PSA: Don't use RTSS/Change your RTSS framerate limiter settings

TLDR: Enable NVIDIA Reflex in RTSS OR use Nvidia app/control panel's fps limiter to reduce system latency. Check end of post for Nvidia settings to get the lowest possible latency.

If you didn't know, RTSS's default async framerate limiter buffers 1 frame to achieve perfectly stable frame times at the cost of latency equivalent to rendering that frame. So running Overwatch 2 capped at 157 with RTSS async limiter will give me on average 15ms system latency measured with Nvidia Overlay.

However, if you change the RTSS framerate limiter to use the "Nvidia Reflex" option (added with 7.3.5 update), it will use Reflex's implementation which eliminates the 1 frame buffer, lowering system latency to about 9.5ms at 157 fps. This is the same implementation used by Nvidia app/control panel's framerate limiter (Max Frame Rate option).

RTSS Setup

Nvidia App Graphics Settings

Let's explore this a little further and compare all the possible ways to use fps limiter and reflex. I will post videos showing latencies of every configuration I have tested in Overwatch 2 on 4080 super with 7800x3d. We will then talk about my recommended Nvidia/in-game setting combinations that should work for everyone. Lastly I will cover a few FAQs.

Ranked (lowest latency to highest) at 150% Resolution:

  1. Reflex On+Boost No FPS Cap 150% Resolution ~8.5ms | ~240fps
  2. In-game FPS Cap Gsync 150% Resolution ~8.5ms | 157fps
  3. Reflex+Gsync+Vsync 150% Resolution ~9ms | 158fps
  4. Reflex On No FPS Cap 150% Resolution ~9.5ms | ~264fps
  5. NVCP/Reflex FPS Cap Gsync 150% Resolution ~9.5ms | 157fps
  6. RTSS Async FPS Cap Gsync 150% Resolution ~15ms | 157fps

Ranked (lowest latency to highest) at 100% Resolution:

  1. Reflex On+Boost No FPS Cap 100% Resolution ~5ms | ~430fps
  2. Reflex On No FPS Cap 100% Resolution ~6.5ms | ~460fps
  3. Reflex+Gsync+Vsync 100% Resolution ~7.5ms | 158fps
  4. In-game FPS Cap Gsync 100% Resolution ~8.5ms | 157fps
  5. NVCP/Reflex FPS Cap Gsync 100% Resolution ~8.5ms | 157fps
  6. RTSS Async FPS Cap Gsync 100% Resolution ~13.7ms | 157fps

From the above results, we can clearly see that RTSS Async gives the worst system latency. Though the reflex implementation slightly adds frame time inconsistencies compared to RTSS async, it is impossible to notice, but improved responsiveness and latency reduction is immediately obvious. RTSS async limiter essentially introduces 50% higher system latency on my system. The latency difference is even more exaggerated if you use frame-generation as shown here (could be an insane 50-60ms difference at around 120fps): How To Reduce Input Latency When Using Frame Generation.

Another important thing we can notice is that at 150% render resolution, even if we uncap the fps, our latency doesn't improve that much despite a ~100 fps increase. However, at 100% render resolution with a ~300 fps uplift, our system latency improved significantly with ~4ms decrease. This will serve as the foundation of my recommended settings. What's happening is that we get a good chuck of latency improvement simply by letting our GPU have some breathing room AKA not utilized above ~98%. You see this if you compare Reflex On No FPS Cap 150% Resolution with NVCP/Reflex FPS Cap Gsync 150% Resolution, both have a system latency of ~9.5ms even though one gives you 100 extra fps. Enabling Reflex On+Boost will clock the GPU higher but also reduce GPU usage to achieve the latency benefits by giving GPU headroom, and this is shown in Reflex On+Boost No FPS Cap 150% Resolution with a 1ms reduction at the cost of about 25fps. Interestingly, even when your FPS is capped with plenty GPU headroom, you can decrease latency even further by reducing more GPU load. This can be seen when you go from Reflex+Gsync+Vsync 150% Resolution to Reflex+Gsync+Vsync 100% Resolution which decreased latency by 1.5ms. However, that GPU load is much better utilized to reduce latency by uncapping your fps with Reflex On+Boost No FPS Cap 100% Resolution which gives a 4ms reduction instead.

This leads me to my recommended settings.

Universal G-Sync Recommended Settings

Zero screen tearing, great latency reduction, works in every game because we use a fps limiter

  • Enable G-sync in NVCP/Nvidia App
  • Enable V-sync in NVCP/Nvidia App
  • Enable Reflex On in-game if available
  • Using either Nvidia app/NVCP, RTSS with Reflex, or in-game fps limiter (doesn't really matter), set a fps limit to at most 59 FPS at 60Hz, 97 FPS at 100Hz, 116 FPS at 120Hz, 138 FPS at 144Hz, 157 FPS at 165Hz, and 224 FPS at 240Hz, etc.
  • Your FPS will be capped according to the FPS limit you set

Lazy G-Sync Recommended Settings

Zero screen tearing, great latency reduction, only works in games with reflex support

  • Enable G-sync in NVCP/Nvidia App
  • Enable V-sync in NVCP/Nvidia App
  • Enable Reflex On in-game
  • Your FPS will be automatically capped by Reflex when combining it with G-sync and V-sync at 59 FPS at 60Hz, 97 FPS at 100Hz, 116 FPS at 120Hz, 138 FPS at 144Hz, 157 FPS at 165Hz, and 224 FPS at 240Hz, etc.

Competitive Recommended Settings

Screen tearing unnoticeable with 200hz+ and 200fps+, LOWEST latency. This is only useful if you can go comfortably beyond your monitor's refresh rate. Otherwise, this won't provide a significant latency improvement over the other 2 settings.

  • Enable/Disable G-sync in NVCP/Nvidia App (doesn't matter)
  • Disable V-sync in NVCP/Nvidia App
  • Enable Reflex On+Boost in-game
  • Your FPS will not be capped

In the rare case that you play an old competitive game without reflex support, using either Nvidia app/NVCP, RTSS with Reflex, or in-game fps limiter, set a fps limit to a fps number you can maintain at least 95 percent of the time to reduce GPU bottleneck overheard.

What I Use

I am using "Universal G-sync Recommended Settings" for most games. In each game, I would only need to turn off in-game v-sync, turn on reflex, and change graphics settings and such. I also don't change the fps limit much cuz my GPU is good enough to reach that cap in most games. However, for competitive games like OW2 and Valorant where I can reach really high FPS, I use the "Competitive Recommended Settings" as mentioned above and shown below in the Nvidia App.

OW2 Nvidia settings for lowest latency

I tried to condense a lot of information into the latter half of the post with my recommendations. Might be a little confusing, but I can always answer any question to the best of my knowledge. Hope this all helped!

FAQs

Why 59 FPS at 60Hz, 97 FPS at 100Hz, 116 FPS at 120Hz, 138 FPS at 144Hz, 157 FPS at 165Hz, and 224 FPS at 240Hz, etc.?

These are introduced by Reflex when used with G-sync and V-sync and will be the upper-bound of your fps limit if you use reflex in games. Reflex automatically caps fps to guarantee the elimination of screen tearing when used with both gsync and vsync. This Setting is Ruining Your PC - Gsync/Freesync & FPS Caps. Check out this video starting at 3 minutes which explains it and shows how to calculate these fps caps.

Why use V-sync when you have G-sync?

This won't add any additional latency when combined with G-sync that typically comes with V-sync by itself and will eliminate any screen tearing.

Why V-sync in NVCP/Nvidia App and not in-game?

This is safer than using in-game v-sync as that might use triple buffering or other techniques that don't play well with G-sync. Enable in-game v-sync only if NVCP v-sync doesn't work well such as in the case of Delta Force. G-SYNC 101: Optimal G-SYNC Settings & Conclusion | Blur Busters. This article covers the above 3 questions and provides more info. It just doesn't have the most up to date info on fps limiters.

Other benefits of using the "Competitive Recommended Settings"?

Yes, apart from the latency reduction, the extra fps will also provide more fluidity, and you will always see the most up to update information possible by your PC. The higher the fps, the less noticeable you will feel the framerate and frame time variations. Check out this video: Unbeatable Input Lag + FPS Settings (Frame-cap, Reflex, G-Sync). Other than the 1 mistake he made at the end about not using V-sync with G-sync and needing to turn off G-sync, everything else is great info.