What Is the Best Hz Monitor for Gaming?

Before you pick your next gaming monitor, you need to understand what refresh rate is, and how it can affect your gaming experience. If you want to get the best gaming monitor for your PC, read this guide from the Comet team now…

What is refresh rate?

Refresh rate is the number of times a monitor updates the image on the screen every second. This is measured in Hertz (Hz) which is a measurement for frequency, or the number of cycles that occur per second.

If you think of it like a flip-book, the refresh rate is the speed at which you flick through the pages of the book. The faster the speed, the smoother the experience will be.

Why is refresh rate important?

A good refresh rate is important because it can impact the experience of your game. There are three main reasons why it is a crucial factor to consider when buying a gaming monitor.

Smoothness

A high refresh rate will result in a smoother motion as each frame is displayed for a shorter period of time, resulting in less blur, and sharper images. 

This is especially important with fast-paced games or competitive multiplayer, where every motion needs to be as clear as possible.

Responsiveness

Higher refresh rates also reduce input lag. This is the delay between your button press, and the action being performed on screen. 

Input lag is a great frustration for gamers of any genre, as a significant lag can have gamers repeating the same quick-time events over and over in the hopes of success.

Screen tearing

This issue is caused when the refresh rate of your gaming monitor, and the frame rate of your game, are out of sync. 

This results in an image that appears torn or disjointed as the two rates struggle to present the same image at the same time, and is not only frustratingly immersion-breaking, but entirely avoidable with a little foresight.

Monitors with refresh rates higher than the frame rate output of your PC will minimise this issue, especially when combined with technologies like AMD FreeSync or NVIDIA G-Sync.

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What is a good Hz for a gaming monitor?

We’ve covered what refresh rate is and why it’s an important factor to consider when selecting a new gaming monitor, but what exactly is the best refresh rate for you? Let’s look at some of the standard refresh rates on the market.

60Hz monitors

If you’re a casual gamer on a budget, a 60Hz gaming monitor will give you a smooth experience. 60Hz is a good option if your PC is running on an older graphics card (GPU), or for those lower-tempo games.

Better yet, many 60Hz monitors feature either AMD FreeSync or NVIDIA G-Sync technology, which will boost the performance, and improve immersion.

Great for: RPG, strategy and simulation games.

120Hz monitors

The speed and clarity you get out of a 120Hz gaming monitor will deliver those silky-smooth, crisp visuals. If your PC can handle this jump in performance, you can take advantage of the minimal screen tearing, motion blur and stutter that can occur on lower refresh rates or fast-paced games.

Great for: RPG, MMO, and action-adventure games.

144Hz monitors

Ask a group of gamers what refresh rate you should use, and they’ll likely tell you to go 144Hz. 

144Hz gaming monitors are a great starting point, and have been a popular choice for quite some time now because it strikes a good balance between performance and cost. You’ll find low input lag, minimal screen tearing, and clear visuals with one of these gaming monitors.

Great for: FPS, fighting, sports, and racing games.

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165Hz monitors

165Hz monitors are the stepping stone between the casual and professional gaming experience. The increase in refresh rate provides smoother gameplay than 144Hz monitors without hitting those higher price points of 240Hz monitors. 

The performance increase will have an impact on older CPUs and GPUs, but if you have the equipment to handle it, a 165Hz gaming monitor is the way to go.

Great for: online competitive gaming.

240Hz monitors

This is where the serious refresh rate begins. If you want the gold standard, a 240Hz gaming monitor is for you. 

Their ultra-smooth motion and practically nonexistent motion blur makes them a popular choice for competitive and professional gamers, especially in fast-paced games. Just make sure you have the hardware to match it (we’re talking the latest generation NVIDIA GeForce graphics cards etc).

Great for: professional gamers.

360Hz monitors

Taking an enormous leap up from the gold standard, we have the 360Hz gaming monitors. Capable of refreshing and redrawing pixels up to 360 times per second, these monitors offer exceptional in-game performance. 

With virtually no screen tearing even in the most hectic of games, 360Hz monitors put you right in the action without missing a beat.

Great for: esports gaming.

540Hz monitors

Last, but by no means least, we come to the ultimate in refresh rates. With more than double the refresh rates of those 240Hz monitors, 540Hz is the top choice for those most hardcore of gamers. 

With unbeatable speeds that offer the smoothest gameplay on the market, these monitors present your games with a clarity that feels lifelike.

So if you have the setup to handle it, and the money to go for the best, what’s stopping you?

Great for: the unbeatable experience.

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What gaming monitor should you choose?

We’ve covered why refresh rates are important, and what refresh rates are available, but what monitor should you choose? That question is going to depend on these three factors:

PC performance

A gaming monitor is only as good as the PC that connects to it. You could buy the best monitor on the market, only to discover that your GPU isn’t up to the job of matching its output, which would limit the monitor's capabilities.

This is because your graphics hardware handles the frame rate, which is different to the refresh rate. Frame rate is a measurement of how many images your PC can draw per second, whereas refresh rate is the number of times your monitor can update it. 

If your monitor could refresh 360 times per second, but your PC could only draw 60 frames per second, your monitor would simply refresh the same image over and over as those frames struggled to catch up.

To put it simply, check your PC specifications before you pick your monitor.

Game genre

Any game is going to look incredible on the highest refresh rate available, but does it need to if it comes at the expense of an empty wallet? Of course not.

A casual walking simulator won’t encounter the same screen tearing issues that an ultra-fast FPS PVP match will, so let’s break this down by game genre to see what refresh rate is the right fit for your game.

Genre	Game examples	Suggested Hz
Action-adventure	God of War, Elden Ring	120 - 165Hz
Adventure	Life is Strange, Hogwarts Legacy	60 - 144Hz
Fighting	Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter	144 - 540Hz
Horror	Resident Evil, Silent Hill	120 - 165Hz
MMO	World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XIV	120 - 165Hz
MOBA	League of Legends, Dota	144 - 540Hz
Platformers	Crash Bandicoot, Super Mario	60 - 144Hz
Racing	Forza, Gran Turismo	144 - 540Hz
RPG	The Witcher, Baldur’s Gate	120 - 165Hz
Sandbox	Minecraft, Terraria	60 - 144Hz
Shooters	Call of Duty, Overwatch	144 - 540Hz
Simulation	The Sims, Microsoft Flight Simulator	60 - 144Hz
Sports	EA Sports FC, NBA 2K	120 - 165Hz
Strategy	StarCraft, Sid Meier's Civilization	60 - 144Hz

 

Cost

The last of the big three considerations is entirely dependent on you. As long as you take into account what your PC can handle, and what games you like to play, then our advice is to get the best gaming monitor you can afford that fits those requirements.

Monitors are built to last a long time - usually around 100,000 hours - so no matter whether you game for a few hours on the weekend, or log on every night to play online for hours with your friends, you won’t need to upgrade in a hurry.

If there is a monitor you want that is just out of your budget, remember that at Comet, we offer flexible financing options to help spread the cost out over three months.

Find the right gaming monitor at Comet

We hope that this article has helped you to understand what refresh rate is, and what Hz you need from your new monitor.

We stock a large selection of gaming monitors with all the most sought-after refresh rates from the top brands, including Acer, AOC, Samsung and more.

Not only that, but we also offer a number of flexible financing options to take the hassle out of paying for your new gaming monitor. You can use Klarna Pay in 3 or PayPal Credit to spread those costs over three, interest-free payments.

We also offer express delivery, so you can get your new gaming monitor set up sooner!

Shop the best gaming monitors at Comet today

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