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It's something I noticed a long time ago, but then never really decided to question it or ask why it is what it is.
Well, now I'm finally curious enough to ask why it is what it is.
Why does gear progression seem to continue on even after the "sync limit" is reached for a particular duty? Level 80 gear is still more powerful than level 60 gear in a level 50 dungeon.
Is the syncing done on a per-stat basis or something?
Lv80 gear is not automatically stronger than lv60 gear in lv50 synced content.
There is a stat cap for each stat at a given item level (if no ilevel sync is given, the item level sync is determined from your level, at 50, it is i135). Provided both pieces have the same stats and meet the stat cap, both the lv60 and lv80 piece are equally powerful. It is possible an early lv60 piece does not meet the stat cap of an i135 item for the lower substat, possibly giving an impression that lv80 gear is always stronger in lv50 content.
In level 50 content, stats for a weapon cannot exceed 58 weapon damage, 82 magic damage, 57 main stat, 67 vitality and 53 substat aside from determination and tenacity, which cap at 38, and piety, which caps at 40. A lv80 piece cannot magically go above this in lv50 content. The caps are determined by the item level (sync applied) and what slot the gear is for, weapon, chest and legs have higher caps than accessories, headpieces, hands, belts and feet.
It's also worth noting that sync'd down gear receives zero benefit from any materia that's slotted into it so it's actually worse then appropriately leveled gear.
Having the proper gear fully melded of that level content your in has much higher stats comparatively. If you put on ilvl 135 level 50 stuff in the end game level 50 content, you'll have higher stats every time than if you have anything above that level.
Unsync is what throws all of that out the window.
There's hard stat capping and soft stat capping happening with syncing. Most "main" stats are being hardcapped while secondary stats are falling into a softcap or percentage-based cap.
Lv. 20 Ifrit - minimum iLvl syncing:
(Why this instance? I wanted a fight that'd have pretty close stats in terms of ilvl and syncing; I figured the higher the duty, the larger the stat-cap ranges based on how quickly past content can be done, even with synced gear)
"Best" bought pieces without exceeding the ilvl (SCH book is the exception) - not melded
https://i.gyazo.com/99c0c0294100ab9f...aa1350f622.png
"Best" bought pieces without exceeding the ilvl (SCH book is the exception) - with melds
https://i.gyazo.com/981e71dbf14f6fb0...1de09d4b24.png
Lv. 70 Baldesion Arsenal Gear (note: accessories are current savage tier)
https://i.gyazo.com/542b73b9a2d99208...d582531d93.png
Lv. 80 current savage gear
https://i.gyazo.com/b6678d8fb1610e85...867bb58dd3.png
You lose any materia you'd have slotted in for higher level gear. With current gear melded, it's on par with higher ilvl gear - the main issue will be what stats you want to capitalize on, forcing you into higher ilvl gear.
If the question is possibly in regards to figuring out gear for ultimate, go with your highest level gear instead of the synced. From people that I've spoken with that have re-cleared ultimates since SH released, the synced gear won out over melded ilvl gear. The main reason you picked up same ilvl gear for ultimate was because you really needed the VIT and VIT melds to live (and since VIT materia is no longer a thing, you can afford more stat flexibility).
Summary:
If the stats were the same and hardcapped across the board, there's no reason why my higher ilvl gear ends up with more HP than the synced gear. If you want the most [of certain] stats in a particular instance, you need a combination of over ilvl and ilvl gear. Some ilvl gear simply won't reach the [total] stat caps, even with melds.
Doesn't blue gear translate to HQ gear of the same Ilvl when you sync, though? That test would seem a little bit flawed without the at level gear being HQ if that's the case. It probably wouldn't change the stats by a large degree, being the level range used, but I suspect you'd hit the same HP total as the high level sync'd gear with a few more VIT points, that HQ gear would give. Admittedly I doubt the secondary stat gain would be much. That said, you're right about needing to get sync'd stuff if you want to go all in on a certain stat.
Edit: Also, one of those Ash Masks with a gem in it(level 20) has 1 more VIT over the shop one you got.