do i need 120hz to play at 120FPS?

[FlyingRooster]

im kinda confused. im looking at a monitor with 60hz refresh and my GPU can play most games around 80FPS. does that mean il need to get 120hz to play 80FPS?
thanks

 

[smeezekitty]

No.

Monitor refresh is only slightly related to frame rendering rate.

The early stage of the graphics card actually renders the frames. The speed this occurs depends on how heavy the graphics are and how strong your GPU is.

The second stage actually outputs it to the monitor and this will be a fixed rate usually in the 60-120hz range depending on the monitor.

On strong GPUs or non-demanding games, the rendering stage of the GPU may render frames faster then they can be outputed, in which case some of the frames are discarded.

Conversely, if your GPU is working hard, it will not be able to render as fast as the monitor refresh, but the last frame will be kept on screen until the rendering is finished.

Framerate can be much higher then monitor refresh but there is no benefit to it.

If VSYNC is enabled, the rendering part will deliberately throttled back to lock the framerate to the monitor refresh rate.

 

[bystander]

What smeezekitty said is true.

In simple terms:
Your GPU can generate as many FPS as it wants, regardless if it is displayed or not.
Your monitor will only update its image at its refresh rate, which is usually 60hz.

However, one thing is not quite correct in smeezekitty's explanation. Those extra frames are necessarily discarded. Much of the time, those extra frames end up being displayed as partial images, overwriting part of the image midway through the process of displaying the previous frame. This is known as tearing.

 

[FlyingRooster]

alright thanks alot So i should just save money and buuy the 60hz?

 

[bystander]

alright thanks alot So i should just save money and buuy the 60hz?

If you want smoother game play, beyond what 60hz will give you, a 120hz monitor is needed.

 

[FlyingRooster]

ok thanks and ive of vsync that takes away tear or something? is that right?

 

[bystander]

ok thanks and ive of vsync that takes away tear or something? is that right?

Yes, and it also limits your FPS to your refresh rate. With a 60hz monitor, v-sync stops FPS from going beyond 60, with a 120hz monitor, that cap is 120 FPS.

 

[smeezekitty]

Also, it will prevent your GPU from rendering any frames it doesn't need causing it to run (slightly) cooler if you routinely get frame rates over your monitor refresh.