Are 240Hz Monitors Good for Gaming and Worth the Upgrade?

The first thing to remember about monitor refresh rate is that there’s no such thing as overkill. So no, 240Hz isn’t “too fast”. Remember, there are 360Hz and faster monitors out there, but we think 240Hz is becoming the new sweet spot for higher refresh rate. It’s not overkill and is a worthy upgrade from 144Hz and certainly from lower refresh rates like 120Hz and 60Hz. In general, refresh rates on monitors are “the more the merrier”. Having a 240Hz panel can’t hurt, it can only enhance your gaming and in this article we’ll look at why that is the case. 

That’s just the number of times a monitor can refresh the entire screen per second. The Hertz or Hz can also be described as frames per second, or FPS. The two are the same. So, a 240Hz monitor is four times faster than a 60Hz monitor and 70% faster than a 144Hz display. That’s quite a leap forward.

The biggest benefit of higher refresh rates comes in the form of more responsive and accurate gaming, with lower input lag. If you enjoy competitive multiplayer in reflex-based genres like first and third person shooters, fighting games, sports, and racing, then you should aim for the highest refresh rate possible and 240Hz will give you an immediate advantage over competitors that use 60Hz or even 144Hz monitors because your responses will be a few milliseconds faster. 

Compared to 60Hz and 120Hz, for sure, it’s very noticeable. Movement in games becomes much smoother, which also helps reduce eye fatigue in general. Basically everyone notices the difference between 60Hz/120Hz and 240Hz. When talking about 144Hz and 165Hz, the move to 240Hz may not be as immediately visible, but the lower lag and smoother response will still be there regardless of whether or not you can “see” them.

Importantly, our own tests and general industry evaluation reveal that people become used to 240Hz quickly, and then when asked to game in 144Hz or even 165Hz they do notice the slower update. So, it seems that going up in frame rates beyond a certain point may not be strongly noticeable, but once used to it, going back to lower frame rates is very noticeable. As people say, it’s easy to get used to good things. 

Right now 240Hz is a PC-only refresh rate standard, as current gen consoles can’t do faster than 120Hz. We recommend 240Hz in 1080p and 1440p, and for both DisplayPort 1.4 is more than enough. That connection comes standard on all good gaming monitors now.

We recommend those resolutions because getting games to run in 240Hz in them isn’t that hard with modern graphics cards. In 1080p, even mid-range cards like an RTX 3060 can easily get it done, while an RTX 3070 can do the same for 240Hz in 1440p. This applies to major competitive titles like Fortnite, Apex Legends, Rocket League, PUBG, Overwatch 2 and many others. None of these games are especially demanding in terms of graphics. And with upcoming RTX 40 series cards from NVIDIA and RDNA 3 GPUs from AMD, even more powerful hardware will make 240Hz increasingly popular. In that sense, getting a 240Hz monitor now is futureproofing your setup.

We can’t recommend going with 240Hz 4K monitors, even if you could find one. At the moment of writing this, no graphics card on the planet could possibly provide you with a consistent gaming experience in 4K at that refresh rate, it’s simply not doable. 

So, let’s say you have a new PC set up for gaming with an RTX 4070, as a hypothetical example. If you go with a 165Hz 1440p monitor you’re effectively wasting the power of that brand new card. It’s capable of much faster refresh in 1440p than 165Hz in many game titles, so why not give it room to breathe? Even older cards like the RTX 3070 have enough power to deliver higher refresh than 165Hz. By going with a 144Hz or 165Hz display, you’re turning your monitor into a bottleneck. As we said, the higher refresh available, the better. It certainly can’t hurt! 

Just because you opt for a 240Hz monitor because your main focus is on high speed competitive shooters doesn’t mean you don’t enjoy other game styles. When the new Assassin’s Creed Mirage comes out you can still play it in 60Hz. A 240Hz monitor isn’t locked to that refresh rate, it can display any rate up to 240Hz, making it very versatile.

It’s also important to choose a quality IPS display. Traditionally, the fastest monitors indeed used TN panels which were fast, but lacked color fidelity. All of that has changed with new technology. Now IPS panels with superb colors that make every game look its best also arrive in 240Hz, so you get the best of both worlds. The color quality and the smooth speed. 

The bottom line is that getting a 240Hz gaming monitor is a smart move. Particularly if you enjoy competitive multiplayer titles. Also, make sure to get a screen that has DisplayPort for your PC plus dual HDMI ports for consoles. If you want to save space or just prefer to have all of your gaming platforms on one display, then you can hook up your PC, PS5, and Xbox Series console to the same display. While consoles can’t run games at 240Hz, they have 60Hz and 120Hz titles and those will run great on a 240Hz display. So, is a 240Hz monitor good for gaming? Of course. That’s like asking if a plane that can fly fast is good for traveling.

If you need additional help with setting up 240Hz refresh on your PC or have any more questions, take a look at our helpful guide.