ZOTAC GTX 680 (Kepler) Video Card Review And Benchmarks

Adaptive VSync technology is one of the nicest new features of the GTX 680 and one I am sure will be imitated by others in the near future as it works very well in getting rid of the stuttering and micro-stuttering we see when frame rates drop below the 60 mark and the screen shudders a bit as it loses sync.  Vertical sync (VSync) was designed to address the tearing artifacts that can occur when in-game frame rates are higher than the refresh rate of the display. This tearing can be visually distracting to the end user, leading to a less enjoyable gaming experience. (Tearing can also occur when frame rates are less than the refresh rate, but it’s more noticeable at higher fps. While VSync addresses the tearing issue when frame rates are high, VSync introduces another problem: stuttering. This stuttering occurs when frame rates drop below 60 frames per second, causing VSync to revert to 30Hz, and other multiples of 60, such as 20 or 15. To tackle this challenge, NVIDIA software engineers have developed Adaptive VSync. NVIDIA’s Adaptive VSync technology introduced with our Release 300 drivers dynamically varies VSync on and off to display frames in a more regular cadence, minimizing stuttering in games. When frame rates drop below 60 frames per second, NVIDIA Adaptive VSync technology automatically disables VSync, allowing frame rates to run at their natural rate, effectively reducing stutter. Once frame rates return to 60 fps, Adaptive VSync turns VSync back on to reduce tearing. To me personally this is one of the best new features of the GTX 680 and can be found on the latest 300 Drivers from NVIDIA.