88 PCWorld FEBRUARY 2021REVIEWS TESTED: NVIDIA REFLEX
As you can see, playing with low visual
settings remains the most responsive option.
With the CPU being the bottleneck at that
point, Nvidia Reflex’s benefits are essentially
null in standard circumstances. It even
seemingly adds a bit of latency with the GTX
1660 on a 360Hz panel in Fortnite—though18.8ms remains firmly in the “competitive-
grade esports” category.
There are two considerations to keep in
mind, though. First, the bottom-rung visuals are
ugly: jagged edges, low-res textures, you name
it. Boosting the visuals up higher to get rid of
that is worthwhile for everyone but the most
competitive gamers, and Nvidia Reflex helps
you claw most of the responsiveness back.
Second, even when you drop all visuals to
low to make the CPU your bottleneck, some
scenes in some games can still become
GPU-bound. Nvidia’s Seth Schneider
highlighted a close circle toward the end of
an Apex Legends map. When people start
chucking thermite grenades, the game can
suddenly flip to being GPU-bound, and
having Nvidia Reflex on can greatly help with
responsiveness in that scenario, he says.BOTTOM LINE
That was a long ride full of interesting
findings. Hopefully you understand the
differences between the Nvidia Reflex feature
found in games and the Reflex Latency
Analyzer found in monitors now. Like I said,
they’re two very different tools with two very
different uses, but both can help you become
a better esports player.
First, let’s discuss the Nvidia Reflex Low
Latency Mode feature in games. It won’t help
you across the board, but it can improve
latency significantly if you become GPU-
bound, roughly doubling responsiveness inFortnite, 360Hz Panel
Average PC+ Display latency (milliseconds)
GTX 1660Low Visuals, Reflex Off
GTX 1660Low Visuals, Reflex On
GTX 1660RTX Off, Reflex Off
GTX 1660RTX Off, Reflex On
RTX 3080Low Visuals, Reflex Off
RTX 3080Low Visuals, Reflex On
RTX 3080RTX Off, Reflex Off
RTX 3080RTX Off, Reflex On
SHORTER BARS INDICATE BETTER PERFORMANCE14.2
18.8
44.7
23.1
15
16
21.8
21.8Valorant, 360Hz Panel
Average PC+ Display latency (milliseconds)
GTX 1660Low Visuals, Reflex Off
GTX 1660Low Visuals, Reflex On
GTX 1660RTX Off, Reflex Off
GTX 1660RTX Off, Reflex On
RTX 3080Low Visuals, Reflex Off
RTX 3080Low Visuals, Reflex On
RTX 3080RTX Off, Reflex Off
RTX 3080RTX Off, Reflex On
SHORTER BARS INDICATE BETTER PERFORMANCE9.5
9.6
11.8
12.9
9.2
9.1
11.2
11