Is 240Hz monitor worth it?


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On 24/11/2023 at 23:02, hellowalkman said:

No, your eyes can see 240Hz provided your monitor is able to display it properly and the hardware (CPU/GPU) is able to keep up.

 

Btw, pushing 240Hz in modern AAA games like Call of Duty will require a very good processor irrespective of the graphics card your son has. Something like a Ryzen 7800X3D/7950X3D or an i9-13900K/14900K, so that's top-of-the-line stuff. Hence, it depends on the game your son is looking to play. For reference: CoD Warzone 2.0 1080p ultra RTX 4090 CPU benchmark

Wouldn't be as hard on lighter titles like the new Counter Strike 2 though. So it depends on what he'll play.

I'm actually building him a new PC also now so I can build a new PC for my younger son from his old parts. He has i7-7700K now and I ordered 7800X3D so I think that the CPU is fine then. I would like to keep RTX 3060 (non Ti) though but I'm not sure if it is enough for a 144 or 240Hz monitor.

He mostly plays Minecraft, Valorant, CS:Go and Rust.

On 25/11/2023 at 11:38, Ixion said:

I can't tell any difference between 120 and 144hz personally, there's very few games other than esports where you will get framerates that high anyway, is he a big counterstrike fan with a really high end cpu and gpu?

I added the games he play on the previous reply. Dunno if the RTX 3060 would be enough?

On 25/11/2023 at 20:04, ThaCrip said:

I am of the mindset after about 120Hz/144Hz it's pretty much a waste of money, especially if you already got a 120Hz or so monitor. at the very least... definitely NOT worth spending $$$ to go from around 120Hz monitor to a 240Hz one, since even if there are gains, they would be so small not to matter in the real world (as it's not like a random gamer would be noticeably better or have a noticeably better experience with the game because of it), at least not for a high percentage of gamers.

plus, from what I understand to get the "advantage" of 240Hz you would basically need 240fps. basically it's overkill because the time tested "30fps is playable, 60fps is pretty much perfect" is where the vast majority of the real world benefits are (as this has been standard for decades now and just about any half decent modern GPU can probably easily do around 60fps). even leaving a bit of room for error... 120Hz/144Hz would be the top end of things as trying to "upgrade" beyond those I would just flat out refuse it since I highly doubt one could justify the upgrade price for what little gains there 'might' be.

although I was surprised when I went from a 60Hz monitor (which I had from early 2010 until it died in late 2021) to my current 144Hz in that the thing I immediately noticed is noticeably smoother mouse movement on general desktop usage as I did not expect to see that. but in my case in terms of gaming, since I only got a NVIDIA 1050 Ti 4GB GPU, it does not really matter for gaming since my frame rates ain't really high enough to take advantage of it. but like I said above, I think the biggest difference by-far on gaming is 30fps/60fps (like going from 30fps to 60fps). once you reach about 60fps, gains beyond that tend to be small enough not to really matter since about 60fps is a very smooth experience on any random game.

bottom line for me personally... once I reach about 60fps I honestly don't have any real desire to have more since my overall experience with a game is quite strong straight up regardless of the Hz on a monitor (60Hz or higher). anyone who thinks they 'need' gaming at 120hz+ is a bit of a stretch, as even assuming it's better, it surely can't be much of a real world difference (like not to the point they will be noticeably better at a game because of it, at least not for the vast majority of people (maybe pro-level gamers, which even if this is true, these are only a small minority of people in general)) when playing a random game. or let me put it another way... going from 30fps to 60fps is a much better real world improvement for the typical gamer vs going from say 60fps/60Hz to 120fps/120Hz as the gains here, even assuming there is some (like at least slightly noticeable), won't make much of a real world difference with ones overall experience with any random game as 60fps is still a strong experience in general (as it's been this way for decades now) and always will be for typical gaming.

 

bottom line for the OP... if you already got a 120Hz screen or so I would consider it a waste of money going any further (since gains will be too small to justify the upgrade price), especially if your son is not pro-level gamer range or thereabouts (which playing the odds, he's not).

 

 

Exactly. I pretty much equate that to people who claim they can hear differences between a standard AUDIO CD and "HD" audio. it's outright BS (since a standard AUDIO CD's audio quality exceeds human hearing already so you can't really improve on it to any noticeable degree).

but in regards to the Hz stuff... even if I was wrong on the higher Hz stuff (say I underestimated it a bit), the differences got to be so small as to not matter much in the real world for the vast majority of people, especially after a certain point. I suspect for it to matter one would be a high level pro-gamer type of situation (even then it's purely from multiplayer point of view as single player, even for a pro-level gamer, would still be overkill as it's not like their talent level would be crippled by 60fps/60Hz on any random single player shooter game vs higher Hz/fps to the point it would really matter as they would still be very good at a random single player shooter game) which won't matter for a very high percentage of gamers.

I agree. I'm happy with 60Hz myself and I've always invested on PG. I have noticed the mouse lag on 60Hz monitors and I'm sure it would be really smooth on 144Hz for example.

On 26/11/2023 at 04:32, theefool said:

I am currently using a Sony 42" 4k TV as my "monitor".  One day I may jump to an LG 42" C3 or something.  Have a secondary Acer XBB280HK 28" 4k monitor as well.

I use TV as my monitor also :) .85" Sony KD-85XH9505. I have Media Center PC on it and play from the sofa. If I do something else besides movies/games then I'll just use the laptop.

On 26/11/2023 at 18:48, Steven P. said:

60Hz there then, just like my 4K ASUS VP32UQ. I really miss my Ultrawide (it is out for repair).

Ultrawide is also why I agreed to buy him a new monitor. He does not like it and wan't  a QHD. He has 24" Dell Ultrawide and I would have some use for it also.

I've never seen 120Hz and I don't want to see it so that I'm happy with 60Hz. I think I'll try to talk some sense to him so that he would go with 144Hz and invest on PQ instead of Hz.

What is the "normal" monitor size these days on normal AR QHD? Is it something like 27"?

As simple as it sounds, it's worth considering what FPS is able to be achieved during gaming.  The resolution plays a big factor as well (4K vs 1080p).  If you're only getting 120 FPS, then a 240 Hz monitor isn't providing any value.

If you want to game at 4K on a 240 Hz monitor, you'll need a beast of a system to achieve a high enough FPS.

  • Like 1
On 28/11/2023 at 21:50, Astra.Xtreme said:

As simple as it sounds, it's worth considering what FPS is able to be achieved during gaming.  The resolution plays a big factor as well (4K vs 1080p).  If you're only getting 120 FPS, then a 240 Hz monitor isn't providing any value.

If you want to game at 4K on a 240 Hz monitor, you'll need a beast of a system to achieve a high enough FPS.

I told that to him and he says he is fine with 1080p if that's what it takes on 3060.

Also I does not matter as much because at some point we have to upgrade the GPU also.

Edited by Joni_78
On 29/11/2023 at 00:46, Joni_78 said:

He mostly plays Minecraft, Valorant, CS:Go and Rust.

The 7800X3D and the 3060 should be able to hit 240fps in Valorant and CS GO at 1080p. Will need a GPU upgrade for the two other titles if your son wishes to have 240fps in those as well.

On 28/11/2023 at 20:58, Joni_78 said:

What would be a good size today on a desktop? Also I guess Samsung, Dell, AOC are still good brands?

You could probably get a good deal on a 34" Ultrawide, but you really don't need anything higher than 144Hz on a low to mid tier GPU (like a 4060Ti).

If he doesn't want Ultrawide then QHD 27" (2560x1440 at 100% scale) will be enough.

Maybe @hellowalkmancan help suggest GPU and screen size.

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On 28/11/2023 at 11:16, Joni_78 said:

I'm actually building him a new PC also now so I can build a new PC for my younger son from his old parts. He has i7-7700K now and I ordered 7800X3D so I think that the CPU is fine then. I would like to keep RTX 3060 (non Ti) though but I'm not sure if it is enough for a 144 or 240Hz monitor.

Consider getting a Radeon RX 7800 XT or a Radeon RX 6800 XT.

You would double your graphics performance.

relative-performance-2560-1440.png

Well he is adamant that it has to be 240Hz. I would not like to spend money on Hz so I was thinking of buying the cheapest 240Hz monitor I can find. My priorities on monitors aren't that great either. I usually go like this. 1. Design 2. Picture Quality 3. Size 4. Performance. But yeah I don't want to use 1000€ on 240Hz monitor when I could get really nice 144Hz monitor with same amount.

On 29/11/2023 at 10:11, Joni_78 said:

Well he is adamant that it has to be 240Hz. I would not like to spend money on Hz so I was thinking of buying the cheapest 240Hz monitor I can find. My priorities on monitors aren't that great either. I usually go like this. 1. Design 2. Picture Quality 3. Size 4. Performance. But yeah I don't want to use 1000€ on 240Hz monitor when I could get really nice 144Hz monitor with same amount.

PCPartPicker Part List

Monitor: HP OMEN X 27 27.0" 2560 x 1440 240 Hz Monitor  (€354.00 @ Proshop) 
Total: €354.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-11-29 22:14 EET+0200

On 29/11/2023 at 22:14, Mockingbird said:

PCPartPicker Part List

Monitor: HP OMEN X 27 27.0" 2560 x 1440 240 Hz Monitor  (€354.00 @ Proshop) 
Total: €354.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-11-29 22:14 EET+0200

Thank you that's perfect.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I didn't yet order that monitor. After thinking about it I'm now thinking I'll buy him a good display. I think it's Asus after reading some reviews. Does anyone know what the difference between these are besides IPS/OLED. PG27AQDM is now about 1200 € but it's on discount 899€ in couple of days. XG27AQMR is about 600 €.

https://rog.asus.com/fi/monitors/27-to-31-5-inches/rog-swift-oled-pg27aqdm/

https://rog.asus.com/fi/monitors/27-to-31-5-inches/rog-strix-xg27aqmr/

Then also there is this.

https://rog.asus.com/fi/monitors/27-to-31-5-inches/rog-swift-pg279qm-model/

Edited by Joni_78

I'm probably late to this discussion, but for reference:

60Hz = 16.667ms / frame
75Hz = 13.333ms / frame
144Hz = 6.944ms / frame
240Hz = 4.166ms / frame

As folks have mentioned, there are diminishing gains the higher your refresh rate is.

You'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between 60 and 75 or 144 and 240, but the jump from 60/75 to 144 or higher would be significant enough to detect in fast paced gaming. This really boils down to whether or not a 144/240hz monitor is worth the value in comparison to a 60/75hz monitor (prices differ more significantly when looking at higher resolutions). A quick search on Newegg gives me these results: (sorted by lowest price first, search for ###Hz monitor 24in, non-refurbished, 1080p)

60Hz 24", $99 at the time of writing: https://www.newegg.com/asus-va249he-23-8-full-hd/p/N82E16824236922?Item=N82E16824236922

75Hz 24", $73 at the time of writing: https://www.newegg.com/p/0JC-00VP-00003?Item=9SIBJ05JEB9631

144Hz 24", $136 at the time of writing: https://www.newegg.com/p/3D4-006X-00015?Item=9SIBAU5J7F3276

240Hz 24", $159 at the time of writing: https://www.newegg.com/black-z-edge-gaming-monitor-ug25i-25/p/3D4-001R-00010?Item=9SIAT2EDSK8615

If the price is negligible between your relevant 144Hz and 240Hz options I'd go for the 240 personally.

On 12/12/2023 at 14:19, Joni_78 said:

I didn't yet order that monitor. After thinking about it I'm now thinking I'll buy him a good display. I think it's Asus after reading some reviews. Does anyone know what the difference between these are besides IPS/OLED. PG27AQDM is now about 1200 € but it's on discount 899€ in couple of days. XG27AQMR is about 600 €.

https://rog.asus.com/fi/monitors/27-to-31-5-inches/rog-swift-oled-pg27aqdm/

https://rog.asus.com/fi/monitors/27-to-31-5-inches/rog-strix-xg27aqmr/

Then also there is this.

https://rog.asus.com/fi/monitors/27-to-31-5-inches/rog-swift-pg279qm-model/

I'm very happy with my LG monitors in terms of quality, I found this here: https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16824026351

If you're not tied to a specific brand, I'd recommend checking out this list (searching for 240Hz refresh rate, 27in size, QHD resolution (2K), sorted by best selling) : https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?d=240hz+27in+qhd+freesync&Order=3

An OLED is usually going to be brighter, have deeper black levels / better contrast, but you would need to compare the contrast ratio and luminosity rating between monitors to know for sure what you are buying is better than other options.

On 13/12/2023 at 10:57, Joni_78 said:

I think it's one of those Asus displays. What is the difference here? I tried to search what that above 144Hz means but didn't find anything.

ROG Strix XG27AQMR
300 Hz (above 144Hz)

ROG Swift OLED PG27AQDM
240 Hz

https://www.displaydb.com/compare/asus-rog-strix-xg27aqmr/asus-rog-swift-oled-pg27aqdm

On 13/12/2023 at 21:21, adrynalyne said:

It says 300Hz in there. What I was wondering is that is there a difference in those because those are stated differently? I mean is "300 Hz (above 144Hz)" same as native 144Hz and can be overclocked to 300Hz?

On 13/12/2023 at 13:42, Joni_78 said:

It says 300Hz in there. What I was wondering is that is there a difference in those because those are stated differently? I mean is "300 Hz (above 144Hz)" same as native 144Hz and can be overclocked to 300Hz?

I think it’s a typo. The refresh rate is up to 300 but from what I’ve read, the Extreme Low Motion Blur Sync works between 144-300Hz. This is just what I gathered from reading. 

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