Nvidia’s G-Sync technology, which synchronizes frame refresh times with the refresh rate of a compatible monitor, is a must-have for serious gamers. It provides a much smoother experience than typical, ironing out the miniscule hitches that often plague PC gamers. It comes at a price, though, because G-Sync only works with monitors have special hardware inside.
That apparently won’t be true for the mobile incarnation, however. PC Perspective investigated an Nvidia driver leak and discovered it enables G-Sync on the ASUS G751, an excellent laptop released late last year without a G-Sync display module. This means the green team will be able to roll out driver updates that bring the feature to already produced laptops.
Related: What is G-Sync and how does it work?
Further digging by the site revealed the ASUS G751 is in fact capable of refresh rates as high as 100Hz, which makes the 1080p panel quicker than some desktop G-Sync desktop monitors. PC Perspective took the entire laptop apart to ensure no prototype or hidden G-Sync module was stuffed inside the ASUS notebook.
While the leaked driver did enable G-Sync, a couple problems occurred. The flicker that commonly appears with G-Sync monitors at low frame rates was encountered with the G751, and the laptop also suffered occasional “dropouts” which caused the display to go entirely blank.
Nvidia’s response to the findings has mostly confirmed them. The company has stated the driver was provided to OEMs “to begin the process of validating and troubleshooting” mobile G-Sync. It’s not clear if official support for the G751 is intended, but the green team has confirmed that mobile hardware will not require the G-Sync module found in desktop monitors. Whether that means retroactive updates will bring official support to old devices is unconfirmed.
