This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable variable refresh rate (VRR) for your account in Windows 11.
Variable refresh rate (VRR) allows a monitor with VRR capabilities, including AMD’s FreeSync, Nvidia’s G-SYNC, and VESA DisplayPort Adaptive-Sync, to automatically adjust its refresh rate based on the frame rate of the image being displayed. The feature enables VRR support for DirectX 11 full screen games that do not support VRR natively.
When variable refresh rate is turned on, you get higher frame rates and helps reduce screen tearing in games that don't support VRR by default.
References:
Navigating the Redesigned Graphics Settings page - DirectX Developer Blog
In the settings app, the graphics page lets you adjust settings related to ‘GPU Preference,’ ‘Auto HDR,’ ‘Optimizations for windowed games’, and more to get the most out of your graphics experience on your PC. Aligning with the new Windows 11 UI design, we’ve redesigned the graphics settings...
devblogs.microsoft.com
OS Variable Refresh Rate - DirectX Developer Blog
[Updated June 13th to clarify support for FreeSync] With Windows Version 1903, we have added a new toggle in Graphics Settings for variable refresh rate. Variable refresh rate (VRR) is similar to NVIDIA’s G-SYNC, AMD’s FreeSync, and VESA DisplayPort Adaptive-Sync. This new OS support is only to...
devblogs.microsoft.com
Contents
- Option One: Turn On or Off Variable Refresh Rate in Settings
- Option Two: Turn On or Off Variable Refresh Rate in Registry Editor
1 Open Settings (Win+I).
2 Click/tap on System on the left side, and click/tap on Display on the right side. (see screenshot below)
3 Click/tap on Graphics on the right side. (see screenshot below)
4 Click/tap on Advanced graphics settings to expand it open. (see screenshot below step 5)
5 Turn On or Off (default) Variable refresh rate for what you want. (see screenshot below)
The Variable refresh rate setting will only appear if your machine has the necessary drivers and a VRR capable monitor.
6 You can now close Settings if you like.
1 Open Registry Editor (regedit.exe).
2 Navigate to the key below in the left pane of Registry Editor. (see screenshot below step 3)
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\DirectX\UserGpuPreferences3 In the right pane of the UserGpuPreference key, double click/tap on the DirectXUserGlobalSettings string value (REG_SZ) in the right pane to modify it. (see screenshot below)
4 Do step 5 (on) or step 6 (off) below for what you want.
5 Turn On Variable Refresh Rate
A) Change the value of only VRROptimizeEnable to 1. (see screenshot below)
B) Click/tap on OK, and go to step 7.
6 Turn Off Variable Refresh Rate
This is the default setting.
A) Change the value of only VRROptimizeEnable to 0. (see screenshot below)
B) Click/tap on OK, and go to step 7.
7 You can now close Registry Editor if you like.
That's it,
Shawn Brink
Related Tutorials
- Backup and Restore Graphics Preferences for Apps and Games in Windows 11
- Reset Graphics Preferences for Apps and Games to Default in Windows 11
- Change Display Refresh Rate in Windows 11
- Enable or Disable Dynamic Refresh Rate (DRR) in Windows 11
- Enable or Disable Fullscreen Optimizations for Games in Windows 11
- Turn On or Off Optimizations for Windowed Games in Windows 11
- Turn On or Off Auto HDR in Windows 11
- Change Graphics Performance Preference for Apps in Windows 11
- Turn On or Off Hardware Accelerated GPU Scheduling in Windows 11
- Enable or Disable "Remember this is a game" for Xbox Game Bar in Windows 11
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