Windows 10/118 min readReviewed 2026-07-29

Screen tearing on a high-refresh monitor

Align frame presentation with scanout using VRR, V-Sync, and a measured frame cap.

Quick diagnosis

High refresh reduces how long a tear is visible, but does not synchronize frame delivery by itself.

1
Confirm the active refresh rate
Check Windows Advanced display and the monitor OSD.
2
Enable VRR end to end
Enable Adaptive-Sync/FreeSync in the monitor and the supported VRR mode in the GPU control panel.
3
Keep frames inside the range
Apply a stable frame cap below the maximum refresh when appropriate for the VRR implementation.
4
Compare synchronization modes
Test VRR off/fixed refresh, then VRR, then the vendor-supported V-Sync combination one change at a time.

Enable VRR on both endpoints and use the correct full-screen/windowed policy.

Choose the synchronization method that removes tearing with acceptable latency for the application.

• Restore driver defaults and remove the frame cap if pacing or latency becomes worse.

• If the display loses signal rather than merely tearing, troubleshoot cable bandwidth and link stability instead.

Refresh frequency and synchronization are separate; a new frame can still arrive during scanout.

Use variable refresh rates
NVIDIA. GPU-side G-SYNC/VRR configuration and display-mode scope.

Diagnose it in this order

Check Windows Advanced display and the monitor OSD.

Enable Adaptive-Sync/FreeSync in the monitor and the supported VRR mode in the GPU control panel.

Apply a stable frame cap below the maximum refresh when appropriate for the VRR implementation.

Test VRR off/fixed refresh, then VRR, then the vendor-supported V-Sync combination one change at a time.