FreeSync Evaluation
Running the usual gamut of tests provides insight into the quality of a panel from an objective point of view. The real, and only, reason that most folks would think about dropping £400 on a screen of this type is the smooth gaming potential made possible by having a wide FreeSync range allied to a decent resolution.
We ran with a reference AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 card connected to the screen via DisplayPort. Getting FreeSync activated is a simple process of going into the AMD control panel, hitting FreeSync on, and then gaming.
The combination of RX Vega 64 and a 2,560x1,440 screen is, on paper, a good one. The GPU ought to be able to pump out framerates in the 50-144Hz sweetspot, with FreeSync taking care of tearing and stuttering.
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The proof of the pudding, so to speak, is found when playing through Middle-earth: Shadow of War, Warhammer II, F1 2017 and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.
Shadow of War, set to very high quality, is a good advert for the chosen GPU and monitor combination. The framerate generally hovers around 70fps but drops to 35fps on occasion and sometimes jumps to over 100fps. We can confirm the benchmark is a good proxy for the game after having played over 10 hours of the slashfest.
We saw no evidence of stuttering or tearing and the action was smooth, which is a particular concern when you're in the midst of a heated battle, turning this way and that to avoid orc spears and bludgeon attacks. All in all, the FreeSync experience is a very good one in this title.
F1 2017 hits much higher framerates even at ultra-high quality. Limited to 100fps on the downside and 150fps on the upside, it feels extremely fluid. Running the same title on a non-FreeSync screen of the same resolution, set to V-Sync on and 60fps, reduces fluidity by just a touch.
Warhammer II, on the other hand, tends to average in the 60s when set to very high quality. Here, having V-Sync on at 60Hz doesn't cut it occasionally, so the benefits of FreeSync are clear when the action become frenetic and framerate drops. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided has a similar gaming experience.
What we can say after testing is that FreeSync works well on the Iiyama screen, and LFC does indeed smooth out the framerate once it drops below the 50Hz provided by the panel. In effect, the FreeSync range is about 30-144Hz, which is in the wheelhouse for an RX Vega 64 card run on a 2,560x1,440 panel.
