Vsync/screen tearing?

[retsnom]

GSDX uses windowed mode fullscreen of sorts, so the vsync options in the emulator don't work too well with it, this is why Aero applies vsync.
Using the right tools you'll see the screenmode is not locked with gsdx (Vsync requires locking the backbuffer), this is afaik by design. Typically the application itself will reinit the screenmode when switching to locked which incurs the usual monitor flicker, PCSX2 jumps right from windowed to fullscreen without doing this when using modern versions of GSDX. A long long time ago (and on windows XP) it might still require locking display.

the setting should work on ZeroGS since aero and opengl barely tolerate each other.

That makes a lot of sense. I did notice that GSDX's fullscreen mode wasn't "true fullscreen". In any case, I'm glad it's working with a simple fix.

[NoVaX1000]

Why would you need it to be more FPS than your monitor supports? Having high frames beyond your monitor's refresh rate is called wasted rendering... You're actually putting more strain on your hardware without getting any visible gains.

The only time you should ever be worried about the amount of lost frames from vsync is if you're using very low end hardware (where you're getting only 15-20fps on a game) as the loss of 2-3 fps from V-sync will be game disturbingly noticeable...

Well. I remember Vsync taking a huge hit on my FPS in games - Dropping FPS in half from 60 to 30, if I can only get 60 fps in a game looking at that particular scene.

However, if I had 200 FPS in that scene, yeah sure I'll enable Vsync. Because I can be sure that my FPS won't drop as easily. However a huge explosion might cause me to disable vsync again if it drops below 60..

An experience I would relate it to was when my friend pointed out a small slither of cut in the center of the theater screen when we were watching Wall-E. No one had noticed until he pointed it out and you can bet that all our eyes naturally kept on going back to the cut.

You've noticed tearing at the Theater?
Amazing. I've never noticed o.O (seriously). I thought all movies had automatic Vertical Synchronization.

Sure people want a smooth display.
But honestly, I try to ignore tearing as much as I can, and if it's really severe, I'll see if I can lock the FPS closer to my monitor's refresh rate or finally enable Vsync if all else fails. Maybe even edit the refresh rate itself.

Vsync does cause a few milliseconds Input Lag as well, so I'd at least try to limit the FPS instead to avoid it first before enabling vsync.

[Squall Leonhart]

Vsync does cause a few milliseconds Input Lag as well, so I'd at least try to limit the FPS instead to avoid it first before enabling vsync.

There are also other aspects to take into consideration when experiencing input lag with vsync.

one of them being how much higher the fps is without it. if you can do so, cap the fps to 58 as well as enable vsync as this will reduce the amount of lag further on many games.