Written by Steven

What refresh rate do you choose for your gaming monitor?

A monitor with a high refresh rate produces smooth images, which makes it an important part of your gaming setup. As a novice gamer or a non-gamer, you can use a 60Hz monitor or 75Hz monitor. As a more experienced gamer, it's better to use a 144Hz gaming monitor. Are you an e-athlete? Choose 240Hz.

What is the refresh rate?

Refresh rate refresh rate 60 Hz 120 Hz

Your monitor creates the illusion of motion by a quick succession of still images. The refresh rate indicates how many images your monitor displays per second. This expressed in Hertz (Hz). A high refresh rate ensures that images are smooth. It’s not to be confused with frame rate, which is expressed in frames per second (fps). The frame rate refers to how many images your video card produces per second. In the case of a 144Hz refresh rate, you need a video card that produces at least 144 fps.

Choose refresh rate

The refresh rate of your monitor has an effect on how your games are displayed, but also on your own performance. It’s important that you choose the right one. The most common refresh rates are 60Hz, 75Hz, 144Hz, and 240HZ. We’ll help you choose.

  • 60Hz - For novice gamers who play adventure and strategy games
  • 75Hz - For novice gamers who play shooters and racing games
  • 144Hz - For experienced gamers and shooter fanatics
  • 240Hz - For professional e-athletes

60Hz - For novice gamers

Monitor 60 Hz Netflix films

A 60Hz monitor displays up to 60 images per second. A lot of gamers see this as a requirement for gaming. You don’t need an expensive video card to have your monitor produce 60 frames per second in Full HD. That's why a 60Hz monitor is perfect for novice gamers. For simple games like Minecraft, which are based on few moving images, 60Hz is more than enough. Adventure games like Assassin's Creed and GTA V run best on a 60HZ screen.

75Hz - For novice gamers who play shooters

Monitor 75 Hz simple games

A 75Hz refresh rate seems faster 60Hz, since you get 25% more images. In a shooter or racing game, this can make just enough of a difference to beat your opponent. A skilled gamer will experience some stutter, but a novice gamer won’t see the difference. This makes a 75Hz a good option if you’re a novice gamer who plays shooters or if you simply want more than 60Hz without spending a lot more money.

144Hz - For experienced gamers

Gaming monitor 144 Hz refresh rate refresh rate fast

A 144Hz monitor displays images very smoothly. This mostly beneficial if you're an experienced gamer who plays shooters or other fast-paced games. There's also a clear difference between 60Hz and 144Hz. While a fair amount of screen tearing is visible with 60Hz, this is barely the case with 144Hz, if at all. A 144Hz monitor is a bit more pricey, but will give you much better graphics results.

240Hz - For diehard gamers and e-athletes

Monitor 240 Hz refresh rate refresh rate super fast

240Hz delivers life-like motion quality. You'll hardly see the difference between 240Hz and 144Hz, unless you’re a die-hard gamer or someone who participates in e-sports tournaments. Invisible as it may be, experienced gamers will notice a difference in the number of kills. A 240Hz monitor gives you a sharper image between the original frames and more up-to-date information about your surroundings. Are you a competitive gamer or want to become one? A 240Hz monitor is just the one for you.

G-Sync and FreeSync

G-Sync and FreeSync on monitor

If you use a 144Hz monitor with a video card that produces 144 frames per second, it should display a perfectly smooth image. In reality, the number of fps delivered by a video card changes with every second. This causes irregularities on the screen, such as stutter or screen tearing. The solutions for this are G-Sync and FreeSync. These types of adaptive sync ensure that the monitor adapts to the number of fps of your video card. As a result, this dynamic duo will run in sync without any image stutter.

Required hardware

The rule of thumb is quite simple: the higher the amount of frames per second, the more powerful your video card should be. That's why you need a better video card for 144Hz/144 fps gaming than for 60Hz/60 fps gaming, for example. The resolution also matters. 4K resolution demands more from your video card than Full HD. Choose a monitor that matches your video card and gaming type.

Article by:
Steven Monitor Expert.

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