Nvidia Reflex is the company's latest feature that they're promoting every bit part of the overall GeForce package and today we're looking into everything surrounding the Reflex ecosystem.

Nvidia has made concerted efforts equally of tardily to expand their GeForce feature set, so that raw performance is not the only deciding factor when ownership a new GPU. Features like DLSS and ray tracing have likewise been heavily pushed, and today we'll be checking out whether Reflex is something you should care almost.

Reflex is currently carve up into 2 similar, but separate features. I is just called Nvidia Reflex, and information technology'due south the characteristic you'll find added to games with the goal of improving latency. If you lot burn down up a game's settings and see the pick to turn on or off Nvidia Reflex, this is what we're talking almost.

The second is Nvidia'due south Reflex Latency Analyzer, which is a collection of hardware and software tools y'all can use to analyze game and full organization latency. The goal is to provide latency data to gamers, then they can optimize their system for the best responsiveness.

In this article nosotros programme to cover both. First we'll look at how well Reflex works beyond some of the supported games so far similar Fortnite, Valorant, and Call of Duty Modernistic Warfare – in a variety of weather condition. Then nosotros'll have a look at some of Nvidia'southward Reflex Latency Analyzer tools including the GeForce Experience overlay and the new monitors with built in latency tools.

We have the Asus ROG Swift PG259QNR on paw, so we'll take a cursory look at what'southward on offer.

Latency is a complicated thing, so nosotros're going to break it down to the simplest terms possible. Existing low latency modes are commuter based, including Nvidia's Ultra Low Latency manner (otherwise known as Zero), likewise as the regular low latency mode. They work past adjusting the way the GPU buffers frames, commonly reducing the number of frames in the buffer, and past modifying the return queue. However, as they are commuter based, features like NULL merely piece of work with older DirectX 11 titles. DirectX 12 games, which are becoming more than popular, take full control over nearly aspects to queuing and buffering, so commuter modes are not compatible.

Reflex is the next pace for low latency modes. This is a feature that is built into the game with the goal of further reducing latency, beyond just modifying queues and buffers. Nvidia is beingness a scrap cagy over exactly how it works, but it can exist summarized as this: through Reflex, your Nvidia GPU tells the game engine what it is doing, and the game engine responds by looking at this info, and doing its work just earlier the GPU is ready to return. This means the game engine is doing just-in-time processing, which allows information technology to grab the freshest inputs from your arrangement, and deliver that to your display with the least latency.

It's merely possible to get this latency reduction when there is good communication between the GPU, CPU and game engine, which is why something similar Reflex is required. You can think of this a scrap like a kitchen at a restaurant, yous don't want to accept your steak cooked well earlier the chips are ready or it'll go cold; practiced communication in the kitchen allows both to be ready at the same time for the freshest, hottest and tastiest meal. That's what Reflex is doing, only with your game.

Due to this, y'all might be able to realize why Reflex requires game integration, and why information technology's exclusive to Nvidia's GeForce 900 series GPUs and newer. Information technology won't work as a driver solution as it needs deep integration with the game engine, and information technology likewise requires cognition of how the GPU is operating.

The Nvidia GPU driver provides that data and patently it goes beyond just the regular telemetry that performance overlays can access. So this isn't an open solution, it doesn't work with AMD GPUs, and it requires game-level integration. But, it doesn't require new RTX 30 GPUs, then it works with older GeForce cards from the past few generations which will let you access Reflex.

Fourth dimension to look at how much of a benefit we actually get from Reflex. Our test bed will exist performing some CPU-express testing today at 1080p, then we're using a Core i9-10900K test rig for all benchmarking. The organization has been equipped with 16GB of DDR4-3200 retention and the MSI Z490 Unify motherboard.

For Reflex testing we're using Nvidia's LDAT or Latency Brandish Analysis Tool, which is substantially a photodetector you can place on the screen to mensurate game latency. This is a better version of the tools we were already using for latency measurements, which were besides based on a photodetector, and we've confirmed it to exist very accurate. Afterwards nosotros'll be exploring the Reflex Latency Analyzer, only for now, we're measuring total system latency from mouse click, to action on screen, using LDAT.

Benchmarks

We wanted to starting time off past looking at how Reflex improves latency when nosotros are gaming with the maximum in-game quality settings. This is where Nvidia says we should see the almost benefit; the more than GPU bound you are, the more likely Reflex will deliver a latency comeback.

Get-go upward nosotros are testing in Fortnite's Creative manner, using DirectX 12, the Epic Preset and maximum ray tracing. we're also using the DLSS Performance mode and a GeForce RTX 3090 Iron GPU, with the display being a 4K 144Hz panel with adaptive sync enabled, the LG 27GN950 in this instance.

At 4K, we saw the most do good from using Reflex, and in fact the gains are quite impressive. Total system latency was effectually 104ms with Reflex disabled, only when turning on the feature, we saw latency halved to under 50ms. There wasn't much difference between Reflex On, and Reflex On + Heave – which keeps the GPU clocked upwardly high to farther improve latency – but with either Reflex manner we saw a significant latency improvement. In contrast, Nvidia's Ultra Low Latency Way doesn't improve the feel, equally Cipher doesn't work with DirectX 12 titles.

At 1440p, gains were nonetheless present, but not equally pregnant as 4K. While at 4K we were gaming around 45 FPS, reducing the resolution to 1440p saw us jump up to 85 FPS. We are no longer seeing half the latency with Reflex enabled, simply a 12ms reduction is still decent and something that we could detect while gaming. This is all with G-Sync enabled and Vsync disabled, and then we're getting the optimal Vsync related latency.

In that location are also gains to exist had at 1080p, with about a 10ms improvement in our testing. Given the RTX 3090 is quite powerful, nonetheless existence able to achieve better latency at 1080p with Reflex enabled is decent. But the largest gains, and the most notable improvement in responsiveness, was observed when we're more than GPU jump at below 60 FPS.

However yous aren't e'er going to exist GPU bound. The RTX 3090 makes easy work of Valorant for instance, running at over 600 FPS in our test surface area at all resolutions with the Core i9-10900K. It's hither that, even when playing on the maximum quality settings, that Reflex delivers next to no improvement. With latency around the 16ms marker in all situations, which is very responsive, in that location isn't much else Reflex can practice in terms of optimization.

We also saw less of a gain when playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare's Warzone mode. Even when playing at 4K, using the highest settings with ray tracing enabled, Reflex only provided well-nigh a 3ms reduction to input latency with all of the resolutions we tested. There was a consistent gain, but with this sort of GPU power at hand, the improvement wasn't in the aforementioned league equally with Fortnite.

While you exercise clearly need to be GPU bound to run into big improvements with Reflex, and that isn't as possible with the RTX 3090, if y'all accept an entry-level GPU like the GeForce GTX 1650 Super, you lot are much more likely to get a latency improvement using the Reflex mode...

In Fortnite, with the Epic preset only without ray tracing as the 1650 Super doesn't back up it, Reflex provided a similar do good to what we saw with the 3090 at 4K, but this time at 1440p and 1080p. In both of these modes, the game is pretty GPU bound and runs below 100 FPS on our test island. Here we see Reflex halving the input latency, which makes quite a significant divergence to gameplay on these systems where you still want all the visual effects cranked up.

We too saw a latency improvement in Valorant using this class of GPU. We're no longer seeing over 600 FPS, in fact at 4K the 1650 Super is more like an 80 FPS GPU using the highest quality settings. In this situation, we saw a healthy 19ms latency improvement, which is a significant jump in this sort of title.

Gains were more modest at 1440p, with a 9ms drop to latency, and at 1080p, with merely a 6ms drib. But still, in these weather it doesn't appear the game is fully GPU jump, so we don't come across a state of affairs similar with the 3090 where Reflex is useless.

Call of Duty Warzone consistently delivered the least impressive latency improvements. Fifty-fifty with a GTX 1650 Super, which runs below 60 FPS at 1440p with high quality settings, nosotros only saw about a ten-12ms improvement to system latency when enabling the feature, and this was at both 1440p and 1080p. To me this was pretty hard to notice, especially with a frame rate around 50 FPS which isn't the virtually responsive, but for more highly tuned competitive gamers this might exist a meaning difference.

In general though, our testing shows that when y'all are playing on high to ultra quality settings, and y'all're mostly GPU bound, Reflex volition provide a latency improvement, peculiarly in titles like Fortnite. The gains are going to be more pronounced on lower end cards as your system in general will exist more GPU limited, and that seems to be central for Reflex: the more your CPU is sitting idle, the more potential there is for a latency comeback. Nosotros would look that on systems with a weaker CPU, similar say a Ryzen 5 1600, you'd go the reverse upshot and there would exist less of a gain.

With this in mind we wanted to test Reflex with competitive esports settings. Most of the time if you're a serious competitive gamer, you lot'll exist playing using mostly low settings. This allows you to achieve a higher frame rate, which inherently lowers total latency, but it tin also often make spotting enemies easier without the distractions of shadows and other furnishings. So if y'all've already done a lot to optimize your system for latency, y'all're getting very loftier frame rates and are playing at 1080p, what can Reflex do for you lot?

The answer to that is... practically nothing. Nosotros're not even using a loftier-end GPU for this testing. This is a organization with a Core i9-10900K to give usa the to the lowest degree amount of CPU bottlenecking and an RTX 2060 GPU. We've hooked it up to the Asus PG259QNR every bit well, to get that sugariness 360Hz goodness.

In Fortnite, using the lowest settings, no ray tracing, the DLSS Performance mode and epic draw distance, we were able to achieve around 400 FPS in the test area. At this sort of super high frame rate, latency was already very low without Reflex, at simply 14ms of total system latency. Reflex did non improve this event, as nosotros are fully CPU bound.

Same story in Valorant. we were achieving betwixt 600 and 1000 FPS using the game's lowest settings, and latency was consistently around the 13ms marker whether Reflex was enabled or disabled. The "Boost" style hasn't washed much so far, even though it'southward supposed to assistance a bit with latency in more CPU bound situations.

And so nosotros likewise have Warzone, where there was a small latency improvement of around 4ms when using Reflex in combination with the lowest settings. Notwithstanding in this title with the lowest settings, we did appear to be GPU bound rather than CPU bound, and then nosotros'd look results to autumn more in line with the other titles if we tested with a higher end GPU like an RTX 3090 using the lowest possible settings.

What's also important to notation is that the gains you lot encounter from Reflex are independent of your monitor's refresh charge per unit when gaming with Vsync disabled, as you should be for the lowest latency possible. For example, in Fortnite with a 1080p display, Reflex consistently gave a 9ms comeback in our testing across the lath with the RTX 2060 using epic settings, at the same frame rate, regardless if the monitor was ready to 360Hz or 60Hz. The main divergence is that y'all'll come across boosted latency added at lower refresh rates, and so it's always better to be gaming at the highest possible refresh rate

A lot of these latency results fall in line with what we've seen previously from latency-reduction modes. When GPU bound, especially when heavily GPU leap, there is often scope to reduce organisation latency. The extent of the reduction will depend on the game and how it works, just when CPU spring, your system is basically apartment out and you won't see much, if whatever, of a latency improvement. The closer to beingness CPU bound you are, which by and large correlates with higher frame rates, the less useful Reflex is.

Reflex Latency Analyzer

Before giving our final thoughts on Nvidia'south Reflex, it'due south worth going through the tools Nvidia are providing through their Reflex Latency Analyzer. While the LDAT tool we used for our Reflex analysis isn't bachelor to end users or buyers, every aspect of the Reflex Latency Analyzer will exist available, though some elements have a cost.

Some of the Reflex tools are bachelor to use without any specific latency hardware. In some Reflex-enabled games like Fortnite and Valorant, yous tin can enable a latency overlay in the game which shows various metrics. In both cases we meet what's known as "game to return" latency -- in other words, the fourth dimension it takes from when the game receives an input, to when the frame is output to the display. This is non total arrangement latency – which besides includes the latencies from your brandish and input peripherals – only for a lot of people this game to return latency will exist a good enough metric for optimizing latency.

You can besides use GeForce Feel'south new latency performance overlay, withal this only shows GPU-side latencies such as return latency, not the full game to render latency, so its usefulness without additional Reflex Latency Analyzer hardware is limited.

In games like Fortnite though, you can utilize the built in tool, mess around with your settings, and see how that impacts the total latency number presented.

For hardcore enthusiasts, Nvidia is offering a hardware ecosystem in conjunction with diverse partners that allows for further, more than in-depth latency analysis.

This comes in the class of two components: the Reflex Latency Analyzer built into some displays, and Reflex Latency Analyzer Compatible mice. Nosotros could spend a ton of time detailing how all of this stuff works, but to exist honest that would take a while and wouldn't be that interesting, so if you're interested in the nitty gritty details y'all tin read Nvidia's documentation on information technology.

Information technology basically boils down to this: when you take both a Reflex Latency Analyzer equipped monitor like the Asus ROG Swift PG259QNR and a Reflex Latency Analyzer Compatible mouse, similar the Asus ROG Chakram Core, you tin can measure total system latency. This includes not but the game to render latency (like Fortnite reports), but mouse latency and brandish latency as well. This gives us the well-nigh valuable and accurate latency information possible.

Information technology takes a chip of time to prepare up and information technology's really only suitable for benchmark conditions – information technology won't give you good readouts in general gameplay as you lot have to position the capture area for the latency analyzer over a muzzle flash, for example, and that could alter in dynamic gameplay.

Merely with this hardware in conjunction with the GeForce Feel Latency overlay, yous tin can criterion total system latency and optimize your configuration around that metric.

More often than not speaking we found the Reflex Latency Analyzer to be within 1ms of LDAT, then it's a pretty accurate tool, although it pulls data from the Grand-Sync module's frame buffer as opposed to getting a reading straight from the display's pixels.

In that sense LDAT is the more complete tool. But for nigh people, the Reflex Latency Analyzer volition be accurate enough and certainly much ameliorate than any other tool currently available that'south this like shooting fish in a barrel to use.

The Asus PG259QNR is as well just a Reflex Latency Analyzer version of the PG259QN that we already reviewed recently, an splendid 1080p 360Hz display. We believe there are other monitors coming from Acer and Alienware that volition support the tool.

What We Learned

Nvidia's Reflex ecosystem is a tale of two dissever, but related entities. On the one paw yous take the Reflex fashion integrated into games, and on the other you have the Reflex Latency Analyzer. You lot could argue these are designed for two different groups of people, with little crossover.

The Reflex mode found in supported games is near useful in GPU limited situations. In these competitive titles, most of the time you'll be GPU limited when you're either playing on ultra quality settings, using a lower-end GPU, or some combination of both. The more CPU express your organisation becomes, and the higher the frame rate pushes, the less useful Reflex is for enhancing system latency.

This makes Reflex a useful feature primarily for casual competitive gamers; the people that desire to play Fortnite but don't desire to sacrifice visual quality, don't want to play at 1080p or merely don't have the well-nigh powerful hardware. Plow on Reflex, your organisation latency volition drib, and that improvement to responsiveness might make yous a bit better at the game.

On the flip side, Reflex is next to useless for competitive gamers. If you're the sort of person that already has a latency optimized setup – and so you're already playing at 1080p on powerful hardware with low settings to ensure you're getting the highest possible frame charge per unit – Reflex will have no do good whatsoever. That's because you're almost certainly CPU limited, and Reflex is ineffective in those situations. This holds true fifty-fifty in situations with mid-range GPUs like an RTX 2060 in titles like Fortnite and Valorant when gaming at low quality settings.

There'due south no downside to having Reflex enabled in those situations, simply don't look to see fifty-fifty lower latencies when you lot are already in a fully optimized surround. This is actually for the coincidental gamers that don't desire to sacrifice ray tracing, or 4K resolutions while gaming, simply withal want a nice and responsive experience. And that's fine.

Then the Reflex Latency Analyzer is for serious competitive gamers that want to do everything possible to reduce system latency. Having the tools bachelor to practise that are great and potentially useful for tweaking hardware setups and game configurations, but realistically this isn't something a casual gamer will be doing.

We can see the Reflex characteristic in games existence widely used, only the Reflex Latency Analyzer and compatible mice seems like a really niche feature that probably won't get much traction exterior a very modest user base of operations. With that in mind, we practise accept question marks over how long Nvidia will back up something like this, which in plow may throw upwardly question marks over whether information technology'due south worth investing in Latency Analyzer hardware. It's certainly neat and works well, but without that broad user base, we can meet it getting the chop after just a few years.

The other question we're certain some of you will be request is: is information technology worth buying an Nvidia GPU over the competition specifically for Reflex? Later all, this is being pushed heavily as the adjacent best thing, like to how Nvidia was positioning DLSS and ray tracing with Turing GPUs.

We estimate that's part of the good news. If you're already in the Nvidia ecosystem, Reflex works with GTX 900 series GPUs and newer, so don't become out and feel that you take to upgrade to Ampere to get Reflex.

At this signal, we don't retrieve it's worth considering Reflex into your ownership decision. Clearly, this isn't a DLSS 1.0 state of affairs where the feature is kind of useless. Reflex works properly and can give you a latency improvement, but it's restricted to a pocket-sized handful of settings right now. You accept to exist playing one of the few supported titles, and be playing in a GPU limited situation to come across the benefit. Besides, non all games benefit in the same way, with some titles giving large gains and others less noticeable ones.

If the only affair y'all do is play Fortnite, or Valorant, or Apex Legends, then by all means, buying a GeForce GPU might be the all-time way to go. But if you're one of the many gamers that plays a variety of titles, or other competitive games for that matter, then similar DLSS or ray tracing we retrieve it's better to view this as a great bonus characteristic for now. If the ecosystem continues to abound and Reflex becomes a key feature in most competitive titles, and so maybe that volition alter, but for now that ecosystem is too small to exist a must have feature.

Shopping Shortcuts:
  • Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 on Amazon
  • Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 on Amazon
  • Intel Core i9-10900K on Amazon
  • AMD Ryzen 9 3950X on Amazon
  • AMD Ryzen 9 3900X on Amazon