60Hz vs 120Hz on a gaming computer, noticeable difference?

[jcbullen]

I've got all of the parts picked out for a gaming computer except for the monitor. There is a good 60Hz monitor for about $160, and a 120Hz monitor is almost double that. Picking the 120Hz monitor will definitely push me out of my $2000 budget and I really don't want that. I will be able to game using my TV about half the time, so I wouldn't be stuck with a 60Hz experience all the time.

I want to know if there will be a significant difference in the fluidity of movement on the screen between the two different types of monitors. Have you had both types, and noticed a big change? Is it such a small difference that you would have to have the monitors side by side to even notice it? Thanks.

 

[Guest]

PS abotu the 2420t colors:

this link you should read. its the prad test (german so hopefully google translate is kind)

http://translate.google.at/translate?hl=de&sl=ru&tl=de&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.prad.de%2Fnew%2Fmonitore%2Ftest%2F2012%2Ftest-benq-xl2420t-teil4.html%23Bildqualitaet

read the color section - they mention which settings they used to test to get the full spectrum out of it


Personally after some tuning - iam amazed about this tn panel - most panels i have are IPF so no TN here - of course nothing to play with
but for a tn panel they are good and one of the best TNs - together with 120hz and 3ms lag - that panel is one best TN panel not only for gaming but multimedia app


however - its not good enough for professional imagin - but panels in that earea usually start at 600 - the real ones start at 2000-3000 and up - and you still cant play because the lag times are tremendes...


so even its pricy - its - my personal opinion - best choice ATM and i never was a benq fan

 

[Dropz]

Was very helpful

 

[bystander]

I own both, but prefer the 60hz IPS over a 120hz TN. Basically having a 120hz panel is like running with vsync turned off, only it's on.

I realize this is an older post that someone just resurrected, but I actually like this comment, as it seems quite true for me, though maybe not as he intended, as he seems to not think 120hz helps much.

When a 60hz monitor doesn't have v-sync on, your latency is lower, especially when you are getting 80+ FPS. This makes a game feel more responsive. With 120hz, that extra responsiveness is quite noticeable, even with v-sync on.

What he said later about 120hz not improving latency is definitely wrong though, at least when FPS are over 60. Normally a frame that was just rendered can wait up to 17ms before being sent to the monitor, due to a 60hz refresh rate, with a 120hz monitor, the max wait is 8ms.

Not everyone may feel that difference as much as myself, as I get motion sickness as a result of that latency.

 

[Tur0k]

I've got all of the parts picked out for a gaming computer except for the monitor. There is a good 60Hz monitor for about $160, and a 120Hz monitor is almost double that. Picking the 120Hz monitor will definitely push me out of my $2000 budget and I really don't want that. I will be able to game using my TV about half the time, so I wouldn't be stuck with a 60Hz experience all the time.

I want to know if there will be a significant difference in the fluidity of movement on the screen between the two different types of monitors. Have you had both types, and noticed a big change? Is it such a small difference that you would have to have the monitors side by side to even notice it? Thanks.

My honest opinion is I don't see a difference. I have now a 60hz use to have 120 but now 60hz and it's a BEAUTIFUL monitor and i love it to death, go asus. Anyways the problem is Consoles. Practically all games now are designed specifically for consoles so pc games are limited to what the consoles are. Sure they still have better options but when it's all set and done the pc gets the port. I play Quake 3 and Live at 125 fps and I have a 60hz monitor. Games back then that were designed for the pc had a variety of options to make it run perfectly.. And now they don't. I will always say this until pc games become the main design.

"Why do my games seem to get choppy when I have a Graphics Card 6 Generations more powerful than a ps3 and xbox?"

 

[freakyguy88]

Very helpful thread. I will probably get the BenQ XL2420T then. I game a lot and I play first person shooters almost exclusively. I wondered about either getting a 24" 120Hz monitor or a 27" 2560x1440 monitor, but since I play FPS, I'm gonna go with the 120Hz one. Also it's 24", so the fact that it's only full HD shouldn't be much of a problem.

If anyone has any objections or comments, please post a reply while there's still time to save me from potentially getting something I may regret.

 

[Jeffy14]

60HZ vs 120HZ produces a clear difference.
Since I got my 120hz I cannot go back to 60HZ. For example when I watch friends playing on their 60hz on league of legends, it seems to me the game is blinking, jittery, not smooth. I really hate it.

120hz for the win. It's so much better.
People who say there is no difference are lying, they never tried it.

 

[oudmaster]

does 60Hz mean 60 FPS capacity ?

 

[Jeffy14]

does 60Hz mean 60 FPS capacity ?

Yes

 

[bystander]

does 60Hz mean 60 FPS capacity ?

FPS and hz are independent. You can have as many FPS as you want on any hz of monitor.

That said, with v-sync on with DirectX, your FPS gets limited to your refresh rate. In OpenGL, it won't, but frames beyond your refresh rate get ignored.

Without v-sync, your FPS can go to 300+ with the right equipment and a game that cooperates. However, you'll get 300 partial frames per second. On average, your display will be showing 5 partial frames at any given moment. As the monitor updates its image, the frame buffer it uses to update that images will change to newer frames as it works its way down the screen, resulting in partial images and what appears to be tears between each new frame. This can make a game feel a bit more responsive, but its not ideal either.

 

[Jeffy14]

does 60Hz mean 60 FPS capacity ?

FPS and hz are independent. You can have as many FPS as you want on any hz of monitor.

That said, with v-sync on with DirectX, your FPS gets limited to your refresh rate. In OpenGL, it won't, but frames beyond your refresh rate get ignored.

Without v-sync, your FPS can go to 300+ with the right equipment and a game that cooperates. However, you'll get 300 partial frames per second. On average, your display will be showing 5 partial frames at any given moment. As the monitor updates its image, the frame buffer it uses to update that images will change to newer frames as it works its way down the screen, resulting in partial images and what appears to be tears between each new frame. This can make a game feel a bit more responsive, but its not ideal either.

On a 60hz you cannot display more than 60fps. Just try it for yourself on any game. Vsync on or off.

You can have more than 60fps ofc but you wont see them since your monitor refresh rate is only 60hz.

Why is the image not as smooth on a 60hz vs 120 hz then? Your explanation does not make any sense.

 

[bystander]

does 60Hz mean 60 FPS capacity ?

FPS and hz are independent. You can have as many FPS as you want on any hz of monitor.

That said, with v-sync on with DirectX, your FPS gets limited to your refresh rate. In OpenGL, it won't, but frames beyond your refresh rate get ignored.

Without v-sync, your FPS can go to 300+ with the right equipment and a game that cooperates. However, you'll get 300 partial frames per second. On average, your display will be showing 5 partial frames at any given moment. As the monitor updates its image, the frame buffer it uses to update that images will change to newer frames as it works its way down the screen, resulting in partial images and what appears to be tears between each new frame. This can make a game feel a bit more responsive, but its not ideal either.

On a 60hz you cannot display more than 60fps. Just try it for yourself on any game. Vsync on or off.

You can have more than 60fps ofc but you wont see them since your monitor refresh rate is only 60hz.

Why is the image not as smooth on a 60hz vs 120 hz then? Your explanation does not make any sense.

Read the last paragraph I wrote. It'll explain it better.

You can have 300 FPS with every frame being displayed on a 60hz monitor, BUT each frame will only partially be displayed. The monitors refresh process takes a long time, relatively speaking. While it is updating, the GPU can be changing the frame buffer it is using to update the image and when a new frame comes in, the monitor keeps updating its image from that frame buffer, even though it just changed to a new image. This results in tearing and multiple partial images.

So technically, 300 FPS on a 60hz monitor results in 300 partial frames per second.

That does not change that a 120hz monitor is better, as it updates its images twice as fast, it will have half the tearing, or if v-sync is on, allow twice as many frames to be shown.

Note: I use a 120hz monitor. I'm using it now.

 

[Jeffy14]

does 60Hz mean 60 FPS capacity ?

FPS and hz are independent. You can have as many FPS as you want on any hz of monitor.

That said, with v-sync on with DirectX, your FPS gets limited to your refresh rate. In OpenGL, it won't, but frames beyond your refresh rate get ignored.

Without v-sync, your FPS can go to 300+ with the right equipment and a game that cooperates. However, you'll get 300 partial frames per second. On average, your display will be showing 5 partial frames at any given moment. As the monitor updates its image, the frame buffer it uses to update that images will change to newer frames as it works its way down the screen, resulting in partial images and what appears to be tears between each new frame. This can make a game feel a bit more responsive, but its not ideal either.

On a 60hz you cannot display more than 60fps. Just try it for yourself on any game. Vsync on or off.

You can have more than 60fps ofc but you wont see them since your monitor refresh rate is only 60hz.

Why is the image not as smooth on a 60hz vs 120 hz then? Your explanation does not make any sense.

Read the last paragraph I wrote. It'll explain it better.

You can have 300 FPS with every frame being displayed on a 60hz monitor, BUT each frame will only partially be displayed. The monitors refresh process takes a long time, relatively speaking. While it is updating, the GPU can be changing the frame buffer it is using to update the image and when a new frame comes in, the monitor keeps updating its image from that frame buffer, even though it just changed to a new image. This results in tearing and multiple partial images.

So technically, 300 FPS on a 60hz monitor results in 300 partial frames per second.

That does not change that a 120hz monitor is better, as it updates its images twice as fast, it will have half the tearing, or if v-sync is on, allow twice as many frames to be shown.

Note: I use a 120hz monitor. I'm using it now.

Ok. Got it You are right. Sorry about that.
Also, I tried on my 60hz monitor to have more than 120fps and I managed to do it... I was sure it was impossible. I dont know why. Very sorry about my BS. Thank you for the clarification.

I heard some monitors are more than 120hz now. Would it make a noticable difference to play on something like 200hz rather than 120?

I love my 120hz compared with my 60hz. The image feels much more smooth and it is much less tiring for the eyes.

Thanks for your help!