V-sync "Cap" FPS?

[Infaustium]

Not sure why this happens and if it's actually "capping" my FPS, so hopefully someone can shed some light on this.

In any game, when enabling v-sync (in-game) FRAPS "caps" at 60fps,

Now, is v-sync actually capping me at 60fps?
Or is it just reading that way for some bizarre reason?

When I turn v-sync off in-game, my fps jumps to what is it's true rate.

Example:
Half-life 2 v-sync off = 190-214fps; Half-Life 2 v-sync on = 60fps, never going higher.

In every game, it's the same thing... Crysis, F.E.A.R., TF2 etc. ...v-sync makes FRAPS show my fps capped at 60fps, and I don't understand why.

Does using v-sync actually cap any GPU at 60fps?
Maybe it does, and I've just never known. If there's a technical aspect here to this and that's actually the case, I'd like to learn about it and learn how/why it happens.

Can anyone explain this?

 

[MienTommy]

You only need 30 FPS -.-

 

[Frostex]

Thats what it's supposed to do, it syncs your frame rate with the monitors refresh rate, so if you have a 60Hz monitor (most LCD's) then you'll be capped at 60fps.

You cannot sync your frame rate and refresh rate when they're different unless you only sync every other frame, which is vsyncs behviour if you cannot maintain 60fps, or every 3rd frame if you cant manage 30fps, every 4th frame etc etc

 

[WhiteZero]

Yeah, basically V-Sync caps your FPS at your refresh rate to prevent tearing. Simple as that.