question on monitor refresh rates (1 Viewer)

[Ted Lee]

hi all -

so i just updated my nvidia drivers and was playing around some. i just noticed for the first time (but it could have been there all along) a setting to adjust my refresh rate.

i can go anywhere from 60 to 120. i have the box checked that says something about only show rates my pc can handle.

right now it's at 75. is there any benefit to going to a higher rate? i assume higher rates are better? less fatigue?

but what is the trade-off? more cpu processing? a slower graphics card?

just curious...

ted

 

[JamesHl]

No trade-offs assuming you can handle it, though once I had a bad driver for my monitor that let me run it out of spec and after a long long time of doing that it looks a little funny. Usually if you set it too high your monitor will just shut off, though. Make sure your monitor supports the rate that you set it at, you can find the specs in your manual or website.

Basically, less eyestrain and if you're playing a game or something 3d there's less horizontal tearing.

 

[Scott L]

For CRTs 85Hz is the level I try to choose. I think the less you select though the longer your monitor will last. For LCDs it's different, I choose 60Hz on my 15".

I have also always wondered if it's more a strain on the GPU for a higher refresh rate? Would you expect more FPS if you selected 60Hz over 100Hz or is that all dependent of the CPU?

 

[PhilBoy]

I second the vote for 85...

 

[Ted Lee]

thx guys. i'll bump it up some and see if i notice any improvements.

 

[Tekara]

let's see. . .

refresh rate is how many times per second an image is drawn on the screen of a CRT monitor. anything below 60hz tends to stress the eyes, in flourescent lights 60hz can be problematic. anything above 60hz should be fairly unoticeable to the human eye, but the higher the refresh rate the better in my opinion.

LCDs don't really have a refresh rate as they don't have to continueously redraw an image the pixels just change from one color to the other. This is why they are typically "easier" on the eyes as opposed to CRTs.

my suggestion is to try some of the higher resolutions out and see if any of them feel "cooler" on your eyes and stick with it.