60Hz vs 120Hz vs 144Hz vs 165Hz vs 240Hz: Refresh Rates Compared

Back in the olden days, gamers were stuck with only one refresh rate option when it came to buying a monitor; 60Hz. That meant the monitor refreshed the display 60 times a second, which meant its maximum framerate was just 60 FPS as well. Over time though, GPUs grew more powerful and saw their frame buffers grow from 256MB of memory to 8GB and beyond, and framerates higher than 60 FPS at high resolution became achievable, and thus, high refresh-rate gaming was born.

This technology allows a monitor to run at a refresh rate far beyond 60Hz, theoretically offering sharper detail due to reduced motion blur and a more fluid sensation when gaming. These days there are monitors offering a maximum refresh rate of 120Hz, 144Hz, 165Hz, 240Hz, and even a whopping 500Hz, and there's 1,000Hz monitors on the horizon too. The big question for gamers is what refresh rate is best? And is higher always better?

First of all, going from 60Hz to 120Hz will definitely be a noticeable upgrade for most gamers in most scenarios, and it’s something you can immediately feel when you’re playing a game. Generally speaking, gameplay looks and feels more “fluid” at a higher refresh rate than at 60Hz as there is less motion blur, and if you're going from 60Hz to 120Hz, you're seeing twice as many frames in the same amount of time. That makes graphics look sharper due to there being less blur, and motion feels smoother. If you doubt this assertion, note that Apple provides a 60Hz refresh rate on its standard iPhones, and 120Hz on its Pro phones, because it's making people pay for that smoother scrolling and swiping experience.

However, continuing to increase your refresh rate will definitely get you into the territory of diminishing returns, as beyond a certain point any gains will be almost impossible to perceive. For example, going from 120Hz to 165Hz will be a very negligible increase in perceived smoothness, and going from there to 240Hz will be even less of an upgrade. Anything beyond that is just for the pro gamers who need every little boost to assist their gaming.

Overall, you’re better off just picking a high refresh rate you know your GPU can hit in the games you play and using that as a guiding number for your monitor upgrade. Right now, 144Hz or 165Hz are the sweet spot for most gamers, as a decent midrange GPU like the RTX 3060/4060/7700XT or high-end GPU like an RTX 5080 / 5090 or RX 9070 / 9070 XT can hit those numbers pretty easily in most games, though enabling ray tracing will drastically reduce performance in favor of a considerably zesty visual upgrade.

However, if you have the budget, you can always opt for a 240Hz monitor as it will leave you some room for expansion in a few years when 240Hz becomes easier for midrange GPUs to achieve, even with ray tracing. Buying a 240Hz monitor with a variable refresh rate lifts the ceiling on what you could experience in the future.

Regardless, if you’re still gaming at 60hz we implore you to upgrade to a 144Hz, 165Hz, or 240Hz monitor with G-Sync or FreeSync. You’ll also need a GPU that can match that performance level, but it is a truly glorious upgrade, and one you won’t regret.