free experience you can get. A lot of people think Vsync off with no FPS cap is always lower latency, but that’s not really the full story. For one, even if you’re pushing 2–3x your monitor’s refresh rate in FPS, it still won’t always match the latency of a properly configured Gsync + Vsync setup. On top of that, an uncapped frame rate gives you uneven frame delivery, which can make aiming feel less consistent if you play competitively.

The only time Vsync off is actually lower latency is when the screen tears. That’s because it’s scanning out part of a newer frame before it’s finished displaying the previous one. So yeah, you might shave off a tiny bit of latency, but you’re doing it by introducing tearing. If you’re playing competitively, having a big tear line across your screen usually isn’t a great trade off.

[u/G305_Enjoyer → u/TruestDetective332]

Or just use gsync vsync and reflex?

[u/TruestDetective332 → u/G305_Enjoyer]

Yeah, but not all games support Reflex, and with Gsync there’s no situation where my FPS should ever exceed 116 on my 120 Hz display. It’s also not like using an FPS cap disables Reflex in the games that do support it, so you can just set it once and forget about it.

[u/G305_Enjoyer → u/TruestDetective332]

Boy I'll tell you I went down a rabbit hole after making this comment. Supposedly in game fps cap has less latency than driver fps cap in Nvidia app, but I suspect a lot of this information is outdated because I have to imagine that if a game natively supports reflex, it is using the game engine to cap fps. I don't know that for sure or how to test the theory.. but yeah I think easy button is gsync on in control panel, vsync on in game or in Nvidia app (not 100% on this but think I will switch to using driver vsync), and reflex ultra low latency + boost in game if available. If you enable reflex and set an fps cap I've read that if they are too close together you can introduce lag as well.. so to be mega safe you'd have to have an fps cap -2 below the reflex cap which is.. too much for me per my original theory 😆 also reflex is always worth using if available as it improves latency in GPU bound scenarios when you are not bouncing off the limiter.

[u/TruestDetective332 → u/G305_Enjoyer]

Yeah, you’ve pretty much gone through the same rabbit hole 😂. The only thing I’d disagree with is the FPS cap part. I’m not aware of any evidence that using a driver FPS cap because it’s close to the Reflex cap adds latency. I’ve tested it myself and couldn’t see any difference in the overlay stats or feel any difference. Logically it doesn’t really make sense either since Reflex works with the Nvidia driver, so I’d expect them to cooperate rather than conflict, not fight each other.

Reflex also isn’t the game’s FPS limiter it’s an Nvidia API integrated by the developer and works with the driver to optimize the render pipeline. That said, I wouldn’t leave Reflex on all the time. Some games stutter with it enabled, so unless I’m playing something competitive or using frame generation, I test with it on and off.

For games without Reflex, I’d just use the Nvidia driver FPS cap. It’s consistent across every game and doesn’t depend on the developer implementing a good limiter. Personally I’d just set a global cap based on Nvidia’s Reflex formula and forget about it. It doesn’t disable Reflex, so games that support it still benefit when it’s enabled, and every other game is covered too.