How can I fix screen tearing when my FPS is lower than my monitor's refresh rate?

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Hey everyone, I’m facing some screen tearing issues while playing Cyberpunk 2077 on my slightly aging gaming laptop. My setup includes an RTX 2070 and an AMD Ryzen 7 3700x processor running at 1080p resolution. Unfortunately, I can’t consistently reach the 144Hz refresh rate of my monitor; I usually get around 70-80 FPS using modded settings with XeSS 1.3. When I try to boost the FPS by adjusting XeSS or DLSS settings, I encounter annoying flickering. The only solution I’ve found so far is to use XeSS’s dynamic resolution with sharpening, but that’s not fully solving the tearing problem.

I know Vsync is usually recommended to fix screen tearing, but my issue is that I’m not hitting my monitor’s refresh rate, so Vsync isn’t an option here. Gsync would be ideal since it could reduce the monitor’s refresh rate to match my FPS, but my laptop unfortunately doesn’t support that either. I’m looking for any advice or possible solutions to tackle this frustrating screen tearing before I give up and try to ignore it. Thanks!

How can I fix screen tearing when my FPS is lower than my monitors refresh rate
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2 Answers

FramerateHunter -

It’s tough being limited by hardware, but you could also explore other tools like RivaTuner Statistics Server (RTSS) to cap your framerate more effectively without introducing too much latency. Plus, turning on any forms of ‘Fast Sync’ during gaming sessions sometimes alleviates stuttering for those who can’t access Gsync.

ScreenTearSmasher -

Yeah, RTSS is a great option to consider! Just be mindful that sometimes capping your FPS below your monitor’s refresh rate can help reduce tearing too.

PixelProwler -

You might want to check if there’s a way to enable a form of Adaptive Vsync or any form of frame limiter that’s less intensive than Vsync, which could help some users. It might still result in tearing but could lessen its severity if your FPS is stable around 70-80. Also, consider lowering some graphical settings to maintain a more consistent framerate instead of maxing out features like XeSS. Those can be demanding!

ThrottleJunkie -

Trying to reduce some graphical settings could definitely smooth things out. Using frame limiting software might also deliver a better experience than traditional Vsync.

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