Force VSYNC on Linux desktop for Nvidia graphic cards

Posted on January 10, 2017

If you are getting awful tearing in on your Linux desktop while trying to watch a video or play a game, then you need to force your desktop compositor to VSYNC. On Arch Linux, I have noticed tearing on Gnome 3 and Mate desktop environments.

A post on Gaming on Linux explains the problem well and offers a solution for Nvidia users. However, I found the most useful solution in the comments section. The way I understand the solution is an additional compositor can be applied which forces VSYNC, even if the current desktop environment does not. A script was shared which turns on and off the additional compositor pipeline.

My script for enabling VSYNC is: Then, if I want to undo this additional compositing layer, I run: Modified: October 6, 2018 - 01:05:15 PM