The most common question entry level gamers wonder about is whether 60hz refresh rate is enough for gaming and if it’s okay to make this a first buy option. I did some research, asked around my gaming friends, and noted my personal experience that will give you the best answer to this question.
By the end of this article, you will have full confidence that you know whether or not a 6ohz monitor is the right gaming monitor for you.
As a general rule, a 60hz gaming monitor is exceptional for casual, single-player, story driven games or for players on a budget. A 6ohz monitor will still display smooth, consistent image quality. On average, 60hz monitors are considered entry level and cost $60-100 less than 120hz and 144hz gaming monitors. Fast paced games like racing and first person shooter games will perform better on monitors with refresh rates higher than 60hz.
But knowing this information, how do YOU specifically know if this will suffice for your gaming needs? As with most gaming setups, the answer is that it always depends on the type of gamer you are. This article will help you make a definitive decision in the next section.
Before we begin, realize that every gaming monitor (60hz) included, will have its own pros and cons. Some players consider certain features to be more of a drawback than others. For this reason, and to make your decision process even easier, I’ve included some of the top 60hz gaming monitors for various gamer styles. I even included my own personal review of the 60hz gaming monitor I use and love to this day.
What type of gamer should get a 60hz monitor?
Casual, single player gamers who don’t play fast paced shooters will benefit the most from 60hz monitors. Additionally, 60hz monitors will save you lots of money if this is your first time creating a gaming setup.
I made this really helpful infographic that should give you an idea if a 60hz gaming monitor is right for you. When I first started gaming, all of these things applied to me!
Remember, you can always upgrade your gaming setup in the future to support a 120 or 144hz gaming monitor. I recommend entry level or casual gamers start with a 60hz monitor because it saves you money, which you can then invest in getting better parts on your gaming PC.
The gaming community will tell you that you should just wait and get a better monitor altogether:
**Important note: most casual gamers can’t even tell the difference between a 60hz monitor and a 120hz. Motion blur tends to look natural to the human eye.
But from my experience, I’ve been using a 60hz monitor for 3 years now and I still love it. It’s not until this year where I’ve began to demo 120hz monitors and notice they do perform slightly better. But up until this point, I didn’t seem to mind at all.
Here are the different types of monitors for each type of gamer
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Large size, low resolution, low refresh rate |
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Most affordable |
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Low refresh rate, High resolution |
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High refresh rate, Low resolution |
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Under $100 |
“It depends on your gaming rig. If you have something crazy like a 5950x [graphics card] and an insanely good processor, you definitely are selling yourself short only getting a 60hz monitor!”
— Vince D, Valued responder at Gaming PC Enthusiasts
To further elaborate on Vince’s point, if you have really good gaming PC hardware, but use a monitor that can’t fully utilize it, you’re underutilizing your systems capabilities! Additionally, if you have entry level graphics cards and processors like a GTX 1060 or use a gaming console, a 120hz monitor will not look any better because your system can’t keep up with it!
But what about Response Time?
Your average monitor should be around 5ms. Some gamers like to get monitors that claim to be 1ms, but these are usually falsely advertised. Read this article I wrote if you’re curious about the finer details of 5ms response time. It’s a nice, to the point resource that will give you an even better understanding if you’re in the process of buying a gaming monitor.
Pros and Cons of a 60hz Gaming Monitor
Pro:
- Can still purchase a 60hz monitor with 4K or HDR resolution. Remember that 60hz monitors have nothing to do with resolution. You can easily pick up a 4k monitor that’s 60hz for a much more affordable price. It will also place less demand on your gaming rig if your specs won’t support high refresh rate (specifically your processor and graphics card)
. - More affordable regardless of size or other features. Putting a high refresh rate on gaming monitors makes sense if you plan to only use it for games that demand it. You shouldn’t buy a 120hz tv or gaming monitor if you’re going to be primarily using it for watching movies or doing work. Serious gamers that play title such as Rainbow Six Siege and Rocket League will consider it a worthwhile investment to get a high refresh rate monitor.
Cons:
- Motion blur becomes apparent during fast paced games. Even single player games like Just Cause 4 will lag out if there’s too many explosions on the screen. You’re capping your gameplay to 60FPS as well which means any lag will be extremely noticeable (since the human eye naturally detects 60fps to look like fluid movement).
. - You can’t game with a high mouse sensitivity. Quick scoping and 360 no scopes will give you quite the headache if you use 60hz refresh rate. This is because the motion blur effect will be noticeably for the reasons mentioned earlier. For competitive gamers, this is one of the biggest reasons they avoid 60hz monitors.
Are 60hz Monitors More Affordable?
As a general rule, 60hz monitors are more affordable than a gaming monitor with higher refresh rate, regardless of resolution. Putting in a higher refresh rate places a much larger demand on the monitor itself and on your gaming system and requires more expensive hardware to run.
There’s a really good article I wrote about why gaming monitors are so expensive. In short, it has a lot to do with the hardware but I encourage to read on so you know how to get the most for your money. Monitors come with as much or as little refresh rate and resolution as you want them to. You don’t need to find an all-in one solution if you’re planning to upgrade in the future.
Before I talk about how I came about selecting these monitors from the table, I’d like to share what my first gaming monitor was. My brother still uses it to this day and absolutely loves it. We’ve had it for years and it still displays a great image and is great if you’ve never owned a gaming monitor before.
My honest review of the gaming monitor I use and love:
Here’s some of the key takeaways from the table as mentioned above for each gaming monitor.
HP 32f
Pros: size is great and more affordable for an entry level gamer. If you want to get work done, this is also optimal for PC gamers. This was one of the ones I was looking at when I was deciding between this one or the AOC one from the video review I did of it. HP still makes great products even though their computers are less desirable.
Cons: Seasoned gamers will be able to tell its 60hz refresh rate. It has an average response time of 5ms which isn’t great for people that want to be pro gamers.
SAMSUNG 27-Inch CR50 Frameless
Pros: This one is the most cost effective for the size, resolution, and refresh rate you get. Most entry level gamers should expect to pay around $150 – 200 for their first dedicated monitor. The curve feature conveniently doesn’t add extra cost to this one if that’s how you view it.
Cons: Sleep mode on this monitor will cause it to completely shut off. Which means you’ll have to get up and press the button on the monitor itself if you game from a distance or from your bed.
Dell Newest 27”
Pros: fantastic resolution with an above average refresh rate. 75hz isn’t a huge difference, but it will be more noticeable to the framerate you achieve with a PS4 or Xbox One. The PS5 system and XBOX Series X will be able to perform even better on a monitor like this.
Cons: If for some reason it comes with a dead pixel (a black spot on the screen), dell won’t cover that so you’ll have to return the whole monitor through Amazon if that’s how you choose to order it.
Thinlerain 24 Inch 1080p
Pros: Insanely good response time (165hz). It goes for the same entry level price of around $199 but delivers a smooth gaming experience that not even 4k monitors can achieve to perfection. If you have an average $100 PC build, this monitor won’t place a heavy demand on it, but will still give you the smoothest gaming possible. If you love racing games and fast paced shooters, this is the monitor to get!
Cons: If you have a system that can support 4k gaming resolution, you can’t actually view it in that resolution since it’s capped at 1080p.
Still want to look at great, well researched gaming monitors? Check out this article I wrote here. Most gamers tend to be on a budget as they’re building their first PC (myself included). I did a lot of research before I finally decided on a monitor a few years ago and this article is a compilation of all the good ones I came across.
Is there an actual difference between a gaming monitor and a regular one?
Gaming monitors, unlike regular monitors, will have a higher refresh rate and response time compared to regular monitors. Gaming monitors will run games a lot smoother than regular monitors for the same reasons. This doesn’t mean that gaming monitors are better than regular ones in every way, however. This article will also talk about the ways in which regular monitors are just as good as gaming ones.
If you’re actually curious for more information, I wrote an article about regular monitors vs gaming monitors.
I’ve owned 3 monitors in the last few years, all of varying quality. For a while I was concerned primarily about the resolution of the monitors instead of the response time. Little did I know that response time and refresh rate makes a huge difference depending on what type of games you play. Remember, It isn’t until a year or two later to where a casual gamer will begin to notice better refresh rates on higher quality monitors.
Conclusion
Thanks for reading! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to reach out at entertainmentden.ns@gmail.com and I’ll do my best to respond! I’m currently taking article suggestions if you have any and thank you for the feedback I’ve received already. Until then, be sure to check back regularly for the next article!