So yous've purchased a monitor that offers a 120Hz or 144Hz refresh rate and plugged it in–groovy! Only don't stop there. Your monitor may not really run at its advertised refresh rate until you lot change some settings and sort out your hardware.

Gear up Your Refresh Rate in Windows

Well-nigh importantly, you'll want to ensure Windows is actually fix at the advertised refresh rate and not a lower refresh rate, like 60Hz.

On Windows x, head to Settings > System > Display > Advanced Display Settings > Brandish Adapter Properties. Click the "Monitor" tab, choose your monitor's advertised refresh rate from the "Screen Refresh Rate" list, and click "OK".

On Windows 7 or 8, correct-click the desktop and select "Screen Resolution". Select your monitor (if you take multiple monitors) and and so click the "Advanced Settings" link. Click the "Monitor" tab and cull the refresh charge per unit from the "Screen Refresh Rate" box.

If you don't see your monitor's advertised refresh charge per unit in this list—or if you can't seem to become your monitor to stay configured at the advertised refresh rate—at that place'due south more you need to do.

Check Your Cables

Y'all tin't just utilize whatsoever old cablevision and expect a high refresh rate. Some monitors may have both HDMI and DisplayPort connections, only may be express to a 60Hz refresh rate when continued via HDMI. In this instance, you'd need to use a DisplayPort cable. Check your monitor's specifications or setup guide for more information.

Y'all don't just have to worry well-nigh the type of cable, either–you accept to worry about the cable itself.

If you lot're using DisplayPort, exist sure yous accept a properly certified cable that'south built to the DisplayPort specification. A properly manufactured, certified cable built for DisplayPort ane.2 should work perfectly fine with DisplayPort i.4. Unfortunately, there are a lot of poor quality cables out there, so a cable built and sold for DisplayPort 1.2 may not piece of work with DisplayPort 1.4. There are also a few Reduced Bit Charge per unit (RBR) DisplayPort cables on the market that will merely support 1080p—just brand sure you don't have one of those. Visit the official DisplayPort website for more information.

If you're using HDMI, you'll desire to ensure you're using a "high speed" HDMI cable and not an older "standard" HDMI cablevision. However, yous don't demand an HDMI cable with Ethernet included. Visit the official HDMI website for more data.

When in doubt, use the cablevision your monitor came with. It should work–in theory. Unfortunately, cheap, low-quality cables tin likewise cause problems. Your monitor's included cablevision might non even be good enough. We recently found that the included cable with an ASUS monitor couldn't provide a stable betoken at 144Hz. Instead, the screen would occasionally flicker and the refresh rate would drib downwardly to 60Hz until nosotros rebooted the estimator. Nosotros replaced the cable with a college-quality Accell DisplayPort cable and the monitor operated fine at 144Hz without any flickering or refresh charge per unit drops.

As always, make sure your cables are deeply continued. If yous're experiencing a problem, endeavor unplugging the cable and plugging it dorsum in to ensure a solid connection. A loose cable connectedness could crusade issues.

More Troubleshooting Tips

RELATED: How to Update Your Graphics Drivers for Maximum Gaming Performance

Lots of other problems could cause your monitor to not function at its advertised refresh rate:

  • Your computer's GPU isn't good plenty. Integrated graphics or older discrete graphics might non back up your monitor'southward refresh charge per unit. Be sure your graphics carte du jour supports the monitor'south resolution and refresh rate.
  • You need to update your graphics drivers. Be sure to install the latest available version from NVIDIA or AMD's website.
  • Yous're attempting to run your monitor at a lower resolution. Select your monitor's native resolution–it may just support the higher refresh charge per unit at its native resolution and be limited to 60Hz at lower resolutions.
  • Y'all're playing a game and that game has its own integrated graphics settings. Yous may need to select your monitor's native resolution and the refresh rate of 120Hz or 144Hz in each game's graphics options menu or that game may employ a lower refresh rate.

Hopefully, after going through these steps, yous'll find that your monitor runs in its butter-polish loftier refresh rate.

Image Credit: Lalneema