Monitor Refresh Rates – Why More Is Better For Gaming
This article regularly gets updated to reflect changes in monitor usage rates and other developments.
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! Graphics cards and monitors are more powerful than ever and with a wide variety of graphics cards available you can get exactly the performance you need at the price you can afford. 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 above.
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.
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 what a regular 60Hz display would be capable of, 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.
The advantages don’t end there, however. A regular 60 FPS setup has an end to end latency in the range of 55 to 75ms (if you’re playing in fullscreen) 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.
In addition to that, higher refresh rates also reduce the amount of visible screen tearing (see: ‘What is V-Sync’) 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.
In recent times, 360Hz (and above) monitors have also been coming up.
Do keep in mind that, in order to fully use a 360Hz monitor, you need a really beefy PC. Some games are also quite simply too heavy to run at framerates that high. As such, 360Hz monitors are really reserved for very serious gamers with a serious build. The rising adoption rates of 360Hz (and higher) monitors is proof that we haven’t yet reached the top in terms of monitor framerates though.
Some stats
~ 51 %
of analyzed pros use a 240Hz monitor
~ 30 %
of analyzed pros use a 360Hz monitor
< 1 %
of analyzed pros use a 60Hz monitor
Do monitor refresh rate have 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.
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 6.95 ms to a frame every 4.17 ms, 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.
If you’ve got the machine to handle it (and the money to spend) we always recommend going for a 240 or 360 frames per second setup as that’s simply better in every way, but if you’re on a bit of a budget or your PC cannot push enough frames for a 240Hz display you can opt for a lower refresh rate monitor (i.e. 180, 165, or 144 Hz) in a pinch.
240 frames per second is the target though, so we do recommend you to start steering your hardware in that direction if you want to be serious about competitive gaming.
High refresh rate gaming requirements
Hardware
Before you invest in a shiny new high refresh rate setup you should make sure that your PC is up for the task. It’s no secret that games get more and more demanding with each passing year. New technologies and rendering techniques help developers push boundaries when it comes to visual fidelity, but competitive games usually focus on being able to run on as many machines as possible. So with system requirements for (most) competitive games remaining stagnant (by design) and PC components getting more and more powerful, we’re seeing the standards rise every single year. We went from 144Hz to 240Hz, and now we’re seeing a move towards 360Hz.
At ProSettings.net we believe that framerate takes precedence over visual fidelity, so we always recommend people to turn down (a few) ingame video settings in order to achieve the best balance between having enough frames to get that silky smooth and responsive gaming experience while still maintaining a game that doesn’t look like a pixelated and confusing mess. With this in mind, you can really get yourself a very decent gaming PC on a budget in this day and age. It’s a different story if you want to play at 1440p 360Hz, but 240Hz 1080p gaming doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg anymore.
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.
Aside from that, you should also run your game of choice in full screen. This is always recommend in our settings guides, but we thought we’d mention it here again. Running a game in full screen gives you the least amount of latency, which is what you want if you want to get the most out of a high 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.
G-Sync and FreeSync
G-Sync and FreeSync often get mentioned when people are talking about high fps and refresh rates, and many ask themselves the question ‘do I need it?’ The answer is twofold; when you’re gaming at, for example, 240 frames per second on a 240Hz monitor there will probably be instances where you drop below that 240 mark, which can cause screen tearing. Technologies such as G-Sync eliminate that entirely, which results in a smoother experience, even when the action gets tough.
These technologies can introduce input lag, though. Very visible tearing, even at 240 FPS, can distract you in critical moments, which can lead to lost fights and matches. Given the fact that the latency that’s introduced by G-Sync in particular is almost negligible, it’s definitely something to consider in case you’re struggling with tearing, though we do recommend to leave it off if that’s at all possible.
Monitor Refresh Rates – 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 (we consider 144Hz to be the absolute minimum, and 240Hz to be the standard) 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: 99.9% of our analyzed professionals across all of our games using a setup that’s capable of displaying at least 144 frames per second.
In summary: If your main focus is competing in multiplayer games, a PC that can hit 144+ 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.
I am in the market for a new monitor and have read a lot of your threads and comments, great content!
Although you have answered several times I am wondering, currently I have a 2070 Super and don’t have plans to upgrade for a little bit yet. In games like CS, Val, LOL I get upwards of 200 fps or higher. or Above 240 for CS. However most of the time I play games such as Battlefield where there is obviously a difference in graphic quality. I still get above 144 FPS. Is it worth the extra cash for a 240Hz? Or may find better value in a nicer 144 or 165 Hz Monitor. Let me know your thoughts!
For me, if you’re a competitive gamer, 240Hz is always worth it. Having personal experience with both 144Hz, 240Hz, and now 360Hz monitors, I can say that it’s worth it if you regularly play games where you’d take advantage of those higher refresh rates. Of course if your main game would be Battlefield, or you’re more into single player ‘eye candy’ games then it becomes a different conversation, so it all comes down to what your main games would be. That said: if you have the budget you’re also ‘future proofing’ your build by going for a higher refresh rate monitor.
That said: if you’re not a super competitive player and/or you mainly play games where you hover around the 140 mark you could definitely go for a (higher quality panel) 144Hz display.
I currently have an XL 2411Z and due to the problem that there is no display port I can’t achieve 144hz so I switch to Aoc C27G2ZU / BK VA so I have a question if the configuration is good for 240hz
ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX ™ 3060 OC Edition 12GB GDDR6
5600X
16GB 3200mhz
Depends on the games that you play obviously but that should be plenty to reach around 240Hz (or at least way over 144Hz) in most competitive games if you turn the graphics down a bit. Obviously not for heavy hitters like PUBG or Rainbow Six, but CS:GO, Valorant, and so on shouldn’t give you any problems at all.
I have a monitor 144hz 3ms and I have a budget for either a 240hz 4ms or a 165hz 1ms and now I am wondering if I should consider having more (hz) or having a better respond time (ms)
Well there are 240Hz monitors with a faster response time (you could be looking at an IPS panel, which has higher response times typically) than that but if you’re between those two it depends on a number of factors to be honest. If your machine can’t reliable get to 240 frames or you tend to play heavier games such as PUBG or Rainbow Six it’s perhaps better to go for the 165Hz monitor. It also depends on the monitors themselves though, and what your needs are: do you think color accuracy is important or are you an all in competitive gamer and so on.
Hello. I would love if I can get some help. I’ve r7 5800x + rtx 3080 + 16gb Ram and I can’t get more than 120fps avg in warzone. What could be wrong? 1080p + low settings
That’s a difficult question to answer. First off it’s important to note that the performance of games can vary wildly between updates and patches. It could also be that there are a lot of programs running in the background, for example. This is very generic advice but I’d make sure that nothing is taxing your CPU (and memory) while you’re playing the game and that all of your drivers are up to date.
Sup, i bought my new pc snice 1 months ago. I’ve i5-11400f, Gigabyte GTX 1660 (Non-Super) and 16GB Ram are enough to run theese games at 144hz? Like csgo or some games can run over 144fps.
You should be able to run CS:GO at reasonably high framerates (though all of that depends on your CPU etc. so we can’t say for sure) but that’s a relatively budget system (nothing wrong with that though!) so heavier games like Rainbow Six for example can become a struggle.
I currently have a 144hz monitor, I am considering buying a 240hz. However, I don’t know if it will be suitable for my computer.
My equipment:
i5-8600k
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 G1 Gaming 6GB
16 RAM
Well, that depends on multiple factors, one being what games you mainly play. If it’s CS:GO at competitive video settings then it could be worth it, but if PUBG or something like that is your main game then your PC won’t be powerful enough to put out enough frames. That said: with a good 240Hz monitor you’re future proofing your build a bit. Those extra frames don’t ‘go to waste’ so to say: if you can’t quite reach over 150 frames per second, for example, it’s not going to be a problem if you’re on a 240Hz monitor. If you’re planning on updating your PC in the (near) future (though we know how difficult the GPU market is right now) it can be a good idea to go for a 240Hz monitor regardless if you’re a competitive gamer, otherwise it might be a good idea to hold out.
To summarize: it depends on a couple of factors. Hopefully this helps a bit but do let us know if you have any other questions.
Right now im using MSi RTX 2060 Super Gaming X with 75hz monitor. And i want to upgrade my monitor because i want to focus on valorant and will join a lot of tournament after this. Current FPS right now mostly i get around 2xx-3xx n something reach above 3xx when im not streaming. If i stream my FPS drop around 140-230-250-260. So which monitor should i consider to buy either 140hz or 244hz?
We’d definitely recommend a 240Hz monitor if you’re really going to be focusing on maximizing your gameplay potential. You never really seem to go below 144Hz so you’re still getting the benefit of a higher refresh rate, even while streaming.
What would you say is better ?
Gaming at 144hz and having fps always above 160fps.
or
Gaming at 240hz with g-sync on while averaging 180/200fps ?
(Edit: For competitive FPS games of course)
If you can get that many frames over 144Hz (you indicate 180/200 fps with G-Sync) it’s always a good idea to use a higher refresh rate monitor. There are diminishing returns, but there is definitely a difference between playing at 144Hz and playing at 190 (averaged based on your example) so if budget etc. is no concern we’d go for the 240Hz option every time, definitely if you’re going to be playing competitively.
Hey I’m recently trying to get a gaming pc I’m into call of duty Cold War what parts do you think I should I get I atleast want 140FPS
Hi i am a csgo player and playing aimlab many times and i have 60hz 1ms my record on gridshot is 70% and in microshot is 80% when im playing freetrack i fell im hiting my target but that shot is missing and
My score in freetrack is 62% and when im playing cs some times i see my enemy is moving im realy tracking that but my bullets didnt hit you think this misses is for 60hz? Cause i fell realy can track my enemy with my mouse and im accurate with mouse how do
You think?
First off: playing a game with actual people as enemies is way different from aim training. There’s also things like ping and latency to keep into account when playing online on top of that. That said: using a higher refresh rate monitor will definitely make the game easier to follow and can make aiming easier (or rather more consistent) but don’t expect miracles from it of course: aim still mostly comes from the player.
I just found your website and it’s pretty amazing. Hope you can help me out here.
Deciding between going for a 1440p 240hz or 1440p 144hz Monitor.
I’ve been using a 1080p 60hz monitor for as long as I can think so I’m not even sure if it would make sense with my hardware even tho I recently upgraded it after 8 years.
My Hardware is as follows and I’ll probably upgrade it in the future to keep up with new games:
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 6 Core
16 GB Ram
Nvidia Geforce GTX 1660 Super
I would say I’m a semi competitive player mainly playing Mmorpgs (to enjoy PvE and PvP equally), sometimes Shooter like Overwatch and many Single Player Games like Devil May cry, Nier Automata, Kingdom Hearts 3, etc.
Which Monitor Version would you recommend me to get, is my hardware good enough to make 240hz worth it?
Thank you for your kind words!
To answer your question: even if your system isn’t good enough to get 240Hz in some games it always stays a 240Hz display, if you catch my drift. If you decide to upgrade later down the line you don’t have to worry about your monitor. That said: for 1440p at 240Hz you need an extremely beefy PC, and the vast majority of competitive gamers play at 1080p in order to maximize frames and because a lot of games don’t reach those frames consistently at higher refresh rates. Considering the games you play (mostly MMORPGS, which benefit less from very high framerates, and some single player games with the occasional shooter mixed in) we’d say that a 1440p 144Hz monitor would be your best bet.
Hi,
I bumped into your very cool webside during a google search for a new Monitor.
Atm I am using a LG@60Hz in 3440×1440.
The rest of my rig is a GB Z390 Gaming X, i7 9700K, 32GB Corsair DDR4 LPX 3000 and the MSI Geforce RTX2080 Trio
The games I play are: WoW: SL, MSFS2020, Death Stranding, D3, Half Life Alyx (VR)
Reading a lot of questions and feedback you guyz give I also have the question: What monitor would you recommend me?
And is VSYNC also still used? Btw I nvr switch it on.
Well, for those games you don’t really need a 240Hz (or 360, for that matter) monitor as they’re not exactly fast-paced shooters. Aside from that it’s kind of hard to just outright recommend a monitor as there are a lot of variables in play (looks, G-Sync or FreeSync or neither, refresh rate, …). For your case it might be worth considering going for a 1440p 144Hz monitor to kind of get the best from both worlds, but we don’t have a lot of experience with those higher resolution monitors so it’s hard to recommend one just like that.
i play 160 fps. is it good or should i upgrade to 240 fps
240Hz is of course objectively better but 160Hz is pretty darn nice already. If your PC can’t push well above that mark or you feel like you’r just fine like it is then there’s no real reason to upgrade, but if your PC can handle it and you can spare the cash it’s of course better to go for higher refresh rates for competitive gaming.
I’m going from 60 to 240 how big of a difference will it be
You won’t ever want to go back to 60Hz for competitive games.
So i am thinking about buying 2060s and i7 9700 16ram and 240hz monitor i was wondering how much fps i can get on games like csgo,valorant,r6,rocket league,ow,apex legends and overall is it worth buying 240hz or 144hz monitor
Your FPS will depend greatly on the settings you’re using (and can even vary from patch to patch). For some of the heavier games it’ll be difficult to reach 240 frames per second, so we can’t really answer this as it depends on so many factors. That said: getting a higher refresh rate monitor is definitely worth it if you’re even a little bit of a competitive player.
i have a nvidia geforce gtx 1660 with an amd ryzen 7 2700x processor and a monitor that is only 60hz. everytime i try to run fortnite at 200 fps all i do is lag. should i get a new monitor or what should i do?
Well lag has to do with your connection, so if you’re lagging you should look towards your internet connection. That said: a 60Hz monitor can only display 60 frames of course, so for the monitor and your eyes (there is a difference in response times) there is absolutely no difference between your game outputting 400 frames or 61 if you’re gaming on a 60Hz monitor. So long story short: if you want to fully take advantage of higher framerates you will need to buy a higher framerate monitor, yes.
Great explanation and post! Really helped a lot!
I am in a dilemma between 27′ 1440p 144hz vs 24′ 1080 240hz.
I would consider myself a competitive gamer and I am going to make sure that my system will produce the necessary 240+ frames. Now, I cannot decide what to get because I am envisioning my system to have a ryzen 5900x with a rtx 3080. What shall I get? Is the 144hz to 240hz enough to consider than the 1080 to 1440p jump? Also, is 27′ really too big of a monitor for competitive gamers even considering curved?
I frequently been playing on a 144hz 1080p with lower settings and this time around I am going for a high end pc to run games on 1440p.
Games: Valorant and looking forward to Cyberpunk to see its beauty.
Thanks a lot, hope to hear from you guys
Well both have their merits of course. We’d say that if you’re mostly a competitive gamer who plays at higher ranks/levels or you’re aiming to become one to go for the 240Hz monitor; pros across all of our analyzed games are switching to 240Hz monitors every week (and most have already switched) and there’s no doubting that 240Hz beats 144Hz for competitive gaming. The difference between 144 and 240 is way less pronounced than the difference between 60 and 240, but it’s still definitely there.
If you’re in general more interested in looking at the beauty of (single player) games we’d recommend the 1440p monitor. You still get the advantages of a high refresh rate panel (though a 240Hz monitor is of course going to offer a larger advantage for comp gaming) but you get to experience games such as Cyberpunk with more visual sweetness.
We wouldn’t say 27’ is ‘too big’. It’s true that most competitive gaming monitors are bit smaller but if you like a larger screen you can definitely swing a 27’ monitor.
In short: is comp gaming your main ‘fix’? We’d say to go for the 240Hz monitor. If you’re mainly playing single player/eye candy games then we’d go for the 1440p 144Hz monitor.
Hope this helps!
1. How long will a video card last?
2. How do I check how many hz my computer can run at maximum?
3. Is there a website that shows what screen is needed to run each hz?
4. If I have an RTX 2080 it will run me a 240hz part in Fortnight all the quality on epic?
1. That completely depends on a vast number of factors so we can’t comment on that. If you take care of your card and your PC it should last you years and years though.
2. Your PC isn’t limited to any Hz number. Your PC may output 400 frames per second on a certain game while pushing only 120 on a much heavier game, so this depends.
3. You can use any Hz screen with any PC. Even if your PC can only display 30 frames per second you could still use a 240 Hz monitor. It wouldn’t be useful to have such a high refresh rate monitor with such a weak PC but in theory you can do it.
4. Probably not since Fortnite is a rather demanding game with everything maxed out. If you lower a couple of ingame settings you can definitely get a steady 240 frames per second output.
Does refresh rate affect the final FPS of the game or it is only the job of CPU, GPU, and RAM’s?
No, refresh rate is how many frames per second your monitor can display while frames per second is how many frames your PC is outputting each second (which is determined by the CPU, GPU, RAM; the whole PC).
Since the RTX 3080 is coming out, I’m am thinking of getting either a 27″ 1440p 240 Hz or a 24.5″ 1080p 360 Hz monitor to play FPS games like VALORANT. Given that hitting super high frame rates shouldn’t be much of a problem with the new RTX 3080, my general question is whether the benefits of a 24.5″ 1080p 360Hz monitor can outweigh the benefits of a 27″ 1440p 240 Hz monitor. While I know frame rate is always more important than fidelity, what happens when you start getting severe diminishing returns going from 240 Hz to 360Hz? Would it be worth exchanging some of that for fidelity if your GFX card can deliver the frame rate in both scenarios?
Also, is there any benefit to having a frame rate that goes beyond the monitor’s refresh rate? Let’s say I have a 240Hz monitor and my game can consistently hit >240fps at 1440p, will there still be any benefit to lowering my resolution down to 1080p to get more frames given that the monitor is the bottleneck? My assumption is no, I’m putting it out here to see if there is a different perspective.
Lastly, is there any special benefit to using a larger monitor like a 27″ over a 24.5″? I do find 27″ monitors more immersive, but I have to stretch my eyes harder to glance at things that are at the corner of my screen, e.g., mini map, stats, etc. However, in exchange, I can see the enemy a lot more clearly using a 27″ vs a 24.5″. I can’t really figure out which one is actually more beneficial, lol.
We haven’t yet done any real in-depth testing on a 360Hz monitor so we can’t really answer this for you just yet but we can tell you that framerates higher than your monitor’s refresh rate do definitely offer some advantages. Whether or not these advantages are tangible will differ from person to person (and is based on experience, how many frames you’re getting, …) so if you’re also planning on playing a bunch of singleplayer games at high resolutions you should be fine with a 1440p 240Hz monitor since you’re paying a pretty hefty premium with these new 360Hz monitors for something that can realistically only benefit competitive gamers.
As for the size of your panel: there’s definitely a point where a monitor gets too big. Where that point is depends on a couple of things (how far you monitor is away from you, personal preferences, …) but you should be fine with a 27” monitor. We wouldn’t say that there’s a special benefit to using a bigger monitor though, it mostly depends on personal preference. For what it’s worth: most monitors focused on competitive gamers (at this point in time) are between 24” and 27”, generally speaking. We wouldn’t recommend going a lot higher (unless your main focus is immersive single player/casual gaming and you’re going to be playing competitive shooters on the side) since because then you could be having issues with quickly glancing at your minimap or the kill feed, as you said.
Hopefully this helps you a bit, but if you have any more questions feel free to reply!
I have a laptop with a 60hz screen and frankly I love it, it’s enough for me.
But it’s true when I see what you say and my friends I regret not having put 2000 euros for a laptop with 144hz screen
If you are not a very competitive gamer (in the sense that you don’t play many competitive titles) it’s definitely fine to go with a 60Hz screen but as you no doubt have been able to tell we do recommend going higher. With the nearing release of 360Hz monitors we might see 144Hz panels become cheaper so that 144Hz laptop you’re wanting for could become a bit cheaper in the (near) future!