Skip to main content

How Intel Arc graphics could finally fix V-Sync

Intel revealed its discrete Arc Alchemist mobile graphics cards on Wednesday, along with the announcement of two key features for PC gaming. Intel seems on a mission to kill one PC gaming’s oldest and most reviled features: V-Sync.

V-Sync, or Vertical Synchronization, prevents screen tearing in PC games. It essentially holds a buffer that feeds frames to the display so that there aren’t two frames showing up at the same time. It’s an antiquated solution, one that leads to input lag and locked frame rates in PC games. Intel has two new features to give V-Sync a makeover: Speed Sync and Smooth Sync.

A description of Intel's Speed Sync technology featuring a laptop on a purple background and definitions of Adaptive Sync and Speed Sync.
Intel

Speed Sync is basically V-Sync with the downsides excluded. It virtualizes the frame buffer, and it can adapt to your game in real time. Instead of waiting on frames to get through the buffer, which increases input lag as a result, Speed Sync can send the latest frame live as soon as the monitor refreshes. It also doesn’t cap your frame rate.

Recommended Videos

It’s essentially a version of Nvidia’s Fast Sync, which is a bit of tech the company introduced with its GTX 10-series (Pascal) graphics cards. AMD has its Enhanced Sync feature, which functions in the same way.

Smooth Sync is a surprisingly simple bit of tech. It simply blurs the line where a screen tear occurs so it’s less noticeable. Intel uses a dithering filter right on the edge where the tear occurs, and although you can still see the split image, it’s not as jarring as a full-on screen tear.

An example of Intel Smooth Sync featuring a video game image on a laptop screen and an explainer.
Intel

This will likely be relevant in esports and other titles that can run at a high frame rate, such as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. At higher frame rates, there are a greater number of less noticeable tears, so a feature like Smooth Sync could make those tears irrelevant.

V-Sync has slowly fallen out of favor as adaptive refresh rate monitors have hit the market. Nvidia’s G-Sync led the charge, with a proprietary module that increased the prices of monitors. AMD came back with FreeSync, an open-source adaptive sync technology that could work without dedicated hardware.

Most monitors fall under the FreeSync or G-Sync umbrellas these days, making V-Sync largely irrelevant. Not all monitors do, however. Speed Sync and Smooth Sync look to improve monitors that have a fixed refresh rate, as well as improve image quality in titles where you want to leave adaptive sync off.

It’s nice to see Speed Sync, but it’s hardly surprising considering AMD and Nvidia have competing technologies. Smooth Sync is something different. If done properly, it could be an elegant solution for esports titles running at high frame rates. As with everything when it comes to Intel Arc Alchemist, however, we’re reserving judgment until we have the cards in-hand.

Jacob Roach
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Jacob Roach is the lead reporter for PC hardware at Digital Trends. In addition to covering the latest PC components, from…
Intel is finally stepping up on its instability fiasco
Intel Core i5-13600K installed in a motherboard.

Last week, Intel quietly committed to extending the warranty on its 13th-gen and 14th-gen CPUs, but it wouldn't provide details at the time. Now, we know what processors are covered. Intel is extending the warranty on a large range of 13th-gen and 14th-gen CPUs by two years, giving customers a total of five years to file a warranty claim.

From a performance standpoint, Intel's latest 13th-gen and 14th-gen CPUs are among the best processors you can buy, but the chips have been in hot water as of late. A string of instability issues, and a lack of communication from Intel, have eroded trust not only in the CPUs, but also Intel as a brand. The warranty extension is an attempt by Intel to help restore that trust, as the narrative around Intel's instability troubles has only become more intense as time goes on.

Read more
Intel finally responds to CPU instability but only makes it more confusing
A Core i9-12900KS processor sits on its box.

Intel and motherboard makers aren't on the same page about what exactly "default" means for high-end CPUs like the Core i9-13900K and Core i9-14900K. Intel has issued its first public statement regarding the wave of instability on its most powerful CPUs, but it doesn't address the problem directly.

Here's the statement that was shared with Digital Trends in full:

Read more
I’ve used Intel CPUs for years. Here’s why I’m finally switching to AMD
AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D held between fingertips.

I've been using Intel CPUs for close to seven years. It started with the Core i7-8700K, but I moved on to the Core i9-10900K, Core i9-12900K, and most recently, the Core i9-13900K, all of which could have occupied a slot among the best processors at different points in time. But after so much time with Team Blue, I'm switching back to AMD.

It comes at an interesting time for Intel and the PC hardware community as a whole, which is currently abuzz about a particular article claiming that Intel is objectively "better" for PC gamers. That's not what this article is. Instead, I want to walk you through why I chose to use AMD's Ryzen 7 7800X3D in my gaming PC, and how I came to the decision.
Stability struggles
The Intel Core i9-13900K CPU Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

Read more