Does a 144 Hz monitor look good if you can only push 60-80 fps?

[SteveGrabowski]

On my 60 Hz 1080p panel playing games at 50 fps sucks, so I usually tweak settings to ensure a nearly locked 60 fps with vsync on. But I'm thinking of going up to 1440p. Does it make sense to pay for a 144 Hz panel if I know I will always be running a single gpu and thus won't be hitting anything close to 144 fps in new games? Does 60-80 fps look smooth on a 144 Hz non GSync/FreeSync panel, or does it look stuttery like 45-50 fps does on a 60 Hz panel? I would love to run games 80-90 fps when possible (hence buying the 144 Hz panel), but not at the expense of stutter from frames being repeated when my gpu can't keep up with 144 refreshes per second. I'm not going to pay for GSync when it effectively ensures a vendor lock in on my future gpu purchases. So does a 144 Hz panel make sense when I figure I'll have the GPU power to push 60-90 fps? Or is it better to just go with a 60 Hz panel and use vsync to 60 fps?

 

[digitaldurandal]

On my 60 Hz 1080p panel playing games at 50 fps sucks, so I usually tweak settings to ensure a nearly locked 60 fps with vsync on. But I'm thinking of going up to 1440p. Does it make sense to pay for a 144 Hz panel if I know I will always be running a single gpu and thus won't be hitting anything close to 144 fps in new games? Does 60-80 fps look smooth on a 144 Hz non GSync/FreeSync panel, or does it look stuttery like 45-50 fps does on a 60 Hz panel? I would love to run games 80-90 fps when possible (hence buying the 144 Hz panel), but not at the expense of stutter from frames being repeated when my gpu can't keep up with 144 refreshes per second. I'm not going to pay for GSync when it effectively ensures a vendor lock in on my future gpu purchases. So does a 144 Hz panel make sense when I figure I'll have the GPU power to push 60-90 fps? Or is it better to just go with a 60 Hz panel and use vsync to 60 fps?

Battleborn update broke crossfire so I switched from using 1440p144hz with Blur Reduction to freesync since my FPX wandered between 90 and 140. I found the experience much smoother with freesync in this situation but when I have 143 fps constant (I lock it there to prevent buffering) I prefer the Blur Reduction.

So the answer is yes it looks much smoother with freesync on if you are not getting fps at your max refresh rate and still feels more responsive than a slower panel.

 

[crisium]

I have, very briefly. experimented with Freesync Off on my screen at 60-90fps range. Honestly it's still pretty smooth to me. Once you get north of 60fps it's all pretty good to me. I prefer Freesync, and I can tell a slightly difference, but if I got a Nvidia card and couldn't use it anymore it would not be the end of the world.

If you are more sensitive no a non synced framerate, you can still run a 1440p 144hz panel at 60hz and Vync just like before. But I find being north of 60 without Freesync to be fine.

 

[TheRyuu]

It should look better and you'll have lower input lag as well so it may feel more responsive as a result.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

So it's nothing like the stutter you see when you can't hit 60 fps on a 60 Hz panel?

 

[crisium]

No. I'd even take a FPS game at 70fps without Freesync over a game at 40-50fps with Freesync. For FPS I need quick frametimes and while 40-50 on Freesync will not tear it doesn't magically make it more responsive.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

Thanks guys. I am looking at possibly getting a 1440p monitor and the 144 Hz ones aren't too much more expensive than the 60 Hz ones. I don't play twitch shooters at all, but I can't agree with the people who say 45-50 fps is good on action RPGs and the like, it looks horrible to me on a 60 Hz monitor. And if I buy a 1440p monitor I don't want something I'm just going to be itching to replace in a couple of years, which might happen as single gpu solutions get powerful enough to push 90+ fps at 1440p.