How can I stop severe screen tearing on a 60 Hz monitor without V-Sync or VRR?
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MellowCedar42
I upgraded my PC from a Radeon 6600 and Ryzen 5 3600 to a Radeon 9060 XT and Ryzen 5 5600, but I kept the same 1080p 60 Hz monitor. Since the upgrade, I'm getting severe screen tearing in games such as Persona 4 Golden, War Thunder, and Death Stranding. I've tried Enhanced Sync, each game's FPS limiter, and RivaTuner, but the tearing continues even when the frame rate is capped. Is there any reliable way to fix this without using V-Sync, FreeSync, or G-Sync?
Answers
Your monitor can only refresh 60 times per second, so uncapped or uneven frame delivery will commonly produce tearing. Try enabling V-Sync and setting a stable 60 FPS cap, or possibly limiting the game to 59 FPS. The tradeoff is a little more input latency, but without a variable-refresh display, you generally have to choose between tearing and synchronization delay.
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On a fixed 60 Hz display, there isn’t really a way to eliminate tearing without synchronizing the frames to the monitor. V-Sync is the usual solution, while FreeSync or G-Sync handle it with less noticeable latency on compatible displays. You can also experiment with RTSS Scanline Sync, but it can take some tuning and isn’t guaranteed to work well in every game.
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A clean graphics-driver installation is worth checking after changing hardware, since leftover driver settings can sometimes cause display problems. However, if multiple driver versions all behave the same way, the monitor’s fixed 60 Hz refresh rate is probably the main limitation rather than the driver.
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MellowCedar42: I did try several driver versions and the tearing stayed the same, so it seems like the monitor’s refresh rate is the real issue.