Is 60Hz good for gaming? With 75hz, 120Hz, and even 144hz monitors on the market, you may be wondering if a 60hz monitor is still worth buying. You may feel like you need the latest and greatest hardware with the best possible specs, but really, would gaming at 60Hz really stop you from winning?
In most cases, 60hz is plenty good enough for gaming. If you only casually play PC games there is no need for you to buy a high refresh rate monitor. Current generation game consoles are only just now getting to 60 FPS performance, so that is plenty enough speed to provide an excellent gaming experience. Only gaming enthusiasts and eSports players truly need a high refresh rate display.
In this article, we will explain what refresh rates really are and how they can affect gaming performance. We will also explain why you would and wouldn’t need a high refresh rate monitor.
What Does Refresh Rate Mean?
A monitor’s refresh rate is the speed in which it can draw new images on the screen.
So, as you would expect, a 120Hz monitor is going to be a whole lot smoother than a 60Hz monitor. This is because a 120hz monitor is able to refresh its image twice as fast as a 60Hz monitor.
So, the higher the refresh rate you have, the more realistic and fluid your gaming experience will be.
In fact, any refresh that is higher than 60Hz can even give you a few milliseconds of a competitive advantage in multiplayer PC games. This is because with a higher refresh rate monitor, you will be able to see and react to an enemy faster than they can if they are using a 60Hz monitor. This is why 240hz monitors are so common in the world of competitive gaming.
Remember, if your computer is not fast enough, or you simply do not have the skill to respond that fast, then a 240hz monitor wont make any difference to you.
The law of diminishing returns applies to everything and monitors are no exception. So that means that going from 60hz to 90hz will be a lot more noticeable than going from 120hz to 240hz
Is 60Hz Enough For Gaming?
60Hz is good enough for gaming. If your computer is able to do 60 frames per second or higher, then a 60Hz display will be smooth enough to be able to enjoy games.
With that being said, a monitor with a higher refresh rate enables the player to have a quicker and more accurate reaction to a given situation. Also, you have to make sure you have a computer that is capable of producing graphics fast enough to make the best use out of a high refresh rate display.
So, Is 60Hz Enough For Gaming?
You know those ultra smooth videos that are on YouTube these days? Not the normal every day YouTube videos, but the super smooth ones that kind of look out of this world because of how silky smooth they are?
The videos that really pop and you can tell that something is definitely better about the way those videos were produced or the cameras used to record them? Well, those are just 60FPS videos.
This is one of the ways that shows 60hz is plenty fast enough to provide a great gaming experience.
- 60Hz is best for most users. 60hz is enough to provide a smooth user interface and display high quality video. Monitors that can do 60hz are lower cost compared to higher refresh rate monitors.
- 120Hz to 144Hz monitors are a middle ground between the base level 60Hz monitors on the highest end bleeding edge 240Hz monitors. These monitors are suited for gamers on a budget that have reasonably fast PCs.
- A 240Hz monitor is stupid fast. These are pretty much only needed for eSport and other forms of competitive gaming. Remember, to be able to make full use of a monitor this fast, you have to have a graphics card and PC that can pump out 240 frames per second. That is a tall order.
See the latest and greatest graphics cards with 12GB of RAM or more, or seeing monitors on the market with blisteringly-high refresh rates may make you feel like you are missing out on a good gaming experience.
While it is true that the gaming experience towards the higher end of the spectrum is indeed better, you do not have to have the most bleeding edge PC hardware or the highest-possible refresh rate monitor to have an enjoyable gaming experience.
Can Your Computer Handle Higher Refresh Rates?
That all depends on your hardware. If you are going to buy a monitor that is capable of drawing more images on the screen per second, you need to make sure that your processor, ram, and graphics card are able to render new frames at least as fast as the monitor can draw them.
So, if you have a 120Hz monitor, but your PC can only render 60 frames per second, you will see absolutely not additional smoothness in games. on a specific game, then you’ll only be receiving 60Hz on that specific game. In fact, the experience will be exactly the same as if you had a 60hz monitor, other than the reduced eye strain.
How To Determine Your GPU’s FPS
Finding out how many FPS (Frames Per Second) that your computer is able to deliver is extremely useful in finding how high of a refresh you need your monitor to be.
There are a few games that have easy to find FPS counters in their settings. Other games require typing in some sort of console command to get the game’s built-in frame counter to show up.
So, most of the time it’s a lot more practical to just use a third part frame counting software. There are several programs to choose from but my favorite one is a program called Fraps. Fraps is a dedicated frame counting program that has several other useful features such as screen capture and screen recording.
Fraps provides an overlay that makes it easy to always know what your computer’s frame rate is, even when you are not playing a game.
So, you can run Fraps while playing your favorite games and it will tell you what frame rate you are getting in those games. If you are not getting over 60 frames per second in those games, then there is no point in buying a higher refresh rate monitor unless you also plan to upgrade other parts of the system.
Who Are Higher Refresh Rate Monitors For?
High refresh rate monitors are for PC gaming enthusiasts and eSports professionals, The few milliseconds of an advantage in a high refresh rate display is essential for professional gamers as it gives a slight competitive edge of another player who may not have a high refresh rate display.
These things are important to consider before buying a high refresh rate monitors. If you are not really into PC gaming or are not an official eSports competitor, it may not be worth the 600 dollars or more that it is going to take to upgrade your computer to the point in it will be able to properly drive a high refresh rate monitor to its full potential.
When To Upgrade To A Higher Refresh Rate?
Sometimes it makes sense to have a higher refresh rate display and other times it does not.
- If you are someone who likes to play fast-paced PC games, then a high refresh rate display can provide a competitive advantage compared to players with slower refresh rate monitors.
- If you are not someone who would benefit from having a high refresh rate monitor, it may not make sense to pay a premium vs standard hardware..
- So, if you dont have a high end PC with a powerful GPU that can produce frame rates that can exceed a standard monitor’s refresh rate, then it may not make sense for you to buy a high refresh rate monitor.
There is this one thing called screen tearing that happens if your graphics card is able to produce more frames per second than your monitor can display. Luckily, there is an easy way to prevent your frame rate and your monitor’s refresh rate from going out of sync.
Who Should Not Buy A High Refresh Rate Monitor?
If you either do not play PC games or only casually play PC games, there is no need to buy a high refresh rate monitor. Remember, consoles are just now getting to 60 frames per second. For the longest time, the mainstream video game experience happened at 30 frames per second. 60 frames per second is *double* that, so that is more than enough for most people.
So, unless you are really into gaming and want to get the absolute most experience out of it all, it makes more sense to just spend the extra money that it would have taken to buy a high refresh rate monitor on something more practical like a faster graphics card.
High Refresh Rates Are Easier On The Eyes
There is, however, one exception to this rule. During the time between new images being drawn on a screen, there is a blanking interval. This makes the screen completely black for a small fraction of second between frames. This produces a flicker in the screen that becomes more noticeable as the refresh rate is lower.
60hz is just about as low as you can go before the flicker becomes unbearable and causes discomfort for the viewer. So, if you have sensitive eyes, a high refresh rate monitor would be helpful for you, even if your computer is not fast enough to play games at those rates.
Will 60Hz Still Be Enough For Gaming In The Future?
Yes. While it may be true that in the future the minimum refresh rate monitor that you can find could be something much higher than 60hz, there is no technological reason why you would not be able to view play games in the future at 60hz. Much like the fact that today, nothing is stopping you from running your monitor at 30hz.
So, I wouldn’t worry too much about your 60hz monitor becoming obsolete in terms of its ability to connect to new devices that support higher refresh rates.
Recommendations For Gaming Monitors
The monitors in this list are all known to be decent gaming displays considering their size and performance. As you can see, the lower the refresh rate a monitor is, the lower its price compared to similar sizes and resolutions at higher refresh rates.
| Name | Refresh Rate | Resolution | Price | Screen Size |
| Acer SB220Q | 75Hz | 1920×1080
(1080p | Full HD) |
$129.99 | 21.5 Inches |
| BenQ 24 Inch IPS Monitor | 60Hz | 1920×1080
(1080p | Full HD) |
$139.95 | 24 Inches
(23.8 Inches Viewable Without Bezels) |
| ViewSonic VX2478-SMHD | 60Hz | 2560×1440
(2k | Wide Quad High Definition) |
$279.01 | 24 Inches
(23.8 Inches Viewable Without Bezels) |
| Sceptre 24-Inch | 144Hz | 1920×1080
(1080p | Full HD) |
$304.99 | 24 Inches (Curved) |
| Acer XF250Q Cbmiiprx | 240Hz | 1920×1080
(1080p | Full HD) |
$279.95 | 24.5 Inches
Prices |
For a given resolution and size, a higher refresh rate monitor is going to be more expensive.
For example, you can get a reasonable quality 1080p 60Hz monitor for somewhere between $95 and $125. A 1080p 144Hz monitor, on the other hand, will generally cost somewhere between $160 and $200. As you would expect 1080p 240Hz monitors are the most expensive, costing between $220 and $300.
Conclusion
With 75hz, 120Hz, and even 144hz monitors on the market, you may be wondering, ‘Is 60Hz good for gaming?’ You may feel like you need the latest and greatest hardware with the best possible specs, but really, would gaming at 60Hz really stop you from winning?
You do not have to have the highest end PC hardware or the fastest refresh rate monitor to have an excellent gaming experience. Remember, game consoles like PlayStation and XBOX only just recently went from 30FPS to 60FPS.
In most cases, 60hz is still a totally viable refresh rate to consider when building or buying a new PC. This is true even if you are building a gaming PC. The only time you really need a high refresh rate display is if you are a PC gaming enthusiast and want an edge over your opponents. If you are just a casual gamer, a high refresh rate monitor is generally not worth the added expense of having to also upgrade your PC to be able to support the higher refresh rates.
We hope this article helped you learn weather or not 60hz is good for gaming, thanks for reading!
Marziano is a seasoned tech expert with over 15 years of experience in the industry. Holding a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and multiple certifications, including CompTIA A+, Network+, and Cisco’s CCNA, he has a well-rounded and robust understanding of various aspects of technology.