4 things nobody tells you about high refresh rate monitors

PC enthusiasts are quick to recommend high refresh rate monitors, especially for gaming, because games feel buttery smooth and take immersion to a whole new level. My first time using a high refresh rate display was in 2017, when I bought the Alienware 17 R3, which had a 120Hz screen. I immediately noticed the improved smoothness since I had only used standard 60Hz monitors up until that point. Since then, I’ve purchased several high refresh rate monitors, and I currently use a 4K/160Hz, 1440p/175Hz, and 1440p/360Hz monitor with my gaming PC.

As much as I enjoy using my high refresh rate monitors, there are some hidden quirks and trade-offs that many enthusiasts rarely discuss on the internet. They become apparent only through daily use. So, before you upgrade to a high refresh rate monitor, let’s discuss some lesser-known aspects of using one so you can make an informed decision.

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Sensitivity to lower refresh rates

You’ll struggle to use a 60Hz display again

As I said before, I’ve only used 60Hz displays until 2017, and I’ve had no complaints with them. As long as my games were running at least 60FPS, they were perfectly acceptable to my eyes. But after using my 120Hz gaming laptop for a day, I didn’t want to return to my desktop, which had a 60Hz monitor. Gaming aside, I struggled even to do basic tasks like web browsing on it since scrolling through pages felt sluggish. Even Windows 10 animations appeared choppy. And that’s because my eyes and brain quickly adapted to my laptop’s high refresh rate display.

Once you jump from 60Hz to 120Hz, your perception of smoothness will change, and you’ll become overly sensitive to lower refresh rates, even 90Hz. Right now, I’m writing this article on my 1440p/360Hz monitor, which I use as the main screen, even though I have a 4K/160Hz monitor right next to it. And that’s because of two reasons: one is that my 4K monitor isn’t OLED, and the other is that my eyes will need to get used to 160Hz again. To me, refresh rate and display technology matter more than the resolution.

3

Smoothness isn’t guaranteed

A 240Hz monitor is pointless if your GPU isn’t capable

Just because you bought a high refresh rate monitor doesn’t mean you’ll experience a dramatic improvement in smoothness across all the games you play. At the end of the day, it comes down to how powerful your graphics card is and how GPU-intensive the games are. For instance, you won’t notice any improvement if you have a 4K/144Hz monitor, but your GPU renders most games you play at around 60 FPS. In fact, if your GPU can’t keep up, frame timing becomes inconsistent, causing micro-stutters or tearing. While adaptive sync technologies like G-Sync and FreeSync can alleviate these issues, they’re not a silver bullet.

So, before you spend money on a high-refresh-rate monitor, benchmark your games and monitor the frame rate using MSI Afterburner to gauge your GPU’s performance. You may easily get 144FPS at 4K resolution in games like Valorant and Fortnite, but your GPU may struggle in demanding AAA titles like Cyberpunk 2077 and Black Myth: Wukong. For GPU-intensive games, you can use upscaling technologies like DLSS and FSR or frame generation to ensure the FPS is closer to your monitor’s refresh rate.

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2

You may still experience ghosting

Because your monitor’s pixel response time matters more

You’d think the motion clarity would be perfect on high-refresh-rate monitors, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. At higher refresh rates, your monitor’s pixel response time — the time it takes for individual pixels to switch from one color to another — matters more. The lower the pixel response time of a monitor, the better its motion clarity will be, which is crucial for fast-paced competitive gaming. So, a 240Hz monitor with a 1ms gray-to-gray response time is superior to a similar panel with a 5ms pixel response time because you won’t notice ghosting nearly as much.

One of the main reasons we recommend OLED monitors for gaming is their near-instantaneous pixel response times (0.03ms). Both IPS and TN monitors are no match for OLEDs in this department; even the fastest TN monitor, the BenQ XL2586X+ 600Hz monitor, has a 0.5ms gray-to-gray response time. These monitors rely on aggressive overdrive to keep the response times this low, which can cause inverse ghosting and halo-like artifacts. Since OLED panels don’t have a backlight like traditional LCD screens, their response times are much lower, even without pixel overdrive.

1

Diminishing returns

Anything above 144Hz needs a trained eye

The jump from a 60Hz to a 120Hz monitor is immediately noticeable even for casual users, but that’s not nearly the case at higher refresh rates. Going from a 144Hz monitor to a 240Hz monitor isn’t nearly as impactful, and most people wouldn’t even notice it in day-to-day use. For instance, Windows animations and webpage scrolling won’t feel much smoother. However, higher refresh rate monitors shine in fast-paced competitive gaming, where every millisecond counts.

I use my 1440p/360Hz monitor primarily to play Valorant, and I would be lying if I said it doesn’t give me an advantage. I can track my opponents faster, which helps me aim more precisely. At the same time, when I use Adobe Photoshop or Premiere Pro for editing, I can barely tell the difference as I move my windows across all three monitors. So, if you’re someone like me who plans to use it mainly for competitive gaming, you would benefit from a 240Hz or higher refresh monitor, but for productivity work, a 144Hz display is more than adequate.

Try one to see if it’s worth your money

I’d happily recommend a 120Hz or 144Hz monitor with my eyes closed if you still use a 60Hz display with your PC in 2025. However, if you already have a 144Hz panel and are considering upgrading to 240Hz or even 360Hz, I’d say you should try it in a store before pulling the trigger. See if the improvements meet your expectations, because otherwise, you’re just wasting your hard-earned money. And if you’re eyeing a TN or IPS monitor, don’t overlook its pixel response time. Not all high refresh rate monitors perform equally, but if money is not a concern, you should buy one with an OLED panel for the best motion clarity and visual fidelity.

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