Monitor Refresh Rates – Why More Is Better For Gaming

Introduction

Is upgrading to a setup that can support 240, 360, or even higher frames per second worth it for competitive gaming? If you just want the short answer: of course! You’ll never want to go back. If you want the longer answer, we’ll go deeper on what using higher monitor refresh rates can do for you and your gameplay in this article.

Advantages of high FPS and refresh rates

If you’re not quite convinced how a low framerate might hamper your ability to track whatever is going on around you we can point you to the excellent video by NVIDIA that we linked below.

Moving images (such as games) are essentially created by displaying a series of still images in rapid succession, and the lower the framerate the ‘choppier’ the moving image appears.

Image Fluidity

A 144Hz gaming monitor (that’s hooked up to a graphics card and system that can produce 144+ frames per second) refreshes the image on your screen more than twice as fast as a 60Hz system, so it should come as no surprise that these higher refresh rate monitors make it a lot easier to accurately track whatever is going on inside the game. In essence, a 144Hz monitor will make the game world appear a lot smoother and more ‘lifelike’ when it comes to motion.

Latency Reduction

The advantages of using a high refresh rate setup don’t end with the monitor. A regular 60 FPS setup has an end-to-end latency in the range of 55 to 75ms, while a 144 FPS setup ranges from 30 to 45ms. A setup that’s running at 240 frames per second has an end to end latency between 20 and 35 milliseconds, which means that a high FPS setup gives you advantages that go beyond only the visual aspect.

A high framerate setup translates your inputs much faster, which can give you an advantage in those close fights. That’s why you’ll see (for example) Counter-Strike professionals with framerates that are well above their monitor’s refresh rates. You might think that that’s overkill, but the advantages of a rig that can push a lot of frames go beyond what you can see on your monitor.

Screen Tearing

Lastly, higher refresh rates also reduce the amount of visible screen tearing and motion blur (see: ‘What is Motion Blur (Reduction)?‘) which is another big advantage when it comes to image clarity.

Summing up, we can say that a high refresh rate setup gives you a much smoother and responsive image, as well as a more direct and responsive connection to the game. This is an invaluable advantage if you’re playing competitive games.

240+ Hz as the competitive minimum

It’s quite clear that 240+ Hz really is the current competitive standard.

If you want to get competitive, you absolutely want to invest in a 240Hz monitor, as that’s the current sweet spot. Nowadays, there are plenty of budget-oriented 240Hz monitors out there, so it’s a great investment to make if you’re serious about your gaming.

With that said, 360+ Hz monitors have been taking over in recent times, but it should be noted that those displays can still cost quite a hefty sum.

One important note: not a single analyzed pro is using a 60Hz monitor.

Some stats

Diminishing returns?

A lot of gamers say that the jump from 144Hz to 240Hz isn’t as massive as the jump from 60 to 144, and that is true. Looking at the image refresh times, you can see that the jump from 60 to 144 Hertz is larger than the jump from 144 to 240 Hertz.

So yes, there are definitely diminishing returns. Upgrading from a 144Hz monitor to a 240Hz monitor will not feel as significant for your gameplay as moving from 60Hz to something higher.

However, that does not mean that the difference isn’t worth it.

Going from 144Hz to 240Hz still means that you’re (roughly speaking) going from a frame every 6.95ms to a frame every 4.17ms, and opting for a 360Hz panel cuts that down to a mere 2.8ms, which does mean that there’s definitely a benefit when it comes to the clarity and fluidity of the image on the screen.

Whether the difference in fluidity and response times is worth it to you will depend on your personal goals and budget, of course.

Investing in a worthy setup

Hardware Requirements

Before you invest in a shiny new monitor, you should make sure that your PC is up to the task. It makes absolutely no sense to have a 500Hz monitor on your desk when your PC can barely put out 140 frames per second in your favorite game.

If you’re planning a new setup, always do your research first and make sure you’ve got a balanced system that can easily output enough frames for your desired monitor.

Software

You don’t need any special software to play games at higher refresh rates, but it’s important that you make sure that your higher refresh rate panel is fully enabled in Windows. To do this, go to settings -> system -> display -> advanced display settings -> display adaptor properties -> monitor and select the native refresh rate of your monitor (make sure to click ‘Apply’) under monitor settings – screen refresh rate. 

You should also make sure to enable your game to run at higher refresh rates. This setting is normally found under the video settings tab of your favorite game.

The sweet spot

We often get asked what framerate one should aim for when purchasing a new setup. The answer is that it depends. In this day and age, we consider a 60Hz setup to be borderline unplayable for competitive gaming. Yes, you can absolutely frag out on those kinds of setups, but you are handicapping yourself.

Given how 240Hz monitors are becoming more and more affordable, we see 240Hz as the current ‘sweet spot’. This type of setup will allow you to realize your potential without being handicapped by a blurry or stuttery game, and it won’t cost an arm and a leg to create a setup that runs at those framerates.

That’s not to say that higher refresh rate setups are not worth it; they absolutely are. But the cost of such systems is still pretty steep, so it’s up to the consumer to decide how devoted to competition they are.

Panel Tech

For the longest time, the only panel tech that was worth talking about when it came to high refresh rate monitors was the TN panel. TN panels are still among the fastest and clearest panels out there, but they do come with the pretty big caveat that they’re not very good at everything else. Colors and ‘depth’; it’s all notoriously subpar on TN panels. That’s not to say that they’re unusable for work and content consumption, but there’s much better tech out there if you care about color accuracy and such.

With that said, there’s a vast amount of affordable TN panels out there that perform fantastically well for gaming, so if you don’t really care about image quality and color reproduction, you can go for those.

These days, there are alternatives that perform pretty much just as good (any differences are marginal to most users) but they can be quite costly. So, if you want a monitor that is amazing for competitive gaming and has great image quality, you should be prepared to pay quite a significant premium.

Precisely how good a panel is all depends on the implementation, so we can’t say which is the best alternative to TN here. We recommend you to do research and read lots of reviews before committing to your purchase. It’s just good to know that TN isn’t the only sheriff in town any longer.

Conclusion

There’s a particularly stubborn myth/meme on the internet that says that ‘humans can’t see more than 30/60 fps‘ but that is categorically false. A high refresh rate setup greatly improves the smoothness and fluidity of the image on your screen, as well as the overall responsiveness, and it reduces latency. On top of that it also greatly reduces screen tearing and ghosting issues, so it’s not hard to see how a high refresh rate monitor can improve your gameplay.

To help drive this point home, consider this stat: ~98% of our analyzed professionals across all of our games using a setup that’s capable of displaying at least 240 frames per second.

In summary: If your main focus is competing in multiplayer games, a PC that can hit 240+ frames (and a monitor that can display them) should be on or near the top of your ‘must buy’ list. You won’t want to go back to 60Hz for competitive gaming ever again.