Can 60Hz Run 120FPS? Yes Or No

Can 60Hz Run 120FPS

A monitor with a 60Hz refresh rate refreshes your screen 60 times per second. If you want to run 120fps on 60hz monitors, there is a big no!

The monitor with a 60Hz refresh rate goes well with 60 but not 120fps. If you want to explore more details, go ahead!

Here we have a breakdown of this article! First, we will elaborate on (Frames Per Seconds) and Hz then we will write a detailed note on Can 60Hz Run 120FPS. So are you ready to explore?


Here you go!


What is FPS?

A simple definition of FPS is the frame rate per second at which the consecutive images known as frames come on the screen every second. When talking about games, more images will be displayed on the screen in a second, making the gaming experience more smooth and butter-like. 120 FPS means a screen will display 120 frames per second. Nowadays, monitors of different brands come with 120fps making them capable of doing simple tasks such as web browsing, editing videos, audio files, making professional graphics, etc. A monitor having 120fps is considered a great option for playing even video games. 

Check Best 49 Inch Monitor For MacBook Pro

What is 60Hz?

Hertz or Hz is the unit of frequency derived by the International System of Units, and it is known as one cycle per second. For example, there are also 60Hz, 75Hz, 100, 144, and 244 Hz monitors, among other frequency units.

This is also the same in the case of televisions, but Hz is not so relevant when watching simple TV shows or doing any writing work on the laptop or computer. However, Hz does matter when playing games as they help make gameplay smoother.   

Your screen will often display whatever is going on, so Hz matters but not as much. Essentially, the higher the screen frequency, the better will be the display. If you are curious about what a 60Hz monitor means, continue reading.

60Hz is any monitor’s refresh rate, which means a screen will refresh 60 times in a second. Similarly, 120Hz means a screen will refresh itself 120 times in a second. This is different from a frame rate which tells how many times a source will send a new frame per second. 

How Do 120FPS and 60HZ Correlate?

FPS is a frame per second produced by your GPU every second. On the other hand, Hz is known as the frequency by the display per second. A 60 Hz monitor will not hurt FPS, although higher FPS is the cause of some issues when playing on a 60Hz monitor. Do Hz and FPS correlate with each other?

Hold on, we will explain it. Hz is a measurement just like FPS. Hz is used to measure how capable the hardware is, and on the other hand, FPS measures the speed of the software. 120fps screen means it will show 120 frames in content that you will play on it. Note that the refresh rate(Hz) does not affect your GPU’s frame rate to output. 

Your 60Hz monitor will only display 60fps, but the graphic card can render them. The noticeable difference between 60fps and 120fps is 8.4ms. This is the unavoidable difference in input lag time, and increases in the refresh rate will help the image lo better and smooth between frame rates and refresh rate. 

Nvidia released a study in the year 2019 that shows that a monitor has faster refresh rate results in a higher K/D ratio, especially in shooting games, with 144Hz monitors driving a nearly 50% increase in K/D over 60Hz and similarly 240Hz monitors offering further increase for up to 8-34%. Now let’s find out the answer to our main question: Can 60Hz run 120fps? 

Check Is 144Hz Worth It?

LED Display

Can 60Hz Run 120fps?

The simple answer is NO. A 60Hz monitor refreshes the screen 60 times in a second, known as 60 frames per second. So if even the hardware that is capable of a higher frame rate is trying to plug into your 60Hz monitor, the monitor output will be capped at 60fps. 

Also, Does 120Hz Mean 120fps?

120fps simply means the number of frames that a game can run at 120 frames per second. If your monitor runs at 120Hz, it means the screen is capable of showing all 120 screen updates of the game. If the game produced only 30fps, you would still see 120 refreshes by the monitor, but the noticeable thing is that from these 120, only 30 of them are the new game frames. 

Similarly, Can 144Hz Run 120fps?

Yes, you can. The refresh rate of your monitor simply means that it displays 144 frames per second because we are talking about 144hz monitors here. So you cannot reach the maximum FPS, but still, monitors which 120FPS is not so bad. 

How Noticeable is 60Hz vs 120Hz?

This is not true if someone says that our eyes can not see the difference between 60Hz and 120Hz. This is noticeable as most people prefer a higher frame rate with increased resolution. 

Check Can 60Hz Run 120FPS?

Is 60Hz That Bad?

60Hz is good, especially if you own a 120Hz monitor or more, then you cannot downgrade it to 60Hz. So go and buy a monitor having higher Hz if it is affordable.  

What Monitors Can Run 120 fps?

TVs and monitors suggested for 120fps are LG CX OLED using HDMI 2.1. Another monitor is Samsung Q80T QLED using HDMI 2.1, Sony XH9005/X900H (via HDMI 2.1, to arrive via future software update), and none other than LG NanoCell 85/NanoCell 86 (UK).

How Much FPS Can a 60 Hz Monitor Display?

A 60Hz monitor can display frame rates for up to 60 while facing no issues at all. However, if you own a more powerful machine that runs at 240fps, your 60Hz monitor will display the same as 60fps, although you will face little tearing problems. For all those who don’t know about screen tearing, no worries, continue reading.

Screen tearing refers to fast-moving objects or when flashes do not appear rightly or do not appear at all. Essentially, if you buy a more powerful Phat, the 60Hz monitor will bottle-neck the gaming experience and graphics capacity that the PC can deliver. 

One thing that can be helpful for you is Overclocking. You can overclock the refresh rate, expect more from the monitor, and enjoy better performance. 

Check How To Unlock A Dell Monitor?


The Bottom Line

Refresh rate plays an important role for monitors as it helps you get glitch-free output. Well, this article has shed light on Can 60Hz Run 120FPS and the take of the article is don’t 60hz monitor cannot support 120fps. So, if you want to get a good performance, you must consider compatibility!

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One Comment

  1. so my laptop has a refresh rate or 60.020 frames pre second but when im playing league and its on my charger i get about 120 fps why is that

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