Refresh Rate and VSYNC

Categories: Topics | Getting Started | Video Setup | Performance

Article ID: 2989-WFLX-6244 FAQ ID: NA Created: May 20, 2009

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The refresh rate setting determines how many times your display is illuminated every second. This is distinct from the measure of frame rate per second (FPS) in that the refresh rate includes the repeated illumination of identical frames, while the FPS is a measure of how often a display can change from one image to another.

Please follow these steps if you would like to change the refresh rate for your display:

Right-click on the Windows desktop and select Properties
Select the Settings tab
Click the Advanced button near the bottom of the window
Select the Monitor tab and then pick a Screen refresh rate from the drop-down menu
Click OK to test your settings

The VSYNC setting determines whether or not Windows will allow your games and other applications to display different images at frame rates (FPS) which exceeds your refresh rate. If you have disabled VSYNC you may experience visual "tearing" and video artifacts while playing, as you will not see all of the frames which are being rendered.

Please see the Troubleshooting Gameplay and Performance topic if you would like to optimize game performance on your machine.

Retrieved from "http://supportwiki.steampowered.com/wiki/Refresh_Rate_and_VSYNC"

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